X-Band: The Phantom Podcast

Jermayn Parker and Stephen East sit down and discuss the latest Phantom comics and news from March 2024. 

In this podcast we review comics from Australia and India plus dissect Phantom related news from Europe, India, Australia, South America and USA. Now is the time to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, website and or 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) Phantom Comics:

• Frew #1966: 7 Minutes
• Frew #1967: 16 Minutes

Indian Phantom Comics:

• Shakti #12: 34 Minutes
• Regal #35: 47 Minutes & 30 Seconds

German Phantom Comics:

• Special comparison video of the colour remaster from Wick 6 to the original Phantom Spezial #37 (1981): 1 Hour, 1 Minute & 30 Seconds

Daily / Sunday Newspaper Stories Progress

• Daily 265: "The Chain": 1 Hour, 3 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Sunday 194: "The Commander Will See You Now": 1 Hour & 9 Minutes

Phantom News From Around the World

• Regal and Frew with potential offensive material disclaimers: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Fantomen 8/2024 features Uppsala to Coincide with a Convention (link): 1 Hour & 21 Minutes
• Brazil writer to write a Lee Falk biography (link): 1 Hour, 23 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• New Mythos WIlson McCoy hardcover collection (link): 1 Hour & 25 Minutes
• Zauberstern to publish Defenders of the Earth stories (link): 1 hour, 26 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Rumours of a new Defenders of the Earth comic book series: 1 hour & 27 Minutes
• New Indian TShirt range: 1 Hour & 29 Minutes
• Australian comic convention dates (link): 1 Hour & 30 Minutes 
  • Melbourne Supanova: Ken Steacy, Alex Trpcevski, Dean Rankine, Jason Franks, Lauren Marshall, Lily McDonnell and Jamie Johnson
  • Gold Coast Supanova: Ken Steacy, Alex Trpcevski and Dean Rankine

We would love some feedback on what we discussed on the podcast and on the following topics:

• What do you think of the Lightning Strike logo on the front cover of Frew 1967?
• Where do you think the Daily Chain newspaper story is heading?
• Did you know the golden falcon from Malta was based on a movie?
• Do you think Phantom comics need the potential offensive material disclaimers?
• Would you like to see a new Defenders of the Earth comic series?
• Are you going to any comic conventions in 2024?

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

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We discuss the latest Phantom comics and news from February and March 2024. This includes everything Phantom related from around the world including products, comics, publishers, creator changes and much more. 

Now is the time to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, website and or our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. 

Frew Phantom Comics:

• Frew #1963: 2 Minutes
• Frew #1964: 19 Minutes
• Frew #1965: 22 Minutes
• Giant Size #28: 36 Minutes

Fantomen Phantom Comics:

• Fantomen 4/2024: 47 Minutes 30 Seconds
• Fantomen 5/2024: 49 Minutes 30 Seconds
• Fantomen 6-7/2024: 51 Minutes 30 Seconds

German Phantom Comics:

• Zauberstern #11: 54 Minutes 30 Seconds

Daily / Sunday Newspaper Stories Progress

• Daily 265: "The Chain": 1 Hour
• Sunday 194: "The Commander Will See You Now": 1 Hour 9 Minutes

Phantom News From Around the World

• Mike Manley and the Daily strip: 1 Hour 14 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Redesigned Comics Kingdom website (link): 1 Hour 18 Minutes
• Future of Frew: 1 Hour 26 Minutes
• Vote for Fantomen best 2023 cover (link): 1 Hour 38 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Jose Delbo Passes (link): 1 Hour 40 Minutes
• Dolmen Editorial holding a poll for Phantom Merchandise (link): 1 Hour 41 Minutes
• Norwegian Mad Magazine artist with art exhibition including Phantom themed covers (link): 1 Hour 42 Minutes
• Pre order for the Hermes Colouring In Book (link): 1 Hour 43 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Australian comic convention dates (link): 1 Hour 45 Minutes & 30 Seconds

We would love some feedback on what we discussed on the podcast and on the following topics:

• Are you enjoying the Fratelli Spada stories?
• Are you a phan of the Lee Falk story titled "The Chain"? 
• What is your views on the new art by Bret Blevins? 
• Can you handle your Phantom Lore being changed or modified?
• Are you going to Sydney Supanova in 2024?

