ranting about a comic strip--my life must be dull

So what is it with the Phantom anyway? Are we supposed to think he is such a great parent?

See, a while ago he saved a couple teenagers' butts when they started to follow their father's footsteps into criminality. Remorseful, incarcerated father had asked the Phantom to do this for him. Said father then sighed about how it was all his fault, he should have spent more time with his kids. Phantom then slaps his forehead and remembers that he has a couple kids himself.

So he goes back to the Jungle where the kids live and decides to give them a crash course in survival, training them to be the next Phantom. Yeah, so dad shows up out of the blue and just announces that they are going to spend a lot of time together, starting now, get your shoes on we are going to hike all night long. Hey kids, I ignored you too long, but the world revolves around me, so you get to drop everything and do as I say.

Now, I can deal with the above part. So dad is a little autocratic. After all he is a superhero saving lives all over the world. And one of these whiny brats will become the next Phantom, so they do need some training. But here's where I get annoyed. These kids are being raised in the Jungle. While dad is off saving the world and mom is off having meetings at the UN, kids stay in the Jungle with those native jungle type folks. So why are both kids so fraidy cat of the dark and so unprepared for anything. They don't even know which fruits are safe or poisonous!

The bigger thing that gets me though is that dad is a superhero not because he has superhuman strength or bulletproof skin, he is very agile, very keen witted and perceptive. All parents would like their kids to grow up smart and perceptive, don't we? But his kids are going to need to use their senses wisely even more than most kids will. So what does good old dad do? Well he takes them on a hike, just the three of them, in the dark. But to keep it safe for the little darlings, he has whole hoard of tribal warrior types shadow them. So when the kids show actual talent at being perceptive, and tell their dad that they think something or someone is out there, he just says "nonsense. you are imagining it." Way to go dad, that's really teaching them how to trust their senses.