In the second part at our look at the history of Moonstone Books Jermayn and Joe discuss the remaining of Moonstone's graphic novels, their various spin-off and mini series and just what the legacy of this publisher is. #Moonstone #AlexSaviuk #JoeGentile #DouglasKlauba #MikeBullock #MikeCollins #BenRaab #RubenProcopio

On this day in 1984, Raymond Stephen(s) Moore passed away after complications with his ongoing health problems. Better known as Ray Moore, he was the very first Phantom artist but not much is known about him. In the last few years we have been lucky to have seen some new photos and information about him released by Gina Moore Reiners , a niece of the great man. Prior to that one of the only other sources was a fantastic interview with his late wife Claire Moore, conducted by Ed Rhoades and published in issue 24 in the Friends of the Phantom newsletters (available to view in our Phantom Preservation Project ). To celebrate his life, ChronicleChamber has opted to collect some of his work, share some photos and information about the man you may not know, and also gather some insights, memories and thoughts from phans from around the world. One fascinating piece of information that we have learnt was it was likely Ray who introduced Devil as a companion based on his love of wolves. He named his home and acreage " Phantom Forest " which was donated to the conservation department in 1994 by his widow Claire. Plus much more which can be found at other great online sources like the Phantom Wiki , Ray Moore Blog , The Comiclopedia and of course the Ray Moore Fan Club Facebook page. Pete Klaus talked about Ed's interview with Claire in our podcast chat with him and in the interview Claire raised several interesting points. She divulged that Ray was only a short-term assistant on the Mandrake strip, and also that he only had one or two assistants. These assistants, who included the man who would ultimately succeed him in Wilson McCoy , completed the lettering and backgrounds rather than any of the main characters. However, among the most interesting elements of the interview with Claire (who also modeled for Diana) was her statement that Lee Falk never drew the first few weeks and that it was ALL Ray Moore. Some quotes are included: “Ray and Lee may have worked together but Ray always drew it for publishing ... Ray had a lot to do with it, Lee had an idea and together they worked it out ... Ray had his own meetings with four or five St. Louis artists who met a few times a week. Lee came occasionally. They discussed it and helped Lee work it out.” This is extremely enlightening, as common Phantom lore has Lee Falk as the artist for the first two weeks. It is very hard to prove anything different than what we all know 80+ years down the track. In one 1989 interview with Raymond Elman (published in the Lee Falk Storyteller Book p234), Falk mentions that he only drew the original ideas but in almost every other interview available has Lee Falk drawing the first week or two. While this area on history may be fuzzy, Lee Falk's praise of Ray Moore is not. While Lee admitted to being frustrated with Moore not always sticking to deadlines, the way he drew vehicles, and his messy approach to his work area, he was always effusive in his praise for the way Moore drew the Phantom and his ‘marvellous’ ladies. These apparently always stuck with Falk and were consistent factors in his praise of the artist. Perhaps this was the reason Lee Falk created so many stories of all-girl gangs, which gave Moore the ability to showcase his talent. To follow on from Lee Falk’s praise of the great man, many Phantom phans contacted for this article agreed. Following is a short list of some comments of their memories, thoughts and where they rate Ray Moore as an artist of the Phantom. Pistol Pete Klaus , a true Phantom phriend and co creator of 'Friends of the Phantom': When I first met Lee Falk in the late 1980s I asked him , which Phantom artist was his favorite — he answered — Ray Moore . I followed with another question — why Moore? Lee replied, I just loved the way he drew the women in the strip . As for me — I felt Moore drew all of his characters with a simple elegance. He used a little background , but the main characters stood out in each panel. In addition, he illustrated the Phantom as a real person , not some over muscular “super hero “ . However , the mask he drew for the “Ghost Who Walks “ was too small for his face . Personally I much prefer the mask Sy Barry designed for the character as it is wider, and has a better flow to the Phantom’s face. I love Ray Moore’s art, but Sy Barry's realistic look to the comic strip is my all time favorite. Glenn Lumsden , an Australian phan and creator: Ray Moore - the original Phantom artist! - from the days of the weekly cliffhanger serial at the cinema, and the newspapers full of Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Prince Valiant. Moore’s depiction of the Phantom was lithe, often quite realistic, often accompanied with dramatic mood lighting and shadows - he cut quite a romantic figure! And in the early