Col. John Clayton

"Phantasm"

First Appearance: Forte #1 (original), Forte 2000 #147 (latter)

A Viet Nam special forces veteran, John Clayton returned from the war lost and without direction, but eventually used his martial skills to become a dark costumed hero named Phantasm, and began fighting his own war, this time against crime. In 1987, an explosion at the University of Washington campus in Seattle drew him to investigate, and there he met local up-and-coming hero Dr. Jackal, along with the mysterious and gorgeous other-worldly mage named Phantashia, whose arrival had triggered the explosion. The three of them, along with a new heroine named Mist they would meet soon after, began working together, and formed Seattle’s first hero team, giving it the name Forte.

During his time with Forte, Clayton faced death and tragedy many times. He would discover that a super-powered former-thief teleporter named Prime was actually his daughter from the future, and also find that a new Forte member named Shrike was actually his future son…but only after Shrike had been murdered by the cartel called Intercrime. Years later, Clayton would join with his surviving Forte founders to finally destroy Lucifer D’Arque, Forte’s greatest nemesis and the one who would have, in the future, thrown Shrike back in the past to perish. Only a well-trained man without any powers to speak of, Phantasm became one of the most respected, and feared, costumed protectors in America, helping save the world, and the universe, on a number of occasions, and became know for his fearlessness and inability to back down or give up, no matter what the odds. Clayton met and fell in love with the Canadian heroine Bluejay during his Forte years, and the two wed, and Clayton left Forte behind, accepting an offer from Nick Fury of SHIELD to start up a new Canadian arm of SHIELD called BRAND.

Now known to the world as Colonel John Clayton, Supreme Commander of BRAND, the Forte alumnus lives in Newfoundland with his wife, Jeanette, and his two children, Andy and Trixie (the “reborn” Shrike and Prime, respectively). One of the most powerful and respected men in the intelligence world, Clayton was an invaluable resource for Forte after his retirement from the group, and continues to be for the new incarnation of Forte, the team that he helped found that’s still saving the world twenty years later. One of the world’s most dangerous martial artists, Clayton is known for his short temper, his dark sense of humor, and his unwavering loyalty to the people in his life.