Phantom Bullet

The Phantom Bullet, born Allan Lewis in Wilmington, Delaware, was an American reporter and vigilante hero in New York City. Active for just a few months in 1940, he was shot and killed by unknown assailants, ostensibly criminals he was attempting to apprehend.

Biography

A gifted but lazy reporter, Lewis took up a role as an investigator in 1940 on a lark from one of his colleagues. He investigated a murder in which a millionaire was strangled to death in his twentieth-floor locked apartment, finding a bright feather clutched in the victim's hand that had apparently gone unnoticed by the police. He also noticed that the apartment's safe hadn't been opened, perhaps signaling that the murderer had gotten frightened and fled, and that they would return.

Lewis hid out on the roof of the apartment building, where soon a strange man climbed to the top by rope. When attempting to confront him, Lewis was attacked by several bird-like men. He awoke hours later, clutching another feather. Arriving late to work, Lewis was assigned to a story involving a "screwy inventor" claiming to have invented a new and remarkable type of gun. Lewis came to find that the gun worked as any other pistol, albeit with bullets made of ice that melted away after use. Fearing that he and his work were in danger, the man gave Lewis the gun and its plans; these fears turned out to be well-founded, as the inventor was killed later that day.

During his time as a reporter, Lewis had developed a distaste for the red tape, bureaucracy, and unreliability involved in the legal system. Recognizing the untrackable potential of the gun he had inherited, he decided to take his new investigation hobby further by crafting a costume and christening himself the Phantom Bullet. He then learned of a man who had received a threatening letter demanding money, and hid out with the man in his home. The strange man from the apartment soon appeared and claimed his ransom, once again calling upon his followers to disrupt the Phantom Bullet. Bullet was able to get a shot off on the leader, killing him, but his followers were nonetheless able to flee with the money. Bullet was able to intercept the next ransom letter and traced it back to the home of Alveroz Monez, an African explorer whose tribe of "savages" had been committing the crimes. The feathers that Bullet had found were from their headdresses. Bullet killed Monez with his ice gun, leaving no evidence.

After a few months of crimefighting, Phantom Bullet was gunned down by unknown criminals in a back alley. His death inspired Angel to avenge him and continue fighting crime behind a mask.