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Overview
The Phantom Comic in Papua New Guinea
The Phantom comic was created by American Lee Falk in 1936 and was the very first costumed superhero preceding Superman by two years. The Phantom comic strip debuted in The New York Journal on February 17, 1936. Since then The Phantom has been published in more than 500 newspapers in approximately 40 countries, creating legions of dedicated ‘Phans’. The comic has been translated into approximately 15 languages including Tok Pisin, a form of Pidgin English which is recognised as one of three national languages of Papua New Guinea.
In Papua New Guinea, The Phantom comic strip was translated into Tok Pisin by the weekly publication Wantok - literally ‘one talk’ a reference to people who speak the same language. The first strip was published in 1972 and due to translation issues, the Tok Pisin version of the comic strip was published later than the English version which appeared in the national paper Post Courier. Regardless of the delay, thousands of readers rushed out very week to buy a copy of Wantok to read about the Phantom’s latest adventure. The translations localised the international superhero for an indigenous audience and helped to spread a common Tok Pisin vocabulary.
Government departments were quick to capitalise on the popularity of the comic strip and developed posters featuring the Phantom. One poster campaign used the Phantom to encourage locals to eat more peanuts declaring;
“Sapos yu Kaikai Planti Pinat Bai Yu Kamap Strong Olsem Phantom”
If you eat more peanuts you will be strong like the Phantom.
Phantom in the Highlands
From the 1980s - 1990s the Phantom emerged on battle shields during a renewed period of inter-tribal fighting in parts of the Papua New Guinea highlands. For a brief period, the Wahgi people of the Western Highlands Province revived and re-painted old battle shields with new designs that transformed the shields into communicative forms. This expanded design repertoire included numbers, text, appropriated logos as well as representations of ‘good guys’ such as Superman and the Phantom. By incorporating the image of the Phantom on a shield, warriors hoped to capture some his symbolic power and incite fear amongst their opponents. This example depicts the Phantom character in his trademark purple suit holding weapons across his chest.
Although the production of Phantom shields appear to have declined by the 1990s, they mark a unique moment of pop culture revival that helped to further anchor the Phantom in the Pacific, as a superhero of Papua New Guinea.
Sources Cass, Philip. (2014) Press, Politics and People in Papua New Guinea 1950-1975. Unitec ePress
Cochrane, S. (2013) 2. ‘Inter-animation of Kastom and Contemporary Culture: Papua New Guinean Art at the Asia Pacific Triennial’. Contact issue, Australia and New Zealand Journal of Art, p. 147-169.
‘Fantom, Yu Pren Tru Bilong Mi’ A Comic Strip Becomes a Hot Issue in the Jungle’ in Time, September 26, 1977. O’Hanlon, M. (1995), Modernity and the ‘Graphicicaliszation’ of Meaning: New Guinea Highland Shield Design in Historical Perspective. In The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol 1. No. 3, p. 469-493.