The Phantom community is amazing and we are asking for help. If you can help in the following areas, please contact us:

• Are there any Phantom phans who understand the copyright law? Please get in touch with us.
• Does anyone have a copy of the A&E Biography episode of the Phantom? We would love a copy for the Phantom Preservation Project.

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

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Jermayn Parker, and Dan Fraser tackle a hot button topic on AI alongside guest Grange Wallis who helps us understand the potential dangers, where we can be excited and the potential future of it in the world but also our Phantom comic. Is there room for it?

Now is the time to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, website and or our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you leave a comment, review and subscribe.

This podcast becomes philosophical and will get you to think. It may even be the most grown up discussion we have ever had.

We also open up the floor from the phans and listeners who raise their questions and comments. A huge thanks to Michael Simshauser, Rosco, Sudipta Dutta, Omh Roy, Joe Walters, Mal Briggs, Jimmy James and Thomas Allwin for their comments and questions.

Do you have any ideas where AI could help improve a Phantom comic?

Why did the computer keep freezing during the winter? Find out during 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. We would love some feedback on what we discussed on the podcast.

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 goes one on one with Andreas Eriksson who wears multiple hats when it comes to the Phantom. He writes stories, he is a phan, he edits comics for Fantomen and even helps edit Phantom Wiki. We have chatted with him about his journey as a phan and editor before and now we focus on the stories he has written for Frew, Fantomen and Lightning Strikes.

Now is the time to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, website and or our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you leave a comment, review and subscribe.

We go over some generic creator style questions like which was his first story he ever wrote, the 10 year journey of getting that story accepted, which Phantom and other creators inspire him plus other insights into how he writes his story including a story of finding inspiration during a multi hour drive.

We ask Andreas Eriksson if he is planning on taking the role of the 22nd Phantom saga with the 21st Phantom being missing and Sandal Singh's love child. Another interesting topic is about incorporating the newspaper Daily and Sunday stories in our newly created Fantomen and Frew stories.

We then go over each one of his 6 stories in greater detail including for those YouTube viewers you will be able to read and view the stories while we discuss them with Andreas.

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.

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Jermayn Parker, Stephen East and Dan Fraser sit down and discuss the 2024 Frew Annual which consists of 8 stories, featuring 6 Sunday newspapers, 1 from Team Fantomen, 1 story from Moonstone featuring 5 chapters and of course the replica of Frew issue #34.

Now is the time to subscribe to our YouTube Channel, website and or our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you leave a comment, review and subscribe.

Note what you will see on the YouTube video will be the stories in colour, the Sunday stories printed in the Frew annual are in black and white. We also recommend watching / listening to our podcast interview with both Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan as a lot of the discussions and questions we ask are covered in these interviews.

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

• "The Viking Fortress Mystery" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 7 Minutes
• "The Iron Python" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 15 Minutes
• "The Prince Rex Conspiracy" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 23 Minutes
• "On the Trail of an Assassin" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 30 Minutes
• "The Fire Peak Tribe" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 39 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• "The Time Skip" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan: 47 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• "The Boy from San Diablo" by Graham Nolan and Kari Leppänen: 58 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 1-5": 1 Hour & 5 Minutes
  • "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 1" by Ron Marz and Rubén Procopio
  • "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 2" by Tony Bedard and Allan Goldman
  • "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 3" by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan
  • "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 4" by Rafael Nieves, Tony Akins and Ken Wolak
  • "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 5" by Mike Bullock and Juan Ferreyra
• Points of discussion on the Annual: 1 Hour & 12 Minutes

Please note, this podcast includes a prepared statement to apologise for a mistake we made in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #272. It is also worth noting that we recently reviewed the "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 1-5" in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #269.

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, Stephen East and Dan Fraser sit down and discuss the latest Phantom comics and news from not one but two mammoth months. This includes everything Phantom related from around the world including products, comics, creator changes and much more. 

