X-Band: The Phantom Podcast

In this episode, Jermayn Parker will be dissecting the latest Sunday Phantom story that has just finished in newspapers around the world and on Comics Kingdom. This story is titled “1536” by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel and is a continuation of the origin stories by Lee Falk.

If you would like to ask any specific questions to him about the series that we have missed, please contact us at [email protected] or leave them on our YouTube channel and/or at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

We have four main origin retellings so far, which is actually not that much out of 2000+ odd Phantom stories created from around the world. We may have probably missed a couple, but these would be the main ones:

1. In 1936, Lee Falk and Ray Moore gave us a week of the origin story. 
2. In 1971, almost 40 years later, we get a Sunday story that tells us the origin of the relationship between the Bandar, the origin of the poison arrows, the costume, and the rescuing of the Bandar from slavery, and something we will discuss more in this podcast.
3. In the late 1980s, Team Fantomen, led by Ulf Granberg created several stories, which added on to these stories and snippets. "The Avenger", we see the Phantom getting revenge on the man behind the attack on his ship, the Singh Pirates, and we see the origin of the name "The Phantom".
4. In 2025 at the start of “The Spark”, Mike Manley and Tony spent two weeks expanding the origin from leaving England to be found on shore by the Bandar.

In many stories, we get four panels or one page in comics of the origin retelling, which has famously been called “For Those Who Came In Late”. This is important, as it catches up potential new readers to who the Phantom is. I would like to see comics do this more.

The Phantom is one of the very few heroes with a legacy passing of the mantle. You have Black Panther, Green Lantern, and Blue Beetle, and the others are all manufactured post-creation, as they see the problem that the Phantom never has that sees the mantle passed from one generation to the next. The Phantom is unique. 

In “1536”, we see the soon-to-be first Phantom found by the Bandar, and in short, this story features the decision of the first Phantom choosing to be the Phantom. By the end of the story, we see the Phantom swearing the oath. In between these two points we get a lot more. This next part will contain spoilers, but you can read this story for free on the Comics Kingdom website, and it will be republished in the next few months by Shakti Comics (India), Fantomen (Sweden), and Frew (Australia).

I think the first thing Phans need to know and remember is that Tony DePaul has not retconned or used one phans words “fiddled” with the lore. He has on purpose extended the stories, especially what has happened in between panels in past stories. This is not like "The Chain" retelling, where he has moved that into a ‘dream’ and ‘removed’ it from his universe (for lack of a better term).

There are two main changes. Tony DePaul has made in this new story are:

1. The change of the prophecy from saving the Bandar to being the Phantom
2. The change of the origin of the cloth for the costume

The other thing Tony DePaul didn't include was the Wasaka Tribe enslaving the Bandar. Lee Falk never wrote about them again. I only remember two other stories featuring this tribe again, and those were one by Moonstone and one by Fantomen. Tony on his blog has talked about not liking this potential ‘white saviour trope’, maybe other creators do not like it either, and that is why they have left it alone.

One could argue that for the phans who like this story, this happened during this story or afterwards. Tony in my opinion cleverly and wisely did not retconned that story or on purpose striked it out like he did with the Chain storyline. He has left it alone for those who like it to fit it in their universe. 

• Do you like this story?
• Did Tony DePaul give enough respect to the character with this “expanding” of the origin?
• Did you notice any other changes that I have missed?
• Are you happy with the Wasaka not being featured in this story?

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Jermayn Parker and Stephen East are joined by our USA reviewer Scott Walyn as we are having another emergency podcast discussing our reactions to the apparent stopping of Mad Cave Studios creating new Phantom comics. We go into our reactions, and is this bad for the future of the character? What is next?

