The long awaited issue 2 of Hermes Press' second series of original Phantom stories is about to hit shelves! Sabrina Herman, Managing Editor at Hermes Press, has sent us the below cover image to share with phans, and tells us that the comic should be out in 3-4 weeks. Sean Joyce has certainly produced another vibrant and dynamic image for #2! This is an exciting development - we very much look forward to seeing how the Cold War era saga unfolds! #HermesPress #SeanJoyce

It's a question many phans have been asking for a while now ... What extras or giveaways will Frew be including with the Kid Phantom comics? Issue #1 had the stickers, while issue #2 had the colouring competition and poster - what would we see next? Well, in a dark corner of Facebook yesterday it was revealed - badges! In a comment on a long thread, Frew Director Glenn Ford himself makes the big reveal, "the bagged extra for [Kid Phantom #3 ] and the 5 subsequent issues will be a cool-looking metal/enamel badge. Paul [Mason] ... and Andrew [Constant] have done an outstanding job on this issue - and that's not just publisher's hype - it just keeps on getting better and better! First badge is the Kid himself." A close-up photo of the six-badge set is attached and you can see it here - they do indeed look really cool! There will be speculation as to who each badge is, as clearly not all these characters have appeared in the Kid Phantom stories yet. Our best guess is, from left to right: the Kid (of course); a young Devil or some other native American canine companion for Kit; Diana; Guran; an American school chum of Kit's; a Bandar girl who follows Kit and Guran to America for some reason. We might have to troll back over our podcast interviews with Glenn for some more clues, because there's some wild speculation there!! Have you got any better ideas? Comment below or on our Reddit thread! Meanwhile, ChronicleChamber has confirmed that the badges are all around the size of an adult male's thumbnail, and are affixed with a push-on back commonly used in hatpins and the like. If you look carefully you can see one of the backs just behind Devil's ear, which also gives some idea of scale. Of course, the badges are fully licensed with through King Features which is all spelled out on the rear of the badge. Here the badges also display a website address www.kidphantom.com.au which, while not live yet, promises some interesting digital content in the Kid Phantom space. Of course, we knew this was coming after Glenn told us as much on the podcast, but it is cool seeing it all come towards reality. A little more digging on Facebook however, and you might find - a Kid Phantom Facebook page! Make sure you Like and Follow this for all the latest on the newest iteration of our purple hero. And the best news? Issue #3 of Kid Phantom will hit shelves on 25th January, only a fortnight away, when we'll all be able to inspect the Kid badge for ourselves! (The second best news? Frew's Western themed 2018 Annual will also include a Kid Phantom giveaway - a wearable mask! A great excuse to get a second comic for the kids...) #KidPhantom #DrPaulMason #GlennFord #Frew #KingFeaturesSyndicate #AndrewConstant

For the first podcast of 2018, Steve, Dan and Jermayn take a look back at the year that was 2017. They share their thoughts on the best writers, best artists, best stories, best issues, best covers, best merch, best addition to their own Skull Caves, best moment of being part of the ChronicleChamber team in 2017, and what they thought of 2017 in relation to the Phantom. Enjoy! #DynamiteEntertainment #HermesPress #XBand #KingFeaturesSyndicate #Podcast #Frew #YearinReview #KidPhantom #PhantomsWorld #Giantsize #Fantomen #Fantomet #Egmont #Kizilmaske #LightningStrikeComics #JamieJohnson #GlennLumsden #SalVelluto #MassimoGamberi #DrPaulMason #Felmang #TonyDePaul #ClaesReimerthi #NormanWorker #AlexSaviuk #JeffWeigel #JaimeVallve #RafaelRuiz #GeorgesBess #Mallon #Phanfare #ArtShow #WilsonMcCoy #Originalteckningar #Supanova #ThePhantomClub #GlennFord

The Hermes Press reprints of the 1970's Avon Books The Phantom novels are a truly beautiful product - but are you buying them? If you don't, is there a chance that Hermes will not complete the 15 book series?? Reading between the lines of the latest YouTube promotion, uploaded just before Christmas from Dan Herman, Publisher at Hermes Press, it would seem that sales of the books to date have not quite been what they would have hoped. (You can view the video at the bottom of this page). Volume 1 of the novels has been available for purchase for over 12 months now, but Dan opens the video with the introduction "today I'm going to tell you about our new Avon Phantom reprints". What follows is a genuine and compelling advertisement from the largest current US publisher of The Phantom, as Dan spends the first two minutes or so of the six minute clip outlining the history of the Avon novels and their place in the Phantom world. Part of the exposition mentions the physical failings of the original products, including paper quality, binding and typographical errors. Continuing his promotion, Dan highlights the many ways that Hermes have improved on the original. "We decided to create a 6 x 8 inch reprint of these marvellous Phantom stories in a much higher quality format, using a better acid-free paper, using a much better binding that won't crack, preserving the cover (making it much larger though). "The other thing is that these books have been meticulously proofread and do not contain typographical errors. The people who have been buying these books have been commenting 'Gee you can read these books and there are no typos!' Everything has been corrected in these books and they are as perfect as you can