X-Band: The Phantom Podcast

Fantomen editor Andreas Eriksson joins us in episode #201. He introduces himself, his role and how its different to past editor Mikael Sol (His interview in episode #116).

After that Andreas goes through what we readers can expect for Fantomen 2022 which includes a new publication released in the first half of next year plus many more tid bits that should excite every reader and phan. One of the cool things was that some past creators will be back - who would you like to see return creating stories for Fantomen?

We in total over 20 questions ranging from Sandal Singh, the fatherhood dilemma of Nadir, who will take over from Claes Reimerthi and the Phantoms diversity. 

If two hours is too long for you, below is a list of topics that was discussed including their time stamps for you to pick and choose:

• How you became a Phantom phan: 3 Minutes
• History with Fantomen and your past roles: 5 Minutes
• Black and white and or colour Fantomen: 16 Minutes 30 Seconds
• Most favourite story: 18 Minutes
• Timeline filling in for Mikael Sol in the past: 20 Minutes
• Difference between Mikael Sols job role and yours: 30 Minutes
• Why Sandal Singh is good for the Phantom: 35 Minutes
• Is Nadir The Phantoms Son?: 40 Minutes
• What is to come in Fantomen? 2022: 44 Minutes
  • Will 2022 be the same amount of issues?: 45 Minutes 
  • Will there be the same softcover album and christmas album?: 46 Minutes
  • A new publication for Fantomen 2022: 47 Minutes 30 Seconds
  • The 22nd Phantom saga: 55 Minutes 30 Seconds
  • A Phantom Bible: 1 Hour 9 Minutes
  • New Phantom stories for 2022?: 1 Hour 12 Minutes
  • Any new creators?: 1 Hour 24 Minutes
  • The 1000th Fantomen created story: 1 Hour 28 Minutes 30 Seconds
  • Will you ever publish a whole black and white fantomen comic again?: 1 Hour 31 Minutes 30 Seconds
• - Who will take over from Claes Reimerthi?: 1 Hour 35 Minutes
• - We will ever see a return of extras (supplements) in our Fantomen?: 1 Hour 37 Minutes
• - Does the Phantom need to be more diverse or have more diverse characters?: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
• - What do you do if there is a continuity issue?: 1 hour 48 Minutes
• - Process with KFS: 1 Hour 53 Minutes
• - What do you want your legacy to be?: 1 Hour 55 Minutes
• - About Jacob Habinc: 2 Hours

We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed with Andreas Eriksson. and we hope you have a great time listening to the podcast. 

If you want to listen to our past podcast with Andreas 7 years ago in August 2014, click here

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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Welcome to our 200th celebration for X-Band: The Phantom Podcast. It has been an amazing ride for the last 8+ years. Chronicle Chamber gives thanks to the past and present hosts in Joe Douglas, Lindsay Walker, Jermayn Parker, Stephen East, Dan Fraser and Matt Kyme along with our many correspondents including Mikael Lyck and Ankit Mitra. 

To celebrate the 200th, our patreons were invited to chat with the newspaper adventure creators Tony DePaul, Mike Manley and Jeff Weigel. What followed was an amazing two hour chat were they got to field questions to the newspaper creators.

Some of the highlights includes Tony gives us a clue of stories a year in the future including us seeing how the 21st Phantom dies (again) which you can listen and watch in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #196A, the return of the Temple of the Gods on Eden plus a story that was directed by Jeffs keen interest in African heritage. 

Below is a list of topics that was discussed including their time stamps:

