Phantasm (comics)

Phantasm
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	New Teen Titans vol.2 #73 (1991)
Created by	Marv Wolfman
In-story information
Alter ego	Danny Chase, later the souls of Azarath
Team affiliations	New Teen Titans Central Bureau of Intelligence
Abilities	Telekinesis Extremely intelligent with a photographic memory

Danny Chase (later called Phantasm) is a fictional superhero in DC Comics publications.

Phantasm first appeared in New Teen Titans Annual Vol. 2 #3 and was created by Marv Wolfman.

Danny Chase was a short-lived member of the New Teen Titans. A creation of Marv Wolfman, the series writer and co-creator, Danny was raised by parents who were international spies. As a result, he was extensively trained in espionage, infiltration and intelligence acquisition. In addition, he was a metahuman with powerful telekinetic abilities and a near-photographic memory. Although Wolfman hoped the character would restore the "teen hero" feel to a group composed mostly of characters in their twenties, Danny was also intended as a comic foil for one of the group's foundational characters, Changeling (now Beast Boy).

Problematically, the character was often portrayed as an overly snide, egotistical brat. This quickly proved unpopular with most fans, and pro- and anti-Chase letters sparked heated debate in the letter column. Wolfman tried various ways to make the character more appealing to the Titans' fan base, including having him briefly disguised as the mysterious "Phantasm" during the Titans Hunt storyline.

At one point early in the Titans Hunt storyline, Danny Chase found himself confronted by two members of the Wildebeest society inside a shopping mall. One of them blasted him away and assumed him to be dead. He had survived and decided to use his telekinetic powers to assemble a costume of sorts from assorted items - a hockey mask, a bolt of fabric, and a robot-voice simulator to disguise his voice - and present himself as the "Phantasm" in order to remain incognito. However, negative fan pressure was strong enough to write Danny out of the series.

In the end, the character was redeemed somewhat when he willingly gave up his life to save Raven's homeworld of Azarath as he, Arella, and the disembodied souls of Azarath were all merged into a new entity that would also refer to itself as the Phantasm who wore the costume that Danny Chase was wearing.

Danny Chase's body briefly returned as an undead slave to Brother Blood in the third Teen Titans series (2003-2011), in issues #30-#31 (Jan-Feb 2006), in a storyline written by Geoff Johns.

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