get." Volume 2 was published in 2016, and issues 3 and 4 have been available internationally since September. Hermes' license agreement with King Features Syndicate is for an international license, so phans can legitimately purchase these locally wherever they are in the world from their local suppliers. [As a case in point, I personally purchased issues 1 & 2 at Sydney Supanova, then 3 & 4 through my Local Comic Store, where I now have a standing order for the series. If purchasing locally or through online mega-bookstores is not for you, Volumes 1-4 are currently on sale on Hermes website - in fact you can pick up the set of all four for only $US50. Issues 5-8 are available for pre-order, and are currently marked down from the regular RRP. Check out the Hermes shop here.] In the video, Dan goes on to tell us that "issues 5 & 6 are going to the printer in a couple of weeks", and will be available to purchase early in 2018. These will be "followed in quick succession by volumes 7 & 8". However, it was the following statements that pricked our ears ... "Let me implore you, if you want us to continue doing all 15 volumes, you have to support this effort and buy these books... We need you to buy these books so we can continue to do all 15 of them." This sounds more than a little ominous to us - could Hermes be about to pull the pin on the series?? The international license must be a costly affair for Hermes. Perhaps the return from book sales is just not justifying that outlay... Let us know! Are you buying the books? Why/Why not? Do you read them, or are they gathering dust on your collecting shelf? Would you like to see Hermes complete the series? Reply via Disqus comment below, by commenting on one of our facebook links, via email at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com, or by adding to the discussion thread on Reddit! #HermesPress #AvonBooks #DanHerman #YouTube #KingFeaturesSyndicate

In his interview with us in Episode 85 of X-Band: The Phantom Podcast, Frew Director Glenn Ford introduced a new Phantom artist - Paul Bulman. ChronicleChamber sat down with Paul to find out a little more about him... Name: Paul Bulman Age: 34 Location: Adelaide Other occupation: Nightfill worker (shelf stacker), Dad CC: How long have you been drawing? PB: Professionally about 4 years, but I’ve drawn on and off from an early age. I did have about a 12 year gap where I didn’t really draw in my late teenage years into my 20s, just based on some bad life advice, but decided to get back onto the creative wagon when I wasn’t enjoying other career pursuits CC: Who would you say are your artistic influences? PB: I have many. Too many, one could argue. A lot of my initial influences were the typical for the time - Jim Lee, Rob Liefeld, Joe Madureira, etc. Back then, I was collecting X-Men, Spider-Man, Batman, Superman and Phantom; so in some ways, all my interests were bundled up in this superhero package, and I didn’t understand, when I talked about Phantom with other kids in conversations about Superman, how they didn’t really know him. Over time, my interest and style changed from those more gritty artists, and I began looking at different styles such as Freddie Williams, Adam Hughes, Terry Dodson, Mike Mignola, Chris Sprouse and Trevor McCarthy (to name a few). Currently, I’m basing a lot of my style on some of these, while trying to forge my own look and feel to what I’m drawing, and as a result have a very precise clean line method, which I’m slowly shaking up with textures and grunge for some visual variation. All that said, my style remains very superheroic. I’m sure I’ll have an opportunity to experiment with a different style on a book it’s more appropriate to in the future, but for now I’m making strides with my big shoulders and square jaw approach to art - so it shall be for now! CC: What medium do you work in? PB: I mostly work digitally at this point. I prefer the speed I can get, especially smashing the undo button. Unfortunately that means a lot of my work doesn’t have any ‘originals’, however I do have plans to do traditional inks on some later work that will be available for those who want to buy some art of me. That said, I do also draw traditionally- such as for commissions and sketches and sketch-covers, etc. I have no problem drawing with pens and paper, it’s just a preference to work on the computer. So anyone hesitant to contact me about some commission work, don’t worry I do traditional pencils and inks also! CC: What other characters or stories you have worked on? PB: I’ve managed to work on a licensed DC Comics book, titled The World According to Wonder Woman from Insight Editions, which I got through some art submissions and a really generous introduction from a good friend Freddie Williams (currently rocking the TMNT/Batman series). I’ve also worked on some creator owned properties, which I’m hoping will gain some traction and be available to a wider readership next year - one of which is Echo Realm, and is basically a supernatural detective story involving a young woman who can glimpse into the echo realm, where time can be distorted and crime scenes analyzed, as well as some other things like seeing the victims leading up to deaths, etc. That one is written by another good friend, Josh Southall. I’ve also got some projects in the works with some pretty awesome (and high profile) creators that I can’t really talk about at the moment. But I’ll be making sure to keep interested comic fans up to date as I can! CC: Where can phans see these? PB: The Wonder Woman book is currently available anywhere you can order books, and also in stores [CC: try BookDepository.com if it's not in your LCS]. It’s a nice 64 page history about the Nu52 Diana, filled with combinations