Phantom 2040

Given that "Phantom" creator Lee Falk was never that wild about this show, "Phantom 2040" adhered as close to Falk's formula (hero mantle is passed down from father to son for over 500 years) as possible. Also, the futuristic updating helped garner viewers who were oblivious to the fact that The Phantom is widely viewed in the U.S. as an archaic hero, at least to those only peripherally familiar with the character.

Sci-Fi writers Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens managed to update the legend of The Phantom, throwing in a rather interesting twist; the mantle of "The Ghost Who Walks" was not able to be passed on from the 23rd Phantom to his heir, as he was presumably killed in an accident 16 years prior, making Kit Walker, Jnr. only 2 years old at the time, therefore completely unaware of his father's activities.

18 year-old Kit Walker, Jnr. has been sheltered by his Aunt Heloise (the 23rd Phantom's sister) from the Walker Family Legacy in hopes that the first Walker male in almost 500 years will have the chance at a normal life. When the 23rd Phantom's former comrade-in-arms, Guran, appears from Africa to ensure that Kit knows his family's history, the sparks begin to fly.

The young Kit at first dismisses his responsibility, then acquiesces when he realises the import of The Phantom's work at stamping out piracy, greed, & cruelty, this time in the form of the E-Ville corporation, Maximum, Inc.

The story lines were, for the most part, serialised, an oddity for an animated series, but "Phantom 2040" is much more than an average animated series. This could easily have been a live-action series & it's encouraging to see writers take creative risks like they did here. The series never talks down to its audience, & the writers hired for this project serve to prove that: Marc Scott Zicree & veteran Sci-Fi author Harlan Ellsion top the list of this well-written show.

While this series only lasted 2 seasons, it did have a beginning, middle, & ending, although I suspect the Reeves-Stevenses were hoping to go into a 3rd season, which would've been welcomed with open arms if the writing had stayed as consistent & interesting as it did throughout its 2-year run.

While other series received more acclaim than "Phantom 2040" (the most blatant ripoff being WB's "Batman Beyond"), few were as stylish, ("Aeon Flux" creator Peter Chung did the character design) & even fewer were as tightly plotted. Even though this series never got the accolades it deserves / deserved, at least it got made, it was well-made, & proves that the audience can watch a serious Sc-Fi animated series without being pandered to.

Well, it's either this or Gundam Wing, and what they both share is a darker tone than most cartoons. I kinda fell on this when I was channel flicking but I got hooked. The art is very stylised but I like it and well the Phantom rocks. But what really got me was the bad guys, who well Rebecca Madison may have been evil, but her son and Graft weren't, and when your about 7-8 that really messes with your mind.

So, even if you're an adult who thinks cartoons are for kids I can heartily recommend this.

I remember this show appearing sporadically on Indian television (which had a ridiculously poor selection of good cartoons) when I was a kid. Whenever it appeared it was practically an event for me and my brother; we loved it. It was just so cool and different, and I do remember it being totally unlike the tacky cartoons that made up most of kids programming in those days.

Its also different from other quality cartoons like WB's Batman or TMNT. Its really atmospheric and the ideas and sci-fi tech are very unique and cool (for example. Phantom uses these two cylinders as guns/weapons).

The character designs are a little weird. Everyone is quite... elongated.

Totally recommend it, I hope it comes out on DVD so I can catch the episodes I missed.

Like me you've probably never heard of Phantom 2040 and, up until this point, are only familiar with the Ghost Who Walks through the campy 1990s live action movie which, as your first exposure to the superhero movie genre, you now look back on with rose tinted specs.

Like me you've been raised on Batman, Spiderman and all that other syrupy Marvel / DC material that now suffocates pop culture consciousness and obscures knowledge of anything before or after.

Like me you didn't know that The Phantom was the first masked vigilante / superhero. Like me you thought Batman Beyond, as a dark futuristic superhero narrative - featuring a younger successor to a mysterious and near legendary vigilante - was a pretty rad original idea.

Enter "Phantom 2040".

The Amazon prime cut is unwatchable. It's a tragedy, because it's a really intelligent show. You can't even see the faces in most of the scenes. I would estimate about 100 resolution. My system handles HD and 4K, it's the copy not my system.

I watched it decades ago when it first came out.

Is there any place to watch it in high res? IMDB doesn't note that it's a bad copy when they list who is offering it. I wish they would.

Who loses when such a bad copy is distributed? The people who made the show and the viewers. Even the distributer loses, so why do they do it? I contacted Amazon and complained. We all need to do that.