Frew 2026 Annual stories - delayed!

In an announcement by Dudley Hogarth, the publisher for the Australian fortnightly Phantom comic, the yearly Frew annual for 2026 has been delayed. It was originally intended to be out in shops on the 22nd of January 2026. The latest proposed on-sale date for the annual is the 2nd of February 2026, with issue 2015 on sale on the 9th of February 2026.

It is worth noting that subscribers will get issue 2015 before issue 2014 (the annual), seeing that it has already arrived in stock at Frew headquarters after being printed. Some may be asking why Frew issue 2015 has already been printed. That is because the annual is over 220 pages; it requires binding so the comic holds together. This is the process that has been delayed.

As first announced on our website (read the report here), the Frew 2026 annual will be 220+ pages in full colour featuring team-up stories of Lee Falk's world-famous characters: Mandrake the Magician and, of course, our Phantom!

The cover is designed by Australian cover artist Jason Paulos.

The stories included are:

“Mandrake’s Bon Voyage” is the 178th Phantom Sunday story. The story was written by Tony DePaul and drawn by Terry Beatty.

“The Missing Aviatrix” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, featuring a guest appearance by The 21st Phantom, Guran, Old Man Mozz, and Devil. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

“Lights! Camera! Danger!” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, <br>featuring a guest appearance by the 21st Phantom, Guran, and Hero. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

“Trouble in the Twelve Nations” is the 183rd Phantom Sunday story. <br>The story was written by Tony DePaul and drawn by Terry Beatty.

“Shadows on Devil Road” is a Mandrake the Magician Sunday story, featuring a guest appearance by The Phantom. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

“Still Lovely, Still Deadly” is a Mandrake the Magician daily story, featuring a guest appearance by The 21st Phantom, Guran, and Old Man Mozz. The story was written and drawn by Fred Fredericks.

"The Magician’s Curse Part 1-3." Written By: Andrew Constant and Jeff Dyer. Art by: Kay. Colored by Ivan Pedersen, edited by Glenn Ford, and lettered by Alan Ho. Brand new story.

In February 2026, we will be dedicating a full X-Band: The Phantom Podcast episode to reviewing the annual in detail. You can either subscribe to our podcasts on YouTube, your favourite podcast player, and/or on our website.

Are you looking forward to getting ahold of your copy?