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JOURNAL OF MODERN MYTHOLOGY AND POP CULTURE INTRODUCTION PAGE 57
Left: Billy Zane as the Ghost Who Walks in The Phantom, Paramount Pictures, 1996. Right: Moonstone Books' 2007 Phantom comic book, art by Carlos Magno.
The Phantom's activities spread around the world, and he sets up other headquarters in Europe and the United States. His popularity is worldwide, including an exhibit in the Swedish zoo Parken Zoo, Eskilstuna, and a long publishing history in India. In comic strips, comic books, movies, novels, toys and games, the unbroken line of descent continues. In Lee Falk's own words: "The Phantom is a marvelous role model because he wins against evil. Evil does not triumph against the Phantom... He hates dictatorship and is in favor of democracy. He is also opposed to any violation of human rights." In his study of Popular Culture, Trash Culture. Popular Culture and the Great Tradition, Richard Keller Simon writes: "...we think of entertainment as escapist fun and great literature as tough and demanding food for thought and careful study. But the same care and attention can be paid to entertainment, and once it is, entertainment turns out to be almost exactly like the classics." Layer upon layer of fabulous characters appear, reviving the motif of the more-than-human archetype, augmenting the Big Six, and continuing to reinstate myth and pop culture as a fundamental aspect of modern life.
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