PHANTO BAND
Membership: "Harlequin", Marcia, Witherspoon, others
Purpose: Robbery
Affiliations: None
Enemies: Blackstone, Rhoda Brent, Dalanza, el Gato, the Rodini Brothers
Aliases: None
Base of Operations: Manhattan, New York, USA
First Appearance: Blackstone the Magician I#2 (May, 1948)
History:
(Blackstone the Magician I#2 - (fb) BTS) - The Phanto Band were a gang of thieves led by Witherspoon. The Phanto Band were given their name by the police because they were always dressed in masquerade costumes while committing their crimes.
When the Club Rio Del Oro held a masquerade ball, Witherspoon decided the Phanto Band should rob the club, with their costumed selves hiding in plain sight among the guests. As Witherspoon was the chairman of the ball's committee, he had access to a list of all of the invited guests and what costumes they would be wearing. Several of the invited guests were entertainers who were scheduled to put on a show for the assembled guests.
(Blackstone the Magician I#2) - When Blackstone the Magician arrived dressed as a pirate alongside his aide Rhoda Brent, wearing a colonial dress, Witherspoon, dressed as a king, checked them off his list while conferring with a member of the band who was dressed as harlequin. Suspicious of Witherspoon and the harlequin, Blackstone told Rhoda to change her costume so she'd be anonymous.
Witherspoon told the band to begin capturing each of the entertainers from the list then wear their costumes so that their own identities would remain secret. The band quickly cornered the entertainers on their own, knocked them unconscious, stole their costumes, then threw them down a chute into a cellar. Guests they captured included the acrobatic Rodini Brothers, the contortionist el Gato and the tightrope walker Dalanza.
Witherspoon sent his female band member Marcia to assume Rhoda's costume. Marcia went looking for Rhoda and found she'd already switched from her colonial dress into a ballerina costume. Marcia put on the colonial dress, ambushed Rhoda, then donned the ballerina costume. Pretending to be Rhoda, Marcia lured Blackstone into a back office where two other band members knocked him out, took his costume and threw him down the chute.
Witherspoon opened the club's safe so the band could rob it, then switched into his formal attire so he wouldn't be suspected as one of the gang. As Witherspoon and the other committee members summoned all of the guests into an auditorium to announce prizes, the rest of the band burst into the room armed with guns and held up the guests.
However, by the time the Phanto Band were ready to flee with their ill-gotten gains, Blackstone and the other captured entertainers had freed themselves and quickly picked out the thieves by recognizing their own stolen costumes.
Blackstone then led the committee members into the club's office, where the safe had been looted. Blackstone revealed he'd suspected an inside job and put luminous paint on the money. When Blackstone switched off the lights, Witherspoon's hands glowed, exposing him as one of the thieves.
Witherspoon, Marcia and the harlequin tried to flee. Opening Blackstone's trunk, Marcia found guns and handed them to her allies but the guns proved to be fakes. The police arrived and arrested the Phanto Band,recovering all of the stolen goods.
Comments: Created by Walter Gibson and an unidentified artist.
Blackstone (born Harry Boughton) was a famous stage magician from the 1900s to 1960s. He licensed his image in a number of ways, including magic kits for children, a radio program on Mutual (1944-1945, 1948-1949) and a number of comic books. From 1941-1946, Street & Smith published Blackstone's adventures in Super-Magician Comics. In 1946, Vital Publications began a Blackstone series drawn by E. C. Stoner, but after 3 issues it moved to E.C. with a new issue #1. Finally, the series moved to Marvel with issue #2, but without Stoner as artist. Walter Gibson appears to have written most Blackstone adventure on radio or in the comics. Because most of the radio shows are lost and Gibson worked on both, I can't be certain if the Phanto Band originated on the radio (or were adapted from comics to the radio).
I confess I don't know why they were the "Phanto" Band and not Phantom Band.
This profile was completed on 09/06/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
The Phanto Band should not be confused with:
One member of the Phanto Band was dressed as harlequin. He was Witherspoon's right-hand man during the masquerade ball robbery. He was apparently the only member of the Phanto Band other than Witherspoon who did not change his costume to impersonate one of the captured entertainers. When Blackstone liberated himself and the other entertainers, Marcia gave the harlequin a gun from Blackstone's trunk but it proved to be a trick gun with no bullets. The harlequin was arrested by the police.
--Blackstone the Magician I#2
Marcia was a member of the Phanto Band who came to the masquerade ball dressed as a fox. Witherspoon ordered her to adopt Rhoda Brant's costume so she could lead Blackstone into a trap. Discovering Rhoda had already changed out of her colonial dress costume, Marcia donned it then ambushed Rhoda, tricking her into thinking Marcia was Rhoda's own reflection. Switching into Rhoda's ballerina costume, Marcia led Blackstone into a room where other band members captured him, took his costume and threw him into the cellar. When Blackstone and the other captives escaped, Rhoda recognized Marcia in her costume and attacked her. Reaching into Blackstone's trunk, Marcia retrieved three guns and gave them to Witherspoon and the harlequin, but the guns proved to be trick guns with no bullets. The police arrested Marcia.
--Blackstone the Magician I#2
Witherspoon was the leader of the Phanto Band and also served as chairman of the committee that oversaw the masquerade ball at Club Rio Del Oro. Witherspoon schemed to rob the club during the masquerade ball as the band's costumes would help them blend in with the crowd. Witherspoon came to the ball dressed as a king and used the committee's guest list to identify who each of the guests were from their costumes. He ordered the Phanto Band to capture each of the entertainers from the list and put on their costumes so that when they robbed the guests, the entertainers would be suspected as the thieves. While the band was engaged in this work, Witherspoon stole money from the club's safe, but Blackstone had treated the bills with luminous paint. After Blackstone escaped the band's trap, he showed the other committee members the paint on Witherspoon's hands, exposing him as the band's leader. Witherspoon tried to use a gun Marcia took from Blackstone's trunk, but it proved to be a trick gun with no bullets. The police arrested Witherspoon.
--Blackstone the Magician I#2
images: (without ads)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 1, panel 1 (main)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 4, panel 1 (supplemental)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 9, panel 3 (harlequin)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 3, panel 4 (Marcia as fox)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 4, panel 7 (Marcia impersonating
Rhoda)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 2, panel 2 (Witherspoon as king)
Blackstone the Magician I#2, page 9, panel 5 (Witherspoon unmasked)
Appearances:
Blackstone the Magician I#2 (May, 1948) - Walter Gibson (writer),
unidentified penciler, unidentified inker, Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/18/2026
Last updated:
09/06/2026
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
Copyright info
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