If you would like to ask any specific questions to him about the series that we have missed, please contact us at [email protected] or leave them on our YouTube channel and/or at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

Some of the topics and discussion points we touch upon in this podcast are the following:

• How we have come to this conclusion.
• Our initial thoughts.
• Are King Features being too greedy, or are Mad Cave Studios jumping a sinking ship?
• We go over sales numbers on Phantom Comics around the world and through out its 90-year history
• Is this the end of the Phantom?
• Why does this keep happening?
• Does this mean Moonstone Books will be back?
• Why we need a successful Phantom series in the USA.
• Was Mad Cave Studios a success?
• We need consistency when it comes to our Phantom comics.

If you would like to learn more about the Mad Cave Studios Phantom stories:

• You can watch our interview with Russel Olson, the regular series artist here in Episode #340.
• You can watch our interview with Juancho Velez, colourist for the comics here in Episode #336.
• You can watch our past review of the regular series here in Episode #332.
• You can watch our past review of the regular Defenders of the Earth series 1 here in Episode #315.

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Jermayn Parker is joined by our USA reviewer Scott Walyn as we interview the main writer of the new Comics Kingdom "Phantom 2040: A New Shadow" web comic series Alex Segura. 

In August 2026, we will be interviewing one of the other creators, Alex Segura who was one of the writers of the new Phantom web comic series. If you would like to ask any specific questions to him about the series, please contact us at [email protected]. We do love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can leave your comments at our YouTube channel and/or at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

Some of the questions we ask and Phantom-related discussions we touch upon in this podcast are the following:

• About Alex Segura.
• How do you walk the line of having your own universe and showing reverence to the original lore. 
• How important was it to keep the ‘old school’ phans happy? 
• The importance of Episode 12 was a very ‘phantom’ episode highlighting the important elements of the character. 
• The new characters like Fitzroy?
• What kind of research did Alex do while writing Phantom 2040? 
• Playing in the sandbox of the Phantom. 
• Is it dangerous departing from the generational father-to-son mantle as the traditional Phantom? 
• Will we see Graft, Sparks, or Maxwell Jr. at all in the new season of Phantom 2040? 
• Are there any other characters from this universe you’d love to loop into the series? 
• How is it different to write for a web comic compared to a traditional comic? 
• Will this series ever be converted to a printed comic? 
• What's the working relationship with Michael Moreci the other writer, and you? 
• How did you get the Phantom 2040 gig with KFS/Comics Kingdom, and how did you go about working with them? 
• What is the fine balance between adding lore to this new ‘universe’ but honouring the character? 
• What makes the Phantom great? 
• Is the plot of the split of the states in America featured in the web comic an echo of the future? 
• How does this Metropia differ from the one in the cartoon? 
• What can we see in season two? and when will we see season two?
• Is Carlos the son of the last Phantom?
• Anti-Phantom's origin.
• Is there room for Phantom prose or novels?

You can follow Alex Segura via his website, newsletter, Bluesky, and/or Discord.

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Dan Fraser, Stephen East and Jermayn Parker come together to have an emergency podcast discussing the removal of Dudley Hogarth, the Frew publisher and editor for 12 years. Yes, you are not mistaken; we only took 23 minutes to digest this news!

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

Some of the discussion points we cover in the podcast:

• We give our initial thoughts on the removal of Dudley.
• Who will take over from Dudley?
• Is this the end of the Frew comic?
• What was Dudley's legacy?

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker come together to review and discuss Phantom comics, the newspaper stories, and related Phantom news from around the world. 

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

If you're one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed.

Comics Kingdom stories

• Daily 270: "The Grudge" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 2 Minutes
• Sunday 198: “1536”: by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 18 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Frew (Australia) comics

• Frew #2028: 29 Minutes 
  • "Secret of the Satellite" by Norman Worker and Jaime Vallvé
• Frew #2029: 41 Minutes
  • "The All-Seeing Eye Stone" by Jacob Habinc and Janusz Ordon
  • "Kit's Last Day, Part 1" by Shane Foley