of information and splash-page illustrations. It was really neat to have the chance to draw her and the other heroes/villains of the DC universe. The Echo Realm had a limited print in a small prologue-type comic, where it showed a snippet of the story and characters, and there might be a few copies around at Josh’s place. CC: What is your history with The Phantom? Are you a casual reader? A phan? PB: I’d say my classification would be something along the lines of ‘a long-time casual reader’, in that I’ve had my stack of Phantom comics (in the Phantom storage boxes that look like chronicle tomes - with the MXMI on the spine) for a very, very long time. Since my early teenage years. While I couldn’t recall exact issues or story events off the top of my head, I have read each one several times throughout the years and have always had an appreciation for Phantom and his world. Funnily enough, one man in particular - Glenn Lumsden - was basically single-handedly responsible for my interest in both drawing comics as a profession and an increased interest in the Phantom. Back when I was around 12-13, and was starting to get serious about drawing (or as serious as a kid could get), I took a drawing course in Adelaide (I didn’t live there at the time, so my folks drove me from Port Augusta). The course was for 2 days, and was meant to focus on life drawing and different methods of art, but on the first day I heard Glenn introduce himself and mentioned he had drawn some Phantom… and everything else kind of faded out and I just focused on the fact a real life comic artist was in front of me. I literally cannot remember anything he taught (sorry, Glenn!) and only thought about the Phantom and comics. I’m sure his lesson was amazing, and I wish I could have focused, but I was a kid who loved comics and that was that. Prior to that, I’d been lightly introduced to the Phantom with some odd issues from grandparents and uncles, but meeting Glenn and getting bit by that creative drive to do comics too, I started working hard on copying layouts and hero forms and poses from that day on. I even approached Glenn at the end of the lesson on Saturday and asked if he would be able to sketch a Phantom for me - I recall even mentioning “Just a few lines is fine, I know you’re busy.” - and he indulged and drew an awesome head sketch, though he did say he probably shouldn’t just in case others wanted one, too. I still have it. It’s been on my desk for the last 21 years (yikes!), and it’s worn, the paper yellow, and some edges torn, but it was definitely the start of comics and collecting Phantom issues for me. CC: That's an awesome story! So, how did you come to be working on The Phantom? PB: It was a combination of the right people seeing my art, some fortuitous introductions, and being available at the right time, I’d say. I’ve been doing the local Adelaide comic con circuits for 4-5 years, and over that time I’ve managed to become friends with some awesome people - and those people aren’t afraid to talk about prospective artists or creators to others. Which is one of the things I love most about Australia’s comic cons, there’s an underlying level of care for others who are genuinely trying to climb the comic hill and do work. Around the time I was introduced to Glenn Ford, he had seen some of my work, and liked it enough for us to start talking about doing something. I provided some art to show I could draw some of the main characters of the Phantom ensemble, and then it came down to having a project to work on before things kicked off. And not long after that, I was told that a story was being written by Andrew Constant, which Glenn was interested in having me work on. So, as you’d expect, both inner-child me and adult me jumped at the chance! CC: What can you tell us about the story you are working on? PB: The story is a sequel to the Black Fire part 1 and 2 issues, which pits Kit against some new foes and continues with some of the plots from the previous stories. Without giving too much away, there’s action, intrigue and a villain I absolutely adore - he’s really fun to draw in expression and posture, and I’ve taken to thinking of him as a bad guy mirror-version of a popular hero icon from the 80s (with all those heroic traits completely reversed). Andrew has definitely given me a lot to work with, and all I can do is draw the heck out of it so we’re both - and the phans - are happy! CC: Have you worked with Andrew before? What’s the history of your relationship? PB: The first time I met him was in Adelaide at Oz Comic Con 2013. At the time, he was signing at the Gestalt booth. I approached with some portfolio samples (which weren’t great, looking back), and somehow managed to get his interest and we began an acquaintanceship that turned into a friendship. More recently, we’ve had some opportunities to work together, which has resulted in this particular project and hopefully more to come! CC: When is your story due for publication? PB: I believe Glenn (Ford) mentioned on X-Band #85 plans for Supanova next year. Since he’s the man with the plan, I’ll defer to him on that specific info, but I wouldn’t be surprised if his guess was accurate. CC: Do you have any links where phans can find your work? PB: They can check out my social media accounts: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Paulbulmanart/ Twitter: @Paul_Bulman Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paulbulman/ CC: Anything else you’d like to share with eager phans? PB: I’m really looking forward to getting involved and stepping up to be part the Phantom legacy, and I hope that my style suits the stories I’m working on, and that the phans can feel that appreciation and joy I have in drawing Kit and his colleagues through the work I’m doing. And in the end, I’m really glad the Ghost Who Walks found me. CC: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to us Paul, and we're really looking forward to seeing your story when it comes to print! #PaulBulman #GlennLumsden #GlennFord #AndrewConstant #Frew #Podcast #XBand

