Maybe you're like me who gets a kick out finding something rare, collectable and unusual that no one else knows about. If so, this is up your sleeve as we introduce some Phantom collectable history featuring these Super Knapslers (inside of bottle caps) from the late 1970's and early 1980's that are so rare that out of the 20 odd high profile Phantom and non Phantom collectors I asked from around the world, no one knew about them, let alone had any. Knapsler is a constructed word. A contraction of “knap” (button) and “kapsel” (bottle cap). KNAPSEL! Knapsler in plural form. Most Australians think of the Aussie born Princess Mary when it comes to Denmark, but the northern European nation also has a rich Phantom history. In the 70's and 80's, popular drink companies like Pepsi decided to include characters on the inside of their bottle caps as a collectable in an effort to encourage their drink to be purchased. Of course the Phantom was included with other popular characters like Superman, Batman, Popeye, Blonde, Smurfs and many more which you can see in the images attached. Freddy Milton made 112 designs for the Faxe Brewery. Ten of them were with Phantom motives. It is worth noting that not all bottle caps were character related and some included typical funky 70's style designs of flowers, bright colours etc. Here are some fun adverts from the 1970's and 1980's showcasing the collectable fun while drinking a cool soft drink with your friends. A side collectable part of this craze are the labels which are even harder to find today than the knapslers. Now the question I know every phan will ask is what they look like and how can I get one? I can help with what they look like but I myself and a host of other prominent phan collectors are still trying to find them ourselves. Collecting these knapslers and labels 30 plus years post-production is fairly limited to a select few isolated in Denmark but I have been lucky enough to find nine of the 10 Phantom knapslers to add to my collection. In short, if you find them - buy them! Special thanks goes to Andreas, Pete Klaus, Bjorn, Simon Treschow and Tue Sorensen who has helped me gather some of the information regarding these interesting items. #CollectorsCorner #PeteKlaus #AndreasEriksson #Fantomen

He might have just celebrated his 90th birthday, but the legendary Sy Barry was at his sprightly best when he attended the Big Apple Comic Con over the weekend. Understandably, Sy doesn't travel a great deal these days. However, by marking his 9th decade by attending his local New York convention, the inspirational artist provided countless phans with the moment of a lifetime. Sy did not actually do any drawing at the event, preferring to spend time speaking to phans. His art was available for sale though, with original Sunday artwork, wedding prints and pre-drawn images available. Sy also happily signed for phans, personalising artwork and even Frew comic books. He did accept some commissions to be completed after the Con. Speaking after the event, Sy could not have been happier with the day. "The Con was a HUGE success! I was honored to be chosen as a panelist alongside Joe Giella and Romona Kaufman (Brenda Starr) at a talk about the Golden Age of Comics, and I was delighted to have a chance to mingle with phans”. As you can see from the gallery below, the Big Apple Comic Con became something of a Barry family affair with many members of Sy's extended clan turning out to join with him on the day, and sharing photos with us via social media. For those who were unable to make it to New York for the big event, you can contact Sy through his website to purchase original art and request commissions. #SyBarry

Phantom aficionado Trevor Clark is hosting a phan meet-up at the Australian Cartoon Museum in Melbourne early next month, and he's calling on all like-minded folk to join him there. Many Australians will know of Trevor, who has been a great friend and help to many phans over the years. As one small example, it was Trevor who donated the Phantom comics that Sammy J used for his Hero Complex showbags. Trevor is hosting a Phantom meet up, swap and sale day on Saturday 5th March - coincidentally, on Free Comic Book Day. There will be a small display of Phantom collectibles available for viewing, and some Phantom comics and merchandise on sale. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own Phantom goodies to sell or trade on the day, and a fun gathering with stories, show and tell is expected. As Trevor explains it: "A Frew of us (pun) had a lunch a few years ago. It was fun but a bit disorganised and difficult looking at comics around burgers etc. I am helping with the Australian Cartoon Museum, and they have the space. I want (the meet-up) to be whatever the group wants it to be. A meeting place to finalise deals in person? Show and tell. Pricing advice? Sell things. Initially I want to limit selling to a box of things each. We will have a couple of items on display and some newspaper articles from the ACM collection. The gold coin donation is to support the ACM. Happy for people to contact me for further info." ​ So Melbourne/Victorian phans - take the opportunity to meet some new Phantom friends and share some Phantom stories! Contact Trevor via Facebook here. Details: 12:30pm - 5:00pm Saturday 5th May Australian Cartoon Museum Docklands, Melbourne Gold coin donation

