The Collector Who Walks
easiest path for a hobbyist in the United States, but Pete Klaus has found a lot
of satisfaction in becoming known to his friends as “the Phantom guy.”
The very first thing I ever collected was comic books. At first, no
specific titles, but as some years rolled by, The Phantom, Superman, Donald
Duck, and Little Lulu were my favorites. When I was five years old, my aunt
Victoria would bring 10 to 15 comics every Saturday as she came to visit. I took
care of all the books that she brought for our family, so I’m sure that’s how it
all began. I was the youngest of six children and all of my brothers and sisters
collected various items. For example, my two brothers were into baseball cards
while my three sisters devoted time to collecting and sharing paper dolls. My
dad collected silver dollars, and so they were all supportive of my
hobby.
My first exposure to the Phantom came while looking at the
colorful comic pages in the Baltimore News American and noticing the
Phantom’s skull cave, his white stallion, Hero, and his pet wolf, Devil, all
together in a jungle setting, really sparked my interest, though it was almost
thirty years later that I began avidly collecting the Phantom. When I had a son
in 1976, I wanted him to experience the wonderful and mysterious Phantom
character that I grew up with and loved. I began to search everywhere of
anything related to my hero.
As I look back on it now, I would have to
say it was the wonderful Lee Falk stories that made him my favorite. I loved
anything to do with animals and the jungle, and I’m sure this fact played an
important factor as well. Another keynote in my enjoying the character was that
the Phantom is a fantastic role model. He was honest, kind, hard working, brave,
strong, and he loved animals.
Created by writer/playwright Lee Falk in
1936, the story revolves around a young boy whose father’s ship was raided by
the pirates of the Singh Brotherhood. This cutthroat band of high sea criminals
killed the boy’s father, looted the ship, and threw him into the ocean to die.
As fate would have it, the boy washed on the shore of Bengalla, a country that
looked very much like parts of Africa. The pigmy natives found the young man,
and nursed him back to health. The tribe felt him coming was good omen, and held
him in high esteem. Some time latter the young teenager found the body of a
pirate dressed in his dad’s clothes along the shoreline. The flesh of the pirate
had wasted away the only thing left was the skeleton of the murderer. The young
swore a sacred oath to his father, on the skull of the pirate, that he and all
of his sons and their sons would fight piracy, greed and injustice in any form.
The young boy made a costume from an image of an ancient tribal god. He wore
this disguise along with the mask ion order to provoke fear in the hearts of all
evil doers. As the years passed and as the decedents of the Phantom carried out
their oath, people thought this was the same man from hundreds of years before
and the legend of the Phantom grew into “The Ghost who Walks.”
In
Australia and Sweden, the two countries with the largest Phantom readership, the
character is handed down to the next generation of comic readers. For example, a
father of a grandfather will continue to buy and read Phantom adventures, and
then read them to their son or grandson and this passing of the character helps
promote a lot of interest in the character. In the US we have had, and continue
to have a large variety of characters for kids to follow in the comic world, and
this “watering down” effect may be one reason on the Phantom’s loss of identity
in the United States.
One of the reasons dealers and my fellow
collectors know me as “the Phantom guy” is that at every comic show, or toy show
I hunt for anything Phantom. I ask a lot of questions to longtime dealers about
anything they have purchased or sold related to the Ghost who Walks. I should
also add that I have a complete set of Little Lulu books and comics from
1935 on, a complete set of the original Turok, too, but I guess they
automatically think of the Phantom and Pete Klaus at the same time.
One
of the first big Phantom purchases I made was an original comic page by strip
Artist Wilson McCoy (strip from 1941 to 1961) from 1952 for $125, and much more
recently I bought an 11″ x17″ original Phantom comic cover framed by
Italian artist Felmang for $250. I would have to say my Phantom original art is
probably the most valuable part of my collection. I have several hundred
original covers strip pages, and drawings by the best Phantom artists on the
world, and my favorite item is an oil painting given to me by legendary
Phantom artist Sy Barry. It used to be a lot harder to get some items in
America prior to the computer age, but with eBay and email, it’s possible to
find anything you’re looking for if you have the time and money.
The
most rewarding hunt for an item would have to be when I finally unearthed the
famed Phantom Syroco figure and its original box, made in 1944. That was great.
And like most collectors, I do have a “one that got away” tale, too. About five
years ago, a dealer had an original Phantom cover by artist George Wilson, and
he sold it just before I reached his booth. If you don’t know George Wilson, he
did a ton of beautiful Dell covers in the 1950s and 1960s. His work is very
colorful and realistic. Darn, I’m still upset about that!