days, when Mr Walker was just getting to know Miss Palmer, the storylines had as much romantic suspense as they had good old biffo. Moore’s Diana was svelte and lovely, in glamorous slinky gowns like a brunette Jean Harlow. A lot of Moore’s style reminds me of pre-comic book and magazine illustration - old school ink pen drawings, with a sketchy quality, something you’d be just as likely to see in a copy of Collier’s or Punch from the early 20th century. All the Phantom artists I grew up with - Moore, McCoy, Lignante and Barry - evoke specific feelings in me, so I can’t bring myself to assign ranking to any of them… but having said that, Moore must hold a special space for being the first to set the tone for what came after, as well as being an excellent draughtsman and an evocative inker of shadows. Øyvind Bjugan , a Norwegian phan: He is right at the top as the best artist of the Phantom. There's something about his use of shadows that appeals to me. It fits The Phantom perfectly. He was a master at faces and posing and conveying motion and emotions. Andreas Eriksson , a Sweden phan and Editor/ Historian of Fantomen: Ray Moore's dark and mysterious style set the tone for the early years of the Phantom, and I can't think of an artist of that era who was better suited for the task of Phantom artist. When I first saw Moore's art, I was definitely not a fan. A combination of poor reproduction and a style that was too different from what I was used to caused me to barely look at the Moore stories when I came across them. But in later years I came to appreciate Moore's style and the newspaper strips in general. I now rank Moore - especially his work in the 1930s - as some of the best Phantom art ever produced. Shane Foley , an Australian phan and creator: Moore's earlier Phantoms - where he was able to use the grey tones and not leave it open for colour - are some of the moodiest, evocative comic art ever! Those strips had the half-light atmosphere of many old B&W movie serials that conjure a wonderful feeling of adventure and dread - something I didn't like as a small kid (too scary!) but love now! His jungle and its peoples were depicted brilliantly as alien and dangerous - a world I would be terrified in - which perfectly suited the tone of Falk's strip at the time. For backgrounds, he was a master of 'less is more'! And he got the Phantom's physique down perfectly - not that of a body builder, but more like an Olympic swimmer! (Whenever I see photos of swimmers running, head-cap and goggles on, broad shouldered and near perfect physique, I always think 'Ray Moore Phantom!'). And I loved how his Phantom put on a robe when he was sitting still. Falk's Phantom in the early days was both a mystery man and a ruffian at the same time - Moore drew him to perfection! Guy Poissant , a Canadian phan and colourist: I like the way Moore drew the Phantom in the early adventures, the character is an imposing figure and the shadows in some of his drawings are simply brilliant... it represents well what the Phantom is supposed to be, a man of mystery. Some panels are very artistic… just take the one where Diana is abandoned in the desert in "The Slave Traders" as example; no words in the panel, just a powerful image… it's panels like this that have prompted me to create my postcards. And what about the romance between Diana and the Phantom during the Moore years... when The Phantom kisses Diana, for me it's as if I was watching old movies from the 30s! It's really romantic and we believe it! I don't have that same feeling with McCoy… Mikael Lyck , Swedish phan and contributor to Chronicle Chamber: Ray Moore had a unique and distinct style of drawing the Phantom that no other artist has. The realistic style the comic strip had those first years of publication set the tone and feel for all later artists in one way or another. Had Lee hired some other artist it is not sure by any means that the Phantom would be as successful as it was and are still today. The reprints that have come out have become better throughout the years and not until recent years have I gotten a good look at how the art really should look like, and I for one think it is really beautiful. Sean Bassett , an Australian phan: I have always enjoyed the way he used darkness in his drawing particularly in the early stories. In my opinion his work is at it's best in black and white. I also like his athletic depiction of the Phantom and his depiction of Diana (and women in general). He also drew Devil as a wolf. I have him as number 1 or 2 in my list of favourite strip artists. Pidde Andersson , A Sweden phan and creator: When I was a kid in the 1970s, I read very few Ray Moore stories – mainly because most classics reprinted after I started buying Fantomen in 1976 were by Wilson McCoy. I always saved the old classics till last – when I had nothing else to read. McCoy’s Phantom wasn’t ”my” Phantom, the character I loved. I liked the dark, mysterious, fascinating, historical adventures produced by Team Fantomen, and I liked some of Sy Barry’s modern day stories. The McCoy stories were very far from