Back in early February CC announced that Dolmen Publishing over in Spain had picked up a Phantom License from KFS and would start republishing some classic Phantom stories. These hardcover editions are now available to purchase. Here is the first book in all its glory with the front and back cover, as well as some interior photos of the book accompanying this post. This book weighs just under 1 kilogram and costs a reasonable €30 Euros ($50 Australian Dollars). It features 180+ pages of beautiful, unedited Sy Barry work. In my opinion Sy Barry's work in the 1960's and 1970's is his best work, and even in Spanish this book is a must for every Barry phan! You can purchase this hardcover book via various comic book stores throughout Spain or via the global Spanish Amazon site here. Amazon Spain DOES ship to Australia at around €10-15 postage, which gives Australian phans a book similar price to what we get from Hermes. Together with the fact that this is a published non-English language, the price may limit some Phantom phans from buying this book. We have included some scans of the pages below and you can tell Dolmen Publishing have taken their time and care in doing justice to Sy Barry's legacy. If all goes according to plans with demand, sales and the people who make the judgement calls, we should expect up to three of these hardcover books released per year. #SyBarry #KingFeaturesSyndicate #Dailys #LeeFalk #DolmenEditorial

For many years now, Canadian phan Guy Poissant has made a hobby of colouring vintage black and white Phantom artwork. Using scans or images posted online by Phantom artists, Guy painstakingly adds colours and texture, and has always done so as a personal joy. Concentrating on the earliest works of Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy, he has grown to become something of an expert in the field. The pictures he posts on social media are an intriguing re-imagining of the art, and have sparked many a B&W vs colour debate! Guy's skills even led to him winning the colouring competition in Frew's 80th Anniversary special, issue #1763, back in 2016. Now, over the last 6 months or so, Guy has begun to produce very limited print versions of his colouring. These have come in the form of postcards (pictured on this page) as well as Christmas and Anniversary greeting cards - he has even created a modest range of stickers. These were initially offered personally or through specialist Phantom phan pages on Facebook, notably the PhantomCollector page. Now, he is making them available to the broader Phantom phan community via a specially created Facebook page, the aptly named For Those Who Came In Late. The postcards and greeting cards are printed on high quality card stock; the pictures on this page really do not do them justice. I am lucky enough to have picked up copies of Series 1 and 2 of the postcards and quite simply, they are stunning in real life. Very professionally created, most with artist and original story information on the rear, Guy really has outdone himself with these beautiful items. The 'very limited' call is very genuine. Available in numbers of 10, 25, or at most 40 of any particular run, some of the cards are already sold out. Despite being unlicensed, these are some of the finest Phantom collectibles to be released anywhere around the world over the last twelve months. We cannot recommend them highly enough, and hope that you are lucky enough to pick up a set for yourself. As we say, do yourself a favour and check out the cards on Guy's page, use the link at the top of that page to send him a message, and get these cards shipped to you ASAP!! #WilsonMcCoy #RayMoore

Make no bones about it - at the end of 2017 there were some serious questions being raised about whether or not Hermes Press would be able to reprint the complete run of Avon novels. While anecdotally many phans were saying how much they were loving the Hermes Press reprints of the 1970's pulp Phantom novels from Avon Books, sales of the first four books were not sufficient to guarantee that it was going to be viable for Hermes to follow through and release all 15. Thankfully it would appear that the thinly veiled threats from publisher Dan Herman, and subsequent reporting of same by outlets such as ChronicleChamber, have helped turn things around. In a YouTube video released today which promotes the publication of novels 5 and 6 (which you can watch below), Dan tells us: "Thanks to Phantom phans out there getting behind this book series, we're going to be able to print all 15 of them. Previously I had implied, not so subtly, that we needed the support of the Phantom community to continue printing these books because the numbers had gone down with regards to the orders we were getting. Well, thank you Phantom phans, because you have come through again. The numbers of these books is adequate, the sales of these books is adequate, so we will print the entire fifteen, the complete fifteen, Phantom Avon novels." It surely goes without saying that this is sensational news for Phantom phans and collectors. While the concern for some longtime collectors has been that the original Avons may drop in value with the release of these modern reprints, prices achieved for these via eBay or Facebook community sales would seem to suggest that the value of the originals has maintained or even increased since the availability of the modern version. #HermesPress #DanHerman #AvonBooks

