Some phans will know that every year we review and discuss EVERYTHING that has been released from the year before and give our opinions on it. In 2024 there were 112 comics released over 14 countries from around the world and close to 30 different Phantom products released for phans to buy. That means every week, there is at least two Phantom comics and or items to purchase to add to your collection.

It is not easy to do this under two hours. Get your milk stout ready and join us.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and or leave them at our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

The Tale of the Tape:

KFS - USA

• 4 Daily stories (1x started in 2023)
• 2 Sunday stories (1x started in 2023)

Frew - Australia

• Regular issues: 26 (1961-1986)
• 47 stories total
• 66 in 2023, 54 in 2022, 58 in 2021, 60 in 2020, 69 in 2019. Less than in the previous 6 years
• Giant Size Phantom: 4 Issues. 7x Phantom related stories (8x in 2023. 4x in 2022)

Fantomen - Sweden

• 19 Regular Issues, 3 TPBs, 4 Replica HC books, 1 HC collection, 1x Phantom in X9 magazine.
• 34x stories in 2024. 13x repeat and 21x new. Less new stories than last two years

Hermes Press - USA

• 2 Daily (nothing since July)
• No Sunday HC books since May 2021

Comics Revue - USA

•  6 issues (2x with Phantom covers)

Mad Cave Studios - USA

• 4 issues
• 1 TPB

Regal - India

• 4 regular issues of English series

Shakti - India

• 3 issues (1 issue in 3x languages)

Zauberstern - German

• 6 Regular issues

Wick - German

• 2 Regular issues

Other German Series

• Mitton HC & SC book
• Zack
• ECR (1x HC, 7x regular & 1x supplement)

Other Countries

• Norway (1x Year Album)
• Finland (2x Softcover Albums)
• Spain (1x Daily reprint HC)
• Italy (1x Daily reprint HC & 1x TPB)
• France (1x TPB & 4x comics - 1x with Phantom cover)
• Brazil (1x HC)
• Denmark (1x HC)
• Greece (1x TPB)
• Hungary (1x HC)
• Irish (3x Digital comics & 1x Annual)

Total 14x countries
Total 112x comics
Total 22x brand new stories

Thanks to Christian, Mikael, Scott and Seuj who have helped us give a better world wide review of 2024. Below is a list of what we all vote on and give our views on what is the best from around the world in 2024.

• Best Frew Cover
• Best Frew Cover Survey Results
• Best Fantomen Cover
• Best Indian Cover
• Best German Cover
• Best USA Cover
• Best Other Comic Covers
• Best Writer
• Best Story Artist
• Overall Best Story published by Frew
• Best Story published by Frew Survey Results
• Overall Fantomen Best Story
• Best Fantomen Issue
• Overall Best Indian Story Published
• Best Indian Issue
• Overall German Best Story Published
• Overall German Best Issue
• Best Frew issue
• Best Frew Issue Survey Results
• Best merchandise new in 2024
• Best Chronicle Chamber moment
• Overall reflection on 2024
• What will be the big news of 2025?

Do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast.

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Some phans will know that we have reviews of all of the Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth Series up on our YouTube Channel and website but we wanted to conduct a mid series review with the whole extended team. Join Stephen East, Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker with our USA reviewer Scott Waldyn. 

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and or leave them at our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram.

Some of the discussion points we discuss are: 

• The Phantom being a Ghost Who Walks
• Council of Phantoms. Do we like it? Do we hate it? Is it real?
• Does this Phantom behave like our Phantom or any Phantoms we have read in the chronicles?
• We discuss the oath of the Phantom being my 'son and their sons will follow' or should it be 'descendants'? 
• If the DotE Phantom is the 27th. Kurt would then be the 28th, If the DotE Phantom becomes the Phantom again, will that make him the 27th or 29th? 
• Was shrinking the mansion so Mandrake can take it in his pocket a clever way to get around the Phantom’s quandary? 
• Zuffy's transformation into a laughable character to someone with bite.
• Lothars ex wife is mentioned. Dale is seen at end of issue 4. No mention yet of the Phantom’s wife and or Nardia.
• With the future Mad Cave Studios sand alone series. Would we like to see it outside the DotE arc? 
• Do you like the series? What do you like and do not like?
• What do you think will happen in the next four issues?