dark and mysterious. However, I remember reading a couple of Ray Moore stories as a kid, and thinking they were pretty good; much better than I thought they would be – the stories were cool and so was the art. The adventures weren’t as silly as the ones by McCoy. As an adult I really appreciate Ray Moore (and Wilson McCoy). Lee Falk was an inspired writer in the 1930s, and the Phantom, as a character, had a fun personality – he was sarcastic and threw one-liners left and right. And – Ray Moore knew how draw a mysterious world. His art was atmospheric, moody, the shadows were dark and heavy, the women were sexy, and the Phantom … wore a smoking jacket in the Skull Cave. The Phantom by Ray Moore was a strip in the tradition of old pulp fiction and movie serials. When Moore left, the daily strip turned into something else. What is obvious is that many a phan loves his work and he played a very vital part of the Phantom lore. Thank you to everyone who contributed their thoughts on Ray Moore, Gina Moore Reiners for the photos she has shared on social media and Guy Poissant for the colours he has done on the images and photos in this article. #RayMoore #EdRhoades #PeteKlaus #FriendsofThePhantom #LeeFalk #LFMBEC

X-Band episode 148 we reviewed the Felmang remake version of the Sunday Newspaper story " The Haunted Castle " which originally appeared in newspapers between Sunday 12 September 1948 and Sunday 13 February 1949, written by Lee Falk and drawn by Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy. In the podcast we mentioned that Wilson McCoy took over from Ray Moore during the creation of this story. In this article we look at the exact point of where Wilson McCoy took over by highlighting the differences between the two strips. The first Sunday strip (Sunday 12 September 1949) is the one and only Sunday page Ray Moore drew on this story. The next week's strip (Sunday 19 September 1949) we can see several artistic and style change which we will highlight. Just like we did when we identified Carmine Infantino 's Sunday panel , we will do the same below by looking at several changes between the two consecutive Sunday panels and identify a key trope of each artist: Diana's nose is different. The rocks in the river are more jagged and sharp. The waterfall in the last panel has thick ink depicting the water compared to thinner more define inking by Wilson McCoy. Perhaps the most obvious difference is Diana's hair style. Ray Moore's Diana does not have a fringe, is more curlier and darker. Diana by Wilson McCoy always has the fringe while Ray Moore does not. The hair by Wilson McCoy seems lighter by the less heavy ink. The inking generally isn't as heavy, lighter and more refine as shown by the water ripples and the waterfall. The rocks are not as jagged. The landscape is also different. Wilson McCoys jungle looks more like thick woods compared to Ray Moore's wild jungle feel. What is interesting in the original coloured Sunday stripes, the hair is also a different colour. Ray Moore's Diana hair colour is more blue where Wilson McCoy's Diana hair colour is grey with the less heavy inking. To further use Diana's hair style as the most obvious giveaway between the two artists style. I have highlighted two panels from two other stories several years in the past and future from this point. This shows that that the hair styles is a consistent ongoing difference between the two artists and not an isolated point of difference. The first is from " Queen Pera the Perfect " from 1945. The second is " The Female Phantom " from 1952. Wilson McCoy assisted and took over on several Sunday stories between 1942 and 1948 before taking over full time in late 1948 with " The Haunted Castle ". If you use Diana as a reference point to identify what Sunday pages Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy did you will begin to identify yourself when the other artist took over in other stories. According to Phantom Wiki, there are four Sunday and two Daily stories the two artists shared work on. Daily Story 16: "The Phantom Goes to War / The Inexorables" - 2 February 1942 to 9 January 1943 Sunday Story 8: "Castle in the Clouds" - 18 October 1942 to 18 April 1943 Daily Story 27: "Princess Valerie" - 18 February 1946 to 13 July 1946 Sunday Story 16: "The Scarlet Sorceress" - 11 August 1946 to 22 December 1946 Sunday Story 17: "The 12 Tasks" - 29 December to 29 June 1947 Sunday Story 19: "The Marshall Sisters" - 23 November 1947 to 16 May 1948 Sunday Story 21: "The Haunted Castle" - 12 September to 13 February 1948 McCoy was working full time on the Daily newspaper stories from 1946 onwards. I assume and speculate he would then help out when Moore fell too far behind as he battled his injuries he received from serving in World War Two which is why McCoy's style is throughout several stories. We will continue to explore this theme and see if we can find more examples of where artists took over from previous artists. We have five of the above six stories left to investigate and also the 81st Daily story " The Werewolf " in 1961 when Wilson McCoy sadly passed away.