A brand new The Phantom board game has suddenly become a very real and imminent possibility! This will not be news to regular listeners to X:Band - The Phantom Podcast as it has come up in each of the last two episodes, but it's certainly big enough news to warrant its own blog post... The prospect of a new Phantom board game first broke with us as a little detail that Frew Publications Director Glenn Ford announced deep into his recent interview with the ChronicleChamber team in podcast Episode 85: Into the Frewniverse (listen from 1hr 42:40 minutes in). As Glenn told us, "[Frew] are going to take out a license to do a Phantom board game next year. It won't be your simple Snakes & Ladders or Monopoly type board game ... It's a well thought out game. It's based on the Pirates of the Red Dragon [story]... For each of the players in the game there'll be a little figure that goes with it. ... I'm looking forward to it because it's going to be a whole other world for us if it works, and I think it will, because these guys know what they're doing." "These guys" are a pair of Australian creators, board game designer Alex Wynnter (Ninjitsu, The Brigade) and comic book author Dale Maccanti (Ink Tales, The Misadventures of Peter Pumpkinhead, After the Snow). Phans were then lucky enough to find out much more about the board game in an in-depth interview with Alex in Episode 86: Comics and VERY BIG News (from the 14:15 minute mark). This is something that you really need to listen to if you haven't already, but some of the key takeaways are: Alex and Dale have been working on this concept for over 18 months already Glenn has played the prototype game with the designers The game play and overall design is still being tweaked with every trail game, particularly being mindful of the comic book market rather than the board game market There are elements of both player choice and random chance (dice roll) in the game play The game players' experience is foremost in the creators' minds - they want us to feel like we're creating the story as we're playing There are currently 80 cards as part of the game It's planned as a 6 player game - no age guide at this stage A playable prototype will likely be present at both Supanova and PAX 2018 It also turns out there have been some fairly explicit hints about this game out there for a couple of months now - we just listen to the wrong podcasts! Speaking to Garth from The Dice Men Cometh podcast (from the 23:30 minute mark) all the way back on 28 October strictly on the proviso that everything was 'Subject To Approval', Dale announced that he and Alex had "joined up with Frew Publications to make the official Phantom board game. Growing up I was actually a big fan of The Phantom. I just noticed [recently] from the comics side that they were doing different things, releasing brand new content by Australian artists and writers. I make my own content and I thought it was a good opportunity to hit them up for a game." When asked about the game play, Alex explains, "it's a very fast paced sort of smash and grab sort of game. There's an arch-nemesis in this story line and she has come and stolen a bunch of treasure and as the Phantom it's your job to run into the temple, avoid all the traps that she's set for you, grab the treasure and try and get out with as much as you can just to save yourself as the temple comes crashing down upon you." As for game pieces? "It's got a lot of really cool action cards, and all the cards, the artwork will be done by one of the original Phantom cover artists, one of the most well renowned cover artists in The Phantom - Glenn Ford." There is even a sly hint at a Skull Ring! When Garth asks "Who gets to wear the ring?", Alex replies "The first player - subject to approval!" Now, obviously none of this game play or these pieces are set in stone - this is a product that is still in the planning stages, albeit well advanced. However, it is wonderful news to hear that there is a fully functional and playable prototype in existence, that the artwork is planned, that licensing arrangements are being sought ... that all the wheels are in motion. With the backing of a highly reputable company such as Frew, we have extremely high expectations that this will all come to a very successful fruition. What's the catch? Nothing really - except we're all going to have to become a little more familiar with the idea of Kickstarter! For those who have come in late to Kickstarter, Alex explains it brilliantly in his podcast chat with us (from 29:05). A quick summary? It's a way for creators to raise enough funds to get their creation into the production stage. Creators nominate the dollar target that is required for them to mass produce their product. Individuals can pledge an amount towards that goal, which they only have to pay if the total is reached. Typically, there are rewards levels involved - you get something back for what you pay. In the instance of the Phantom board game, phans might pledge enough to actually buy a copy of the game, which is then shipped to them as soon as it is produced - and before the broader manufacture takes place and they appear in stores (or on Frew's website). Retailers can also make pledges however, promising to buy 5, 10 or even more copies of the game if funded, so they can be the first to start selling it to the public. This could be something to casually mention to your Local Comic Store owner ;) There will