X-Band: The Phantom Podcast

Stephen East, Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker get together to review Frew's celebratory issue 2000. They review every story and element of this bumper 220+ page comic in full colour with a variant cover and a free print included. 

Along with the stories, it includes an article giving a bird's-eye view of the history of Frew which covers their first comic release in 1948. 

The stories included in this special comic are: 

"The Golden Circle" by Lee Falk and Ray Moore (coloured by Ivan Pederson)

"Return of the Golden Circle, Part 1-4" by Julie Ditrich and Wendell Cavalcanti (coloured by Ivan Pederson)

"The Chain" by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy (coloured by Ivan Pederson)

"The Chain" by Tony DePaul and Bret Blevins

"The Tomb of Zadak" by Pidde Andersson and Giancarlo Caracuzzo

"Fury, Part 2" by Paul Mason and Amanda Bacchi

In this podcast we have included feedback and phans opinions on this issue. If you would like to have your monkey mail read out, feel free to send us your comments. 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. 

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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Jermayn Parker and Stephen East chat with Swedish writer Magnus Carling. This is a fascinating chat with a new comer to the Phantom universe who has two story credits to his name. We learn about his jounery from a Fantomen reader as a kid who grew up in the 1980's to someone who gets to live most phans dreams of creating their own Phantom stories.

You can follow Magnus Carling at his Instagram or Facebook, or look at his work on his website which includes links to his novels and books that you can purchase which includes several being translated into multiple languages including English.

Some of the topics we touch upon in this podcast are his mentorship with popular Fantomen creator Dai Darell aka Diane Alfredhsson / Karlstrom. How the real life world problems of an off shore drill rig being hacked inspired one of his stories, his ways of solving a decreasing page count to tell a comic story plus much more.

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. 

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

Every year Phantom phans from around the world descend into Sydney to meet up with other phans and have a great weekend. In this podcast we preview the weekend,d chat with the organisers of the famous LFMBEC dinner, as well as the dinner's & Supanova guest Lauren Marshall and Julie Ditrich who is the writer behind the key story in Frew's milestone number 2000th - The Return of the Golden Circle.

Billy Zane will be attending Sydney and Perth Supanova events (find out more). For those who live in Sydney and Melbourne, you also have the opportunity to watch the movie and or have dinner with Billy. You can find out more about these events here.

Confirmed artists who will be having their own booths at Supanova are: 

• Joe Jusko. Artist for the 1996 Inkworks Phantom Puzzle card set. (Facebook & Instagram)
• Daniel Picciotto. Frew cover and interiors artist. He is the cover artist for issue 2000. (Instagram)
• Alex Trpcevski. Frew cover artist. His most recent Frew cover is issue 1998. (Facebook & Instagram)
• Jamie Johnson. Frew, Hermes Press and Lightning Strike cover artist. His most recent Frew cover is issue 1983. (Facebook & Instagram)
• Lauren Marshall. Frew cover artist. Her most recent Frew cover is issue 1995. (Facebook & Instagram)

Frew will be having a booth at Supanova and will be selling back issues, old products as well as new products and their 2000th number which will be a bumper issue celebrating a mammoth celebration. As for new products being released, they will be selling Legacy two volume collection of the 1950-1952 Super Yank series. (read more here), a Pholio #10 set, a Giant Size annual and they will be hosting several artists at the booth for signatures and commissions. We can confirm Antonio Lemos will be attending the booth.

If you know of other events around the world with Phantom related guests attending, please let us know so we can also promote them. Chronicle Chamber is part of the community and we rely on you to inform others about what is happening around the world.

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 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. 

Support the show

Every month, we take an hour or two to discuss all things Phantom from around the world. This month for May 2025, we review comics from Australia and Germany, catch up on the newspaper adventures printed on Comics Kingdom and discuss every bit of Phantom related news from around the world with comic conventions, the latest comics soon to be released, and much more. 

