Phantom Stranger: Gerontion Vertigo/DC 1993

Phantom Stranger: Gerontion

Vertigo / DC, 1993

 

Phantom Stranger: Gerontion is one of six titles in the 'Vertigo Visions' imprint, all released from 1993 - 1998.

The writing chore is handled by Alisa Kwitney, with artwork by Guy Davis, letters by Clem Robbins, and colors by Robbie Busch.

I've always considered the Phantom Stranger to be one of the lamer superheroes in the DC inventory, a true Z-lister along with The Question and Aquaman. He doesn't really do much other than passively observe things, making Enigmatic Comments, before stepping in at some crux point to propel things to a conclusion.

 

In 'Gerontion,' lead character and Woman of Color Naomi Walker arrives at the Paradise Gardens care home, there to start her job as desk manager. It's quite obvious that the home is in a state of decay, and its residents and staff are a tad......eccentric.

Eventually, the Phantom Stranger makes his appearance, albeit in a confusing way; there is a man sitting in an upstairs room in the home, pondering things and making.........Enigmatic Remarks, and then there is a Phantom Stranger 'apparition,' that loiters outside the grounds of the home.

I won't give away spoilers, but I will say that as the narrative progresses we learn that Paradise Gardens is in fact a sort of portal to Hell, and more than a few demons and devils have sought to escape that wonderful place by relocating to the Gardens. This disturbs the Phantom Stranger, but he's unable to send the demons back unless he can convince Walker to aid him. 

Guy Davis's artwork is better than much of that presented in Vertigo titles in the 1990s, but still inferior to what you'd see in many non-Vertigo titles from Marvel, DC, Valiant, Image, etc. of the same era. The colors use the 'Dogshit Palette' peculiar to Vertigo. Whether use of the Dogshit Palette was something imposed by Vertigo's editorial policy, or something voluntarily applied by the colorist, is unclear. Also unclear is whether this comic used the Flexographic printing process. But the palette works poorly in 'Phantom Stranger.'

 

I found 'Gerontion' to be a dull and plodding read. Given 56 pages, writer Kwitney errs in having all of the action take place inside the Gardens, which hamstrings the narrative by restricting it to one location, and one set of characters. There is a lot of dialogue, and lots of gimmicks that pad the storyline: monsters materializing in rooms and corridors, arms reaching out from the walls, malevolent phantasms and spirits making threats, etc., etc. These never amount to much but distractions, and can't compensate for the talky, too-slow unfolding of the narrative.

As for our hero, the Phantom Stranger, he, true to nature, doesn't do much of anything, but simply looks on as Walker grapples with the otherworldly denizens of the Gardens. Once in a while he makes some remark or suggestion, but over all, he could easily be interchanged with The Question, or Dr. Occult, or Deadman, or any other of DC's 'supernatural' heroes.

Again, not giving away spoilers, I'll say that the conclusion of 'Gerontion' makes sense, but doesn't do all that much to make me a devotee of the Phantom Stranger.

This comic solely is for fans of the Phantom Stranger, and those who are intent on collecting as many Vertigo titles as they can.