Nearly five centuries ago, pirates took the life of merchant ship captain Christopher Standish. In the heat of the battle aboard the ship, Standish's son was knocked overboard to wash ashore on a remote beach. After stumbling upon the body of his father's killer, young Standish swore an oath on the murderer's skull to devote his life, and the lives of his sons and their sons, to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty and injustice. To the outside world, this man, seemingly immortal, has always worn the mask. As the legend grew, it transcended the life of any one mortal. And that legend became The Phantom!