Moonstone has a very important part to play in Phantom history with the small publisher printing the most Phantom books from USA. One of the men responsible for this rich history with our hero is Mike Bullock. He wrote 50 Phantom stories through out this time and as you will discover listening to the podcast, he had many more Phantom stories already penned and ready until they lost the license. We talk to Mike about that ill fated take over from Dynamite Entertainment and the conversation he had with senior editor Joe Gentile when they received the news. Other discussions we had was about the amazing artists he worked with, the bad guys he introduced and how they were all pitted against the Phantom. The story behind the "Invisible Children" saga and much much more. There is no video for this podcast but do not let that stop you listening to one of the most insightful podcasts you will listen to for a long time. #XBand #Podcast #MikeBullock #Moonstone #EdRhoades #DouglasKlauba #RubenProcopio #BenRaab #SilvestreSzilagyi #Zeu #FernandoPeniche #DynamiteEntertainment #LightningStrikeComics

French publisher Editions Dante has announced their newest release of the Phantom featuring stories from the Moonstone series that were originally published between 2002 and 2010. Each book can be purchased for €25.99 ($40Au, $25US & 280sek/nok) Book one can be purchased via this link Book two can be purchased via this link Each book is in colour with 140+ pages, featuring a beautiful cover by cover artist Douglas Klauba and hardbound. If you enjoyed the Moonstone series, you may be interested in some past X-Band: The Phantom Podcast 's where we interviewed past creators for Moonstone : Episode #146: Mike Bullock Episode #186: Ben Raab Episode #112: Douglas Klauba Thanks to Ohm Roy for the heads up about this release. If you ever spot any Phantom news we miss, please let us know.

Mythos from Brazil has continued to release quality books and the latest announcement is no different. This latest release is best described as an omnibus and is a whopping 570 odd pages and features stories by Lee Falk and Ray Moore . The release date will be August 2022. No definitive list on the stories yet but from the previews on their website and social media accounts we believe it will include " The Sky Band " and " The Shark's Nest ". The size of the book is 17 x 26cm. The sale price will be 230 BRL ($65AU, 45EURO, $45US and 460 sek/nok) however if you pre order you will get 50% off which is a great purchase price. The pre order price is 115 BRL ($35AU, 25EURO, $25US and 430 sek/nok). To pre order your copy, click here

commission,Moonstone was a hugely successful comic book series having growing sales and bringing quality stories created by talented writers and artists. We have already interviewed some like Douglas Klauba , Mike Bullock , Ben Raab and others. Now, we introduce Pat Quinn . Chronicle Chamber: Welcome to Chronicle Chamber, can you tell us a bit about yourself? What country and region are you from? Pat Quinn: I’m from the U.S ., currently living near Atlanta, Georgia . CC: Let us go back to the beginning. Is there anyone in particular who has inspired you and influenced your work? PQ: Yes, tonnes of artists. I’ve been reading comics since the mid-seventies, so by my early teens I became more aware of the different artists; bronze-age stars like George Perez and John Byrne were big hits with me. John Buscema ’s Avengers work, Paul Smith on X-Men , Bill Sienkewicz on Moon Knight , and a lot of others. CC: What made you want to be an artist? PQ: I don’t know… I was just always drawing. When I was very young, my mom was an elementary school art teacher, so there were always art supplies in the house. My dad was into sci-fi movies, and he was pretty creative too. CC: What is your process for drawing a sequential story? PQ: I started with traditional tools, of course, but now I’ll work either completely digitally or use a combination of digital and traditional tools. I’ll read the script a few times to let the ideas seep into my head, then it’s rough thumbnails. For whatever reason, the page layout usually hits me first. Then I try to give myself a few options per panel, moving the camera around, trying different angles/compositions. If they are digital thumbnails, I’ll choose my favorites and blow them up, then add a layer on top for the rough drawing. The next layer will be a background, which I tend to ink at the same time. After that, I’ll print the file keep the background inks black and everything else a color that I will ink over with a brush. Or I’ll just do everything digitally. If it’s a commission I’ll do most, if not all, traditionally. When I was on