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Do you like the series? The artwork? The plot? Or you have opinions on where the story will be going, please let us know. You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

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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We have fallen behind again with our monthly comics and news podcasts so this will be Episode 296B where we discuss and review the latest comics from around the world including Australia, USA, Norway, Sweden and Germany. There is 11 comics in total we will go through.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. At the bottom of the article, we list some talking points we would love to have your input on. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and or leave them at our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram.

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

Frew (Australia)

• Frew #1982: 4 Minutes
• Frew #1983: 15 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Frew #1984: 26 Minutes
• Frew #1985: 33 Minutes
• Operation Domino storyline: 40 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Mad Cave Studios (USA)

• Defenders of the Earth #3: 54 Minutes
• Defenders of the Earth #4: 1 Hour & 1 Minute

Egmont

• Fantomen 222&23/2024: 1 Hour & 11 Minutes
• Fantomen 24/2024: 1 Hour & 16 Minutes
• Fantomen 25&26/2024: 1 Hour & 19 Minutes
• Norway Year Album: 1 Hour & 23 Minutes

German Comics

• ECR #91: 1 Hour & 28 Minutes

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Remember if you comment, you automatically go into our draw for a monthly competition of free Chronicle Chamber swag.

We love comments and feedback from phans from around the world and would love to have your input on the following topics:

• Was Prince Dar too dumb in Frew 1982? Did he remind you of the Lee Falk princes from the Misty Mountains?
• Which is the biggest bug bare? The Phantom getting knocked in the head or creators introducing new tribes?
• Does your copy of Frew #1984 have the correct pages and order or is it mixed up like Dan's and Jermayn's?
• Do you recognise this bad guy from the “The Black Ghost” storyline?
• Did you enjoy the Operation Domino storyline? Would you like to see the stories published together? Do you think it would be a good story for Team Fantomen or other publishers to publish?
• Do you like Fabio Alves art style? Would you like to see more Phantom from it?
• Do you generally like filler stories? Do they work better as stand alone fillers or multi part ones?
• Did you like The Phantom receiving an American passport and tying in Diana with part 7 and 8?
• What comics do you have from around the world? Do you like seeing reviews of other comics from around the world?
• What did you think about the Michael Thoor story? Do you see it as a Phantom story?
• Do you think the "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" story works better read as one long story like it is presented in the Norway 2024 year album?

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Support the show

We discuss the latest Daily and Sunday stories that are running in newspapers around the world and all the related Phantom news that has been released around the world.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. At the bottom, we list some talking points we would love to have your input on. Remember if you comment, you automatically go into our draw for a monthly competition of free Chronicle Chamber swag.

Below is a timeline of what we discussed.

Daily & Sunday Newspaper story progress

• "The Avarice has Landed": 2 Min
• "The Skull and Jaw": 10 Min
• "The Princess of Songhai": 20 Min

Phantom news from around the world

• Mad Cave Studios announce new series (link): 27 Min
• Potential new collector card series (link): 34 Min
• Phantom Video Game Pre Orders open (link): 48 Min
• New Phantom products on the Comics Kingdom website (link): 52 Min
• Phantom on the USA Comic Con Cruise (link): 57 Min
• The Phantom returns to Australian in 2025 (link): 59 Min
• Frew Phile cards to end (link): 1 Hr, 2 Min
• Frew Cyber Monday sale: 1 Hr, 7 Min
• New KFS agents for Australia/Oceania (link): 1 Hr, 10 Min
• Greece Phantom comic now on sale (link): 1 Hr, 13 Min
• Swedish comic Agent X9 12/2024 feat Phantom story (link): 1 Hr, 16 Min
• Paul Mason & Dean Rankine win Comic Book Artists Stanley Award for 2024 (link): 1 Hr, 17 Min

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Would love to have your input.

• Did you like the 'abrupt' ending to the "The Avarice has Landed"?
• What deeper meanings did you read into the "The Avarice has Landed" story?
• Can you handle the Phantom drinking alcohol or do you prefer him as a teetotaler?
• Are you looking forward to Mad Cave Studios new Phantom series?
• Would you buy any of the Saturday Morning Cartoon collector card series?
• Did you purchase any Phantom items using the 10% discounts on the Comics Kingdom or Frew website?
• Did you like the Frew phile card series?