• 3 Minutes: Welcome to the guests
• 8 Minutes: What does Tony's, Mikes and Jeffs normal day look like?
• 14 Minutes: The love of drawing
• 16 Minutes: How Tony DePaul got connected with the Phantom, Ulf Granberg and Egmont
• 17 Minutes 30 Seconds: Tony DePaul's history with the Phantom
• 19 Minutes 30 Seconds: The Lore and has Tony ever had any stories rejected or changed?
• 23 Minutes: Has Jeff and or Mike had anything changed by KFS?
• 29 Minutes: Possibly why Tony has never had anything changed by KFS
• 33 Minutes: Inconsistency of the Phantom strip 
• 35 Minutes: Interactions and process between the three creators 
• 37 Minutes: Mike shows us example of script from Tony, Daily originals
• 39 Minutes: Mike talking about props and references including showing us one he brought.
• 42 Minutes 30 Seconds: Jeff talking on the time it takes for him to draw a strip
• 45 Minutes: Jeff talks about that special project for Frew.
• 47 Minutes 30 Seconds: Jeff as the "canary in the coal mine"
• 48 Minutes: Mike talking on the time it takes for him to draw a strip
• 52 Minutes: Mike talks about working with Al Williamson
• 55 Minutes: Gurans hat and being respecful to Bengallans
• 57 Minutes: Jeff Weigels New Sunday Story Theme
• 1 Hour, Minutes: Colonel Weeks and his retirement
• 1 Hour, 4 Minutes: Zippa Tone, Colouring the strips and the lack of handover
• 1 Hour 20 minutes: Extremes the creators go to creating our strips
• 1 Hour 23 Minutes: Phans compared to other fans and their legacy to the Phantom
• 1 Hour 33 Minutes: Pressure of the strip
• 1 Hour 37 Minutes: The official Phantom colour
• 1 Hour 39 Minutes: Restrictions of the strip
• 1 Hour 43 Minutes: fav or phun stories worked on 
• 1 Hour 50 Minutes: The Phantom is not Batman
• 2 Hour: When is the 21st Phantom going to die?
• 2 Hour 6 Minutes: Patreon Draw

We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed with Tony DePaul, Jeff Weigel and Mike Manley. and we hope you have a great time listening to the podcast. 

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. 

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Jason Paulos, is one of the most prolific Frew creators and we have not had him on since 2016 in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #65 when we where introduced to the Phantom by Gaslight series.

We learn all about Jason including his history of comic creation including great stories of receiving a photocopy of art from Glenn Lumsden (Glenns Podcast Interview) as a kid and photocopying his first comics while stuck in an office job.

One of the interesting parts was when Jason showed us an A3 folder full of unpublished Phantom stories. Some of the other topics we talk about during the 95 minute podcast are:

• His love for black and white comics
• How to draw not to rely on colour
• How he grew up on horror and DC comics in suburban Brisbane
• His relationship with Glenn Ford and Glenn Lumsden
• How Jason returned a story back to Frew
• His views on story telling 
• His views on the American v European panels on page argument
• How comics should be an escapism 
• Jason Paulos' process on drawing, lettering and colouring his comics
• About The Gray Malkin Gaslight story

One other topic is that Jason is after feedback from phans on his Frew #1883 "The Poor People's Plague" story. If you would like to purchase artwork from him you can go to his website and or Facebook and contact him which page your after.

We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed with Jason Paulos. You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your ideas: 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. 

Please note that the video (hosted on YouTube) is not the best quality as Jason was having some technical difficulties and maybe not for delicate ears with a few F and S Bombs dropped occasionally. 

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To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the 1996 Phantom movie being released we hold a phan commentary on the movie. This podcast is released on the day the movie was released in Australia.

Come and join us as we watch and talk about the movie. 

We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed during this phan commentary. Do you have a solution on how you could change the skulls of Touganda? You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your ideas: 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 manage to get the podcast under two hours as we review 6 weeks of comics from Frew Publications and Fantomen by regulars Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser and Stephen East with input by Mikael Lyck and Ankit Mitra. 

plus all the latest Phantom news from around the world across five continents with new comics from around the world, items to buy for Christmas, a new kickstarter campaign to follow plus much more.

Stephen East goes on a long run up to digest the three part saga of the "The Secret Theatre" saga. Did you enjoy the saga?

Make sure you listen / watch all the way to the end to hear Jason Paulos' song and do not forget to get that music video created.

Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. 

If you only want to listen to specific reviews of the comics and or news, we have included a timeline for you to follow. Enjoy!

Frew Publications

• Frew 1899, 1900 & 1901 (1 Minute 30 Seconds)
• "The Secret Theatre, Part 1: The Man with the Silver Nose" by Claes Reimerthi and Kari Leppänen
• "The Secret Theatre, Part 2: Shakespeare in Venice" by Claes Reimerthi and Kari Leppänen
• "The Secret Theatre, Part 3: The Final Performance" by Claes Reimerthi and Kari Leppänen
  
  
• "The Riddle of the Grey Malkin, Part 1, 2 & 3" by Glenn Lumsden and Jason Paulos (23 Minutes)
  
  
• Kid Phantom #10 (30 Minutes)
• "Love Letter" by Andrew Constant and Paul Mason
• "Muiran" by E.J. Holden and Wellington Diaz

Fantomen

• Fantomen 18 & 19/2021 (45 Minutes 30 Seconds)    
• "Gränsfloden" ("?") by Claes Reimerthi and Kari Leppänen
• "Grodmanspiraterna" ("The Toad Men") by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
• "Juvelkuppen" ("The Shoplifters") by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
• "Dimmornas barn" ("Children of the Fog") by Dai Darell and Georges Bess

