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Batman Post-Crisis #91
Batman: Phantom Stranger
Book by Grant, Alan, Ranson, Arthur
48 pages, Comic
First published November 1, 2000
3 people are currently reading
96 people want to read
About the author
Alan Grant
1,714 books144 followersAlan Grant was a Scottish comic book writer known for writing Judge Dredd in 2000 AD as well as various Batman titles during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He is also the creator of the character Anarky.
Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.
The pair eventually co-wrote Judge Dredd. They would work on other popular strips for the comic, including Robo-Hunter and Strontium Dog using the pseudonym T.B. Grover. Grant also worked on other people's stories, changing and adding dialogue, most notably Harry Twenty on the High Rock, written by Gerry Finley-Day. Judge Dredd would be Grant's main concern for much of the 1980s. Grant and Wagner had developed the strip into the most popular in 2000AD as well as creating lengthy epic storylines such as The Apocalypse War. Grant also wrote for other IPC comics such as the revamped Eagle.
By the late 1980s, Grant and Wagner were about to move into the American comic market. Their first title was a 12-issue miniseries called Outcasts for DC Comics. Although it wasn't a success, it paved the way for the pair to write Batman stories in Detective Comics from issue 583, largely with Norm Breyfogle on art duties across the various Batman titles Grant moved to. After a dozen issues, Wagner left Grant as sole writer. Grant was one of the main Batman writers until the late 1990s. The pair also created a four issue series for Epic Comics called The Last American. This series, as well as the Chopper storyline in Judge Dredd, is blamed for the breakup of the Wagner/Grant partnership. The pair split strips, with Wagner keeping Judge Dredd and Grant keeping Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. Grant and Wagner continue to work together on special projects such as the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover Judgement on Gotham. During the late 1980s, Grant experienced a philosophical transformation and declared himself an anarchist. The creation of the supervillain Anarky was initially intended as a vehicle for exploring his political opinions through the comic medium. In the following years, he would continue to utilize the character in a similar fashion as his philosophy evolved.
Grant's projects at the start of the 90s included writing Detective Comics and Strontium Dog, but two projects in particular are especially notable. The first is The Bogie Man, a series co-written by Wagner which was the pair's first venture into independent publishing. The second is Lobo, a character created by Keith Giffen as a supporting character in The Omega Men. Lobo gained his own four issue mini series in 1990 which was drawn by Simon Bisley. This was a parody of the 'dark, gritty' comics of the time and proved hugely popular. After several other miniseries (all written by Grant, sometimes with Giffen as co-writer), Lobo received his own ongoing series. Grant was also writing L.E.G.I.O.N. (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off) and The Demon (a revival of Jack Kirby's charac
Alan Grant first entered the comics industry in 1967 when he became an editor for D.C. Thomson before moving to London from Dundee in 1970 to work for IPC on various romance magazines. After going back to college and having a series of jobs, Grant found himself back in Dundee and living on Social Security. He then met John Wagner, another former D.C. Thompson editor, who was helping put together a new science fiction comic for IPC, 2000 A.D., and was unable to complete his other work. Wagner asked Grant if he could help him write the Tarzan comic he was working on; so began the Wagner/Grant writing partnership.
The pair eventually co-wrote Judge Dredd. They would work on other popular strips for the comic, including Robo-Hunter and Strontium Dog using the pseudonym T.B. Grover. Grant also worked on other people's stories, changing and adding dialogue, most notably Harry Twenty on the High Rock, written by Gerry Finley-Day. Judge Dredd would be Grant's main concern for much of the 1980s. Grant and Wagner had developed the strip into the most popular in 2000AD as well as creating lengthy epic storylines such as The Apocalypse War. Grant also wrote for other IPC comics such as the revamped Eagle.
By the late 1980s, Grant and Wagner were about to move into the American comic market. Their first title was a 12-issue miniseries called Outcasts for DC Comics. Although it wasn't a success, it paved the way for the pair to write Batman stories in Detective Comics from issue 583, largely with Norm Breyfogle on art duties across the various Batman titles Grant moved to. After a dozen issues, Wagner left Grant as sole writer. Grant was one of the main Batman writers until the late 1990s. The pair also created a four issue series for Epic Comics called The Last American. This series, as well as the Chopper storyline in Judge Dredd, is blamed for the breakup of the Wagner/Grant partnership. The pair split strips, with Wagner keeping Judge Dredd and Grant keeping Strontium Dog and Judge Anderson. Grant and Wagner continue to work together on special projects such as the Batman/Judge Dredd crossover Judgement on Gotham. During the late 1980s, Grant experienced a philosophical transformation and declared himself an anarchist. The creation of the supervillain Anarky was initially intended as a vehicle for exploring his political opinions through the comic medium. In the following years, he would continue to utilize the character in a similar fashion as his philosophy evolved.