The Phantom news from around the world

• Sy Barry latest with the definitive biography book (link) & receives the Inkwell award (link): 1 Hour & 2 Minutes
• Big Rubber Guys announce new PVC figurine (link): 1 Hour & 4 Minutes
• SMC SDCC art cards available to buy: 1 Hour & 9 Minutes
• Fantomen publisher news: 1 Hour & 12 Minutes
• Zauberstern publishing the 22nd Phantom saga (link): 1 Hour & 17 Minutes
• Mad Cave Studios publisher news: 1 Hour & 21 Minutes
• Mythos Editora republishing Wedding book (link): 1 Hour & 25 Minutes
• Shakti Comics posters (link): 1 Hour & 26 Minutes
• Comic cons and phan catch-ups: 1 Hour & 30 Minutes 
  • Ablissola Comics festival will feature Roy Mann aka Felmang
  • Brisbane Supanova 2026 Oct 30-Nov 1

We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told by the phans. We may miss something, especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom-related guests, so please let us know of them so we can promote them on our website, socials, and podcasts. We are also looking for reviewers who can review comics from India, Brazil, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, and some other locations that publish the Phantom. If you would like to join the team with regular reviews, please contact us.

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Jermayn Parker is joined by David Barry who is the son of legendary Phantom artist Sy Barry, as he introduces and talks about the definitive Sy Barry book project. In this video, David gives us a tease of the biography book, including what will be included and how we fans of the Phantom and/or Sy Barry's artwork can get a copy.

The Definitive Collector's Book Celebrating the Artist Who Defined The Phantom is Coming!

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We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

Help preserve the legacy of Sy Barry, the legendary artist whose iconic work on the Phantom inspired generations of readers around the world. Sy Barry defined the modern visual identity of the Phantom for over three decades, shaping how millions experienced the character worldwide. Introducing a Collector’s Edition Preserving a Comic Strip Legend.

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Three levels of commitment

1) Book for $100USD

2) Collectors' edition of the book for $250USD

3) Founding patron level with the book for $500USD

This founding patron will include a signed copy of the book with the dust jacket, along with a shout-out in the book plus early bird access to the behind-the-scenes of the book.

For more than three decades, Sy Barry's artwork shaped the way millions of readers around the world envisioned The Phantom. His clean storytelling, dramatic compositions, and unmistakable style made him one of the most respected artists in comic strip history.

Now, for the first time, his remarkable career will be celebrated in a premium, archival-quality collector's edition.

Sy Barry: The Ghost Who Draws will feature the following:

• Rare and previously unpublished artwork
• Original illustrations and archival material
• Behind-the-scenes stories from Sy Barry's 72-year career
• A visual exploration of his artistic process and storytelling techniques
• Commentary on the lasting influence of his work on generations of artists and readers
• A beautifully designed hardcover worthy of every Phantom fan's library

Become Part of Comic History

This project is a labor of love for the Barry family, but it is being brought to life through the support of fans, collectors, and friends who believe Sy Barry's extraordinary legacy deserves to be preserved for future generations.

Early supporters will have access to exclusive campaign rewards, including limited editions, signed copies, and our Founding Patron recognition opportunities.

Whether you've followed The Phantom for decades or are discovering Sy Barry's work for the first time, this book is being created as the definitive tribute to one of comics' most influential artists.

Go and sign up to pledge

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Jermayn Parker is joined by our USA reviewer Scott Walyn as we interview the main artist of the new Comics Kingdom "Phantom 2040: A New Shadow" web comic series John Amor. 

In August 2026, we will be interviewing one of the other creators, Alex Segura who was one of the writers of the new web comic series. If you would like to ask any specific questions to him about the series, please contact us at [email protected]. We do love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can leave your comments at our YouTube channel and/or at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

Some of the questions we ask and Phantom-related discussions we touch upon in this podcast are the following:

• About John Amor.
• John Amor's history with the Phantom and the Phantom 2040 tv show and what was involved with your research?
• What is the difference between a web comic and a normal comic? What is the differences between the processes of creating them
• The art of "Phantom 2040: A New Shadow" has its own unique coloring theme. How did John Amor come up with it?
• John Amor's extremely expressive eyes of the characters. Was there a source of inspiration behind this?
• Whose idea was it to reference the classic imagery in the parts? How’d they got chosen?
• Could the web comic be transformed into a traditional print comic?
• John Amor tells us about the origin of Anti Phantom and if phan suggestions had any say on the name.
• Which actors and famous people were inspiration for the characters of "Phantom 2040: A New Shadow"?
• What is John Amor's process for drawing a web comic?
• Has John Amor started working on season two?
• Are web comics the future?
• Does John Amor accept commissions? Was any of the episodes created traditionally, or was it all created digitally?