In the US, I
started a group called The Friends of The Phantom along with long time friends
Ed Rhoades and Bob Griffin. Ed had the idea to put out a newsletter on the Ghost
Who Walks. When that happened, our group of Phantom enthusiasts grew like
wildfire. In Australia they have had Phantom clubs for many years and the most
recent is called The Lee Falk Bengalla Explorers club. In Sweden, they likewise
have a chapter of the Lee Falk Phantom club. Both groups get together with
dinners featuring special Phantom artists and writers and any money they raise
they donate that to the local children’s hospital in Lee Falk’s
name.
Through my collecting and networking, I was recently featured in a
Phantom story as Edgar Allen Poe’s friend in a story entitled “Mystery in
Baltimore.” It came about when Swedish editor/writer Uif Granberg visited me in
Baltimore and I took him sightseeing around town. As a special surprise I was
drawn into the story with my comic book hero. I’ve been pretty fortunate as I
have been on three different Phantom stories, and most recently I was a
bad guy on the Sunday comic strip called “The Briefcase,” by artist Graham
Nolan.
With continued readership around the world the Phantom is very
solid as a character. In the US, I think the 1996 movie plus idea that another
movie is in the early production stage will introduce the Phantom to another
whole group of new readers. In addition, the continuing Phantom comics by
the Moonstone company and the brand new mini-bust by Randy Bowen will provide
new stories products for old collectors to continue their love for Falk’s
legendary character.
me as ”the Phantom guy” is that at every comic show, or toy show I hunt for anything Phantom. I ask a lot of questions to longtime dealers about anything they have purchased or sold related to the Ghost who Walks. I should also add that I have a complete set of i Little Lului0 books and comics from 1935 on, a complete set of the original i Turoki0 , too, but I guess they automatically think of the Phantom and Pete Klaus at the same time.
par
par tab One of the first big Phantom purchases I made was an original comic page by strip Artist Wilson McCoy (strip from 1941 to 1961) from 1952 for $125, and much more recently I bought an 11” x17” original i Phantomi0 comic cover framed by Italian artist Felmang for $250. I would have to say my Phantom original art is probably the most valuable part of my collection. I have several hundred original covers strip pages, and drawings by the best Phantom artists on the world, and my favorite item is an oil painting given to me by legendary i Phantomi0 artist Sy Barry. It used to be a lot harder to get some items in America prior to the computer age, but with eBay and email, it’s possible to find anything you’re looking for if you have the time and money.
par
par pardfi720 The most rewarding hunt for an item would have to be when I finally unearthed the famed Phantom Syroco figure and its original box, made in 1944. That was great. And like most collectors, I do have a ”one that got away” tale, too. About five years ago, a dealer had an original Phantom cover by artist George Wilson, and he sold it just before I reached his booth. If you don’t know George Wilson, he did a ton of beautiful Dell covers in the 1950s and 1960s. His work is very colorful and realistic. Darn, I’m still upset about that!
par
par In the US, I started a group called The Friends of The Phantom along with long time friends Ed Rhoades and Bob Griffin. Ed had the idea to put out a newsletter on the Ghost Who Walks. When that happened, our group of Phantom enthusiasts grew like wildfire. In Australia they have had Phantom clubs for many years and the most recent is called The Lee Falk Bengalla Explorers club. In Sweden, they likewise have a chapter of the Lee Falk Phantom club. Both groups get together with dinners featuring special Phantom artists and writers and any money they raise they donate that to the local children’s hospital in Lee Falk’s name.
par
par Through my collecting and networking, I was recently featured in a i Phantomi0 story as Edgar Allen Poe’s friend in a story entitled ”Mystery in Baltimore.” It came about when Swedish editor/writer Uif Granberg visited me in Baltimore and I took him sightseeing around town. As a special surprise I was drawn into the story with my comic book hero. I’ve been pretty fortunate as I have been on three different i Phantomi0 stories, and most recently I was a bad guy on the Sunday comic strip called ”The Briefcase,” by artist Graham Nolan.
par
par With continued readership around the world the Phantom is very solid as a character. In the US, I think the 1996 movie plus idea that another movie is in the early production stage will introduce the Phantom to another whole group of new readers. In addition, the continuing i Phantomi0 comics by the Moonstone company and the brand new mini-bust by Randy Bowen will provide new stories products for old collectors to continue their love for Falk’s legendary character.
par pardf2fs20
par }
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g the character was that the Phantom is a fantastiabout the spinach-chompin
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The Collector Who Walks
easiest path for a hobbyist in the United States, but Pete Klaus has found a lot
of satisfaction in becoming known to his friends as “the Phantom guy.”
