Fantomah is a fictional character

Character (arts)

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, best remembered as the first comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

  superheroine. Created by Fletcher Hanks

Fletcher Hanks

Fletcher Hanks, Sr. was a cartoonist from the Golden Age of Comic Books, who wrote and drew stories detailing the adventures of all-powerful, supernatural heroes and their elaborate punishments of transgressors...

, the character first appeared in Jungle Comics #2 (February 1940), published by Fiction House

Fiction House

Fiction House is an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. Its comics division was best known for its pinup-style good girl art, as epitomized by the company's most popular character, Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.-History:-Jumbo and Jack...

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Publication history

Fantomah, "Mystery Woman of the Jungle", was the first female comic book superhero. She first appeared as a back-up feature in Jungle Comics #2, and continued as a back-up feature until her final appearance in issue #51 (March 1944). Her early adventures were written and drawn by Fletcher Hanks; later stories were drawn by George Appel. Some of her early adventures were later reprinted by Fiction House in Ka'a'nga Comics, and later by AC Comics

AC Comics

AC Comics is a comic book publishing company started by Bill Black.AC Comics specializes in reprints of Golden Age comics from now-defunct companies whose properties lapsed into public domain and were not reprinted elsewhere...

 in Golden Age Greats #14 (March 1999).

Fantomah made a more recent appearance in Hack/Slash

HACK/slash

Hack/Slash is an ongoing comic books series, launched from several one shots of the same name, published by Image Comics ....

#29-32, with a return appearance in #5 (2011), written by Tim Seeley

Tim Seeley

Tim Seeley is a comic book artist and writer known for his work on books such as G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe vs. Transformers and New Exiles.-Career:Seeley has illustrated a variety of comics, including Kore, G.I. Joe, G.I. Joe vs...

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Character background

Fantomah's origin is explained in Jungle Comics #27 (March 1942), in which it is revealed that Phantomah is an ancient Egyptian princess, revived to protect the jungle. Fantomah's heritage gives her many supernatural powers, making her somewhat similar to magical creatures like the Spectre

Spectre (comics)

The Spectre is a fictional character and superhero who has appeared in numerous comic books published by DC Comics. The character first appeared in a next issue ad in More Fun Comics #51 and received his first story the following month, #52...

. When Fantomah uses her powers, her normally beautiful face turns into a blue skull (though her curly blonde hair remains unchanged). Later stories play down Fantomah's supernatural powers, and she began to resemble the more popular Sheena, Queen of the Jungle

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle

Sheena, Queen of the Jungle is a fictional, American comic book jungle girl heroine, published originally by Fiction House. The female counterpart to Tarzan, Sheena had two things in common with Edgar Rice Burrough's Jungle Lord: Both possessed the ability to communicate with wild animals and were...

.

Powers and abilities

Fantomah exhibited a large number of magical abilities, generally as required by the story's plot. Among others, she demonstrated the ability to fly, transform objects into different objects, levitate other objects, cause humans to mutate into other forms, and so on. Generally, whenever Fantomah used her powers, she would change her face from a normal human woman to a blue-skinned skull-like visage.