You can follow John Amor at his Instagram and/or contact him for a commission at [email protected].

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, we provide the recordings from the biggest Phantom phan meetup in the world, which was in Sydney in June 2026. It included the LFMBEC charity dinner and a Phantom-related panel held at Supanova Sydney and Supanova Perth.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

A huge thanks to Sean Bassett, who recorded the Supanova Sydney panel; Dan Fraser, who recorded the LFMBEC charity dinner interview; and Duncan Munro, who recorded the Supanova Perth panel. Some things are repeated in the Sydney and Perth panels, but there are enough different topics, phan questions, and other Phantom-related tidbits that it was definitely worth including both panels. It has to be mentioned that the audio quality at some of the events was average. For example, we had to remove the fans' questions from the Perth panel and just included when the host and presenters spoke.

Time stamp:

• Sydney Supanova panel: 2 Minutes
• Perth Supanova panel: 42 Minutes
• LFMBEC interview: 1 Hour & 19 Minutes

Some of the topics discussed throughout the 2 hours of Frew creators talking about Phantom are:

• The process of developing a comic from the idea to the script to roughs to pencils to inks to colours.
• The genesis of the friendship and working relationship between Duncan Munro and Ken Steacy.
• The genesis of the "The Man from Mandalay" story.
• Phandom in Australia and the world.
• Ken Steacy's relationship with the Phantom.
• Ken Steacy's big regret with his first Phantom gig.
• Ken Steacy showing the Phantom's ears in the cowl.
• The importance of checking the tones in grayscale when colouring your stories.
• What is done traditionally using pencils, inks etc and what is done digitally?
• Duncan Munro's relationship with the Phantom and how he became a writer of the Phantom.
• The process of approval with the owners of the Phantom, King Features.
• How long does it take to write, draw, get approval & publish a story?
• The consistency of the Phantom over the years.
• Antonio Lemos' relationship with the Phantom.
• Antonio Lemos' relationship with Eduardo Barreto & how Lemos consulted on the strip for his friend.
• Antonio Lemos' favourite Phantom artists.

For those on YouTube, these recordings were audio only, so there is no footage of them talking that goes with the audio. We have, however, included photos taken from the weekend overlaid with the audio. A huge thanks to Supanova and Peter Stevens for taking the photos.

Attached are some of the speeches from past Phantom phan weekends at Supanova and the LFMBEC dinners.

• Sounds from the 2025 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2024 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2023 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2022 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2021 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2019 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2018 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend
• Sounds from the 2017 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend

If you know of other conventions happening around the world, please contact us—you can email us at [email protected].

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In this episode, Dan Fraserand Jermayn Parker come together to review and discuss Phantom comics, stories, and related news from around the world. Scott Waldyn joins the team with his reviews of the latest comic from the USA. 

Included in this review is an in-depth review of Frew's 90th birthday issue, which included 116 pages of full colour and 5 stories, the latest publisher news including Comics Kingdom, Fantomen magazine, and much more. In total you will have two-plus hours of glorious Phantom stories, comics, and news to listen to.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. 

During this podcast we mention our interview with Mikael Bergkvist which was in Episode 334, plus the Frew 2026 annual, which featured crossover stories with the Phantom and Mandrake which was reviewed in Episode 330.

If you're one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed.

