Comics Archeology

Now that we’ve caught up with the first appearances of notable pre-1945 characters from other publishers, let’s go back in chronological order with the Big Two.

All-Select Comics #11 (1946)
by Al Sulman & Syd Shores

Save perhaps Patsy Walker, Blonde Phantom might be the Marvel character with the most unexpected return.

Before the story, I have to address the question: who actually wrote the story?
Some sources credit Stan Lee, but I don’t think that’s correct. I couldn’t find a single reference to Stan Lee ever claiming he created Blonde Phantom; his name IS in the credits, but as the editor and “art director”.

Al Sulman, mentioned in the credits as just “associate”, is most likely the writer.

We have two evidences of this: the first one is that he claims to have been the writer, something I couldn’t find Stan ever disputed.

Wonder Woman was popular, so Stan thought we should have a heroine, too. So I created a character called ‘The Blonde Phantom’, and I wrote those strips myself.
AL SUMAN

More importantly, Stan Lee himself makes mention of Al Sulman as the writer in an article titled “There’s Money in Comics” he published on Writer’s Digest in 1947.

A sample page from a script of “The Blonde Phantom” follows. This is an actual page, just as it was typed by Al Sulman, the writer.
STAN LEE, “There’s Money in Comics”

With that out of the way… what DID Al Sulman write?
Apologies for the scans, btu the story has not been digitally restored yet.

Our titular heroine is ALREADY there to help investigator Mark Mason with a case.

Unexpectedly for 1947, they’re on equal footing…

…and you can see we’re in a Reverse Clark Kent situation here.

You can tell we’re past 1945 now because we’re no longer dealing with saboteurs and Nazi, but with spies after nuclear secrets.

You’d think Mark would be completely uninterested in the Phantom’s civilian identity, but he DOES ask her out.

We also have this Jimmy Olsen wannabe, who is actually… uhm… actually I’m not sure, the comic isn’t super clear about it. The Blonde Phantom’s kid brother, maybe?

She has a rival for Mark’s affection, or so she thinks: he actually decides to go out with this other woman because she’s the cousin of a nuclear scientist, so she might be connected to the case.

So she’ll go to the party in her secret identity.

She certainly gets a lot of attention for a phantom!

The nuclear scientist soon gets poisoned.

As an investigator, Mark has super-smell. That’s just common sense.

A research for “trycheneme” tells me nothing. The closest term that makes sense is “trichothecene”, which is used for certain kinds of toxins. This might be an older spelling.

Turns out that the doctor taking the scientist to the hospital… wasn’t actually a doctor, but a kidnapper.

Also it turns out that Blonde Phantom was right in suspecting the scientist’s cousin, and not just because she was flirting with Mark.

Maybe she’s called the Blonde Phantom because nothing can stop her from breaking and entering.

She dispatches some goons, amazingly being able to fight wearing that dress.

This is still the Golden Age so OF COURSE she gets knocked out.

Technically Mark DOES rescue her, but she hypes it up to hit on him.

Normally I don’t like stories with unreasonable and very forced triangles, but both girls have enough personality to make this work.

In fact the rival is doing such a great job that even Blonde Phantom doubts herself!

This is a rather compelling mystery.

I can’t remember a single other Golden Age story where an autopsy is an important plot point.

The scientist DID eat something at the party, so why does the autopsy say he didn’t?

By using her amazing power of recalling things, Blonde Phantom deduces that the bad guys drowned the scientist and THAT is why the autopsy didn’t reveal anyhing.
I don’t know enough about medicine to say if that sounds legit.

Blonde Phantom then leaves the biggest note ever to Mark.

Blonde Phantom supposedly doesn’t have any powers, but she can throw a typewriter faster than a man can pull the trigger!

She would escape after cutting off the lights…

…if it wasn’t for her ridiculously impractical costume.

After she’s knocked out and tied up, because OF COURSE she does, she uncovers the rest of the conspiracy.
Turns out this Chameleon wannabe murdered the scientist BEFORE the story (!!!) and just used the party as an excuse to steal the nuclear plans.

Guys, I don’t want to tell you how to be international terrorist spies, but maybe skip explanations and set the prisoner on fire before the good guys show up?

Honestly Mark is more of a co-protagonist than just the love interest.

The rival also gets arrested, but they don’t figure out who is the mastermind behind everything.

