Comic Title: Phantom Stranger #1
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: October 1987
On Sale Date: July 21, 1987 Newsstand Date July 21, 1987
Source: DC Releases, #41

Newsstand Date July 21, 1987
Source: Amazing Heroes, #121

Shipping Date June 30, 1987
Source: DC Releases, #41

Shipping Date June 30, 1987
Source: Amazing Heroes, #121

Shipping Date June 30, 1987
Source: Focus, #1, Page BC

Copyright Date June 23, 1987
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1987
DC publication dates beyond April 1981 listed by the LoC
represent shipping dates NOT newsstand sale dates

Shipping Date June 30, 1987
Source: Comic Shop News, #1

Cover Price: $0.75
Page Count: 32
Editor: Mike Carlin

Title: "The Heart of a Stranger"
Pages: 22

Feature(s):
Phantom Stranger (Post-Crisis)

Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Penciller: Mike Mignola
Inker: P. Craig Russell
Letterer: John E. Workman, Jr.
Colorist: Petra Scotese (Goldberg)

Reprinted In:
DC Universe by Mike Mignola HC (2017)
DC Universe by Mike Mignola TPB (2018)

Feature Character(s)

• Phantom Stranger (last appearance in Spectre #7; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #2)

Supporting Character(s)

• Commissioner Gordon (last appearance in Batman #412; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #4)
• Jimmy Olsen (last appearance in Adventures of Superman #433; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #2)
• Negative Woman (last appearance in Doom Patrol #3; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #3)
• Jenet Klyburn (last appearance in Fury of Firestorm #58; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #2)

Villain(s)

• Eclipso (last appearance in Outsiders #18; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #2)
• Lycaon (a demonic cult leader; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #2)
• Rizzoli (a mob clerk; not named in this story; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #3)
• Eclipso's henchman (no further appearances)
• A demon (summoned by Lycaon; destroyed in this story; no further appearances)

Other Character(s)

• Ronald Reagan (last appearance in Captain Atom #8; next appearance in Phantom Stranger #3)
• Lieutenant Stiles (a Gotham City detective; no further appearances)
• Randy (Jenet Klyburn's boss; no further appearances)
• Winston (a government agent; no further appearances)
• Ravonovich (a U.N. official; no further appearances)
• Maverick (an undercover agent; dies in this story; no further appearances)

Comments:
This story continues in Phantom Stranger #2.

Eclipso and Bruce Gordon are depicted as separate individuals again in this story despite the fact that they were rejoined in Outsiders #18.

Synopsis:
In Gotham City, a gang war leaves several mobsters dead. After reviewing the scene with his detectives, Commissioner Gordon is called to the Temple of Divine Light where the Phantom Stranger is battling Lycaon, Chosen of Chaos, a cult leader. The Stranger is unable to defeat a demon summoned by Lycaon with his magic, but Gordon is able to dispatch the demon with mere bullets.

Elsewhere tensions around the world escalate due to a series of seemingly unrelated events. Earthquakes rock Romania. Jenet Klyburn believes they are unnatural in origin. The Soviet and American governments are at odds over the location of nuclear missiles. Valentina Vostok believes that the governments are being manipulated, but one of her agents disappears before he can deliver information.

The agent, Maverick, is a captive of Eclipso. The dark villain has been manipulating events to plunge the world into darkness. The Phantom Stranger tracks him down, but his magic is ineffective just as it was against Lycaon. The Stranger then tracks down Eclipso's other half Bruce Gordon, who is getting drunk at a bar.