Secret Origins (1986) 10 (1)

Secret Origins (1986) 10

Jan 1987

Tarry Till I Come Again

by Mike W. Barr, Jim Aparo, Tom Ziuko, Robert Greenberger

10 pages

This is the first of four possible Secret Origins of the Phantom Stranger.

The Phantom Stranger confesses to a priest, Father Knox, on Christmas Eve. He tells the priest about his past, about how he lost his wife and child. They were murdered roughly 2000 years ago. He got a measure of revenge on Jesus Christ, the man he blamed for the death of his loved ones, but as a result of his actions he has lived on. 

The story ends with the Phantom Stranger being forgiven for his crime 2000 years ago. He is offered the chance to move on and end his life but he chooses to remain. 

Thoughts

The cover was also drawn by Jim Aparo. 

There is no explanation or exploration of the Phantom Stranger’s mystical powers in this story. He does use them at least a couple times in the course of the story.

I’m not crazy about this story. It ties the Phantom Stranger into the mythical story of the Wandering Jew. It seems like lazy storytelling to me. I don’t care for the quasi-religious nature of the story. It feels like they have appropriated a story from legend and done little to nothing to make it their own. I think that's why it rubs me the wrong way.

It's like they are saying, see these two stories, they look similar but they are actually the same story. That seems to be the twist in this tale and to me that looks lazy. I need more than that to satisfy me.