supernatural events to be hoaxes perpetrated by criminals. He would directly confront the villains, and displayed no supernatural abilities apart perhaps from his uncanny ability to appear where and when he is needed and to disappear just as mysteriously, with nobody seeing him coming or going. In later stories, the supernatural events were real and the Phantom Stranger was given unspecified supernatural powers of his own to defeat them. For example, he was able to control a smoke-based sedative with a gesture, claiming that smoke itself is his ally. In his second comic book series, the Phantom Stranger became a truly supernatural hero. The Phantom Stranger played a major part in Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic, taking protagonist Tim Hunter through time to show him the history and nature of magic. He has assisted the Justice League on numerous occasions, even being formally elected to the group in Justice League of America #103, although he did not acknowledge his membership until Justice League of America #143. The Stranger also had his own limited series, where, lacking much of his power, he tries to foil Eclipso's plan to cause a nuclear war. During Kevin Smith's relaunch of Green Arrow, he prevented Hal Jordan from uniting the resurrected body of Oliver Queen with his soul in Heaven. This earned him Jordan's wrath; indeed, the Spectre threatened to judge the Stranger to see whether God had "punished" him properly by refusing him access to Heaven itself. Nonetheless, the Phantom Stranger assisted Hal Jordan during his tenure as the Spectre on numerous occasions as well, most notably in a short stint babysitting Hal's niece, Helen. In 2005's Day of Vengeance, the Phantom Stranger had been turned into a mouse by the Spectre. Upon the Spectre's confrontation and battle with the Stranger, the Stranger states: "You can't kill me. I doubt that the Universe would allow it". He was still able to advise Detective Chimp, however, who sheltered him in his hat while he regained his powers. He changed back using recovered energies in Day of Vengeance #6 and aided the Shadowpact, allowing them to see the battle between the Spectre and Shazam. The series makes a point that the supernatural community generally regards the Phantom Stranger as invincible. The first reaction of some characters to the Spectre's assault on magic is simply to presume that the Stranger will take care of it. Other