Real Name: Armand
Loring (accompanied by Jacques)PHANTOM OF 42nd STREET
Real Name: Armand
Loring (accompanied by Jacques)
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Acrobat;
Group Membership: None
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Jasper Brunt, Power Man (Luke Cage)
Known Relatives: Adrian Loring (father)
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: New
York, USA;
First Appearance: Hero for Hire#4 (December, 1972)
Powers/Abilities: Armand was a dwarf who had strong acrobatic skills, which made him more agile than average men. As the Phantom, he used various tricks to bewilder his adversaries. When he sat on Jacques' shoulders as the Phantom, he seemed very tall and wore a mask that resembled his father's burned, devastated face. He used an additional shroud to envelop his enemies and wore deep black suits to seem invisible in darkness.
History:
(Hero for Hire#4 (fb) - BTS) - Armand, the son of Adrian Loring, was born a dwarf. He was a boy when he fled, leaving his home for the shame of his handicap.
After arriving in Haiti, Armand grew and became an acrobat, as well as a burglar. Arrested, he met Jacques in prison, and the two became firm friends. In the meanwhile, Adrian Loring had been searching for his son all around the world and finally found him locked up in prison. Adrian talked to Armand about his suspicions regarding Jasper Brunt and waited for Armand to get out of prison. But Adrian died in mysterious circumstances. Armand knew that Brunt was responsible and convinced Jacques to help him get revenge: he wanted his inheritance and wanted Brunt to die terrorized.
(Hero for Hire#4 - BTS) - The two friends settled
in New York
in the Museum of Miracles on 42nd Street, with Armand posing as an
acrobat
and
Jacques as a weightlifter. Armand and Jacques started to
search for the evidence he needed to claim his father's inheritance and
also to scare
Brunt. So
he adopted the disguise of the Phantom and at night started
stalking the theaters and cinemas
belonging to Brunt,
succeeding in appearing before Brunt, terrorizing him.
(Hero for Hire#4) - On another
night,
the caped figure entered the old office of Adrian Loring, but
Armand and Jacques found Luke Cage sleeping
because it
was the theater that was also Luke Cage's abode. The
big hero was
initially
surprised, his fist hit only an empty sheet while the Phantom's hands
grabbed his
neck. The Phantom hurled Cage away, and Armand realized that
the
portrait of his father was no longer in that room. Luke
clutched
the
Phantom's hood and was scared by the horrifying face under it.
The
Phantom
disappeared in the darkness, actually using a secret passage in the
wardrobe. During the tangle, Jacques
had his
hand wounded, so Armand brought him to the hospital where Dr. Burstein
tried to
bandage Jacques. The Haitian reacted from the pain, smashing a wardrobe
on
Luke Cage's head, who was fortuitously there, and Armand had to calm
his pal. 
The following night, the Phantom visited Luke's office again, but this time Power Man was prepared. He attacked the Phantom but was enveloped by his shroud. The Phantom fled using the same secret passages arriving in the basement of the Museum of Miracles on the other side of the street. But Power Man had found the underground passage and they had to fight him again. The ramming charge of the hero struck Jacques, knocking him out. Armand, still wearing Adrian's' mask, tumbled, pushing Luke Cage into some electric wires and then switched the current on. He ordered Luke to confess where he had hidden the portrait of his father, but the hero resisted the electrocution and smashed the circuits. Armand then fled. Some hours later, he reached Brunt's offices at the top of his building and entered via the window, terrorizing the old man. Armand confessed everything and accused him of his father's death. Power Man also arrived on the scene. He saved Armand from the bullet shot by Brunt, but could do nothing when Armand flung himself on Brunt. The two smashed the window and fell down, but were both killed from the fall. Armand had avenged his father.
Comments: Created by Archie Goodwin (writer) and Billy Graham (pencils & inks).
The fire that destroyed the GEM theater and apparently killed Adrian Loring happened in the 1940s. This is a topical date and could be considered about 30 years before the Phantom's appearance.
This character was called simply "Phantom" in the issue. The name "Phantom of 42nd Street" was on the cover.