Grant's projects at the start of the 90s included writing Detective Comics and Strontium Dog, but two projects in particular are especially notable. The first is The Bogie Man, a series co-written by Wagner which was the pair's first venture into independent publishing. The second is Lobo, a character created by Keith Giffen as a supporting character in The Omega Men. Lobo gained his own four issue mini series in 1990 which was drawn by Simon Bisley. This was a parody of the 'dark, gritty' comics of the time and proved hugely popular. After several other miniseries (all written by Grant, sometimes with Giffen as co-writer), Lobo received his own ongoing series. Grant was also writing L.E.G.I.O.N. (a Legion of Super-Heroes spin-off) and The Demon (a revival of Jack Kirby's charac
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 21, 2025
Batman/Phantom Stranger, written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Arthur Ranson, was released in 1997 in prestige format. This is one of those books where I don’t remember thinking it was particularly good or bad when I first read it. I had to revisit the story just to recall what it was about. If I were reading it for the first time right now, I’d probably think the ending was cheesy.
I’m not really a fan of supernatural Batman stories, but this one wasn’t supernatural enough. It’s such a waste of a perfectly good Phantom Stranger appearance. Ranson’s art would have been perfect for a story with heavier supernatural elements. His art was actually the one thing I appreciated more during this revisit. I really like how he inked his own work. One thing I found interesting is that Grant used a character he originally introduced during his run on Detective Comics. I’m really a fan of callbacks.
My Batman Collected Editions Instagram page
I’m not really a fan of supernatural Batman stories, but this one wasn’t supernatural enough. It’s such a waste of a perfectly good Phantom Stranger appearance. Ranson’s art would have been perfect for a story with heavier supernatural elements. His art was actually the one thing I appreciated more during this revisit. I really like how he inked his own work. One thing I found interesting is that Grant used a character he originally introduced during his run on Detective Comics. I’m really a fan of callbacks.
My Batman Collected Editions Instagram page
September 2, 2016
Uma aventura mística, escrita pelo inglês Alan Grant. O cruzamento entre Batman e Phantom Stranger mistura crime e fantasia, numa aventura que mistura ladrões de campas, artefactos misteriosos, académicos ligados à mitologia, jovens delinquentes e uma mensagem secreta vinda dos tempos antediluvianos da civilização de Mu. A combinação funciona. Coisa rara, Phantom Stranger é aqui um personagem interessante. O estilo clássico noir do ilustrador Arthur Ranson confere à série um atraente cariz gótico.
June 26, 2017
The story is well written, which you can expect from Grant. That being said, the story was relatively boring and entirely forgettable. It didn't give me any reason to read another comic featuring the Phantom Stranger or reread this one in the future.
June 20, 2011
Nice artwork. This is all about saving a soul, whereas Batman is more concerned with the crime. A bit short, could have gone more in depth with the storyline.
December 19, 2015
The title characters hardly ever interact, and the rest was inspirational claptrap.
November 17, 2020
A crossover story in which a gang of criminals seeks the secret of a lost civilisation. In pursuit of the criminals, and the young man they've ensnared in their plot, are Batman and the mysterious Phantom Stranger.
There's not a lot to write home about with this book, to be perfectly honest. It's not bad, it's just that there's nothing that feels fresh or engaging about it.
The old 'secret of a lost civilisation' premise is as old as the hills and neither Batman nor the Phantom Stranger add anything new to the cliche, seeming more like spectators within their own story than the protagonists.
Also, on the subject of the titular characters, Batman and the Phantom Stranger make for a terrible crossover in principle. Batman is a detective of reason and a crimefighter of human physical limits, whilst the Stranger is a completely mysterious being whose metaphysical powers aren't really defined.
They're polar opposites and instead of making an interesting contrast, they just clash tonally.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
There's not a lot to write home about with this book, to be perfectly honest. It's not bad, it's just that there's nothing that feels fresh or engaging about it.