Do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast. 

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Stephen East, Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker catch up with the team behind the Phantom Video Game. With pre orders for the digital version of the game now open, we thought it would be a great opportunity for us to catch up with Ash Nicholls the Director behind Art Of Play, but also two of his colleagues who have left their imprint on the game.

Go here to pre order your digital and collector boxes

Anthony Spay is the illustrator of the art from the game who has Frew and Team Fantomen credits as writer and illustrator of the comics and the third guest is Matthew Cutler who is the 2D animator for Art of Play and is behind the magic of the Phantom and Diana fighting against tyranny on our Switches, PlayStation's & X-Boxes.

For those who came in late, we have chatted with Anthony Spay before in Episode #188 (May 2021) and Ash Nicholls in Episode #242 (Feb 2023), #251 (May 2023) and #268 (Dec 2023). This is the first time Matthew Cutler has joined us on a podcast and he starts of the podcast explaining to us what he does for Art of Play and the Phantom video game.

We spend an hour talking shop and geeking out with the three creators as they spill the beans about behind the scenes information on the game. Some of the topics we chat about are: 

• How Anthony Spay got involved with the game.
• The process of hand drawing everything to animating it.
• What is drawn on traditional paper and what is drawn on the computer.
• What will be happening with the original artwork?
• The physical nature of the Phantom and Diana and how they are different to each other in the way they walk and fight.
• The differences drawing for comics to video games
• What is happening with the hand drawn original pencil and inked artwork?
• Will we see a Defenders of the Earth video game?
• The sprite backgrounds and how every one is hand drawn and unique.
• Some of the contents for the physical Limited Run collectors edition including the art book.
• We go over the future key dates in 2025.

We would love your opinions on what we discuss in this podcast. You can email us at [email protected] or chat via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram.

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Support the show

The 100th iteration of the iconic Supanova pop culture convention, in Brisbane November 2024, was a landmark event, especially for Phantom fans who descended upon the city in numbers. This year’s gathering was a celebration of all things Phantom, with a host of activities and special guests that made it an unforgettable experience.

Among the highlights were appearances by talented Phantom cover artists Jamie Johnson, Alex Trpcevski, and Lauren Marshall. These renowned artists, each of them stars across many walks of fandom but known by Phantom phans for their work with Frew Publications, showcased their work with a range of prints, comics and commissions available . They each have recent, current, and upcoming covers which really added emphasis to the currency of our favourite character. Lauren, Alex and Jamie participated in an entertaining Phantom-themed sketch-off, much to the delight of fans who got to witness their creative process firsthand while peppering them with questions all the while.

Saturday was packed with social activities that brought the Phantom community even closer. The day began with a casual breakfast hosted by Chris and Kim Hill, where fans were treated to informal catch-ups and a delightful brekky to accompany a tour of Chris' Minor and Major Treasure Rooms in their newly established Skull Cave. It was a delight to see Chris' thoughtful displays of some incredibly rare and diverse Phantom memorabilia and connect over our shared passions.

The evening saw the inaugural Brisbane Phantom Phans’ Dinner, coordinated by the extraordinary Christopher Schaffer. This intimate gathering was set in a wonderful atmosphere, with a delicious menu and excellent company. A poignant toast was made to departed Phantom luminaries, including Lee Falk, Jim Shepherd and Richard Fry. Another highlight of the evening was a question and answer session with Shane Foley, Frew cover and story artist, who shared insights into his work and experiences, as well as passing some of his original art around for all to see. We're pleased to report that most of it got returned to him! Attendees were delighted to hear from Shane, making the dinner an even more memorable event.

Brisbane Supanova 2024 was more than just a convention for those of us with purple in our veins. Thanks to Christopher's initiative and the support of others, it was a testament to the enduring legacy of the Phantom and the vibrant community that continues to celebrate this beloved character. For those who couldn’t attend, be sure to listen to the related podcast, where you can hear interviews with the three artists at Supanova, their sketch-off, and the Q&A with Shane Foley at the dinner. 

