What I’m about to say may bring back a memory for you, but if you watched animated series in the 1980s and 1990s, you probably remember The Phantom. This character, who wore purple pajamas and a mask, starred in both the series ‘Defenders of the Earth’ and his own series ‘Phantom 2040’. He gained prominence in the late 20th century with live-action films and even video games, but he never reached the popularity of other superheroes.

But for Papua New Guinea, the Ghost has become such an important part of both their culture and society that it has even become part of tribal art and its image has been used in all sorts of social campaigns.

Ghost. Although the animated films and series date back to the end of the last century, the Phantom was born much earlier. Specifically, in 1936. It was a work of American cartoonist Lee Falk. The inspiration for the character came from legends and stories such as King Arthur, Robin Hood, Tarzan or El Cid. Like any good superhero, the Phantom has a crime-fighting mission, but his own origins are quite mythological. He did not come from another planet, he did not have a superpower such as being rich, and he was not bitten by a spider: he was a normal person.

Christopher was traveling from London to the Indies in 1525 when his ship was attacked by pirates. He was the only survivor, stranded on an island, and swore to rid society of piracy and tyranny with a skull in his hand. But be careful: he involved his entire lineage in this task, and so all of his descendants in future generations would have to take on the task as well. For this reason, the Ghost survived through the generations, earning him the nickname ‘The Man Who Could Not Die’. God-given immortality, wow.

Pacific Front. Although the character has not been treated as kindly as DC or Marvel, it is estimated that he has been translated into 25 languages ​​and that over 100 million people in 40 countries continue to read his adventures. His popularity was in the middle of the last century. During World War II, New Guinea was one of the Pacific theaters where the Allies (especially the North Americans and Australians) and the Japanese faced off.

As a form of entertainment, American soldiers received comic book packages, and among the comics were those of The Phantom. Americans stationed in the highlands shared the comics with the tribesmen, and members who could read English would tell the stories to others. The iconography would have attracted the tribes’ attention as well as the location of the character’s homeland: the fictional country of Bangalla. Although it has African influences, it also has Asian influences, and most importantly, it is far removed from the cities of other comics and resembles landscapes such as the highlands of New Guinea.

Shield examples with Phantom image

Tribal conflicts in the 70s. There were hundreds of tribes in Papua and New Guinea. Many still exist, but Europeans didn’t reach their lands until the 1930s. Tribes like the Wahgi carried large shields made from tree trunks and decorated with feathers. They were used in warfare, and because they were so heavy, some people said they needed the strength of their ancestors to lift them. Remember how the current Ghost was the heir to the previous ones and a great warrior? I’m sure the Wahgi liked that too, because that’s how they saw themselves.

In any case, there was a period of relative peace between the tribes until the tribal conflicts returned in the 70s. The Wahgi needed to bring the shields back to the forefront, so these were decorated using tribal art. It was at this time that artist Wahgi Kaipel Ka came on the scene and decorated the shields with images of the Ghost. Alas, firearms came along and those wooden shields became obsolete. New ones were made of sheet metal and steel, again decorated with Lee Falk’s superhero motifs, but were eventually shelved.

Tribe pop. The term “tribal pop culture” is used when elements of popular culture begin to seep into even the most isolated societies and incorporate them into their own folklore. Kaipel Ka not only designed the Ghost shields, but was also responsible for the public reading of comics and the transmission of comics through those pages. One of the reasons he began capturing the character with warrior tools was because he felt that leaders should carry the symbols of courage, strength, and intergenerational heritage that the character represented.

Something that can be seen in this documentary, in about 10 minutes, we know that history. But it was not only The Phantom that permeated Papua New Guinea culture; Western brands such as Coca-Cola, beer or cigarettes were also part of this tribal pop art.

Unlock memory.

Superheroes, new gods. I’m going to digress for a few lines with The Phantom (but I promise it’s related). All cultures have mythologies. There are one or more gods in which everything is explained for centuries, where they find solace and have that spiritual refuge. Also mythological beings and characters that are usually associated with the gods.

American gods and mythology are inherited, but (not so exaggeratedly) they have created their own heroes. Your superheroes. I never liked it as a movie, but I must admit that Zack Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ (the four-hour version) offers a vision of superheroes as new gods, almost inhabitants of an Olympus above good, evil and humanity. And why not, maybe in a few centuries they will consider Batman the same way we consider Hercules today. It is clear that there is some of this in Papua New Guinea.

Keyword in Norway. Returning to The Phantom, comics were not only important to Wahgi. Falk’s work drew inspiration from Scandinavian elements, and whether coincidentally or not, his biggest influence was Norway. The author himself has said that during World War II, some Norwegian resistance movements, as well as other secret groups in Haiti and Argentina, used ‘The Phantom’ as a code word.

Of course, these stories (as well as stories from the tribal pop culture of Papua New Guinea) delighted Lee Falk, who wrote stories about the Ghost until his final days. He died in 1999 at the age of 87, removing his oxygen mask in his final hours to write new stories.

Pictures | Ghost 2040, Richard, Ghost

In Xataka | US lands on an empty island during World War II. More than 300 casualties in nine days