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

Daily / Sunday Adventures Progress

• Daily #268 - "The Spark" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 2 Mins
• Sunday #197 - "The Ungraved" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 12 Mins

Australia (Frew Comics)

• Frew #1997: 18 Mins
  • "Firepower" by Dai Darell, Magnus Carling, Rafael Ruiz, and Coral Martínez
  • "Waiting for Dad" by Shane Foley
• Frew #1998: 33 Mins
  • “Captured from Above” by Bernd Frenz and Janusz Ordon
  • “Purple Haze” by Paul Mason

German Comics

• Zauberstern #18: 51 Minutes
  • "Goldbeard, der Pirat" ("Goldbeard the Pirate") by Joe Gill and Don Sherwood
  • "Der Fluch des Kallai" ("The Curse of Kallai") by Dick Wood, Pat Boyette, and Vince Alascia
  • "Kampf der Masken - Teil 2" ("The Den of Tigers") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan
  • "Kampf der Masken - Teil 3" ("Mexico's Phantom") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan

Phantom News from around the world

• The Phantom census (link): 56 Mins
• New USA newspapers publishing the Phantom (link): 58 Mins
• Frew Legacy Series Volume 1 and 2 (link): 1 Hour
• Frew number 2000 details (link): 1 Hour, 4 Mins
• Other items available for sale at Frew booth: 1 Hour and 17 Min 
• Fantomen Prince Rex Softcover album Volume 2 available for pre order (link): 1 Hour and 21 Mins
• Denmark e-Voke #3 and #4 (link & link): 1 Hour and 22 Mins
• Spanish Dolmen #18 out now:  1 Hour and 22 Mins
• Peter David passing (link): 1 Hour and 23 Mins
• Hermes Press distribution update (link): 1 Hour and 25 Mins
• Sydney Supanova guests & updates (link): 1 Hour and 28 Mins

We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told, We may miss something especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom related guests. Please let us know of them so we can promote them. 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.

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

Support the show

If you are a Phantom nerd, you will like this podcast as Jermayn Parker and Matt Kyme discuss close to 50+ stories as they try and nail down important elements on how to create a good Phantom story.

With the Phantom census currently open we are gathering data and information from hundreds of Phantom fans around the world telling us what they like, do not like and want to see happen with their Phantom. We wanted to focus on some of the questions we ask and that is about the stories and what makes them great and enjoyable for us fans.

Every so often in between creator interviews and reporting and reviewing all the latest Phantom comics and Phantom news around the world we get to go nerdy. This is one of those cases to go nerdy with Matt Kyme who is both a Phantom phan but also a creator with his Frew created stories and on the Phantom video game.

Some of the elements and themes we discuss are about portraying the Phantom properly and not being a purple Batman and or alternative Tarzan character. What themes like mystery, thriller, action and romance work and what doesn't work in our stories. What important lores to include like Old Jungle Sayings, retelling the oath and much more.

If you would like to learn more about Matt Kyme, he has joined us on several X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts before, they are: 

• Episode #280: Enter the Phantom
• Episode #218: Matt Kyme (creator & phan)
• Episode #247A: Matt Kyme & The Phantom Video Game Sneak Peak
• Episode #247: Playing in Lee Falk's sandbox
• Episode #189: Matt Kyme, Shane Foley, Diana & Heartbreak
• Episode #170: Matt Kyme & his all time favourite Phantom story

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. 

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

These monthly podcasts where we discuss all things Phantom from around the world are the highlights of our month and we hope you enjoy this podcast. We review comics from Australia, India, Germany and USA, catch up on the newspaper adventures printed on Comics Kingdom and discuss every bit of Phantom related news from around the world with comic conventions, the latest in soon to be released in Ireland, USA, Brazil & Sweden comics, and much more. 

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world.