Here’s to many more gatherings and the continued adventures of the Ghost Who Walks!

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Jermayn Parker is joined by Team Fantomen editors Jacob Habinc and Andreas Eriksson as he asks them all the questions about what they are planning for 2025 which so happens to be their 75th anniversary birthday!

We first start off asking about the celebrations of 2025 and what they have planned. They tell us as much as they can and yet still hold back a few surprises which will be dropped as time goes by. If you want some hints, this is the podcast to listen to. 

Some of the secrets they tell us is that the celebrational issue will be in October 2025 and will feature as a double extended issue. Some of the reprint stories through out the year will be key classic stories that hold a special place in the history of the comic.

On top of the birthday celebrations, we also learn the following:

• Some of the writers writing stories for 2025 will be Andreas Eriksson, Pidde Andersson, David Bishop and John Rassy who is back after a 7 year hiatus. 
• Some of these creators will be writing two part stories.
• Some of the artists who will be drawing stories for 2025 are phan phav Janusz Ordon, Kasia Nie for her second story and Percy Ochoa who will be drawing his first Team Fantomen story who has previously drawn several Frew stories.
• The Phantom will be visiting Sweden and Australia.
• The theme for the hardcover collection will be stories from the 1970's. Can you guess the theme?
• 2025 will see other covers tailored for events like conventions like they did for Uppsala comic convention in 2024.

In addition to answering questions about 2025, we took the time to ask other generic editorial questions. For example: 

• What does Jacob Habinc look for in reprinting Frew and or Bastei stories?
• What are their views on AI and comics
• Different art styles including Rafael Ruiz' new style.
• Would they prefer a Phantom movie and or a TV show?
• How closely do they follow the latest developments from the newspaper stories with Kit in the Himalayas, the updated office in the Commanders office and if past Phantoms need to follow the costume design designed by Jeff Weigel.
• If they could change one thing about the Phantom or their job with money not being a hinderance, what would it be?

We would love your opinions on what we discuss in this podcast. You can email us at [email protected] or chat via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Support the show

Join us as we catch up with all the latest happenings with the Phantom from around the world in the month of October 2024. This podcast is truly international as we fly around dissecting Phantom related news from Sweden, Germany, Finland, Italy and Ukraine then review the latest Daily and Sunday newspaper stories and review comics from Australia, Sweden, Germany and USA.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. At the bottom of the article, we list some talking points we would love to have your input on.

Below is a timeline of what we discussed

Daily & Sunday Newspaper story progress

• Daily 266 "The Avarice has Landed": 6 Mins, 30 Secs
• Sunday 195 "The Princess of Songhai": 19 Mins, 30 Secs
  • Tony DePaul's blog post about the start of this adventure

Phantom comics

• Frew Comics (Australia)
  • "The Mystery of the Mali Ibex" (Frew #1980): 30 Mins, 30 Secs
  • "The Coast of Chains" (Frew #1981): 40 Mins, 30 Secs
  • "Operation Domino: Silent Running Chapter Four" and "Operation Domino: The Irregulars Chapter Five"  (Frew 1981): 50 Mins, 45 Secs
• Mad Cave Studios (USA)
  • Defenders of the Earth #2: 1 Hour, 30 Secs
• Egmont (Sweden)
  • Fantomen 20-2024: 1 Hour, 6 Mins, 30 Secs
  • Fantomen 21-2024: 1 Hour, 10 Mins, 30 Secs
• Wick & Zauberstern (German)
  • Wick #8: 1 Hour, 14 Mins
  • Zauberstern #14: 1 Hour

Phantom news 

• Zack Edition release Phantom series (link): 1 Hour, 22 Mins
• Editoriale Cosmo Italian book out: 1 Hour, 24 Mins
• Fantomet 2024 Album out 8th Nov (link): 1 Hour, 25 Mins
• Arki Design merch now out for sale (link): 1 Hour, 28 Mins
• Swedish Fantomen Subscription towel (link): 1 Hour, 34 Mins
• Phantom playset by ElastoWit (link): 1 Hour, 37 Mins

We would love to have your input on the following topics:

• What would you like to see us do for our 300th episode?
• Are you enjoying the AI subject with the current daily story "The Avarice has Landed"?
• Do you think the humanoid looks like the real life Elon Musk?
• Do you like your Phantom stories featuring current and future technology?
• Do you agree that it is best for Frew not to print black and white versions of Don Newton stories?
• Do you see this Operation Domino storyline happening before the Phantom Goes to War Lee Falk story if it was happening in chronological order?
• Do you like the idea of these publishers from around the world creating books featuring their local countrymen stories?
• Will you be purchasing any of the Finnish products? Would you like to see Frew and or PhantomsVault sell them?
• Would you buy a Fantomen subscription just for the freebie of the beach towel?