likely also be extra Kickstarter levels meaning extra rewards for supporters. Suggestions on this front from the men involved have been: Alex:"We're hoping to release the trilogy of comics that this game has been born from [Pirates of the Red Dragon] as part of the Kickstarter campaign ... Maybe a Collector's level, so you get two copies of the game ... We also plan to sell the original [Glenn Ford artwork] as part of the Kickstarter campaign, where one of the tiers would be: buy the game and get an original piece of the artwork done especially for this game ... roughly 46 or 48 pieces." Glenn:"What we'll probably do, to sweeten the pot, is do a trade paperback of the three stories ... and maybe even a new story, like a sequel to the trilogy, and make it an even sweeter deal." Dale and Alex are very experienced and effective with Kickstarter. Both Alex's board game The Brigade and Dale's comic book series After the Snow were successfully launched in this way. We'd highly recommend you click on each of those last two links to: a) get a feel for how the crowd-funding platform works; b) see what sort of quality product the team are creating (spoilers - it's really really high). Unfortunately, we are still a way off seeing this all come together. As you've heard in his interview, Alex suggested that the Kickstarter will run for the month of November 2018. Assuming the campaign is successful and the game is fully funded, earliest delivery of the final product is not expected until early-mid 2019. When quizzed about this timeline by an impatient ChronicleChamber team, Dale told us "No images have been created for the game as yet. All the illustrations we've used [as examples in the prototype] are under copyright that we don't own. We won't be using any [previously existing] material for the game. Everything will be original and created specifically for our game." Alex adds, "We want to get it to people ASAP, so starting a campaign then making backers wait for artwork would be devastating. We want to be prepared." And obviously Glenn needs time to draw that new material! All this is obviously EXTREMELY exciting for Phantom phans. Other than the extremely limited edition and highly artistic Phantom Game of Life and Death game associated with The Phantom Art Show, there has been no Phantom-themed board games ever produced in Australia, and none in the world for over 20 years. Phun as they are to collect, one suspects that these are all about to be declared 100% obsolete as far as playable Phantom games are concerned. Indeed, we might even have to update our YouTube review of "all" the Phantom board games in existence - and this can only be a very good thing for all Phantom phans and collectors. #Games #XBand #Podcast #Frew #GlennFord #ReneWhite #Supanova

It's a bumper Xmas special from the ChronicleChamber team as we review the latest Frew comics and discuss some of the news to come out of our interview with Glenn Ford. The VERY BIG NEWS to break in this podcast comes in the form of an absolute first - an interview in a Comics and News podcast! We're lucky enough to chat with Alex Wynnter, one of the co-designers of the board game Glenn leaked in his interview. He tells us quite a lot about the upcoming game, including some design details, a timeline of production, where to see the prototype, how phans can get involved in launching it etc etc etc. This is a very exciting must-listen interview! Listen from 14:15 to 1:00:15 to get all the information!! We'll also be putting up a written post in the very near future too. As for the rest of it, it's the usual banter and phrivolity of the CC team. Yes it's a longer one, but don't forget it's like a Trade Paperback or a Christmas lunch - you don't have to finish to it all in one sitting! Happy holidays to you all - Merry Phantoming! #XBand #Podcast #Frew #Gaslight #Giantsize #GermanoFerri #PhantomsWorld #GlennFord #Games

Massimo Gamberi is the creative talent behind the stunning and phestive Christmas-themed cover for Frew's 2017 Christmas Special, currently on sale on newsstands around Australia and winging it's way around the world. Massimo is considered a "future art comic superstar" by the prominent Phantom artist Sal Velluto, and it is a real coup for Frew to have him join their stable of cover artists. Friend of the ChronicleChamber, Anthony Gillies, has been kind enough to chat with Massimo on our behalf and share a written interview with the Italian artist for the benefit of phans around the world. Anthony and Massimo have worked hard to overcome the language barrier, and between them provided a wonderful read for us all. Thanks Anthony for your great work!! I wish to thank interpreter Annarita Guarnieri for her sterling assistance. Anthony Gillies: Where were you born? Massimo Gamberi: I was born on March 10th 1973 in Florence, but I presently live in Vallata del Mugello... the “green heart” of Tuscany. AG: How old were you when you first developed an interest in drawing, and what influenced you to draw? MG: Actually, I have been drawing since I was a child. . . it is an innate passion. I still remember my first drawing, at school: a nice Superman, complete with his shining yellow belt. I’ve always been fascinated by heroes in tights. AG: Who encouraged your interest in drawing? MG: Sadly enough, my parents never actively encouraged my interest in drawing. Comic books were always sort of frowned upon. As a “grown-up”, however, my wife Laura and my son Gabriele have been fundamental in supporting me and my passion. AG: Do you have any formal art training? Art school? Design course? MG: I attended an Art School in Florence (high-school). I have fond, enthusiastic memories of those years. . . those who, like me, wanted to create comic books