Phantom Stranger
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The Phantom Stranger is a fictional character of unspecified paranormal origins who battles mysterious and occult forces in various titles published by DC Comics, sometimes under their Vertigo imprint.
History
The Phantom Stranger is unique among his contemporary comic book characters in that neither his origin nor his exact nature have ever been revealed. DC produced a special issue of Secret Origins that gave him four different possible origins. The most popular one, written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Joe Orlando, is that he is a fallen angel that sided with neither Heaven nor Hell during Lucifer's rebellion and thus was condemned to walk the Earth alone for all time.
In his earliest appearances, the Phantom Stranger would prove supernatural events to be hoaxes. In later stories, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified superhuman powers to defeat them. He later appeared in various other DC Universe titles, sometimes as a major participant; in others, the Phantom Stranger just appears and gives advice or warning to the featured heroes.
The Phantom Stranger played a major part in Neil Gaiman's Books of Magic, taking protagonist Tim Hunter through time to show him the history and nature of magic. He has assisted the Justice League on numerous occasions, even being formally elected to the group in JLA #103--though he did not acknowledge his membership until JLA #143. He attempted to prevent Hal Jordan from uniting the resurrected Oliver Queen with Queen's soul in Heaven in Kevin Smith's relaunch of Green Arrow, prompting Jordan to erupt into full-blown Spectre mode.Strange.jpg
Powers and abilities
As mysterious as the man himself. He has demonstrated enormous powers and capabilities, the exact origin of which is undetermined. He can travel enormous distances in a very short period of time, such as to the JLA Watchtower and Apokolips. He can travel to mystical dimensions, such as Heaven, Hell and the realm occupied by the Quintessence. He can fire energy bolts of great force. He can dispel magic, reveal illusions and survive in the depths of space. In Day of Vengeance #2, he survived against a battle with the Spectre, even though Spectre was trying his best to kill him (although the Stranger was transmuted to a mouse)