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

Daily / Sunday Adventures Progress

• Daily #268 - "The Spark": 1 Min and 30
• Sunday #197 - "The Ungraved": 6 Min and 30

Australia (Frew Comics)

• Frew #1995: 11 Min and 30
• Frew #1996: 17 Min
• Phantom in Vietnam stories: 24 Min and 30

USA Comics

• Mad Cave Studios Phantom #0: 34 Min 
• DotE #6: 50 Min and 30

Indian Comics

• Regal #39: 1 Hour, 4 Min and 30

German Comics

• Zauberstern Phantom Spezial #2: 1 Min and 30 

Phantom News from around the world

• New Phantom 2040 series (link): 1 Hour, 14 Min and 30
• The Phantom census (link): 1 Hour and 17 Min
• Comics Kingdom website survey (link): 1 Hour, 17 Min and 30
• Details on DotE #6 temporary artists announced (link): 1 Hour and 20 Min
• Lightning Strike & TASQ Art new magazine (link): 1 Hour, 21 Min and 30
• Fantomen hardcover 2025 theme announced (link): 1 Hour, 23 Min and 30
• Pre order for new Mythos Omnibus (link): 1 Hour, 26 Min and 30
• Details on 2024 Best Fantomen story (link): 1 Hour, 27 Min and 30
• KFS attending 2025 Licensing Expo in Las Vegas (link): 1 Hour, 30 Min and 30
• Sweden Nodsken Culture Festival (link): 1 Hour, 31 Min and 30
• Sydney Supanova guests & updates (link):1 Hour, 33 Min and 30

We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told, We may miss something especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom related guests. 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.

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 is on his own as he talks to Chilean born Australian raised Marcelo Baez who is a Frew cover artist who has also drawn one short story so far. This is a fascinating chat with a new comer to the Phantom universe who brings an unique style to his covers. He also shows us his new Phantom cover which will be out in the next month.

We go over his career, the reason why there was a five year hiatus between his first and second Frew cover and just how many skulls did he manage to sneak into the Frew #1969 cover. How many can you find? Let us know.

You can follow Marcelo Baez at his Instagram, or look at his work on his website. If you have a kid in the Wollongong area who likes to draw, we would recommend looking at his art classes. He also has his original artwork for his covers for sale.

We had some Internet connection issues, so we apologise for any glitches and video quality problems you may see.

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. 

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

What better way to escape the world's troubles with weather patterns and political upheaval dominating our life than spending time with us as we review everything Phantom from March 2025. We review comics from Australia and USA, catch up on the newspaper adventures printed on Comics Kingdom and discuss every bit of Phantom related news from around the world with comic conventions, the latest in soon to be released USA comics, new products to buy and much more.

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.

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

Daily / Sunday Adventures Progress

• Daily #268 - "The Spark" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 4 Minutes
• Sunday #196 - "The Princess of Songhai" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 17 Minutes and 30 Seconds
• Sunday #197 - "The Ungraved" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 21 Minutes and 30 Seconds

Australia (Frew Comics)

• Frew #1993: 25 Minutes
  • "The Lost Valley, Part 3: The Sacrifice" by Felmang
• Frew #1994: 33 Minutes and 30 Seconds
  • "The Castle of Evil” by Norman Worker and Hans Lindahl

USA (Mad Cave Studios Comics)

• DotE #5: 48 Minutes and 30 Seconds
  • "Brotherly Hate” by Dan DiDio and Jim Calafiore

News from around the world

• The Phantom census (link): 1 Hour
• Phantom collector card series out soon (link): 1 Hour and 5 Minutes
• The Phantom video game updates: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes and 30 Seconds
• Diamond Distributors & getting your USA comics: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes and 30 Seconds
• New artist for Mad Cave Studios: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes and 30 Seconds
• Updates on USA publishers Comics Revue and Hermes Press: 1 Hour and 22 Minutes
• Fantomen Year Book series cancelled (link): 1 Hour, 27 Minutes and 30 Seconds
• New digital series by Fantomen (link): 1 Hour and 28 Minutes
• Death of Phantom people Angelo Todara (link) and Kjell Steen (link): 1 Hour and 30 Minutes
• Upcoming convention dates: 1 Hour and 33 Minutes

We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told, We may miss something especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom related guests. 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.

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

Support the show

For almost 90 years, The Phantom has been thrilling phans worldwide. But who exactly are the phans? In collaboration with King Features and several publishers, we at Chronicle Chamber aim to find that out, with the Phantom Phan Census 2025!

