Mystery character

[paulbrians]

This villain shows up in several Italian Topolino stories, including his adventures with Columbus, but I vaguely remember seeing him in American comics too. Anybody know his name in English? Was it really "Black Plot"?

www.deviantart.com/msxmaryx/art/Black-Plot-comix-710987136

[bats]

"Phantom Blot".

He's usually shown with a ghost costume covering his entire body.

inducks.org/character.php?c=PB

[caballero]

paulbrians For your information, bats linked to the Disney comic database called INDUCKS. It's an incredible resource. Nearly every Disney comic from all around the world from 1930 to today is indexed on that site and it contains a lot of information about each comic.

For example if you go to the page of the first Phantom Blot comic (link: inducks.org/story.php?c=YM+039 ), you will how long it is, when it was first published, which comic book creators worked on it, which recurring characters appear in it, etc., and if you scroll down a bit you will see a list of when and where it was reprinted over the years. I sometimes spend hours on Inducks, it's that good!

And if you follow bats' link and click on index ( inducks.org/character.php?c=PB&c1=date&pg=0 ), you will get a list of every single appearance by Phantom Blot (comics, covers and illustrations)!

[Spectrus]

I think the German article on him is one of the best there is (perhaps because I helped to improve it ). duckipedia.de/Das_Schwarze_Phantom

[paulbrians]

Of course! Phantom Blot. I knew I'd seen him before.

[Al Levin]

Feb 4, 2024 9:57:48 GMT Spectrus said:

I think the German article on him is one of the best there is (perhaps because I helped to improve it ). duckipedia.de/Das_Schwarze_Phantom

Lange Zeit wurden sogar italienische Phantom-Geschichten, in denen dieses demaskiert wurde, für deutsche Publikationen blockiert, da das Phantom nicht unmaskiert gezeigt werden durfte (weil ja dann hinter der Maske plötzlich „Plattnase“ steckte).

Lol, this is wild and beyond stupid. Especially since he was shown unmasked in the original Gottfredon's story. Did they refuse to publish it too? 

The character portrayed by Scarpa and Casty is clearly the same as one as Gottfredson's. And to be fair, I like the idea of the mysterious and menacing Phantom Blot having an incredibly stupid name. There's a bit of dramatic irony in play here. No wonder he goes by "Phantom Blot"

(English translation: "For a long time, Italian Phantom Blot's Istories in which he is unmasked were blocked for German publications, as the Phantom was not allowed to be shown unmasked (as there would be "Plattnase" under the mask)")

[Spectrus]

Feb 10, 2024 8:43:04 GMT Al Levin said:

Feb 4, 2024 9:57:48 GMT Spectrus said:

I think the German article on him is one of the best there is (perhaps because I helped to improve it ). duckipedia.de/Das_Schwarze_Phantom

Lange Zeit wurden sogar italienische Phantom-Geschichten, in denen dieses demaskiert wurde, für deutsche Publikationen blockiert, da das Phantom nicht unmaskiert gezeigt werden durfte (weil ja dann hinter der Maske plötzlich „Plattnase“ steckte).

Lol, this is wild and beyond stupid. Especially since he was shown unmasked in the original Gottfredon's story. Did they refuse to publish it too? 

Funnily enough, no. It was actually released as an extra with the weekly Mickey Mouse Magazine in 2001, at the height of the "the two characters aren't the same" craze.

But yeah, if you look at when Italian Blot stories published in the pocketbooks, there's a long break only interrupted by "Casey's Longest Night" (with the aforementioned censorship/redrawing).

[bats]

Feb 11, 2024 16:03:21 GMT Spectrus said:

But yeah, if you look at when Italian Blot stories published in the pocketbooks, there's a long break only interrupted by "Casey's Longest Night" (with the aforementioned censorship/redrawing).

Wait, that story got redrawn? Is that why the Blot looks so weird in it, with a very visible open mouth in his costume?

[Spectrus]

Feb 11, 2024 16:56:36 GMT bats said:

Feb 11, 2024 16:03:21 GMT Spectrus said:

But yeah, if you look at when Italian Blot stories published in the pocketbooks, there's a long break only interrupted by "Casey's Longest Night" (with the aforementioned censorship/redrawing).

Wait, that story got redrawn? Is that why the Blot looks so weird in it, with a very visible open mouth in his costume?

Right. Joe Torcivia was nice enough to show a page of the US version, with no redrawing, on his blog.

[bats]

Feb 12, 2024 14:16:37 GMT Spectrus said:

Feb 11, 2024 16:56:36 GMT bats said:

Wait, that story got redrawn? Is that why the Blot looks so weird in it, with a very visible open mouth in his costume?

Right. Joe Torcivia was nice enough to show a page of the US version, with no redrawing, on his blog.

Oh wow, I had no idea. That looks a lot better.

[caballero]

The fact that the German editors decided to butcher several Phantom Blot comics in the past just because they arbitrarily decided that the Phantom Blot should not be shown unmasked is making me soo angry! Anyway, that's a very interesting article you linked to Spectrus ! In it, "Topolino e le evasioni impossibili" (I TL 279-BP) is mentioned as a Phantom Blot comic in which he is never masked. I never knew such comic existed! Does anyone here know if there are any other comics in which he appears but NEVER masked?

[megamau]

Feb 13, 2024 3:22:01 GMT caballero said:

The fact that the German editors decided to butcher several Phantom Blot comics in the past just because they arbitrarily decided that the Phantom Blot should not be shown unmasked is making me soo angry! Anyway, that's a very interesting article you linked to Spectrus ! In it, "Topolino e le evasioni impossibili" (I TL 279-BP) is mentioned as a Phantom Blot comic in which he is never masked. I never knew such comic existed! Does anyone here know if there are any other comics in which he appears but NEVER masked?

Purely out of memory, there should be quite a bit.
In Italian comics, for some time the "unmasked" version was the standard.

[The KKM]

Pippo Reporter stories for instance

[Spectrus]

Feb 13, 2024 3:22:01 GMT caballero said:

The fact that the German editors decided to butcher several Phantom Blot comics in the past just because they arbitrarily decided that the Phantom Blot should not be shown unmasked is making me soo angry! Anyway, that's a very interesting article you linked to Spectrus ! In it, "Topolino e le evasioni impossibili" (I TL 279-BP) is mentioned as a Phantom Blot comic in which he is never masked. I never knew such comic existed! Does anyone here know if there are any other comics in which he appears but NEVER masked?

"The Orbiting Nightmare" with the exception of the TV message

From memory, these ones as well. This has him with the comment "unmasked".

And then there's the stories (like parodies) where he's playing a role. inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+1769-AP , Dracula, Novecento (as "Rolly Morton Phantom") and the aforementioned Goofy Reporter

An ancestor of him in inducks.org/story.php?c=I+TL+2223-1

(There is also the opposite, Italian stories that never show his face.)