Frew Publications Phantom Comics from Australia
Frew Publications is an Australian publisher that has been printing "The Phantom" longer than any other publisher in the world. It's main title, The Phantom, has been published since 9th September 1948.
Created in 1948 by Sydney businessmen Ron Forsyth, Lawford Richardson, Jack Eisen and Peter Watson created the business name Frew by combining the first letter of each surname. Eisner and Watson left the business early, but the name Frew was retained.
During 1949 to 1958 Frew also printed books containing a host of other heroes including "Popeye", "The Phantom Ranger", "The Shadow" (not the American "Shadow", this was an Australian creation) and Super Yank Comics to name but a few. However the growing popularity of television and a sudden flood of imported American titles in 1950 saw Frew reduce their output to a single title – The Phantom.
When did Frew start publishing non-Newspaper stories?
The first non-newspaper story published by Frew, was not actually a Team Fantomen story but actually Gold Key stories which were drawn by Bill Lignante. These were printed in the 1960s.
In November 1978 Frew published its first Team Fantomen Phantom adventure in issue #730, which was entitled "The Ghost". Although the Egmont stories now make up the bulk of Frew’s output, a second Scandinavian-created story did not see release until 1983. Since then, Frew has regularly published Team Fantomen stories, and the vast majority of them have been published by Frew in Australia.
Frew receives the stories from Egmont (previously Semic Press) and Frew then translates and re-letters them. The stories are sometimes edited in art or dialogue, which makes them slightly different from the original versions. Also, Frew's comics are in black/white while the Team Fantomen stories were originally published in color since 1991.
When did Frew create their own Phantom stories?
In 1990 Frew published the first-ever Australian-created Phantom adventure, "Rumble in the Jungle" which appeared in issue #951A, it was written by Jim Shepherd and drawn by Keith Chatto. What is not well known is that artist Gary Chaloner was originally hired to draw the story. The team of Jim and Keith ended up drawing two other stories together: "Return of the Singh Brotherhood" and "The Kings Cross Connection". Unknown to many, Keith Chatto had started writing and drawing another story, "The Revenge of Kharmi", when he passed—to this date, it has remained unfinished. Glenn Ford teamed up with Jim Shepherd in 1996 to produce "The Search for Byron".
The next wave of Frew-created stories happened with the purchase of the Frew company from the Shepherd family in 2016 which has seen stories created by artists and writers from all around the world including Australia, Sweden, Brazil, Italy, the USA and many other countries.
Interviews with Frew Publication creators
Why did Frew publish "The Slave Traders" story first?
Frew was instructed that they could not print anything that was currently running in other publications, nor could they print anything too soon after it has appeared in the Australian Woman’s Mirror. Frew should have commenced with Lee Falk's first Phantom adventure "The Singh Brotherhood" but due to the conditions stated by Yaffa Frew's first Phantom edition contained the story "The Slave Traders". (The book had the message Enter the Phantom on the cover.) This first edition debuted on the 9th of September, 1948.
Who are the Frew Crew?
In 2013, Jim Shepherd passed away after many years as Publisher of Frew's Phantom. His son, Steve Shepherd, filled the position and mirrors, in real life, the Phantom succession tale of father to son. Steve followed in the footsteps of both his father (Jim Shepherd) and his stepmum's father's footsteps (Ron Forsyth who originally started Frew publishing back in 1948). Dudley Hogarth stepped in as editor in 2014.
At the end of 2015, Judith Shepherd announced her retirement and that she would sell Frew. The company was subsequently bought by Rene White. Their first issue as publishers was released in the beginning of 2016 and was #1745, with Dudley Hogarth remaining as editor. Glenn Ford also came on board as the art director for the company who oversaw the creative direction of the company with creators from around the world creating new stories, new products, individual covers for every issue, and other publications like Kid Phantom, TPBs, Phantoms World, Giant Size etc.
The history of Frew
X-Band: Phantom Podcast #261 - Looking At 75 Years of Frew
Kevin Patrick joined us for a podcast where he talked to us about the Frew Publications 75th anniversary including stories about Ron Forsyth, Lawford Richardson, Jack Eisen and Peter Watson the original creators of Frew plus much more.
In this podcast we also learn about Yaffa Syndicate and their relationship with Frew. This includes how Yaffa Syndicate was instrumental in helping the Team Fantomen stories become a part of the Frew publishing schedule.
Another great story you will learn about is how Frew Publications almost lost the license in the late 1980's and how it took a last-minute stand to ensure they continued the comic. Kevin was also able to dig up some sales figures for issue #1 from the 1950s, 1970s, and 2010s.
Why is the Phantom so popular in Australia?
The Phantom has always been popular in Australia. So popular that for many years, many fans and readers always saw the character as their country's own creation. The reason behind this is multiple reasons. We would recommend a listen to our podcast interview with Kevin Patrick, who has written a research book on this question. We will go over some of the reasons below.
The Phantom is a plausible heroic figure but not a superhero with amazing powers. He just has to rely on his physical strength & agility and his quick wits to overcome his opponents. He is relatable. All this matches the Australian 'fair go' ethos. He adheres to a very simple, uncomplicated moral code - he knows what's right and wrong and is prepared to fight for what he believes in on the behalf of those who cannot defend themselves. It is a code of honour that lots of readers seem to relate to.
The Phantom was one of the first adventure heroes to be published in Australia. When the Phantom was first published in a magazine, the locations were changed to an Australian flavour. The New York harbor, where Diana was kidnapped, was changed to Sydney's harbour. The Phantom's home was also changed to a local Australian jungle location.
With the comic traditionally printed in black and white on cheaper paper, the comics have always been accessible to a broad audience. The comic has always been made available at newsagents and local shops throughout the country, even the small country towns. These Phantom comics were often the only comic for many a kid growing up.
Latest Frew Publications news, articles & podcasts
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Frew's 1956 great competition
In 1956 Television was about to be introduced to Australia and publishers knew they would shortly face the same problems as their American publisher counterparts, many of whom went to the wall when TV fever swept the nation.
Frew met the forthcoming challenge head-on with the launch of the biggest competition in Australian comic book publishing history in issue #97.
Readers had to count the number of pygmies in a large drawing and vie for the grand prize -- a 28 day "Round the World" trip for two, valued at £2,200 ($55,000 AUD today). The trip started in Sydney and went on to Fiji, Honolulu, San Francisco, New York, London, and Rome with a return leg through Beirut, Karachi, Colombo, Singapore and Darwin. The competition was only open to children between the ages of 6 and 12. They could enter as many times as they wanted but had to cut out an answer coupon from a Frew Phantom comic for each entry.
The winner was announced in issue #100. According to records, Frew never seems to have nominated the official pygmy count, but you can have a try yourself with the scanned image.