Hermes Press; $49.95

Considered by many to be the first masked hero in newspaper strips, The Phantom is one of the greatest strips of the newspaper era. Creator Lee Falk built an incredible mythology around “The Ghost Who Walks” that still thrills an international legion of dedicated fans to this day.

This newest collection in Hermes Press reprint series of the entire run of Phantom newspaper strips covers the years 1944-1946 including five complete adventures.

First up is The Maharajah’s Daughter. The title then closes with the memorable The Mermaids of Melo Straits. Also included in this edition is a sixteen-page color section as well as two detailed historical essays. “The Phantom After the War,” written by historian Ivan Pederson, places the work and art inside the context of the times. His focus on the growth of the strip really adds to the enjoyment of what we see on the newspaper page. And Daniel Herman, the publisher of Hermes Press, investigates “The Conundrums of The Phantom,” in which he looks back on the publishing history of the strip while also telling the story of how Hermes was able to find the best art proofs possible so that readers could finally have the best looking Phantom reprint series available.

– Columnist Mark Squirek contributed this review.