Comics Kingdom stories

• Daily 270: "The Grudge" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 3 Minutes
• Sunday 198: “1536”: by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 13 Minutes

Frew (Australia) comics

• Frew #2025: 21 Minutes 
  • "The Man from Mandalay, Part 2: Steel Rhino" by Duncan Munro and Ken Steacy
  • "The Epidemic" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
  • "The Dollmaker" by Pidde Andersson and Giancarlo Caracuzzo
  • "Rex King" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry
  • "War Pigs" by Paul Mason
• Frew #2026: 1 Hour & 12 Minutes
  • "The Mark of the Phantom" by Mikael Bergkvist and Gerardo Canelo
  • "Gyp and the Jungle Drums" by Matt Kyme and Shane Foley

USA comics

• "The Phantom vs. The Red Dragons" by Ray Fawkes and Lynne Yoshii: 1 Hour & 28 Minutes

The Phantom news from around the world

• Swedish energy drink company X-Zero releases its third flavour (link): 1 Hour & 45 Minutes
• Comics Kingdom announces The Phantom 2040: A New Shadow season two (link): 1 Hour & 47 Minutes
• Fantomen 90th Birthday issue (link): 1 Hour, 51 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Fantomen covers released for albums to be released in August (link and link): 1 Hour, 53 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Phantom returning back to Sweden in new story (link): 1 Hour & 56 Minutes
• E-Voke announces new issues in their series (link): 1 Hour & 58 Minutes
• Shakti re-release issues 1-5 in current format: 1 Hour & 59 Minutes
• The Phantom at SDCC including the Saturday Morning Cards release (link): 2 Hours
• Jason Paulos selling original Phantom story art (link): 2 Hour & 5 Minutes

We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told by the phans. We may miss something, especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom-related guests, so please let us know of them so we can promote them on our website, socials, and podcasts. We are also looking for reviewers who can review comics from India, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, and some other locations that publish the Phantom. If you would like to join the team with regular reviews, please contact us.

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel. 

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In 2025, The Phantom returned to being published in the USA thanks to Mad Cave Studios. In this podcast, we chat with Russell Mark Olson, who is / was the artist of the regular series. We talk about the hits of the series, as well as the controversial moments like the Phantom's eyes being shown and the Phantom swapping out his striped trunks.

As Russell Olson is a visual person, he shows us plenty of behind-the-scenes content that is best viewed on YouTube. 

We talk about many topics, and we fly all around the Phantom series, Russell's personal non-Phantom art, and much more. Below is a quick list of some of the topics and discussions 

• Background of Russell Olson and his artistic career.
• Russell's background to the Phantom & pulp heroes.
• How did Russell get the Phantom gig by Mad Cave Studios? 
• What did Russell like about the Phantom, and what research did he need to do?
• The real relationship between Diana and the Phantom.
• Was it hard to draw the Phantom?
• Unsure if the phans would accept the costume being torn.
• Showing the human side of the Phantom.
• Tackling the 'white saviour trope' of the Phantom.
• Where Mad Cave Studios sees Bangalla in real-life Africa.
• We discuss in detail the Phantom’s eyes in issue one and how in issues four, five, and the Sky Band story, the issue seems to have hidden them on purpose.
• What Mad Cave Studios will be doing in the deluxe issue collecting all the stories together.
• How did this error with the eyes get through the approval stages?
• The decision to remove the stripes with the trunks and how it came about.
• The King Features Phantom bible.
• What Phantom work do you have coming up after the next Singh Brotherhood final one-shot?
• The decision of the introduction of the one-shot comics of the Sky Band, The Red Dragon, and Return of the Singh Brotherhood stories.
• What is Russell's process?
• Russell Olson shows us the character development artwork.
• All the artwork is inked traditionally, andsome is available for sale on his website.
• What is next for Russell Olson? 
• Does Russell accept commissions?

You can follow Russell Olson on his website and/or socials (Instagram and Bluesky). His Linktree can be found here and his website, where available original artwork for sale can be bought. 

If you want to chat with us, you can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter, and/orInstagram. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and/or our YouTube channel.

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