Historical significance: 2/10
Blonde Phantom would be a very obscure minor character if it wasn’t for an absurd return.

Silver Age-ness: 0/10
Not really.

Does it stand the test of time? 8/10
This isn’t really my preferred genre, but it was quite compelling and the mystery was intriguing. For a 1947 story with such a premise, it’s remarkably not sexist.
Really the only things that are a bit distracting are the idea that nobody even TRIES to shoot Blonde Phantom, or the fact that her disguise actually works.

How close is this to the modern character? 2/10
The story must have been a hit, because from the following issue it’s renamed “Blonde Phantom Comics”.

It would only last for a couple of years, ending the run with issue 22 in 1949.

The series is then renamed “Lovers” and it switches to romance stories, until it ends in 1957 with issue 86.

Blonde Phantom’s height of popularity was between 1948 and 1949, when in addition to her own series she ALSO appeared as a backup feature in no less than SIX other books: Marvel Mystery Comics, All Winners Comics, Sub Mariner Comics, Blackstone The Magician, Namora and Sun Girl.

Her last Golden Age appearance is from 1949, so it was really out of nowhere to find her on Sensational She-Hulk #4 in 1989.
This is the John Byrne where She-Hulk knew she was a comic book character.

Blonde Phantom was such a minor character that I’m guessing nobody would have recognized Louise Mason.

But NOBODY calls her that in the series: she’s mainly just Weezi, and she’s one of the very few characters other than She-Hulk that know they’re in a comic book.

After recounting her past adventures, we learn she eventually married and settled down.

Which isn’t the happy ending she hoped, because superheroes who stop appearing in stories start aging.

I suppose this won’t appeal to everyone, but I found Byrne’s approach to the fourth wall breaks to be sheer genius.
Because it’s not just fun nonsense as you typically get with Deadpool, you could still get some pathos out of it… and come up with stuff like characters stalking superheroes in the hope of becoming supporting characters!!!

She wisely decides against becoming the Greying Phantom.

Also, while it has nothing to do with Blonde Phantom: the reason why superheroes don’t end up naked all the time.

During the Steve Gerber run we meet Wheezi’s daughter Wanda, who takes up the mantle as the Phantom Blonde.

No, that’s not a typo.

Weezi was more of a presence during Gerber’s run than during the initial Byrne issues, but Byrne must have liked their dynamic because once he’s back on the book Weezi has a more stable presence.

She also has a bit of an arc: first she becomes young again…

…then she starts a relationship with She-Hulk’s widowed father…

…struggles with her weight now that she’s no longer a superheroine…

…which, since this is a She-Hulk book, eventually turns into a fourth-wall-breaking discussion for why the writer made her gain weight.

Yeah remember when John Byrne had a sense of humor and could make fun of himself instead of picking up fights with the entire comic book industry and fandom?

Weezi is the only comic book character I’m aware of that negotiated her looks and her looks directly with the editors.
See, this is why fictional characters need to unionize.

Her last storyline on the book revolves around her and She-Hulk exchanging physiques and powers.

I cannot recommend the Byrne run enough. Humor is subjective of course, but to me it’s a masterpiece.

I’m guessing Weezi was so linked to that specific run that following She-Hulk writers decided against using her, or just forgot about it.
As far as I can tell, there are just three other appearances.

In 2009, out of nowhere we got the “All Select Comics 70th Anniversary Special #1” for her, well, anniversary.

It’s a GREAT Marc Guggenheim story. It reads like a legit noir novel.

While I very much prefer the She-Hulk version, that story WILL sell you the Blonde Phantom as a legitimate badass.

Another one is on the “Avengers 1959” series in 2015, where she gets recruited by Nick Fury for a ragtag team of minor heroes.

There’s a 1 page story in the 2015 “Marvel Comics #1001”. Looks like she lost weight again, but not the fourth wall awareness!

After 69 years, we discovered the secret origin of the original Blonde Phantom dress!

She bought it.

At a store.

Worth the wait!

I’m hoping we eventually get to see Weezi again in the present. These days Patsy Walker is firmly established as She-Hulk’s best friend in the superhero business, but it couldn’t hurt to have a second one.

What else was in All Select Comics #11?

We have “The Mysterious Mr. Wu”, which somehow manages to not be racist.