An early supporting character, the swashbuckling Phantom Magician, introduced a fantasy element. Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom Magician are regarded by comics historians as among the first superheroes of comics. Don Markstein writes, "Depending on how you define the term, Patsy's recurring rescuer, The Phantom Magician, may have been the first superhero in comics... Some people say Mandrake the Magician, who started in 1934, was comics' first superhero."