The old 'secret of a lost civilisation' premise is as old as the hills and neither Batman nor the Phantom Stranger add anything new to the cliche, seeming more like spectators within their own story than the protagonists.
Also, on the subject of the titular characters, Batman and the Phantom Stranger make for a terrible crossover in principle. Batman is a detective of reason and a crimefighter of human physical limits, whilst the Stranger is a completely mysterious being whose metaphysical powers aren't really defined.
They're polar opposites and instead of making an interesting contrast, they just clash tonally.
* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com/ *
October 19, 2024
Batman / Phantom Stranger #1 is a prestige format one-shot comic written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Arthur Ranson. The comic was released in 1997.
Late at night in a Gotham cemetery, a lowly crime gang is searching a tomb for a mysterious artifact but accidentally lose it when they kill their source. A young teen stumbles upon the body and the artifact when is he caught at the scene of the crime by Batman. With insight by the Phantom Stranger, Batman begins to realize he made a mistake and the young man is in considerable danger.
This is a well written book but it’s unfortunately incredibly boring. With the Phantom Stranger appearing, I was hoping there would be more supernatural and spooky mystery. The book does have a bit of a fantasy twist ending, but it is so heavy handed and cheesey that it’s feels like a 1960s comic code ending: Do unto others only what you’d have them do to you. That’s a great message for preschoolers, but wasn’t expecting that in a 90’s Batman comic. Ranson’s art is gritty and fitting of the era, but wasted here.
Late at night in a Gotham cemetery, a lowly crime gang is searching a tomb for a mysterious artifact but accidentally lose it when they kill their source. A young teen stumbles upon the body and the artifact when is he caught at the scene of the crime by Batman. With insight by the Phantom Stranger, Batman begins to realize he made a mistake and the young man is in considerable danger.
This is a well written book but it’s unfortunately incredibly boring. With the Phantom Stranger appearing, I was hoping there would be more supernatural and spooky mystery. The book does have a bit of a fantasy twist ending, but it is so heavy handed and cheesey that it’s feels like a 1960s comic code ending: Do unto others only what you’d have them do to you. That’s a great message for preschoolers, but wasn’t expecting that in a 90’s Batman comic. Ranson’s art is gritty and fitting of the era, but wasted here.
December 16, 2025
The artwork really stood out for me, a noir feel à la Sandman Mystery Theatre. The best bit about the story is the interaction between the crooks and the young kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Phantom Stranger doesn't really do a lot, repeatedly saying "I cannot get involved", though he does have one scary action near the end. Even Batman is something of a bit player. The story revolves around a set of possibly magickal rings and the lost civilisation of Lemuria. It gets all mythologically cheesy and turns into total pulp. All in all, a satisfactory story, even if Batman could probably have been left out of it. But someone has to beat on the bad guys, right?
May 26, 2019
I'm surprised how well this came out. I assumed it would be a Batman story with a little bit of the Stranger (as he is often used), but no, this is really a Phantom Stranger story featuring Batman. A very pleasant surprise to me. It's a pretty well written spooky little thriller, and it never loses the human element in the shuffle. It's Alan Grant at his best.
October 23, 2025
Well crafted and atmospheric, but a little light on the action.
April 18, 2017
It's a sort of a New Age story involving a message from a lost ancient civilization of Lemuria, some mobsters wanting to cash in by discovering it, a youth who has to choose between being good or bad, and of course, Batman and the mysterious Phantom Stranger. If you stretch your belief a bit and ignore the fact that mystical stories don't really work well with Batman who is more suitable to more realistic world, the story is quite good actually. It's quite dark, both figuratively and literally (about half of all the colors used here is black), the coloring is also unusual, similar to Batman: The Long Halloween.
December 5, 2018
(2nd time around) Apart from a couple of really striking panels, there's not very much that is memorable in this short paperback. Alan Grant's dialogue is the main plus point in this otherwise run-of-the-mill crazy tale about Lemurian civilisations. The artwork is decent enough while a little sketchy, the pace of the story is good, but the plot is just too simple to have any real suspense or wonder about it. Even so, it's still one of the better Batman partnership one-shots. 3.25/5
December 18, 2012
Well written except that Lemuria nonsence...
December 12, 2016
It's basically a giant don't use nukes, think peace message from the late 90's. Good artwork though.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews