With the upcoming 110th anniversary of the source novel, the recent Blu-ray re-release of one of the more dubious adaptations of his famous tale, and a couple of books due out later this year celebrating the acclaimed Broadway musical version of the story, Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera is poised for one hell of a resurgence in 2020. Fans will no doubt be obliged to revisit some of their favorite iterations of the Phantom’s story this year – including the musical, the television movies, or any of the half dozen feature film adaptations that are currently available.
However, one might be surprised to learn that the Opera Ghost has made only a scant few appearances in funnybooks since his initial appearance over a century ago.
A Japanese manga here, a French BD there, even a hard-to-find prequel series can be found out there somewhere. But otherwise, this striking and iconic horror figure has strangely only managed to appear in a couple of American comic books released near the height of the musical’s popularity in the late 80s/early 90s. It is those two wildly different takes on Gaston Leroux’s classic novel that we’ll be shining a light on with this article.
Eternity Comics #1
First up, we have a slim, single issue floppy released in June of 1988 by Eternity Comics. For this standalone one-shot, simply titled The Phantom of the Opera, the short-lived indie publisher repurposed material originally created in the 70s for the third issue of a Warrenesque magazine called Scream. Scream, a Skywald horror comics anthology mag not at all dissimilar to classic titles like Eerie and Creepy, often presented their stories in short, black-and-white sucker punches – and it’s more than a little interesting to see that approach employed with a comparatively complex tale like Phantom.
With an adaptation by Scream mainstay Al Hewetson and wonderfully scratchy, inky, but entirely effective artwork by Jesus Duran, this quite faithful (if severely truncated) version of Leroux’s story is told in two brief parts. The first begins late in the story at the bal masqué, with the Phantom already on scene as the Red Death. From there we are introduced to Christine and Raoul, with the former filling the latter in on the Phantom’s origins. From there, the rest of this initial installment is told in flashback, speedily recounting the events of the novel which have led up to this point.
The second part continues on from there, covering Christine’s eventual kidnapping and Raoul’s rescue attempt. The Persian, so rarely included in other adaptations of this tale, pops up in this comic just in time to guide Raoul through the Phantom’s underground lair before the two of them become ensnared in his torture chamber. The comic ends with the Phantom’s evil being undone by Christine’s compassion, leaving the wretch to die alone as our trio of heroes take their leave.
In its scant eighteen pages, this comic does a better job of faithfully bringing Leroux’s story to life than many of the cinematic adaptations which are far better known to fans. Though it cuts much of the material from the novel to tell its story quickly, it nevertheless hits all of the story’s major beats while still managing to have an emotional impact on its reader. As a fun bonus, the comic ends with an additional gothic fairy tale called “The Thing in the Black Dress”. Make certain to seek out this comic – it’s a great read, and copies are still relatively cheap to find out there in the wild.
Innovation
The second Phantom of the Opera comic book comes to us from long-defunct publisher Innovation Books. Known for its lavish adaptations of such well known properties as A Nightmare on Elm Street, Quantum Leap, Dark Shadows and Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles, West Virginia-based publisher Innovation took a shot at adapting Phantom in late 1991, when the musical was still fairly early on in its heyday. As with many of its other titles, Innovation’s Phantom is a beautiful affair – a fully painted, 64-page squarebound one shot which remains mostly faithful to the novel it’s based upon.
Written by Mitchell Perkins and painted by Wanda Daughter, Innovation’s Phantom begins suitably enough with a quote from Coleridge’s The Ancient Mariner before diving into its adaptation. The story opens with a production of “Don Juan Triumphant”, the opera written by the Phantom himself. From there, we dive back into time for a retelling of the novel’s events, narrated by the Persian (who eventually makes an appearance once the tale catches up to him).
While this comic is by and large faithful, it does add a number of its own little brushstrokes to the tale that set it apart from other tellings. Erik the Phantom’s various masks are wonderfully varied here (a sequence where he is able to “steal” Raoul’s face is a highlight), and it’s nice to see yet another adaptation include the Persian in the fun (though the former police chief – or “daroga” – is regrettably referred to as “dagroda” throughout the comic).
Gaston Leroux himself figures into the story in its final pages, a nice nod to the novel which is rarely included in the other versions of this tale. It’s a beautifully rendered retelling that’s loyal to the book without being slavish to it, and should be considered an essential collector’s item for fans of the character (as with the Eternity book, this one can be found cheap easily enough online).
Ultimately, while it’s still more than a little surprising that we don’t have much in the way of comic book adaptations of this iconic horror character, at least what is available to fans can be said to be faithful and worthwhile attempts to do justice to Gaston Leroux’s original work. Though an upcoming graphic novel retelling of the Broadway musical will be hitting stands later this year from Titan Comics, these earlier books are still well worth tracking down and checking out.
If you get the chance to do just that, make certain to check back in and let us know what you think of them!