Daily & Sunday Story Progress

• Sunday: "The Visitor" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel  (48 Minutes 30 Seconds)
• Daily: "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley (56 Minutes)

The Latest Phantom News

• News from Frew (link) (1 Hour 6 Minutes)
• Regal and Shakti Situation (Including video from Ankit Mitra) (1 Hour 12 Minutes)
• Phantom Card Game Extension Pack (Including video from Mikael Lyck) (link) (1 Hour 20 Minutes 30 Seconds)
• Hermes Press printing The Mandrake newspaper stories (link) (1 Hour 24 Minutes)
• New Comic Kingdom Products (link ) (1 Hour 25 Minutes 30 Seconds)
• Editions Dante Publishing a Regular Series (link) (

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During our recording of our 200th podcast with our patreons and newspaper creators Tony DePaul, Mike Manley and Jeff Weigel, Tony was asked about the 21st Phantoms death.

Not only did he answer but he talked about the current daily newspaper story "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" and how it will show the DEATH OF THE 21ST PHANTOM.

Because it was such an amazing 15 minute chat we decided to cut it out of the 200th podcast and present it together in a separate stand alone mini podcast. We hope you enjoy it!

Did you pick up on the fork in the narrative?

We would love to hear from you on what you think of what Tony DePaul said in the mini podcast. You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your ideas: 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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After reading disappointing stories from various publishers and then asking King Features Syndicate about their Phantom bible in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #191 the boys at Chronicle Chamber (Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser, Stephen East & Mikael Lyck) have decided to take matters in their own hands and start the discussion.

We talk about why its important to lift the standard of the poorer stories from some publishers who do not have a grasp of our hero. After that we each discuss our top 5 Phantom elements that need to be in any bible.

There is a lot of crossover between the boys which can only be a good thing that even with a wide range of their Phantom backgrounds they can still agree on what elements need to be in every Phantom story.

Each of the boys top 5 elements for the bible are listed below. We also go over some other elements that creators, phriends and some of our patreons also believe are important.

Stephen East's top 4

1. The Phantom Oath 
2. The Phantom Outfit & Rings
3. You Cannot see the Eyes of The Phantom
4. The Phantom is Highly Jungle trained

Mikael Lyck's top 5

1. The Phantom Oath
2. The Phantom Outfit & Rings
3. The Phantom Is a Justice Hero 
4. The Humour element
5. The Phantoms World ie: Skull Cave, Bandar, Deep Woods

Dan Fraser's top 5

1. The Phantom Oath
2. The Phantom Outfit & Rings
3. Legend of the Phantom
4. The Phantoms World ie: Skull Cave, Bandar, Deep Woods
5. Old Jungle Sayings

Jermayn Parker's top 4

1. The Phantom Oath
2. Legend of the Phantom
3. Old Jungle Sayings
4. The Phantom Outfit & Rings

We would love to hear from you on what you think of the Phantom bible idea, is it needed in your opinion? What would you include in it? Have we missed anything?. You can email us at [email protected] or chat with us via our social media profiles with your ideas: 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

Jermayn Parker and Dan Fraser with input by regulars Mikael Lyck, Stephen East and Ankit Mitra review all the latest Phantom news and comics from around the world across five continents. 

We review comics from Frew Publications, Regal Publications and Fantomen plus spend time discussing a big month of Phantom news of new publishers and comics to come in the near future, new items to buy plus some new dates for Supanova events in Australia for the back end of 2021. Frew also drop a huge hint for a potential Christmas present.

We also touch upon the sad passing of Claes Reimerthi which we go into more detail and reflection in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #194.

Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. 

If you only want to listen to specific reviews of the comics and or news, we have included a timeline for you to follow. Enjoy!