were highly motivated: special, unique years indeed. AG: Has any artist influenced your style? Who? How? MG: What I really appreciate are true-to-life drawings, which means that the artists who mostly influenced me are those belonging to the American school of old: first and foremost, Raymond and Foster, Dan and Sy Barry, but also Starr, Drake. . . Williamson. I liked Dave Stevens very much and I’m very interested in the drawings of Mark Schultz. The author I feel most connected to, however, is Roberto Raviola, known as Magnus in the comic books world: I learned to read on his Alan Ford comic books, which are caricatural, though. AG: Your faces remind me a little of Reuben Moreira. Is that a fair observation? MG: Do you think so? I know Moreira for his work on Tarzan and his comic books, but I do not think he influenced me. AG: Do you draw pencil and ink? If so, type of pencil ink? Type of ink, brush ink pen? Type of pen? MG: I’m rather old-fashioned, which means my way of drawing is “analogical”: pencil, usually 2H and HB. As for the ink, I use many types of drawing pens, both with a graded point and brush point. Recently I found some Japanese drawing pens that make for a very flowing stroke. AG: Do you use a computer program to draw? MG: My drawing technique is still that of 1936, a time when computers did not exist yet. (LOL) AG: For those not familiar with Italian comics, what work have you had published and in what comics or magazines? MG: In the last few years I mostly worked with Anafi (Associazione Nazionale Amici del Fumetto e dell'Illustrazione) and Allagalla (a Turin publishing house). I drew magazine and book covers, and comic books, of course, for Anafi. I drew mostly western books covers for Allagalla. AG: How long does it take you to pencil and ink a FREW-sized comic book page? MG: I tend to take my time: one week. You must keep in mind, however, that I have a day job, too. AG: So, what do you do for your day job? MG: I work in the field of doors and windows manufacture (doors, handles, locks, etc.). I started drawing “seriously” only a few years ago. I usually spend 5 hours a day drawing, which means I’m not exceedingly fast. For now, I’m OK with this. AG: Do you collect comics? If so, what? What comics did you read when you were a child and teenager? MG: I’ve always loved comic books very much, which means I always read and collected them. I’ve always preferred the so-called “classics”, and as a child I was already fascinated by characters such as Flash Gordon, Mandrake, Rip Kirby and, of course, The Phantom. Let’s say I grew up reading the greatest U.S. authors and copying their drawings. My present tastes are still the same, more or less. In front of my drawing table I have some original strips by Al Williamson, Alex Raymond, Dan Barry, Warren Tufts. . . AG: When were you first exposed to the Phantom? Any favourite stories? Favourite artists? What is the appeal of the Phantom to you? MG: As I said, the Phantom has always been one of my favorite characters, also because of a TV program of the Seventies, which offered, among others, the adventures of the heroes created by Lee Falk. It was called Supergulp: my generation grew up with those wonderful shows. The Phantom’s first stories were those that most caught my imagination. . . “The Sky Band” and the whole period up to the Forties: Ray Moore is still unmatched. In later years, though, I’ve been quite impressed by Sy Barry, whose Phantom still is, in my opinion, the “final” one. Recently I’ve come to appreciate very much Sal Velluto’s interpretation of this masked hero. To me the Phantom is the very essence of ADVENTURE. . . I think this is what draws me the most, because he remained true to himself through the decades. AG: How popular is the Phantom in Italy? Is The Phantom currently published in Italy? MG: Here in Italy the Phantom is also called The Masked Man. He is very well known here and has been published almost continuously from the Thirties to the Nineties. In recent years he sporadically appeared on the market again. At the moment Editoriale Cosmo is publishing quite elegant hard cover volumes containing the Phantom’s Sunday strips from the Forties. . . wonderful. AG: How did you come to FREW's notice? MG: I’ve always been fascinated by comic book heroes of the golden age, and I always dreamed of drawing a color Sunday strip like the American ones. My chance came about one year ago, thanks to Fumetto magazine. I involved in this adventure the comic books historian Alberto Becattini, who wrote the script, and Luca Giorgi, who colored the strip “in the old style”. The page topper is taken by the retro sci-fi series Mandhro, while the remaining two thirds are devoted to the main character, The Mind, inspired to the masked heroes in the pulp novels of the early Thirties. Thanks to Sal Velluto’s praiseworthy mediation – I’ll never be able to thank him enough for this – those pages came to the attention of Frew’s editor, Glenn Ford, who immediately offered me the Phantom job. AG: To my eyes you have the classic Phantom style. What is your inspiration when you draw the Phantom? MG: My main source of inspiration when drawing the Phantom is Sy Barry. His Phantom is quite perfect: well-muscled, strong, but definitely not a body-builder. My intention is never to betray the character: I’m totally in the service of Lee Falk’s creation. AG: You are currently drawing a Planetman story for FREW. You are working from a script by Christopher Sequeira. Is it a full script or are you working "Marvel style"? What input did you have into the design of Planetman's helmet and uniform? MG: Right. . . since the Phantom’s script wasn’t ready yet, Glenn asked me to work on Planetman first, a superhero from the Fifties, and I accepted