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast.

Support the show

Dan Fraser, and Jermayn Parker join Janusz Ordon who is a Polish comics creator who has created Phantom stories since 2018. In short 6 years he has drawn 20 full length stories for Fantomen but also Frew. He has also drawn 6x Fantomen covers at the time of recording.

We start at the beginning which includes how Janusz Ordon first came to know about the Phantom from the Fantom (TM-Semic) series published from 1992 to 1993 in his home country. Other areas we touch upon and discuss are:

• His prior relationship with Philip Madden a Fantomen writer.
• The art scene in Poland including Fantomen artist Kasia Nie who drew her first Fantomen cover and story in 2024.
• Janusz Ordon describes his style for the Phantom. How do you see his work?
• His style that works as well in black and white (Frew comic) and in colour (Fantomen comic). Do you have a preference? 
• Talks about his process and how that can change depending on the style of the script and how inspired he is by it.
• What he gets from different writers and editors in terms of the scripts and references.
• How he deals with different scripts and references from the dozen Phantom writers & editors he has worked with.
• Challenges working on scripts.
• Playing with the panels to use splash pages when working on Claes Reimerthi scripts.
• His process of using digital and traditional mediums for sequential (roughs / layouts and final art) and the cover art.
• Why Janusz Ordon traditionally paints his Fantomen covers and will traditionally pencil and ink his next Fantomen story.
• His process of creating a cover for stories he did not draw. [Editors note: this will surprise you]
• Would you like to see a process of Janusz Ordon painting some Phantom illustrations?
• We ask Janusz Ordon if he is drawing the next parts of the 22nd Phantom saga?
• He gives us some feedback on our own comments from past podcasts about his work. Dan Fraser even apologies. 
• Janusz Ordon lifts the lid on Kit and Heloise showing their eyes in the 22nd Phantom saga.

You can follow Jansuz Ordon at his Art Station page. He will be releasing his new Instagram page soon.

We would love your opinions on what we discuss in this podcast. You can email us at [email protected] or chat via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Support the show

Join the extended team in Seuj Abir, Ivan Pederson, Scott Waldyn, Stephen East, Jermayn Parker and Dan Fraser as together they discuss the latest Phantom comics from around the world from Sweden, India, USA and Australia. It has been a busy two months with 9 comics in total.

We would love it if you could answer some of our questions and topics we raise from our reviews from August and September 2024 - you can find them at the bottom. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and or leave them at our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

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

Frew Comics

• Frew #1977: 1 Minute
• Frew #1978: 3 Minutes
• Frew #1979: 18 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Giant Size #30: 33 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Mad Cave Studios

• Defenders of the Earth TPB: 40 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Indian Comics

• Regal Publishers #37: 50 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Shakti Comics #13: 59 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Fantomen Special Issues

• "Djungelpojken Rex" Softcover TPB: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• "Älskade pirat" Hardcover TPB: 1 Hour, 15 Minutes & 30 Seconds

You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. We would love some feedback on what we discussed on the podcast and on the following topics:

• Do you like the Lightning Strike stories? Would you like to see more?
• Did you collect the original Lightning Strike comics?
• Do you prefer the Fratelli Spada stories printed in colour?
• Do you like prose stories? Would you like to see more?
• Would you like to see more of Grigori Rasputin in future Phantom stories?
• Are you enjoying the Operation Domino short stories?
• Do you like Fabio Alves artwork? 
• Which Phantom do you think is featured in the Operation Domino short stories?
• Are you disappointed that Shakta have stopped printing their comics in Hindi and Bengali?
• Would you like to see English TPBs and collections like what Fantomen are producing?

Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel. 

Support the show