Making of a Frew Phantom cover by Boris Kay (Vladimir Kuzmanov)

This sneak behind the scenes on the making of a cover was originally posted on the Phantom reddit community and has been reposted here by permission from Frew artist Boris Kay which is a pen name for Vladimir Kuzmanov.

The cover is Frew #2002 which was published in 2025 for the Australian publisher and shows the process.

The process started with sketches like these five that he gave to Frew. The editor chose the one that references the actual story. In this case #4.

Boris wasn't happy with the Phantom in this version of the roughs. He was too small and too stiff in his opinion.

In this version he redrew The Phantom larger and sneaking. The rest of the elements were kept.

Add the trade dress of the cover to check nothing is lost when it is added.

Boris Kay fleshes it out in ink

Boris Kay sends his colour pallete suggestion to the colourist.

The colourist finishes off the colours based on Boris' suggestions but also makes a final judgement as he sees fit. Can you see any differences?