with pleasure. Christopher Sequeira’s script is very detailed and well written. . . he managed to put a lot of pathos in it. I mean, it’s not just the usual superheroes story. Chris already had a clear idea of what to do, he did not want just a retro story in the Buck Rogers style. Of course, I was quite ready to realize a Buck Rogers story (LOL). Joking aside, I worked on the character’s looks, because he had to look like the Planetman of the Fifties and at the same time have a modern look. The hero’s symbol has been suggested by Chris and digitally realized by Luca Giorgi, who also helped me with all the special effects. You will soon be able to see the results with your own eyes. AG: Your Christmas cover will appeal to older phans for nostalgic reasons and should appeal to young phans if they can be dragged away from their computer games. What was your inspiration for the cover? Were you given any instructions in drawing the covers? Roughly how many hours did you spend on the cover before it was coloured? MG: That cover was really important for me: it was going to be my calling card with the Australian readers and it was also my first experience with the Phantom. Sal Velluto was extremely helpful while I was drawing that cover, assisting me with advice and suggestions: it was his idea that I should submit a double cover. Glenn Ford told me it would be a good idea to have the Phantom dressed as Santa, a suggestion I followed. It was a long job because I realized many sketches, most of all for the part to be published on the back cover. The same goes for the digital coloring: Luca Giorgi had a long job on his hands. . . AG: You are doing a 32 page Phantom story for FREW. Is this something you can talk about? MG: I asked Glenn to allow me to work on the Phantom set in the Thirties, possibly with a story that drew its inspiration from the adventure movies of the time. Glenn contacted the scriptwriter Pidde Andersson who got on it and realized not just one episode but two. The working title is The Kiss of the Devil. Massive thanks again to Anthony for his initiative and to Massimo for his time. We cannot wait to see the Andersson/Gamberi collaboration, and the Planetman story too! #MassimoGamberi #Frew #SalVelluto #SyBarry #FlashGordon #Mandrake #LeeFalk #RayMoore #GlennFord #ChristopherSequeira #PiddeAndersson

Phans of Kid Phantom have been eagerly awaiting the public release of the animated short film Homework ever since it was announced as being in production. Unless you were lucky enough to attend the screening at the QUT Griffith Film School showcase evening back in October, the best you've probably been able to do is listen to ChronicleChamber's phan commentary in podcast form (Episode 82 of X-Band: The Phantom Podcast). Until now! Writing for the Ozanimate website, Dr Marianna Shek has provided a wrap up of the student talent emerging in Brisbane and focuses on a number of individuals and their projects. First and foremost among them is Kid Phantom: Homework! Dr Shek highlights that Homework, produced and directed by Rye Elms, Jacob Mackay and Karis Spencer actually won the overall Best Animation Production for the evening. She also quotes co-director Jacob Mackay, "It was surreal to work on an established IP, especially one as famous as the Phantom. My favourite part was watching the character design change through slight iterations. Having feedback from Paul Mason… watching the whole project come together was something I’ve honestly never experienced before, seeing something to this scale to completion." But most excitingly for Phantom phans, she also sneaks in a little link to a film trailer for Homework. You can watch it now by clicking on the image below. We think you will enjoy it! #KidPhantom #DrPaulMason

We all know that the Phantom's Skull Mark is used to identify roughnecks and evil-doers but sometimes, just sometimes, it can also feature in a good news story! ChronicleChamber.com is very proud to have played a very small role in a phantastic Phantom story that can only happen when the world's oldest comic strip hero is involved. Back in September, we received an email from someone called Mick asking, "Hello guys I was recently metal detecting and dug up what appears to be a Phantom skull and cross bone ring, the same as the rings that appear on your home page of this website, the ring is adjustable in other words its not joined and can be made to fit, just wanting to know what year this type of ring was made and ring is copper/brass type, any help would be greatly appreciated". Knowing our own limitations, we of course directed him towards the man who literally wrote the book on Phantom rings, Gary Horne. Gary took one look at the photo and realised that Mick and his metal-detecting kids had uncovered an item that belonged in the Major Treasure Room! As Mick explains in an article published recently in Rockhampton's (Qld, Aust) The Bulletin, the ring turned out to be a "mid-1950s Phantom Ring with a value of up to $100". With a rarity rating of 4/5 in Gary's book, we should all hope that we might be lucky enough to find one of these Phantom Club gold rings!! The great news is that Mick and his group of Young Guns Metal Detectors have decided to donate all the proceeds of their finds to a charity called Santa's Lolly Drop, a team that is fighting the good fight and keeping the spirit of giving and magic alive during the holiday season. #GaryHorne

Media street continues for Kevin Patrick, author of The Phantom Unmasked: America's First Superhero. In an interview recently published on the website for Iowa's second largest news organisation, The Gazette.com, Kevin explains a little about how he came to write the book and some of the theses he explores within it. You can check out the story here. Kevin has explained his ideas in much more detail in the long-form podcast interview with the ChronicleChamber team, which you can listen to it here. Or, of course, you could simply but the book and read all about it for yourself - HERE!! #KevinPatrick