the Phantom, I drew my thumbnails in the margins of the script and then penciled that page at 8.5”x11”. I then scanned the pages, did any necessary editing, and printed them in blue at 11”x17” for inking. CC: Did you enjoy working on the Phantom? Did you know of the Phantom before you started work on those stories? Did you ever read the character growing up? PQ: I occasionally read the newspaper strip. I think because it looked the most like the superhero comics that I generally read. I did pick up some Phantom comics when DC and Marvel had the license. CC: How did you get the role of the Phantom for Moonstone ? PQ: Writer Ben Raab suggested me for the job. Ben and I had worked together before, which obviously helped. I did some tryouts for Moonstone and got the gig. CC: What did you like the best about the Phantom and the stories you drew for Moonstone ? PQ: I really liked the way Ben integrated the classic material with his style of writing and story structure. The most fun was the Sky Band. CC: That may well be one of my favorite stories ever by Moonstone . From what we understand, you penciled and inked the stories and also did a few covers for Moonstone . Did you enjoy having control over the whole book? PQ: I only penciled and inked the covers for issues 1 and 2 and the Generations and Legacy books. Yes, it was great that the publisher had the confidence in my work to let me do both jobs. But it wasn’t necessarily about control; I do like collaborating with other artists to see how the work changes, it just so happened that I had the opportunity to do both with the Phantom, so I took it. CC: One of the stories you drew for was the Legacy book, which featured a totally different style of drawings than what most Phantom phans had seen before. Was that a challenge? PQ: Yes, a real challenge. At first it was fun, but then I started looking at the time and money equation and had to make some adjustments. All the originals are fairly small in order to save time. It was a great learning experience, and again, I was really happy that the publisher had the confidence in me to let me try something different. A lot of credit goes to Moonstone . CC: From what you remember, how did that story and idea come about? At the time, it was so new and presented in a totally different format from what we phans had seen before. Were you happy with the outcome? PQ: I have no idea where it came from; it could have been the publisher. That may be a better question for Moonstone or Ben Raab . Sorry! I think that it turned out pretty well and was a great experiment and learning opportunity for all of us. I hope that everyone else enjoyed it. CC: You also first introduced us to Ali Gutaale, a vicious international terrorist originally from Tarakimo, a country bordering Bangalla. Do you remember coming up with the design of him, and what was your inspiration? PQ: Hmmm... I have to think about that one. I’m pretty sure I bounced a few ideas off Ben before we sent anything in for approvals. I’m sure that I had a lot of photo reference, but I don’t remember what specifically. Likely used a lot of military desert gear. CC: Did you use any real-life inspirations for your Moonstone Phantom work? For example: movie stars, known people etc PQ: No, I don’t think I did. I did look at a ton of Sy Barry work. Ed Rhoades was kind enough to share a lot of material with me to help out. We owe him a big debt. CC: Sadly, we only saw a handful of Phantom stories from you. Can we ask why? Did you enjoy your work on the Phantom? PQ: After issue two of the Phantom, I was offered two issues of Captain Marvel at Marvel, and honestly, the money was better, and we were planning our wedding, so I couldn’t say no to Marvel , plus it was Marvel . Then I came back for 7 and 8? And those were just pencils. I moved on from the monthly book after that. I think that it was a money + time issue for me. I did have fun with the character(s), and working with Ben is always a good time. CC: I, and I am sure others, wished we saw more from you. Do you accept commissions, and how can they contact you? PQ: Yes, I do take commissions; thanks for asking! People can reach me via email patquinncomics@gmail.com , but be patient; I have a day job and two great kids. Ha!! CC: Do you have a place where phans can see your work? PQ: Yes, my Twitter and Instagram are both @pqcomics . Jermayn, thank you so much for inviting me to do this interview. I really appreciate your effort and interest. I still get taken aback knowing that I played some tiny part in the massive legacy of the Phantom and am very honored and humbled that people enjoy the work. Please pass my thanks and appreciation to any other phans out there.

