PHANTOM LADY 463
success into an animated fi lm by Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, who himself is a
celebrated French comics artist (working under the pen-name of Winshluss). After
Persepolis , L’Association published (in 2004) another comic by Satrapi, Poulet aux prunes
( Chicken With Plums , 2006) about Nasser Ali Khan, a renowned Iranian musician
related to the family of the author. Again she has joined forces with Paronnaud to adapt
this comic to the big screen, but this time it will be a live-action fi lm.
Selected Bibliography: “L’interview! Marjane Satrapi.” (2002). BD Sélection, http://
http://www.bdselection.com/php/?rub=page_dos&id_dossier=51; Bellefroid, Th ierry. Les
éditeurs de bande dessinée. Paris; Niffl e, 2005.
Pascal Lefèvre
PHANTOM LADY. Phantom Lady originated in the fi rst issue of Police Comics (from
Quality Comics ) in 1941. In what had already become a comic book tradition, Phan-
tom Lady is a rich girl when she is not fi ghting crime. Th e fi rst panel of Phantom Lady’s
fi rst story reads: “Th e society columns record the activities of Sandra Knight, debutant
daughter of Senator Henry Knight... no one suspects that the frivolous Sandra is
also Th e Phantom Lady, whose battle against spies and public enemies constantly make
headlines.” Artist Arthur Peddy designed her in a yellow costume with green cape, and
gave her a kind of reverse fl ashlight, her “black ray,” which blinded people. She also came
with the requisite boyfriend, state department investigator Don Borden, who, even
though Sandra Knight and Phantom Lady looked exactly alike (she did not even wear
a mask) never caught on. Th e original Phantom Lady, while decently drawn, was not
particularly memorable, and was interchangeable with many of the other superheroines
who were being included in Golden Age comic books at that time. Neither she nor they
survived for very long, and the original Phantom Lady’s last appearance in her original
run was in Police Comics #23, 1943.
Phantom Lady’s stories were produced for Quality by the Eisner -Iger Shop. In
1947, that shop was producing work for Fox Comics, which became the new publisher
for Phantom Lady, who got her own book, which lasted until 1949. She also got a
complete new look, with a blue costume and red cape. Her new artist, the stylish and
fl a m b o y a n t Matt Baker , restyled her hair, giving her bangs and a passing resemblance to
then- popular pinup queen Bettie Page. Baker, one of the rare African American artists
in comics during the 1940s, excelled in drawing women. During Baker’s all-too brief
life—he died prematurely from a congenital heart condition—he drew jungle queens,
aviatrixes, girl detectives and superheroines; they were always beautiful and always
strong. Some of his best were Fiction House’s Tiger Girl and Sky Girl, and the sarong-
clad South Sea Girl, Alani, queen of “Th e Vanishing Islands,” which he drew for Seven
Seas Comics—and Phantom Lady.
It has been argued by male writers that Baker’s women were drawn to appeal to
men, and while that is certainly probable, they also appealed strongly to a female
audience. His dashing and glamorous women have a kind of 1940s noir movie-star
