Mike Mayhew — Lady Of Quality

Original Art and The Artists

Starman #44, July 1998

Continuing our series on the roots of the Watchmen characters.

Isn’t the Silk Spectre actually Nightshade, the only female superhero in the Charlton superhero line-up? After all, all the other main characters are derived from silver-age Charlton heroes.

Or, if not, perhaps she is an altered version of DC’s Black Canary, who, thanks to retconning, became a mother/daughter Golden Age/Silver Age legacy character?

What does Alan Moore say? He said at one time that she’s based on the Phantom Lady (Sandra Knight), created by the Eisner Iger studio in 1940, and first published by Quality Comics in 1940. (Moore says Nightshade was “boring.” I’m not sure what, if anything, he’s said about Black Canary.)

Phantom Lady had quite a few incarnations in the Golden Age, moving from publisher to publisher, ultimately becoming yet another casualty of the Golden Age.

She is perhaps best known for the cover of Fox Features issue #17 (by Matt Baker), prominently featured in Frederic Wertham’s infamous anti- comics tome Seduction of the Innocent as an example of titillation (costume) and sadism (bondage.)

She first appeared in the DC universe as part of the Freedom Fighters, a group of superheroes fighting Nazi domination of an alternate Earth (“X”), in Justice League #107 (October 1973.) The rest of the Freedom Fighters are also superheroes from Quality Comics — DC obtained Quality’s characters in 1956, but with the exception of Plastic Man, had kept the characters in limbo.

Between her multiple iterations and publishers in the Golden Age, and her (at least) four incarnations at DC, there are likely more versions of Phantom Lady than any other secondary character in comics history.

In this post-crisis version, she is retconned as Starman’s cousin, helping him fight crime in the “Golden Age.” In fact, this great action page by Mike Mayhew is from the classic James Robinson Starman series.

As for Charlton’s Nightshade? She can’t catch a break. She was briefly introduced as a partner for Captain Atom and received a short-lived back-up feature in his title just prior to its cancellation. Despite some fine early art by Jim Aparo, those stories have never been reprinted — other than public domain press. 

Silk Spectre 1 and 2 from the 2009 Watchmen film, plus SS 1 from the Before Watchman series.
Phantom Lady made the wrong kind of headlines when Matt Baker’s cover appeared in the sensationalistic and dunderheaded Seduction of the Innocent.
Phantom Lady’s original costume, above, which was modified only slightly when she first appeared in the DCU, below. The illustration for the DC Who’s Who entry below right is by the legendary Dave Stevens (Rocketeer).
Key Black Canary appearances include her first solo story in the Golden Age, along with her reintroduction in the Silver Age, culminating in her moving from Earth-2 to Earth-1 to join the Justice League. Got that?
Post Crisis and Post Watchmen, Black Canary ultimately becomes officially two characters, mother (original) and daughter (modern), as outlined in Secret Origins #50, left and Who’s Who in the DCU, right.
Nightshade made her first appearance alongside Captain Atom in issue #82, and they received her own back-up feature a few issues later. Despite being Charlton’s only female character, Alan Moore says she is not the model for Silk Spectre.