It has been an incredibly creative year for FREW in 2022.
As publisher Dudley Hogarth points out in his Message from the Publisher in the Christmas Special (#1934), the Australian company can be proud of releasing a number of new Phantom stories and artwork among their 2022 publishing schedule. In fact, the raw stats show that Dudley was being typically modest in his assessment of "at least a dozen brand new stories" published this year.
Of the 59 unique stories published across all formats, 17 are brand new and commissioned by Frew, well outstripping that "dozen" suggestion.
The Graphic Novel release The Ghost and the Monster starts the conversation, but this number also includes the six stories in Pidde Anderson and Percy Ochoa's Belle Epoque series, as well as no fewer than four sequels to Lee Falk classics. Speaking of which, Frew still managed to publish 30 Falk stories for the rusted on phans!
In terms of covers: Frew showcased the talents of 20 different artists across their 26 regular issues, with only Ivan Rodriguez, Jason Paulos, Glenn Lumsden and Glenn Ford providing more than one cover in that series. Impressively, no fewer than six artists made their debut on a Frew cover this year - all of them female. Headlined by internationally renowned Nicola Scott, this was another first for Frew in 2022.
Of course, this all begs the questions - what were our favourites? Well, for the fifth year in a row, the Frew Crew and the Chronicle Chamber team are keen to know what you thought of this year's Phantom releases. What were your FREW Favourite's of 2022?
Once again working in partnership, Frew Publications and Chronicle Chamber have created this survey for you to contribute your ideas and opinions. All you have to do is select:
your favourite Frew covers
your favourite Frew stories
your favourite Frew issues
and you will be in the running to win one of two Frew Crew badges, or one of three lots of Chronicle Chamber merch, including some combination of can coolers, pins, keyrings, wristbands, or Chronicle Chamber promotional cards from The Phantom: The Card Game (from Games by Lyck).
Final results and the randomly drawn prize winners will be announced and published on the "Best of 2022" episode of X-Band-The Phantom Podcast early in the new year, and here on ChronicleChamber.com.
The best news is there will be FIVE chances to win a prize. They are drawn randomly, so you must enter your name, postal and email address so we can send you your prize.
Voting closes Thursday January 5th 2022, so get in now and Happy Voting!
