This article has been updated with comments from DePaul.
King Features Syndicate has announced Alex Segura will take over as writer of The Phantom comic strip this December. He will succeed Tony DePaul, who has written the strip since the death of creator Lee Falk in 1999. Mike Manley and Jeff Weigel will respectively continue to draw the daily strips and the Sunday editions of the comic, something they have done since 2016 and 2017.
On Bluesky, Segura acknowledged “these are big shoes to fill and I know Phantom phans [sic] new and old will be watching. I’m only one of a handful of writers to handle the strip (and, I believe, the first Latino!) and I approach it with the reverence and humility the Phantom deserves. Looking forward to talking more. In the meantime, hats off to Tony. This is very much his well-earned moment.”
On his blog, DePaul said he was only informed of the decision to replace him the day before Segura’s run was announced. He became suspicious when King Features asked him to stop writing Sunday stories on September 21, but the company did not respond to his inquiries until mid-October. “What’s in the bank will carry the [Sunday] strip through the beginning of April 2027,” while his last daily script was dated for December 5, and King has his notes for what would’ve happened next.
He says, “Alex Segura will write the strips published December 7 and thereafter. I don’t know Alex but he’s well regarded in the business, talented, a great guy by all accounts. And he’s a comics guy, which I’m not. I’ve never been in the comics business. I came to the newspaper strips out of newspapers.”
Created by Falk in 1936, the Phantom is Kit Walker, the defender of the fictional African country of Bangalla. He was one of the first masked superheroes to wear a pupil-less mask and skintight costume, bridging the gap between earlier pulp figures like the Shadow, and subsequent ones like Batman. Segura previously created (with Michael Moreci and John Amor) The Phantom 2040: A New Shadow, a reimagining of the 1994-96 cartoon, which launched in 2025, and is set to return for its second “season” next year.
The Phantom also currently stars in a series of comic books from Mad Cave Studios (where Segura and Moreci have written several Dick Tracy comics). The latest installment, Ray Fawkes and Russell Olson‘s The Phantom vs. The Singh Brotherhood, was released on August 19. King Features’ partnership with Mad Cave will continue in the meantime with more Flash Gordon releases (including the monthly ongoing), and a Rip Kirby revival starting November 4.
King Features says, “We’ll share more about Alex’s plans in the coming weeks. For now, please join us in thanking Tony for 27 years of storytelling and welcoming Alex to the daily and Sunday adventures. Thank you for being part of The Phantom’s story.” You can continue to read the strip at Comics Kingdom.
Wow, what a terrible example of “journalism”- Tony DePaul was handled very badly by the syndicate who, initially, refused to respond to him when he reached out three separate times. This is essentially Kings’ press release and not an actual “report”, which is par the course for The Beat increasingly- DePaul has expressed his acceptance but also confusion at how his nearly three-decade tenure has concluded. I would think Segura would realize that, if they can do that to DePaul, they can do the same thing to him.
Also, Segura didn’t “create” Phantom 2040- he did a new presentation of it. We need to stop saying “created” when someone simply does a new take on an existing character.
I was unaware of any drama with DePaul, so my bad for not looking further into it; I just assumed that if someone has been writing something for 27 years, it was an amicable decision to part ways.
I used to be pedantic about using the word “create” for anything adapted from something else too, but at the end of the day, while the new Phantom 2040 is a reimagining, it was still created by its, well, creative team.
I appreciate your response. At the same time, “my bad for not looking further into it”- this is a news story, you’re reporting for a global audience- isn’t it your job to look further into it?
DePaul was ghosted and ignored by the syndicate after reaching out to them three times; they unceremoniously sacked him with no forewarning while he was in the middle of a story. I’m not saying Segura is a bad writer or did anything wrong; but his choice of words is somewhat insensitive if he’s unaware or glossing over if he is. To do that to any writer after nearly three decades is terrible treatment. DePaul stated he could take it, just give it to him straight- they went around corners. I suppose in this sense, they’re not unlike Marvel or DC of times past.
If you mean the story arc was created by a creative team, that’s a very specific use of the term. Phantom 2040 was an established incarnation and Segura certainly created the alter ego of the “new” Phantom 2040- but otherwise, the concept, the costume, everything else was relatively the same and predates Segura’s involvement. It’s akin to when showrunners on an MCU show are credited as the “creator”- it’s a misuse when they, essentially, are simply adapting what someone else created for a new medium.
I can’t imagine Segura was aware, much like how the creators of Mad Cave’s upcoming Don Quixote reimagining were unaware of another pitch before the plagiarism allegations that ensued after its announcement.
Your comments are making me wonder to what extent I am feeling burned out and overstretched, going through the motions for anything besides legal allegations. But thank you anyway, you are the first person who’s brought it up to me, and I will have a look into what DePaul has said.
My respect to you Christopher, and thank you for hearing. I would look at how the Daily Cartoonist has covered this as well as DePaul’s own blog. I don’t think Segura is a bad guy or has done anything wrong and likely was unaware when signing this deal, but he has made statements since DePaul shared his feelings that I think could have showed some degree of empathy.
Comments are closed.