The very first thing I ever collected was comic books. At first, no
specific titles, but as some years rolled by, The Phantom, Superman, Donald
Duck, and Little Lulu were my favorites. When I was five years old, my aunt
Victoria would bring 10 to 15 comics every Saturday as she came to visit. I took
care of all the books that she brought for our family, so I’m sure that’s how it
all began. I was the youngest of six children and all of my brothers and sisters
collected various items. For example, my two brothers were into baseball cards
while my three sisters devoted time to collecting and sharing paper dolls. My
dad collected silver dollars, and so they were all supportive of my
hobby.
My first exposure to the Phantom came while looking at the
colorful comic pages in the Baltimore News American and noticing the
Phantom’s skull cave, his white stallion, Hero, and his pet wolf, Devil, all
together in a jungle setting, really sparked my interest, though it was almost
thirty years later that I began avidly collecting the Phantom. When I had a son
in 1976, I wanted him to experience the wonderful and mysterious Phantom
character that I grew up with and loved. I began to search everywhere of
anything related to my hero.
As I look back on it now, I would have to
say it was the wonderful Lee Falk stories that made him my favorite. I loved
anything to do with animals and the jungle, and I’m sure this fact played an
important factor as well. Another keynote in my enjoying the character was that
the Phantom is a fantastic role model. He was honest, kind, hard working, brave,
strong, and he loved animals.
Created by writer/playwright Lee Falk in
1936, the story revolves around a young boy whose father’s ship was raided by
the pirates of the Singh Brotherhood. This cutthroat band of high sea criminals
killed the boy’s father, looted the ship, and threw him into the ocean to die.
As fate would have it, the boy washed on the shore of Bengalla, a country that
looked very much like parts of Africa. The pigmy natives found the young man,
and nursed him back to health. The tribe felt him coming was good omen, and held
him in high esteem. Some time latter the young teenager found the body of a
pirate dressed in his dad’s clothes along the shoreline. The flesh of the pirate
had wasted away the only thing left was the skeleton of the murderer. The young
swore a sacred oath to his father, on the skull of the pirate, that he and all
of his sons and their sons would fight piracy, greed and injustice in any form.
The young boy made a costume from an image of an ancient tribal god. He wore
this disguise along with the mask ion order to provoke fear in the hearts of all
evil doers. As the years passed and as the decedents of the Phantom carried out
their oath, people thought this was the same man from hundreds of years before
and the legend of the Phantom grew into “The Ghost who Walks.”
In
Australia and Sweden, the two countries with the largest Phantom readership, the
character is handed down to the next generation of comic readers. For example, a
father of a grandfather will continue to buy and read Phantom adventures, and
then read them to their son or grandson and this passing of the character helps
promote a lot of interest in the character. In the US we have had, and continue
to have a large variety of characters for kids to follow in the comic world, and
this “watering down” effect may be one reason on the Phantom’s loss of identity
in the United States.
One of the reasons dealers and my fellow
collectors know me as “the Phantom guy” is that at every comic show, or toy show
I hunt for anything Phantom. I ask a lot of questions to longtime dealers about
anything they have purchased or sold related to the Ghost who Walks. I should
also add that I have a complete set of Little Lulu books and comics from
1935 on, a complete set of the original Turok, too, but I guess they
automatically think of the Phantom and Pete Klaus at the same time.
One
of the first big Phantom purchases I made was an original comic page by strip
Artist Wilson McCoy (strip from 1941 to 1961) from 1952 for $125, and much more
recently I bought an 11″ x17″ original Phantom comic cover framed by
Italian artist Felmang for $250. I would have to say my Phantom original art is
probably the most valuable part of my collection. I have several hundred
original covers strip pages, and drawings by the best Phantom artists on the
world, and my favorite item is an oil painting given to me by legendary
Phantom artist Sy Barry. It used to be a lot harder to get some items in
America prior to the computer age, but with eBay and email, it’s possible to
find anything you’re looking for if you have the time and money.
The
most rewarding hunt for an item would have to be when I finally unearthed the
famed Phantom Syroco figure and its original box, made in 1944. That was great.
And like most collectors, I do have a “one that got away” tale, too. About five
years ago, a dealer had an original Phantom cover by artist George Wilson, and
he sold it just before I reached his booth. If you don’t know George Wilson, he
did a ton of beautiful Dell covers in the 1950s and 1960s. His work is very
colorful and realistic. Darn, I’m still upset about that!