We all know of the Defenders of the Earth and the Phantom 2040 animated television series, but did you know we almost saw not one but two other animation TV shows depicting The Phantom during the 1980's? Two different TV show animation companies, Filmation Studios and Ruby-Spears Productions, both conceived of shows but failed to get them to our screens. Apart from the odd mention in a blog from a past writer, hidden Jack Kirby artwork being found, or the odd eBay listing popping up, not much is known about either. However the team at ChronicleChamber and a few other phellow researchers have found some information which is too exciting not to share. Some of this information comes from a currently available eBay item which, I'm sure you'll understand, I won't be sharing the link to ;) In 1979, Flash Gordon was licensed to Filmation Studios who released a TV series of 32 episodes before the series was canned in 1982. They re-released the episodes into a 95 minute animated film later that year. Both the movie and TV series have been widely accepted as true to the character by fans and critics alike, scoring almost 8 on the IMBD website. In the early to mid 1980's, Filmation hit more gold with other similar characters like Tarzan, Lone Ranger, Batman and Zorro. However, they were perhaps most famously known for their He-Man, She-Ra: Princess of Power and Ghostbusters TV series. What I have learned is that sometime between 1982 and 1985 Filmstudio Studios had a go at the Phantom, as you can see in the concept art above. All I know for certain is that they had this Cartoon Art Display made up which was used to generate interest and promotion which obviously did not work. Further information on the writers, animators, plot and even the artist on this Cartoon Art Display by Filmation Studios has not been found yet but rest assured we are on the job and if and when we find anything else out, ChronicleChamber readers will be the first to find out (keep your fingers crossed I win the auction!). Before all this we had another failed attempt with Ruby-Spears, who in the late 1970's had contracted Mark Evanier to produce a doomed TV pilot for an animated series. In his blog he talks about how 2-3 years running he wrote scripts that never eventuated for Ruby-Spears. Talk about depressing. When Mark did the original TV pilot script, no artist was allocated to it. However, in 1980 Ruby-Spears contracted none other than legendary artist Jack Kirby (Fantastic Four, X-Men & Hulk creator) to do artwork for a The Phantom TV animated series, along with other known and newly created characters. Above you can see a presentation board that Jack Kirby did for The Phantom. Alas it also never saw daylight. In fact, this image was only recently shown to the public in 2000 which you can read here. It was placed into archive along with 600 other pieces that either made it to TV and or failed to. Ruby-Spears tried twice with their Phantom TV series - but not even the legendary Jack Kirby could keep their failed attempt alive. To date the original scripts written by Mark are also still locked up in Ruby-Spears Warehouse. In an alternative world Mark Evanier could have been a household name among phans, as he also was originally contracted for the DC comic book series until cruel fate again conspired against him with Mark Verheiden eventually writing the series so many phans love to this day. Did anything ever get animated and created? I do not know... All I know is that this art exists and then after these failed attempts Marvel Productions hit gold with their Defenders of the Earth TV series that aired for 65 glorious episodes. In our first podcast interview with Glenn Ford, he briefly mentions another TV series that almost got started in the late 1990's by a local Brisbane company. Alas that also failed... Will we ever see the Phantom back in animation? Thanks to Andreas Eriksson who helped with the Ruby-Spears production information. #DefendersoftheEarth #Phantom2040 #FlashGordon #MarkVerheinden #AndreasEriksson

Here at ChronicleChamber, we're unashamedly all about the next generation of Phantom phan. Each of us has young children and we work reasonably hard at getting them hooked in the same way we were when we were kids. Whether it's Steve earning a Frew Crew badge with his son Tom, or Jermayn giving his daughter Abbi a chalkboard that features Kid Phantom, or me taking my son Angus along to three iterations of The Phantom Art Show - we do our bit. However, it seems that Daily and Sunday newspaper author Tony DePaul has trumped us all! In a blog post published last night, Tony tells us of a series of correspondence he's had with a young phan who was compelled to write in to his favourite comic strip author. It's an endearing read, with Tony sharing scans of the letters he's been sent by his young admirer, the enigmatically named "H". Do yourself a favour, warm up your heart, and click here to read all about a young man - and his brother - who took the time to make contact with the current keeper of the canon.

