RIP Heiner Bade

Unfortunately we have more sad news to share, with veteran German artist Heiner Bade recently passing away. Heiner Bade (born 1949) from Hamburg is an unusual phenomenon among comic artists—one who is unknown to many fans in his own country. However, for the rest of us Phantom readers, he is well known, as Heiner spent over 45 years drawing 91 Phantom stories for the Phantom.

What some may find interesting is that until 2026, only one of his Phantom stories has been published in his home country. However, in a beautiful twist, that will soon change, with his own countrymen soon being able to read some of his best stories over the last 45+ years.

As announced in December, German comic publisher Comics und Mehr (translated to Comics and More) will be starting a new series celebrating the Phantom's 90th anniversary. The series will be featuring six volumes in total, and all in colour. Each volume will feature two stories and will be 72 pages in total. In the blurb on their website, they do make mention that one of Heiner Bade's true classic stories, "The Ku Klux Klan," will be featured in one of the volumes. Volume one will be released in March-April 2026.

While Heiner Bade won't be able to see his collective works, we will be able to celebrate his life and legacy he left us with some of his amazing stories he has drawn for us.

Frew readers have not yet read all 91 stories, with approximately 20 still unpublished, including his last two stories, "The Man in the Shadows" and "Dark Smoke over Bengali". Here's hoping both will soon be published by Frew and we are sure Fantomen will do something similar to reflect and say thank you for what he has left us.

Thanks to current Team Fantomen writer Bernd Frenz, we were able to conduct an interview with Heiner Bade before he passed - you can read the interview here. We are hoping down the track, Bernd will be able to reflect on Heiner's legacy in more detail as a friend, a colleague, and as a partner in a Phantom comic creation.

From everyone at Chronicle Chamber, thank you for your legacy you have left us.