KEY ISSUE

THE PHANTOM STRANGER #4

December 1969

KEYEarliest catalogued appearance of Tala.

—LISTINGS

1EDITIONS

—SOLD

artistBill Draut, Murphy Anderson, Neal Adams, Werner RotheditorJoe Orlando

While out in the tropics, Dr Thirteen and Marie witness a ceremony where a man is sacrificing himself to Tala, a death goddess that the indigenous people worship. When Dr. 13 tries to debunk their beliefs as superstition, he unleashes Tala upon the world. Tala follows them back to the United States, riding their plane, where she engages in a brief battle with the Phantom Stranger in the air. However, when Dr. 13 confronts the Stranger after they land, he dismisses the whole episode as yet another hoax.