In the US, I
started a group called The Friends of The Phantom along with long time friends
Ed Rhoades and Bob Griffin. Ed had the idea to put out a newsletter on the Ghost
Who Walks. When that happened, our group of Phantom enthusiasts grew like
wildfire. In Australia they have had Phantom clubs for many years and the most
recent is called The Lee Falk Bengalla Explorers club. In Sweden, they likewise
have a chapter of the Lee Falk Phantom club. Both groups get together with
dinners featuring special Phantom artists and writers and any money they raise
they donate that to the local children’s hospital in Lee Falk’s
name.
Through my collecting and networking, I was recently featured in a
Phantom story as Edgar Allen Poe’s friend in a story entitled “Mystery in
Baltimore.” It came about when Swedish editor/writer Uif Granberg visited me in
Baltimore and I took him sightseeing around town. As a special surprise I was
drawn into the story with my comic book hero. I’ve been pretty fortunate as I
have been on three different Phantom stories, and most recently I was a
bad guy on the Sunday comic strip called “The Briefcase,” by artist Graham
Nolan.
With continued readership around the world the Phantom is very
solid as a character. In the US, I think the 1996 movie plus idea that another
movie is in the early production stage will introduce the Phantom to another
whole group of new readers. In addition, the continuing Phantom comics by
the Moonstone company and the brand new mini-bust by Randy Bowen will provide
new stories products for old collectors to continue their love for Falk’s
legendary character.
me as ”the Phantom guy” is that at every comic show, or toy show I hunt for anything Phantom. I ask a lot of questions to longtime dealers about anything they have purchased or sold related to the Ghost who Walks. I should also add that I have a complete set of i Little Lului0 books and comics from 1935 on, a complete set of the original i Turoki0 , too, but I guess they automatically think of the Phantom and Pete Klaus at the same time.
par
par tab One of the first big Phantom purchases I made was an original comic page by strip Artist Wilson McCoy (strip from 1941 to 1961) from 1952 for $125, and much more recently I bought an 11” x17” original i Phantomi0 comic cover framed by Italian artist Felmang for $250. I would have to say my Phantom original art is probably the most valuable part of my collection. I have several hundred original covers strip pages, and drawings by the best Phantom artists on the world, and my favorite item is an oil painting given to me by legendary i Phantomi0 artist Sy Barry. It used to be a lot harder to get some items in America prior to the computer age, but with eBay and email, it’s possible to find anything you’re looking for if you have the time and money.
par
par pardfi720 The most rewarding hunt for an item would have to be when I finally unearthed the famed Phantom Syroco figure and its original box, made in 1944. That was great. And like most collectors, I do have a ”one that got away” tale, too. About five years ago, a dealer had an original Phantom cover by artist George Wilson, and he sold it just before I reached his booth. If you don’t know George Wilson, he did a ton of beautiful Dell covers in the 1950s and 1960s. His work is very colorful and realistic. Darn, I’m still upset about that!
par
par In the US, I started a group called The Friends of The Phantom along with long time friends Ed Rhoades and Bob Griffin. Ed had the idea to put out a newsletter on the Ghost Who Walks. When that happened, our group of Phantom enthusiasts grew like wildfire. In Australia they have had Phantom clubs for many years and the most recent is called The Lee Falk Bengalla Explorers club. In Sweden, they likewise have a chapter of the Lee Falk Phantom club. Both groups get together with dinners featuring special Phantom artists and writers and any money they raise they donate that to the local children’s hospital in Lee Falk’s name.
par
par Through my collecting and networking, I was recently featured in a i Phantomi0 story as Edgar Allen Poe’s friend in a story entitled ”Mystery in Baltimore.” It came about when Swedish editor/writer Uif Granberg visited me in Baltimore and I took him sightseeing around town. As a special surprise I was drawn into the story with my comic book hero. I’ve been pretty fortunate as I have been on three different i Phantomi0 stories, and most recently I was a bad guy on the Sunday comic strip called ”The Briefcase,” by artist Graham Nolan.
par
par With continued readership around the world the Phantom is very solid as a character. In the US, I think the 1996 movie plus idea that another movie is in the early production stage will introduce the Phantom to another whole group of new readers. In addition, the continuing i Phantomi0 comics by the Moonstone company and the brand new mini-bust by Randy Bowen will provide new stories products for old collectors to continue their love for Falk’s legendary character.
par pardf2fs20
par }
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g the character was that the Phantom is a fantastiabout the spinach-chompin