Frew Publications

Frew 1896 (4 Minutes)

• "Rotten Apples" by Duncan Munro and Jeff Weigel

Frew 1897 (25 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• "Fishers of Pearls" by Lee Falk and Ray Moore
• "The Maharajah's Daughter" part 2 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
• "The Maharajah's Daughter" part 1 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy

Frew 1898 (30 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• “The Messengers of the Jungle” by Donne Avenell and Georges Bess

Regal Publishers

Regal #13 (46 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• "Temple of the Gods, Part 1: The U-Boat Mystery" by Tony DePaul, George Olesen, Keith Williams, and Paul Ryan
• "Temple of the Gods, Part 2: Return to Eden" by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan

Regal #14 (50 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• "Woduro's Secret" by Claes Reimerthi and Graham Nolan
• "The Viking Fortress Mystery" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan

Regal #15 (53 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• "The Ghost Wall" by Tony De Paul, George Olesen, and Keith Williams
• "The Crime Apprentices" by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan

Fantomen

Fantomen 16/2021 (57 Minutes 40 Seconds)

• "Nosferatus hämnd" by Claes Reimerthi and Janusz Ordon

Fantomen 17/2021 (59 Minutes 30 Seconds)

• "Den förbjudna skogen" ("The Llongo Forest") by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley

Daily / Sunday Stories 

Sunday: "The Visitor" (1 Hour)

Daily: "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" 1 Hour 17 Minutes 30 Seconds

Phantom News

• News from Frew (1 hour 27 minutes)
• 7 Foot Phantom (link) (1 hour 34 minutes)
• 2020 Best Fantomen Cover Announced (link) (1 hour 37 Minutes 30 Seconds)
• Classic Phantom NECA Figurine Announced (link)  (1 hour 41 Minutes)
• Claes Reimerthi Passing (link) & memorial podcast (link) (1 hour 48 Minutes)<

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Every Phantom phan was devastated when they heard the news of Claes Reimerthi passing on the 23 of July 2021. Please read our obituary on the legacy of Claes Reimerthi.

On the podcast the boys (Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser, Mikael Lyck & Stephen East) spend 90 minutes talking about the great man and his imprint on our hero, The Phantom. 

We discuss our lasting memory of Claes and what we think his legacy will be. Other topics are:

• Our favourite characters he created or developed like: Miss Mist, Lubanga, Sandal Singh, The Butterfly Man and Dogai Singh
• Who takes over from Claes writing the 22nd Phantom ongoing saga?

We never had the chance to have Claes as a guest on our podcast but you can read an interview with from 2008 here.

If you would like to contribute to a memorial compilation podcast / video, please submit them to [email protected]

During the podcast we talk about a lot of stories, arcs, characters etc. Below is a list of every story with the Frew and Fantomen publication issue for you to either dig out and read or hunt down a copy. Enjoy!

The Rose of Cairo Part 1
922
1686
14/1987

The Rose of Cairo Part 2
923
1687
15/1987

The Count of Bengali
1105
3/1995
Kronika 2/1998

The Prodigal Son
1292
9/2001
Kronika 1/2006

In a Strange Land
1332
1333
19/2002
20/2002
Kronika 1/2006

Patrolman Aurora
1572
14/2010

The Triads
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
Trade Paperback #3
19/1994
20/1994
21/1994
22/1994
23/1994
Kronika 5-6/2000

The Pugilist
1787
21/1996
Kronika 4/2000
Christmas Album 2015

The Phantom- Man or Myth?
1420
11/2005

The Butterfly Man
1805
21/2017

Heart of Darkness
1739 - 1868
4/1994 - 26/1996
Kronika 5/2008-2/2009

Election Saga
1079
1080
4/1994
5/1994

Black Glove
898-899
1841
4&5/1985
Kronika 4/1994 & 1/1995
Kronika Band 2 & 3

Deadly Infection
890
16/1986
Kronika 1/2007

Death in the East End
951
952
953
16/1987
17/1987
18/1987

Duel on Destiny Top
1118
1119
13/1995
14/1995

Worubu’s Secret
1202
8/1998
First Phantom
1051
25/1984
Kronika 6/2001
2050
1276
21/2000

Year One
1390-1396
17/2004-22/2004

22nd Phantom
1792
1793
1794
16/2016
21/2016
2-3/2017

Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. 

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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Glenn Lumsden is a very popular Australian artist who first drew comics in Australia back in the 1970's. He was one of the first Australian artists to draw a full length Phantom story, has worked for several American comic companies including DC and Marvel. 

Some of the topics we touch upon are:

• History of the Marvel Phantom series including the amazing lengths he went to to get it right including mapping out the whole car chase and even his trip to Africa.
• History on comics from the 1930s to current.
• History on comics in Australia and who he worked with for several decades.
• His history with Glenn Ford and who he looked like in the 70's and 80's.
• His Giant Size covers
• The Phantom and crossovers with other Frew Giant Size characters including the next story he is working on.
• The Phantom by Gaslight and the next installment.
• Being a mentor to other creators.
• His love for gray and the Phantom's fashion being like "Harry Highpants".

You will not be disappointed in listening to this close to two hour chat.

Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. 

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