Normally we try and review everything once a month but December 2023 was busy. So please sit down, grab a milk (or wine if your a post modern phan) and watch / listen to us as we review and discuss the latest from a Phantom perspective for the past two months.

Below is a timeline of what we discussed.

Frew (Australia) Phantom Comics:

• Frew #1959: 4 Minutes
• Frew #1960: 20 Minutes
• Frew #1961: 43 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Fantomen (Sweden) Phantom Comics:

• Fantomen 25-26/2023: 1 Hour

German Phantom Comics:

• Wick #5: 1 Hour, 4 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Wick #6: 1 Hour, 7 Minutes & 15 Seconds
• Zauberstern #10: 1 Hour, 8 Minutes & 45 Seconds

Daily / Sunday Newspaper Stories Progress

• Daily 264: "The Journey Home": 1 Hour, 12 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Daily 265: "The Chain": 1 Hour, 16 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Sunday 194: "The Commander Will See You Now": 1 Hour, 32 Minutes & 30 Seconds

Phantom News From Around the World

• Bundaberg Phantom art exhibition Closing Soon (link): 1 Hour, 40 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• New Phantom Themed Beer Released in 2024 (link): 1 Hour & 41 Minutes
• Mad Cave Studio’s Announce DotE TPB (link): 1 Hour, 44 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Frew Release Digital Comics for 2022 (link): 1 Hour, 47 Minutes & 45 Seconds
• Frew Best Of 2023 Results (link): 1 Hour, 53 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Fantomen Best Adventure for 2023 Vote now open (link): 1 Hour & 54 Minutes
• Editions Dante New Products (link and link): 1 Hour, 55 Minutes & 30 Seconds
• Walmir Amaral Passes (link): 1 Hour & 57 Minutes
• Phantom Creators & Australian Creators having Artwork displayed in China (link): 2 Hours & 30 Seconds

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

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We try and review 2023 in two hours. We go over the tale of the tape, highlighting every comic and merchandise released around the world in 2023 and then go over our favs. We have regular contributors joining us in Ankit, Christian , Seuj, Mikael, Duncan and Christopher and giving their input as well.

We also go over the Frew best cover, best issue and best story as voted by you, the phans. Towards the end of the podcast we draw the winners for the 5 prizes.

First up, we go over the comics and stories published from around the world, the collectables and the newspaper stories that were published or released in 2023. Then we go over our "best of's". The topics we cover are:

• Best non-Frew/Fantomen/Indian cover
• Best Frew cover
• Best Frew cover chosen by the phans
• Best Fantomen cover
• Best Indian cover
• Best German cover
• Best writer
• Best story artist 
• Best story published by Frew
• Best Frew story chosen by the phans
• Best Fantomen best story
• Best Fantomen issue
• Best Regal/Shatki story
• Best Regal/Shatki issue
• Best German story
• Best German issue
• Best Frew issue
• Best Frew issue chosen by the phans
• Best merchandise new in 2023 
• Best Chronicle Chamber moment
• Overall reflection on 2023
• What will be the big news of 2024?

We choose from  the total comics from around the world:

• 10 countries 
• 105 comics (most since the early 1990’s).
• 35 brand new stories (not reprints or seen before in any language).

If you feel we have missed something in our reviews of 2023 and or do not agree with our votes, please let us know. We would love to know your opinions on the best of 2023. 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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To celebrate the new Moonstone comic book series featuring both the Phantom and Mandrake we catch up with Mike Bullock the writer from the old and new series.