[Editors note: This article was originally released in the amazing Friends of the Phantom Newsletter #24 released by the late Ed Rhoades and Pete Klaus in the USA Summer of 2004. This article was republished with permission. Access to all Friends of the Phantom newsletters and much more can be found at our Phantom Preservation Project .] Claire Moore is an engaging conversationalist. Intelligent, modest, endearing and generous with her memories. After learning of her whereabouts, I did a little detective work and was granted permission to speak with her. When I came home from school and heard her friendly voice on my answering machine, I was excited. Until now, the amount of information about Ray Moore had been very scant and the opportunity to learn mare had not been very promising. I knew he was an Soldan High School Alum and a native of Montgomery City and that he lived from 1905 until 1984. In a clear confident voice, Claire began talking about Ray. " He was born in Oklahoma. " I remarked that I had only seen one picture of Ray and she explained." He didn't like to be photographed. There are same pictures from when he was in the service. " When I asked about his art she remarked, " I have an original drawing of of Ray's of the Phantom on my wall. " She confirmed that he was an assistant an the Mandrake strip, " Yes. but not very long. He worked an the Phantom from the very beginning. Ray drew the Phantom and followed through (with Lee Falk 's writing) and only sometimes made changes because he wanted to make it mare accurate. " She explained her plans for the acreage that she and Ray owned. " Phantom Forest was our home in ( Des Peres ) I've given that to the conservation department. It is in surburbia but still has foxes and deer. It will be turned over to the conservation department an my death. " When I asked her where she got the idea far Phantom Forest she replied, " It just seemed natural. Although it's located in an urban area. the creatures are still there, the turkey, the great horned owl. It was the sort of thing Ray enjoyed. " She reminisced about their early times together. " We did a lot of things together. He had a plane and we flew before the war. " When I mentioned that Lee Falk recalled contributing ta the art for the first two weeks. she responded " Ray and Lee may have worked together but Ray always drew it for publishing. " [Editors Note: This flies in the face what we have been led to believe by other interviews.] When I asked further on how much of a hand Ray Moore had in the creation of the Phantom. she recalled, " Ray had a lot to do with it Lee had an idea and together they worked it out. " I found it interesting to learn that Ray worked with a group of artists who helped him with the conceptual development of the Phantom's appearance. She explained " Ray had his own meetings with four or five St. Louis artists who met a few times a week. Lee came occasionally. They discussed it and helped Lee work it out. " When I asked about Ray's use of assistants. she explained " He had one or two people he used to do backgrounds at times but not the main characters. just to fill in. " She mentioned Wilson McCoy as one of the assistants who also did lettering. " Yes. Wilson McCoy started with Ray and filled in for him when he was in the service. We knew McCoy's family, they lived here in St Louis . " Her memories of Ray's fellow artists also included another. " They had a studio together with Hugh Hackaday . He did those beautiful animated Christmas windows. He was a very close friend of Ray's his family had a farm we went out there several times ." She discussed Ray's training. " He went to Washington University in St. Louis . I think Lee went there and that may be where they met. They had nothing like cartooning: they had only fine arts. " She confirmed the painful nerve damage to his face that Ray suffered as a result of the war. " He was a pilot and flew a number of open cockpit planes. I think that contributed to his problem. " I had heard rumors of Ray's interest in fine arts and she recalled that " Early he painted. but he was engrossed with the life we lived. " In his later years his health suffered. " He was active but not well. He was a golfer but just an amateur. We used to play together. When we went out of the city. we took our golf clubs. Although we never had and children. I still have an expanding family. We still get together. " She expressed her recollections of his work on the strip. " He promoted The Phantom and helped to get it going. It was his drawing that helped get it started. " She was aware of The Phantom's popularity abroad and was delighted that there were still fans. " I'm glad to hear that his memory and his work was appreciated. "

Moonstone are back publishing the Phantom again! Moonstone Books had a successful publishing history of the character for 8 years between 2002 and 2010. What may be a surprise to many phans is that no other USA based publisher has published as many comics and new Phantom stories as what Moonstone did. Moonstone stories are even today still very well received by phans. Their stories are still being republished all around the world including Australia, France, Norway, Germany, Greece, Brazil and Turkey. After a horrible mix up between KFS , Moonstone and Dynamite Entertainment in 2010, they lost the license and the Phantom has suffered in the USA since. Thankfully 13 years later Moonstone has signed up for the license again! Not only will they be releasing comics featuring the Phantom but we have learnt that Mandrake and Lothar will also be joining him on adventures. This is an exciting time for Phantom phans with the Moonstone comics to come out in 2024 to coincide with the new Phantom Video Game and the Phantom TV show currently being in development . A huge thanks to owner and publisher Joe Gentile and senior writer and editor Mike Bullock who have confirmed the exciting news with Chronicle Chamber. At this stage no dates for their first comic to be published has been released but the plan is the first comic will be released in the first half of 2024. Mike Bullock continues his role as the senior writer and editor and will be joined by several artists. One will be Argentinian Sergio Ibáñez . Those eagle eyed phans would have noticed some cryptic tease posts on Mike Bullock 's social media the last couple of months. Initially the release of the comic will bi-monthly and released in a collection comic featuring stories of the Phantom, Mandrake and other Moonstone characters. We can confirm that there will be at least one crossover adventure featuring Mandrake and the Phantom. The Phantom stories will be released in short installments and some of the stories will be in black and white. Perhaps the biggest question most phans will be asking is how can they get the comics? At this stage normal distribution will be with US/Canada. For the Australian, Sweden, India and other markets the best option is to contact your local comic shop and get them ordered in via their Diamond Comic Distribution orders or you can buy them direct from Moonstone 's own website . Obviously more details will be released closer to the 2024 date but Joe and Mike did share that the Phantom in their stories will be the 21st and will be featuring stories about the current environment of Africa much like they did a decade ago with child soldiers, blood diamonds, poverty, and slavery. Joe Gentile and or Mike Bullock have agreed to come on a future podcast with the crew at X-Band: The Phantom Podcast . If you have any questions you would like to see asked, please ask on our socials or email at chroniclechamber@gmail.com. If you would like to learn more about Moonstone including interviews with past creators please follow the following links: Chronicle Chamber reviewed all of their comics ( Part one and Part two ) Interview with writer Mike Bullock . Interview with writer Ben Raab . Interview with cover artist Douglas Kluaba . Interview with cover and sequential artist Pat Quinn . Interview with cover and sequential artist Lou Manna . Interview with sequential artist Silvestre Szilagyi . A farewell post to Moonstone . Keep an eye on our website and social media platforms as we announce and share other exciting news related to Moonstone and other Phantom related news from around the world.

