Here's one that would just be too wierd to not be fun: The Phantom and Captain Africa!
Captain Africa was a very direct rip-off of the Phantom and his story. What makes the character (and movie serial) more than just a footonote is that he was played by none other than Clayton Moore who went on to become The Lone Ranger!
Ticktock
Are either the Phantom or Captain Africa serials any good?
I've been having a lot of fun tracking down serials on DVD and was wondering about those two.
I like seeing the ones based on existing characters. Keep thinking it was cool that Flash Gordon, Mandrake and the Phantom got serials. You could do a Defenders of the Earth serial.
I've never seen The Phantom serial, but the middle of the Captain Africa one was pretty good. I saw (I think) episodes 7-10 on a Bootlegger's TV at a show in Virginia a few years ago. It was wierdly cool to see and hear Clayton Moore in something other than the role of the Lone Ranger.
Are either the Phantom or Captain Africa serials any good?
Phantom serial: Fun, amazingly entertaining, and fairly faithful to the comic as it was in the 30s and 40s.
Captain Africa: Worst. Film. Ever. Or, at least the first episode was, which was the only one I cared about watching.
Course, talking about serials opens up a whole new bunch of crossovers:
Phantom/ Nyoka ( or the serial jungle hero of your choice)
Phantom/ Green Hornet ( though, the Masked Marvel or the Copperhead would be cool too)
Phantom/ Rocketman
Phantom/Green Archer
Like many of the other posters here I like that the Phantom is not your typical hero. He dies. He marries. He has kids. To heck with the other long underwear crowd.
I'm kicking myself for not thinking of these two earlier:
The Phantom and Jon Sable: Freelance. The adventure can take place in the present, when Jon was a Safari Guide/Gamekeeper or a combination thereof.
The Phantom and Jonah Hex. We've already seen the Phantom in the Old West, who's to say that a certain bounty hunter didn't help him out at some point?
Ticktock
Very nice picture from Mr. Layton BTW.
John Hart was the actor who played Captain Africa. He was also the actor who replaced Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. There are early promotional stills featuring Hart as the Phantom. He has been known to sign some of them at personal appearances.
When the licensing ran out before the release, his Phantom film was changed to Captain Africa and the costume was changed slightly so as not to intrude on the copyright claims to the Phantom. I haven't watched it in years, but I'm told that some of the old footage showing him in the distance was used.
John Hart was the actor who played Captain Africa. He was also the actor who replaced Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger. There are early promotional stills featuring Hart as the Phantom. He has been known to sign some of them at personal appearances.
When the licensing ran out before the release, his Phantom film was changed to Captain Africa and the costume was changed slightly so as not to intrude on the copyright claims to the Phantom. I haven't watched it in years, but I'm told that some of the old footage showing him in the distance was used.
Thank you Rhoades for the correction! It's been five or six years since I saw the bootleg and I must have just replaced John Hart in my mind with Clayton Moore.
I still think it would make an interesting crossover though.
Ticktock