In the most recent X-Band podcast, ChronicleChamber put the question to Phanfare boss Glenn Ford that has been on many people’s lips and keyboards - where are the Phantom Gallery Series 2 trading cards? First advertised in Frew's 80th Anniversary special back in September 2016, these cards have been a long time in the making and quite a number of phans and some collectors are starting to wonder... To save you loading up the podcast and fast-forwarding to the 2:00:30 mark (although you should totally listen to the whole interview, as it is an absolute ripper!), the key take-aways you need to know are: Glenn is as keen as anyone to see the Gallery Series 2 trading cards come out! All the artists’ work has finally been submitted – some was finally supplied as much as 12 months overdue Biographies and other information for the back of cards is all that needs to be done now to have the series completed and ready for print. Glenn plans to attend to this over his Christmas “holidays” The cards will definitely conclude the Chuck Dixon / Graham Nolan story Death’s Dark Path that was begun in Gallery Series 1 (1996), with the same enthusiastic creative team The Storyline cards will have the story on the front and back of those cards The Artists cards have been drawn by experienced Phantom artists There will be a range of Chase cards and Gem cards to go along with the standard set. These have previously been described on the Phanfare website: there are different levels of chase cards. Level 1, the ‘less rare’ of them all, will be foiled; level 2, foiled and embossed; and level 3, foiled, embossed and debossed! Featured artists include Romano Felmang, Alex Saviuk, Lindsay Walker, Rafael Espi Lopez, Douglas Klauba, Walmir Amaral de Oliveira and Sal Velluto The top Chase card will be a very special Sy Barry card; only one of these will be available for every two boxes produced Phans will be able to purchase the cards by the pack, by the box or by the carton. They will not be sold by the individual card – you will have to actually “trade” to get complete sets! The cards will be available in newsagents, select comic book stores, online through Frew and Phanfare, and at conventions There will be a special 6 card set that are only available with the purchase of a carton of cards – think the Phantom Country cards from Dynamic Series 2 An accompanying binder will be available to store them in – 9 cards to a page So there it is - all the latest updates straight from the horse's mouth. From this phan, I'm not necessarily disappointed that the cards aren't out yet - it means there is still time to save some cash for when they launch! #TradingCards #Phanfare #GlennFord #ChuckDixon #GrahamNolan #XBand #Podcast #SyBarry #Frew #Felmang #AlexSaviuk #LindsayWalker #RafaelLopez #DouglasKlauba #WalmirAmaraldeOliveira #SalVelluto

It's been a while since we last got together to chat about Frew Phantom comics, so there's a bit to get through in this episode! Starting with the outstanding 40th Wedding Anniversary special and working back over all the issues released over the last couple of months, Steve, Jermayn and Dan look over the stories and discuss all the art, the narratives and nuances. Some spoilers of course, so make sure you read your Phantom comics!! As Dudley might say ... Happy Phantoming!* *See Frew #1799 #XBand #Podcast #Frew #Gaslight #Felmang #Giantsize

Dan and Jermayn go back to school in Episode 83, when we talk to one of the world's foremost academic experts on The Phantom, Kevin Patrick, author of the recently released The Phantom Unmasked: America's First Superhero. In a wide-ranging discussion, the phellas discuss the cultural phenomenon that is The Phantom, the spread of the character and comic strip around the world, and discuss reasons for his popularity (or otherwise) in Australia, India, Sweden and the USA. Kevin also provides some fascinating insights into the history of King Features Syndicate and the business that is The Phantom. What we talk about in the podcast barely scratches the surface of what is covered in the book, so we really encourage everyone to get to your local bookstore to pick up a copy, or order online via the link here. Enjoy! *Apologies for some sound issues in this recording. #XBand #Podcast #KevinPatrick #PhantomHistory #KingFeaturesSyndicate

In the last few months I and a couple of other Collector Phantom phans have seen a few normally highly priced Phantom collectable items listed as cheap as chips on eBay but be careful as the old jungle saying goes. If its too good to be true, it probably is! The items I am talking about are the Purple Tikki Statue and the Poker Bust Topper Machine. As most collectors know, these are sold out and unless you pinch one from a dodgy pokers hall or a phellow collectable you will pay top dollar for them - $400+ for the Poker Machine and $700+ for the Tikki Statue. I myself gave these Chinese sellers a go just in case and brought myself a Poker Bust Topper and never received it after several months. I did get my money back from eBay and paypal. Now some things to look out for are the following: China X Price X Photo X Description X Global shipping doesn't go from China X eBay China X (no such thing) 0 Feedback X New eBay account X Likely these items were made in a China warehouse somewhere so there could be some hidden in a warehouse forgotten in a dusty corner or even maybe reusing the mold but this is your formal warning! You may not be so lucky.