I love hardcover collections and in 2022 we saw some great editions from France and Sweden. What some phans may not know is that Mythos from Brazil released three hardcover collections that look great in any phans collection. I was lucky enough to get a hold of each volume and hear is my review of them. In this review is the Ray Moore and Sy Barry Omnibus volumes with volume three now out in pre order and a Fratelli Spada collection. It must be mentioned that Chronicle Chamber would prefer that someone from Brazil is able to review all Mythos comics. If you are able to help us and review upcoming releases - please let us know. The prices for the Sy Barry and Ray Moore omnibus' are: RRP (250BR, $75AU & $50US) Current price on the Mythos website (170BR, $50AU & $35US) Pre order price on the third volume (150BR, $45AU & $30US) Volume 1 Buy Now Link Volume 2 Buy Now Link Volume 3 Pre Order Link The price for the Grandes Aventuras ( Fratelli Spada ) collection is: RRP (120BR, $35AU & $25US) Current special price on the Mythos website (85BR, $25AU & $18US) Buy Now Link Please note that postage from Mythos interstate is very hard and your best option is to find a phan and do some trades. Postage costs will be a lot with the omnibus' are 1.3KGs each and the Fratelli Spada book is 900g. The theme's of all three books are great. The shiny covers for the omnibus' are eye catching and could be something Hermes could look at doing. The quality of the reproduction of the strips are poor in the Ray Moore volume and obviously they did not use from past Frew and Hermes publications and used from past Brazilian comics. What is interesting is that they did not separate stories by an introductory or commentary or even a Brazilian past comic between each story. The Sy Barry omnibus has a great article by Glaucio Cardoso . It would have been nice to see something similar in the Ray Moore omnibus. The Fratelli Spada collection book also has it by Glaucio and it really adds something extra to the book. Many of the Fratelli Spada stories have not been published outside of Europe so it is great for a wider audience to see these stories as many have great artwork by natural talents like Germano Ferri and Senio Pratesi . Those with eager eyes would know that Germano Ferri penciled and worked on many stories with Felmang . I would like to see Frew do more Fratelli Spada stories in a hardcover collection like this. These books along with the others from 2022 by Egmont and France really raise the bar that I would like to see Frew and Hermes pick up their quality and exceed the bar. Have you brought these books for yourself? What are your thoughts?

Do you know what artists Vivek Goel , Lindsay Walker , Eugenio Mattozzi and Luca Erbetta all have in common? They are cover artists who came first, second, third and fourth in the 2008 Moonstone Books cover competition . 15 years ago, this competition helped kick started their careers. Whose career will this new competition help kick start in 2024? Moonstone Books Presents: Cover the Seven Kings! Cover art contest Moonstone Books is proud to announce the impending release of the epic tale " The Seven Kings! " A noir adventure starring The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, written by legacy Phantom scribe Mike Bullock . This opus unfolds over the course of three limited series, before colliding in one hardcover trade paperback. The opening tale " Phantom: Last Night " marks the first new Phantom story by Moonstone Books in over a decade! The harrowing tale continues in " Mandrake the Magician: Seven Kings Calling " before concluding in the first crossover limited series from Moonstone featuring The Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, Diana and a surprise guest you may not see coming! " Phantom and Mandrake: The Seven Kings " But, what about this contest, you ask? Here’s the down & dirty details: Artists submit one (or more) print ready, full color pieces of cover art (minus cover dress, logos, etc.) for one of the three limited series. Phantom: Last Night , Mandrake the Magician: Seven Kings Calling! or Phantom and Mandrake: The Seven Kings . The cover submissions will be judged from the Skull Throne and the top three covers for each series will go to print. Each of the three series will have first, second and third place winners! First Place: Main cover for the first issue Second Place: Variant cover for the second issue Third Place: Variant cover for the third issue. That’s NINE winners covering issues 1-3 of the three series. Once those winners are announced and locked in, Round Two begins which will be an artist battle royal between the nine winners of round one where the round two winners work lands the coveted cover spot for the collected edition – featuring all three stories reprinted in one hardcover trade paperback. Submissions are due by November 30, 2023. Covers will be judged by Moonstone Books . Each published artist will also receive comp copies of the published books featuring their work. Since this is a contest, no financial payment will occur for any cover art submitted regardless of winner selections. A noir feel cover would appeal due to the noir theme of the stories. Phantom cover should just feature Phantom. Mandrake should feature Mandrake AND Lothar. The crossover should feature all three (and other Phantom/Mandrake characters if the artist wants). All submissions should be emailed to contact_us@Moonstonebooks.com with "CONTEST" in the subject line. Feel free to email them any other questions as well.

