By Ed RhoadesSecret identities! Most of the costumed superheroes have them.
It’s a tried and tested tradition for fictional heroes pre-dating even the Phantom. The Scarlet Pimpernel was Sir Percy Blakeney and Zorro was Don Diego.
Superman is really mild mannered Clark Kent. Batman is actually Bruce Wayne (except for that time he was Jean-Paul Valley…or Azrael). The Flash (who at least owes the idea for his skin tight suit and cowl to The Phantom) sped through a bunch of secret identities…Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West and Bart Allen. Secret identities make sense. The famed crime fighter would need a place where he could kick back without the threat of people stalking him or fans making demands. Plus it gave more problems for the hero having to deal with keeping his secret from those around him and finding excuses to escape. It was another ongoing plot device.
“Clark Kent was sort his vacation from being Superman. ..But the Phantom sacrifices his identity to be the Phantom,” explained former syndicated Phantom artist Keith Williams.
Lee even considered it for The Phantom. In the pilot story, playboy Jimmy Wells was created as The Phantom’s secret identity. But as the story progressed, Lee’s vision became more unique and he developed the mystique of the skull cave in deepest darkest Africa. The Phantom is known my by many names…The Ghost Who Walks, Guardian of the Easter Dark, The Man Who Cannot Die…but none of them could be considered a secret identity. There has been a little suspense in keeping the secret of The Unknown Commander of the Jungle Patrol, but they weren’t problems that impacted The Phantom’s daily routine.
The Phantom only disguises himself as Mr. Walker when he travels incognito. He lives his life in costume at both of his jungle homes, but neither place is accessible by the public so a secret identity is unnecessary. The secret problem that causes the most difficulty for The Phantom is not who he is… but the legend of his immortality. To keep that idea going, he has to be fearless and literally death defying…leaping from cliffs, fighting sharks with a knife, wrestling tigers barehanded…a superhero without superpowers. He doesn’t wear the mask to hide another identity. He wears the mask because that’s who he is.