Phantom's World #4 is now out at newsagents throughout Australia, has been sent to Frew subscribers, and phans like myself are now devouring (or have already devoured) the stories. This issue is the first in what Frew are calling their Artist Showcase series, and it features Italian artist Angelo Todaro. While we have seen Angelo's work before in Frew #1761, this is the first time we get a really good look with almost 100 pages of his detailed amazing artwork. We can also read the work of scriptwriter Pidde Andersson for the first time. After admiring the artwork the first reflection I had after reading was just how detailed the stories are about the Chinese, Tibetan and Buddhism Cultures. Hats off to both Todaro who wrote the first story and Andersson who wrote the Shangri-La storyline. Publisher Dudley Hogarth goes into some detail about behind the scenes of the two stories in his Message from the Publisher but here at ChronicleChamber we demand greater detail! So let's go into even more depth and have a sneak peak behind the curtain... The second story Shangri-La is based on the 1937 movie Lost Horizon (obviously before my time and the majority of people who will read this). In the words of Pidde... By the end of the 1970s, when I was ten to eleven years, I saw Frank Capra's classic Lost Horizon on television. I thought it was an amazingly exciting and fascinating movie. It was not until I was 35-40 years [old] before I had the opportunity to see the film [again]. Then it turned out that it was not at all as I remembered it. So I wrote an adventure that I thought Lost Horizon was - fast with the Fantasy in the lead role. I also included much more jokes and series references than other Fantasy writers usually do. Pidde has been working with Egmont for many years, but due to circumstances was never able to write a story for Team Fantomen. However with the new Frew Crew hiring artists and writers to expand on the Phantom universe (or as some are calling it, The Frewniverse), Pidde was soon writing stories including one in the upcoming Frew 70th birthday TPB and many more. After reading the one story, I can see why Frew are keeping Pidde busy using his talents. Angelo Todaro is more known for his artistic talents but with Hong Long and The Stubborn Sorcerer stories featuring in a Frew comic he is obviously far more than an artist. From what I can tell from my own research, talking with Angelo, Felmang and other sources, some of these stories where already completed and waiting for someone to publish them. In the case of "Expedition in the Jungle" it was created by Felmang back in 2002. Cue Frew Crew to the rescue! While some stories like Lou Manna's Full Circle which went unpublished by USA Moonstone failed to excite many phans, the current crop of Felmang's has been more widely accepted by phans in the Phantom's World series. Even if some were created 5, or 10+ years ago, a lot of phans seem to be using the art as the measuring stick if these stories receive a pass mark or not. Some clever editing and planning on behalf of the Frew Crew has seen these two separate but based-in-the-same-region stories magically get joined for us to enjoy! #PiddeAndersson #AngeloTodaro #Frew #DudleyHogarth #Felmang #LouManna #Moonstone

After almost a year's absence, the World of the Phantom short stories are making a return to Egmont. The series was initially called Phantom's Kids because the short stories focused on Kit and Heloise, but was later changed to Fantomen's Värld ("The World of the Phantom") as other minor Phantom characters like Diana, Guran, Old Man Mozz, Hzz and others featured in the short stories. These are created by writers and artists with no previous experience working on The Phantom. The series began in 2014. While clearly set in the same continuity as the regular Team Fantomen stories, the Phantom himself is only rarely seen. The first batch of stories featured as back up stories in Fantomen and Fantomet between 2014 and 2017. However, artistKim W Andersson recently posted a new panel on his Instagram account which looks like it may feature creation Kadia Sahara and Heloise getting picked up by some ugly looking creep. The caption for the post - Drawing a short The Phantom comic - is a dead giveaway! For the record I love the way Kim draws a bad guy - reminds me of Wilson McCoy where the bad guys have all been beaten by the ugly stick. Above we see the pencil version with the dialogue added, and below we see the final inks. As a lot of Australian and non-Egmont readers have not seen any of these stories, I have scanned a story from Fantomen 22-23/ 2014 which features Diana in a story called Stolen Cargo written by Alan Sonne, with art by Kim W. Andersson so you can get a gauge yourself. have a look below... As a lot of these stories are 1-6 pages, they would be handy as back ups for future Frew issues. Thanks to Andreas for the spot. #PhantomKids #KimAndersson #Egmont #Fantomen #Fantomet

For some collecting Phantom comics from around the world is their jam! I am one of them and there are plenty of others who get excited about this type of stuff. The good guys at Phantom Wiki have found a new Phantom country for us to try and hunt down. This time in modern Iran, in the Persian language, printed all the way back in 1970. Confirmation of the comic has taken the guys at Phantom Wiki years to establish, find someone who has the comic and then confirm it actually exists. This is a passion which has brought us new Phantom history in the form of the first EVER Phantom comic, new languages our hero has been released in and they deserve a Good Mark for their diligence and hard work. Mosavar (written مصور in Persian) was published from November 1969 to October 1970. Since the start it has included various comics, like Tarzan, Batman, Superman, The Lone Ranger, Tom and Jerry, Woody Woodpecker, Porky Pig, Yogi Bear and Donald Duck, to name a few. There was 49 issues in total. The Phantom appeared in only one issue. That issue was #16 and the Persian title is "قبیله ارواح" (romanized as "Ghabile arvah"; "The Ghost Tribe"). This story was created by Bill Harris and Bill Lignante, and was also published by Charlton in the USA. Below are some scans of the story. Thanks to Marko for his help in finding out about this comic, and unique piece of Phantom history. #Charlton #BillLignante #BillHarris

