Review: The Phantom Stranger #5

(w) Dan Didio and J.M. DeMatteis
(p) Brent Anderson
(i) Philip Tan and Rob Hunter

If God is a DJ,
Life is a dance floor,
Love is the rhythm,
You are the music.

I'm not a fan of pop recording artist P!nk's music, but her 2004 single, "God Is A DJ", was one of those songs that was on the radio incessantly when I was in high school, and somewhere along the line, it kind of stuck with me whether I wanted it to or not. Same goes for Lenny Kravitz's "Again", Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It", the unfortunate Dixie Chick's cover of "Landslide", and the Creed songs, which I list as one entity because I can't tell them apart, only that they're Creed songs based on Scott Stapp's nasally vocals. But I diverge. I preface with this short diatribe about Ms. P!nk's single because the chorus for the song (shown above) is a rather amazingly, hideously perfect representation of what Dan Didio and J.M. DeMatteis bring to the table in The Phantom Stranger #5, an issue that sees the true introduction of The Spectre into the 'New 52', as well as plays around with cosmic entities like their action figures and consequences be damned.

Since it's 'Zero Issue' last September, The Phantom Stranger has been a sort-of look into the high cosmic happenings of the DCnU. Pre-relaunch, the Stranger was far more enigmatic, his true intentions and agenda never fully revealed. Earlier issues of the series have seen a Stranger with more clarity and focus than ever before, the introduction of fan-favorite Raven, as well as dealings with John Constantine and the Justice League Dark, amongst others. The Phantom Stranger #5 differs from previous issues because it throws subtly out the window and goes for broke to set up the highly anticipated "Trinity War" even though it doesn't have to.

Basically, Stranger believes the divine hand of vengeance, The Spectre, is to blame for the kidnapping of his family and their removal from the Earthly plane. Instead of communicating, Stranger and Spectre end up duking it out, and before they rip apart time and space, God himself (herself?) shows up to put them both in their place. Taking the form of a Yorkshire Terrier, God simply gives Stranger and Spectre a good scolding before telling them to play nice or else. Meanwhile, that's when the Question shows up at the home of Terrence Thirteen to get the Stranger's attention. 

This is where Ms. P!nk's song comes in. Dan Didio and J.M. DeMatteis are really playing fast and loose with god-like entities (and God itself) as if they are just like any other DC character. In the past, the sheer breadth of characters like the Phantom Stranger and the Spectre were regarded in a way that their core concepts stayed consistent even if their forms did not. In a way, it makes sense for these kinds of revelations to take place in a series dedicated to a member of the Trinity of Sin, but mostly, it feels like too much too fast. Part of what made the pre-'New 52' Phantom Stranger and Spectre great was that they were so mysterious, that not everything about them was known.

The Phantom Stranger #5 is a perplexing issue if only because it's such a drastic shift from the slow-burn of the previous issues to the rapid-fire storytelling seen in these pages. It's quite clear this series is starting the long journey toward "Trinity War", but it's doing so clumsily at this point and that somehow makes the entire endeavor feel a little less special. I don't want to have a bias going into DC's first 'New 52' major crossover event, so I'll take this issue's events with a grain of salt.

GRADE

6/10

THE PHANTOM STRANGER #0

STORY: Dan Didio
ART: Brent Anderson and Scott Hanna

And just like that, The Phantom Stranger became one of my favorite series. While DC (I still say unjustly) cancelled the phenomenal Resurrection Man - a series rooted in classic, episodic storytelling that slowly built up a genuinely interesting character - it has replaced that series with tales of the Phantom Stranger in the able hands of Dan Didio, a man who wrote O.M.A.C. so well it was literally too good for most readers. Out of the pages of The New 52 #1, Didio brings us the exploits of the most enigmatic member of the "Trinity of Sin", and it is so, so, so good.

The Phantom Stranger was always a mystery. But unlike so many other characters shrouded in misdirection and facades, Phantom Stranger existed on his own level - his actions, his reasons, and his meaning were all unknown. He would appear seemingly out of nowhere, and act upon his own, unexplained predilections without notice. Truly, he was a stranger in a comic book universe where (almost) every character eventually gets a backstory, whether it's necessary or not. The Phantom Stranger fully takes advantage of the 'new' part of the 'New 52', offering a definitive origin, more fleshed-out character development, and an all-around kick-ass time.

Religious symbolism is an ample well for storytelling, and in the opening pages of The Phantom Stranger #0, it becomes pretty obvious that the Stranger was once Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Dan Didio deftly handles this symbolism, taking care to never mention either the Stranger or Jesus by name, but instead through Judas' suicide attempt and looming fate. "You are beyond forgiveness," a council of wizards explains to poor Judas (yes, a council of wizards. Though they all happen to resemble Shazam, suggesting a connection in future issues.) "Your greed has forever darkened the world." - it's enough to get the point across without sounding preachy. Didio understands that symbolism is just that: symbolic.

Judas is then cursed by the Band o' Wizards to wear a necklace made of coins, wear Jesus' robe, and walk the Earth for eternity until he's called upon again. While it seems like there's a lot to take in all at once, this is 'Issue Zero'. The whole point of the prequel issue idea is to offer a more comprehensive explanation of a certain character, in most cases through a look into the events that take place before the first issue. With The Phantom Stranger, we're literally given the entire origin of the character to the extent that we need it. Obviously, we don't need to know Judas' pre-judgement history because another book already took care of that. Didio tells us everything we need to know: who the Stranger is, how he came to be, why he does whatever he does, and where this series is going as it moves forward.

I was honestly quite skeptical of DC's "Third Wave", as two of my favorite series (Justice League International and Resurrection Man) were cancelled to make room for new titles. But after reading The Phantom Stranger, I feel better about the other three upcoming series. Dan Didio knows what kind of writer he is, and he recognized that his full-blown style (as presented throughout O.M.A.C.) was too much. For The Phantom Stranger, Didio reels in his bombastic style just enough to make the series more accesible to a larger audience without sacrificing the pulp and charm that make his writing so good.

GRADE

B