Profile by Spidermay.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Phantom of the 42nd street has no known connections to:
Jacques has no known connections to:
Jasper Brunt has no known connections to:
Jacques impersonated the Phantom of the 42nd street together with Armand. He was very strong (athlete level). Jacques was Haitian and spoke French, but didn't speak English.
(Hero for Hire#4 (fb) - BTS) - When Jacques was a child, a bad doctor did not cure him in the right way and he suffered very much. Many years later, Jacques met Armand in a prison in Haiti. Armand convinced him to help him in his plan of revenge against Brunt. In New York, they took a job at the Museum of Miracles on 42nd Street, then Jacques became the arms and the legs of the Phantom persona, while Armand was the voice and brain behind the figure. The Phantom later raided some of Brunt's properties in Broadway, scaring people and ruining Brunt's business, but also looking for evidence that would prove that Brunt was involved in Adrian Loring's death.
(Hero for Hire#4) - Jacques and Armand looked for a portrait that once was in the GEM Theater as it contained evidence implicating Brunt. They tried to scare Luke Cage but in the tangle Jacques' hand was wounded. They eventually had to escape through a secret passage. Jacques and Armand went to a hospital, but when Dr. Burstein tried to approach Jacques, he went mad and treated the doctor unkindly. Jacques smashed a wardrobe on Luke Cage but Armand calmed his colleague down. Luke Cage started to suspect something about him, even if he was 30 centimeters shorter than the Phantom. That night, the Phantom entered Luke Cage's apartment again but was surprised by Power Man bashing through the door. The Phantom escaped using the same tunnel, but this time Luke Cage followed him, arriving in the basement of the Museum. Enraged, Power Man rammed the Phantom and knocked Jacques out.
--Hero for Hire#4
Brunt was a businessman and a friend of Adrian Loring. However, Brunt illegally acquired some properties from Adrian Loring. Loring had gathered evidence to regain his properties, but Brunt killed him in one of his theaters, then set it on fire. However, he didn't know about the evidence against him or about Armand, Loring's son. Brunt acquired all of Loring's theaters, transforming them into cinemas, and his business prospered. About 30 years later, the Phantom started stalking the night, scaring people in Brunt's cinemas. Brunt also saw the Phantom's face and was terrorized to see Adrian Loring's face. Desperate, Brunt tried to hire Power Man. The hero refused but he still privately investigated the case. That night, a dwarf, dressed in black and with Adrian Loring's devastated face, visited Brunt in his office. The Phantom revealed himself as Armand, seeking revenge and his inheritance. Brunt shot at him, but Power Man, who had found the evidence in the old portrait of Adrian Loring, arrived just in time and stopped the deadly bullet with his hand. Armand pushed Brunt out of the window. The two fell and died.
--Hero for Hire#4
Adrian Loring was a businessman and possessed a lot of theaters in the Broadway area. Loring liked to secretly see how work went on in his theaters and had some secret passages and underground tunnels built that connected his properties. Adrian had a son, Armand, a dwarf, who fled from home when he was a boy. People forgot about Armand, but Adrian never ceased to look for him and, after several years, found him in a Haitian prison. There, Loring became reacquainted with his son and told him about Jasper Brunt, who had illicitly acquired some of his properties. Adrian had the evidence to demonstrate that Brunt had done it illegally and told Armand that he had hidden the papers in the portrait in his own office at the GEM Theater. However, before Armand was released, Adrian was killed by Brunt, who simulated a accidental accident. Adrian's body was never found.
--Hero for Hire#4
images:
(without ads)
Hero for Hire#4, p1, pan1 (Phantom, main image)
Hero for Hire#4, p3, pan4 (Phantom, head shot)
Hero for Hire#4, p19, pan3 (Armand, head shot)
Hero for Hire#4, p19, pan5 (Armand, full body)
Hero for Hire#4, p8, pan6 (Jacques and Armand)
Hero for Hire#4, p7, pan1 (Adrian Loring)
Hero for Hire#4, p10, pan4 (Jasper Brunt)
Appearances:
Hero for Hire#4 (December, 1972) - Archie Goodwin (writer), Billy
Graham (pencils & inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Last updated: 08/07/08
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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