Hanna-Barbera The Funky Phantom #4

The Funky Phantom comic series was published by Gold Key Comics between 1971 and 1972, serving as a direct tie-in to the Hanna-Barbera animated television series of the same name. The show, which premiered in 1971, was a supernatural spin on the mystery-solving format established by Scooby-Doo, featuring a group of teenagers and a Revolutionary War-era ghost named Jonathan Wellington 'Mudsy' Muddlemore. These comics were developed to capitalize on the popularity of Saturday morning cartoon blocks, providing young viewers with portable extensions of the episodic mysteries they watched on screen.

The visual style of the Gold Key issues relied on house-style illustrations that mirrored the character designs created by Iwao Takamoto and the animation studio's lead artists. While the comics utilized the show's established character models to maintain brand consistency, the storytelling often leaned into the specific tone of the animated series—blending historical settings with lighthearted, spook-themed humor. The series was generally received as a modest commercial endeavor typical of the era's licensed media, valued primarily by contemporary audiences for its nostalgia and connection to the broader Hanna-Barbera canon.