Eagle eyed Fantomen and Fantomet Egmont readers would have noticed an advert announcing new creators creating Phantom stories. First up is Fantomen Egmont editor Mikael Sol who will be adding to his busy plate writing full length Phantom stories and artist Carlos Pedrazzini. Now before you go and search for Carlos Pedrazzini on Google, just be wary as he has drawn comics that may get you in trouble if you're at work and or in front of your kids. Here is a self portrait of Carlos. Carlos Pedrazzini has been active in the comics industry since the 1970s, and is also known for his explicit pornographic work under the name Salomon Grundig. He was born in Buenos Aires and began his career in the 1970s in the studios of Carlos, Enrique and Ricardo Villagrán, Since 2014, Pedrazzini is the artist of 'Mild & Fromm', a comic series published in the Swedish Fantomen comic book. and written by Göran Semb (who has been on our podcast, you can listen to Göran here). Below is a panel from one of the stories; I expect his Phantom work to look similar to this. Mikael as a writer may seem strange to some, but to me it makes sense. He has written before, with several books and autobiographies credited to him, and he has proof-read Phantom stories for several years. It could also mean less money is spent on outsourcing writers and artists which means we may get more new stories from Egmont, which can only be seen as a win for everyone. #Egmont #MikaelSol #GöranSemb #Fantomen #Fantomet #CarlosPedrazzini

Sammy J is reprising his award-winning show Hero Complex for a very special, very short run in 2018, and it starts next week! Long-time readers know that we here at ChronicleChamber are unabashed fans of the Australian musical comedian and lifetime Phantom phan, whose knack for story-telling, self-depreciation and absurd nostalgia delighted audiences across Australia throughout 2017. Now in a very limited return season, Sammy is giving phans one last chance to enjoy his very Phantomcentric show. And it's fair to say, Sammy is pumped to be bringing the show back for one last hurrah: "Like the Skulls of Touganda, these three shows will combine to create a magical send-off to my very favourite show. The final showbags are ready, the piano has been tuned, and now I stand ready for one last ride through the Deep Woods!" For well explained reasons, this show will never be available on DVD or other, so seeing it live is your only way to experience it. We literally cannot recommend this enough. If you are in Adelaide, Hobart or Melbourne and consider yourself to be any sort of a Phantom phan, you simply must get to this show. If you live elsewhere, move. In case you you need any more convincing, check out our Hero Complex page here, then immediately follow this link to purchase your tickets! #SammyJ #HeroComplex

The man who inspired countless Phantom artists over the last 50+ years, oversaw the Phantom's move to Africa, and was there when the Phantom finally married and have kids - Sy Barry - is going to make a guest appearance at the Big Apple Comic Convention on Saturday 14th April. At almost 90 years old, Sy's appearances are understandably not as regular as they used to be. If you're anywhere nearby do not miss out as if you're like me, you'd regret not meeting him and shaking his hand and to tell him about the impact he has left on your life. Before you go, do not forget to go back and have a listen to the Sy Barry podcast interview we did with the legend himself as he goes back and talks about his 30 year reign and much more. #SyBarry

It was September last year that Frew announced the release of their Phantom's Universe cards, the little bonus that is being sent to subscribers of Frew's special quarterly releases: Kid Phantom, Giantsize Phantom and Phantom's World. At the time, publisher Dudley Hogarth promised that Frew would "be bringing out a collector's folder with sleeves to accommodate the cards in the future." Well it seems that future is getting closer! In a reply to a Facebook plea from a desperate phan, Glenn Ford teased us all with an image of the final product: The image splashed across the cover of the folder is another beautiful creation from Jeremy Macpherson, who has produced a number of covers for Frew comics over the last few years. He is also responsible for the stunning cover of Frew's first ever TPB For Those Who Came In Late, as well as the picture gracing the Frew Phile Cards folder. We can certainly see why Jeremy has become a go-to guy for Frew's special projects - as Glenn says, he is "knocking it out of the park lately." Despite the excitement of the image being released, there has still not been any availability date given for the folder, with Glenn telling ChronicleChamber, "Soon is all I can say. It's created and ready to print... there's just no immediate rush to do it yet." Wild speculation on our part has us wondering if the folder will be one of the special products Frew times for release at the Frew Booth at Sydney Supanova in June... #Frew #GlennFord #JeremyMacpherson #KidPhantom #Giantsize #PhantomsWorld #DudleyHogarth #Supanova