This global census is a chance for YOU to share your Phantom story, from how you first discovered the legend to what you want to see in the future - whether it’s a new movie, TV series, or more comics! Plus the opportunity to gather information on how you read your Phantom comics & stories, what you like and what you want to collect.

Take the census now: https://www.chroniclechamber.com/phan-census

Why Take Part?

Responses will be published on Chronicle Chamber, and King Features Studios (KFS) will review them to help guide phuture Phantom-related decisions.

We’re running random prize draws for all participants while the census is open, with awesome Phantom goodies donated by KFS, Chronicle Chamber & publishers from around the world.

This census builds on Kevin Patrick’s academic study (The Phantom Unmasked), which explored Phantom phandom in worldwide. Our intent is to (hopefully) repeat this census every 5 years to track how Phantom readership, collecting, and interests evolve.

What’s in the Census?

• Your Phantom Origin Story – How did you first become a fan?
• Reading & Collecting Habits – Do you read the daily strips, collect rare comics, or love Phantom figurines?
• Your Phantom phavourites - Who are your favourite characters and creators? Which is your favourite Phantom generation or story location? 
• Future of The Phantom – What do you want to see next? A new movie? A TV series? More comics?

Don’t miss out - be part of Phantom history! Take the census now: https://www.chroniclechamber.com/phan-census

Disclaimer: Participation is completely voluntary & anonymous. Identifying details (e.g., names, emails) are only collected for prize draws, not for marketing, and providing them is optional. You may exit the survey at any time.

Some of the Prizes

The prizes will be drawn every fortnight and include: 

• Video game digital passes for Switch, Steam and PS5
• Hermes volume daily 1 (Donated by KFS)
• Boss Fight Studio figurines Hero & Pirate (Donated by KFS)
• 3x Coins (Donated by KFS)
• Assorted comics (Donated by KFS & others)
• BBQ apron set (Donated by Frew)
• Carton of Gallery set 2 Trading Cards (Donated by Frew)
• Puzzle (Donated by Frew)
• Copies of the 2024 and the future 2025 Prince Rex softcover albums (Donated by Egmont Sweden)
• Still working on some other prizes with other publishers including a free subscription to Comics Kingdom

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. 

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

What better way to escape the world's troubles with weather patterns and political upheaval dominating our life than spending time with us as we review everything Phantom from February 2025. We review comics from Australia and Germany, catch up on the newspaper adventures printed on Comics Kingdom and discuss every bit of Phantom related news from around the world.

We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world.

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

Daily / Sunday Adventures Progress

• Daily #268 - "The Spark" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 1 Min
• Sunday #196 - "The Princess of Songhai" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 20 Mins

Australia (Frew Comics)

• Frew #1989: 27 Mins
  • "Deadly Conspiracy" by Norman Worker and Georges Bess
• Frew #1991: 31 Mins
  • "The Devil Road" by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
  • "The Impostor" by Lee Falk and Ray Moore
  • "The Toad Men" by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy
• Frew #1990: 34 Mins
  • "The Lost Valley: Maelstrom" by Felmang
• Frew #1992: 47 Mins
  • "The Lost Valley: Two Princesses" by Felmang
• Giant Size #32: 55 Mins
  • "The Haunted Mine" by Giorgio Cambiotti and Lamberto Lombardi

Germany (Zauberstern Comics)

• Zauberstern #17: 59 Mins

News from around the world

• Tony DePaul’s health (link): 1 Hr, 2 Mins
• The Phantom video game updates: 1 Hr, 4 Mins
• Moonstone news (link): 1 Hr, 9 Mins
• Mad Cave Studios announce artist Russell Mark Olson (link): 1 Hr, 11 Mins
• Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth news (link): 1 Hr, 13 Mins
• Preview of Aristocrat Gaming pokie machine (link): 1 Hr, 15 Mins
• Voting for best cover and adventure published in Fantomen 2024 (link): 1 hr, 18 Mins
• Shatki Comics at Kolkata book fair (link): 1 hr, 20 Mins
• Australian Comic Convention Dates (link): 1 hr, 21 Mins

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

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

Support the show