What is confirmed and discussed by Mike Bullock is the following:

• The initial comic series will be like the past KGB Noir series with The Phantom and another character
• There will be three stories released in 15 installments guarantying at least 15 comics and 150 pages
• The titles of the stories are: "Phantom: Last Night", "Mandrake the Magician: Seven Kings Calling" and "Phantom and Mandrake: The Seven Kings"
• The stories will be re released in a hardcover TPB
• Sergio Ibáñez will be drawing the first series, news to come for the Mandrake and cross over series
• King Features have already approved several parts of the first Phantom and Mandrake series
• The first Phantom and Mandrake stories take place at the same time
• If you are outside of USA and Canada, you can pre order the series through Diamond Comic Distributors through your local comic bookstore
• We touch upon the cover competition
• There will be some returning, new and surprising characters
• The story is based in USA and in current day
• Possibility of re releasing past Moonstone comics in hardcover format
• We will see new and old characters including Old Man Mozz' grandson
• What past Moonstone comic book series to re read (Our 2024 New Years resolution)
• Which past Moonstone creators that may return and do more Phantom work
• Will other Moonstone licensed characters crossover with the Phantom?
• What is next after the "7 Kings" storyline?
• Will the Phantom be coming to Australia?

As you can tell this podcast is a goldmine of information on the upcoming series and should warm the hearts of all Phantom phans.

If you have missed out on many of these past comics in your collection, you can now buy many back issues from their online shop. We would also suggest going back and listening to past podcasts, articles and interviews with Moonstone creators.

• Our 2024 New Years resolution to read more back issues including these key Moonstone comics
• Our review of all their comics (Part one and Part two)
• Interview with writer Mike Bullock
• Interview with writer Ben Raab
• Interview with cover artist Douglas Kluaba

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. 

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To celebrate the new year, we have resolutions on what to do differently. Instead of trying to lose weight or eat healthy, this is a resolution all can get behind. Join us with our resolution to read more back issue Phantom comics! This year the team reviews some Moonstone comics which are worth digging out.

This year Dan Fraser, Duncan Munro, and Jermayn Parker review the following stories and comics:

• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 1" by Ron Marz and Rubén Procopio
• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 2" by Tony Bedard and Allan Goldman
• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 3" by Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan
• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 4" by Rafael Nieves, Tony Akins and Ken Wolak
• "Five Days of the Dragon Chapter 5" by Mike Bullock and Juan Ferreyra
• "The Hammer, Part 1 to Part 6" by Mike Bullock and Fernando Peniche
• "Enitan" by Mike Bullock, Silvestre Szilagyi and Sergio Mulko

Suej Abir then takes the mammoth task to review the two prose books from the "The Phantom Chronicles" series. He does not review each story but goes over in his reviews.

We from Chronicle Chamber hope you have enjoyed these reviews from phans from around the world. Our next podcast is an interview with Mike Bullock who will go into the new series more. If you loved what they did, you will want to watch/listen this. If you are unsure or cautious hopefully it will help alleviate those fears.

If you have missed out on many of these comics in your collection, you can now buy many back issues from their online shop.

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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During the podcast we discuss and dissect the new Phantom video game trailer plus much more. We ask about NYCC 2023, his dealings with King Features plus rattle of some key future dates including the announcement of Ashley Nicholls and Matt Kyme attending Supanova events in 2024 in Melbourne and Sydney.

If this video game excites you, this podcast is must watching and or listening. You do not want to miss out!

Some of the key dates to add to your Phantom calendar and that we discuss are: 

• Dec 15 2023: Teaser Trailer Release 
• Feb 20 2024: Site Update with new screenshots, opening the Patreon and merchandise to purchase
• March 20 2024: Playable Demo Release to Patreon supporters
• April 6-7 2024: Melbourne Supanova & panel with Ash and Matt Kyme
• June 22-23 2024: Sydney Supanova & panel with Ash and Matt Kyme
• Sept 20 2024: NECA Competition
• Oct 17-20 2024: NYCC with final trailer
• October 20 2024: Pre orders on the Limited Run’s website
• Nov 30 2024: Digital release date for Switch and P5 network
• Feb 30 2025: Physical copies release date

If you are wanting to have your name in the game as a supporter or even have the Phantom punch and leave a skull ring mark on your face during the game, you will want to listen to the podcast at around the 50 minute mark. 

For those collectors who want a cool item to add to their shelf, at the 1 Hour and 4 Minute mark Ash Nicolls gives us a few clues on the contents and price for collectors edition pack.

Ash also calls out all Phantom phans to go into their EB Games or local shop that sells video games to ask them to pre order a game in September/October 2024.

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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