Ulf Granberg RIP

Sad news has come through that sadly Ulf Granberg has passed away. In our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #110, the team had Ulf in the top 5 of all-time influential Phantom people. Once you look into his legacy and footprint, it is not hard to see why.

Ulf Granberg became the 12th editor of Fantomen in 1973, succeeding Per-Anders Jonsson, and continued until 1987 and then returned again in 2003. He did, however, remain in charge of the Team Fantomen production between his two periods as an editor, serving as editor-in-chief. In addition, Ulf was the editor for numerous issues of Fantomen Krönika.

He retired from all of his Phantom duties with Fantomen 9/2012, after a total of 1001 issues. He was succeeded by Mikael Sol as editor for Fantomen and by Claes Reimerthi and Hans Lindahl as editors for the Team Fantomen production of stories.

If that doesn't impress you, he also wrote 38 stories, many including stories that added to the Phantom's legacy and lore, filling in gaps left by Lee Falk. In talking to several Phantom creators on this website and our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast, they all mentioned how Ulf would educate them on the finer details of the Phantom and 'correct' lore elements that may have been missed.

In 1999, after Lee Falk died, many phans naturally wondered what would happen to the newspaper Sunday and Daily newspaper stories. The quality under Lee Falk's watch had diminished, and many thought the stories would cease. Again, thanks to Ulf Granberg, he stepped up and ensured the Sunday and Daily newspaper stories continued.

He hired Claes Reimerthi and Tony DePaul as writers, with Tony eventually taking the job full-time. He also hired Paul Ryan as the Daily and eventually Sunday artist for the newspaper stories. Without Ulf stepping up, it is safe to say that we would not be getting current new stories today.

From everyone at Chronicle Chamber, we thank you, Ulf Granberg for the legacy you have left us. You have truly left your imprint on this character for close to 40 years, and the Phantom is better off for it. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends, family, and loved ones left behind who saw Ulf as more than just a great in the Phantom community.

For those who would like to learn more about Ulf, we were lucky enough to interview him back in 2018 and recorded the chat with him for 3 hours. It is included below so you can go back and learn more about Ulf Granberg.