Editions Dante has announced their third Moonstone -created stories TPB, with it being released in March 2024. Like the past two volumes, this will be in full colour, with a hardcover and 150+ pages. The price is not advertised at this stage, but volumes one and two have been around €25 + postage. Volume one was released in 2009 and had the following stories: Purchase link to Editions Dante website " Stones of Blood Part 1 " by Ben Raab and Pat Quinn " Stones of Blood Part 2 " by Ben Raab and Pat Quinn " Curse of the Phantom Part 1 " by Ben Raab and Nick Derington " Curse of the Phantom Part 2 " by Ben Raab and Nick Derington " Damnation Game Part 1 " by Rafael Nieves and Jerry DeCaire " Damnation Game Part 2 " by Rafael Nieves and Jerry DeCaire Volume two was released in 2022 and had the following stories: Purchase link to Editions Dante  website " Enitan " by Mike Bullock , Silvestre Szilagyi , and Sergio Mulko " End War Part 1 " by Mike Bullock , David Michelinie , and Silvestre Szilagyi " End War Part 2 " by Mike Bullock , David Michelinie , and Silvestre Szilagyi " End War Part 3 " by Mike Bullock , David Michelinie , and Silvestre Szilagyi " Return of The Eastern Dark Part 1 " by Mike Bullock and Silvestre Szilagyi " Return of The Eastern Dark Part 2 " by Mike Bullock and Silvestre Szilagyi Volume three will have the following stories: Purchase link to Editions Dante  website " The Aviatrix Part 1 " by Ben Raab , Pat Quinn , and Ken Wheaton " The Aviatrix Part 2 " by Ben Raab , Pat Quinn , and Ken Wheaton " Slave Trade Part 1 " by Chuck Dixon , EricJ , and Peter Guzman " Slave Trade Part 2 " by Chuck Dixon, EricJ, and Peter Guzman " Nanamaru " by Ben Raab and Rich Burchett " Tiger's Blood Part 1 " by Mike Bullock and Gabriel Rearte Of course this release of the new TPB coincides with Moonstone returning to publish the Phantom in the USA. If you would like to learn more about their new series, please listen / watch our recent X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #269 - Update on the New Moonstone Series with Mike Bullock .

2025 is fast becoming a busy exciting year of the Phantom with the anticipated Phantom Video Game, USA publisher Mad Cave Studios new standalone Phantom series & now also Moonstone 's new Phantom series due for release in 2025. Ever since we first broke the news back in October 2023 we have been excited about Moonstone back publishing the Phantom. Thanks to publisher and owner of Moonstone Joe Gentile who has given us some new information we are able to share and help keep all fans excited about their new series. Joe Gentile has told us that the first issue featuring the Phantom will be in their new comic series featuring a new character called Bystander by Steven Grant and Sergio Ibanez . This issue will likely come out in May and or June 2025. In the first 4-5 issues of the Bystander comic, 10 pages of the comic will feature episodes of the first story. This will be written by Mike Bullock and drawn by Sergio Ibanez . The title of this story will be " Phantom: Last Night ". Thanks to Joe and Mike for sharing this image of the Phantom walking the streets that looks to be in the depth of chaos. It is fair to say, the Phantom is not walking the streets as a normal man on holidays. We can confirm that this longer story arc is still planning to feature a crossover with Mandrake the Magician . No word yet if this and other Phantom stories will share a comic with other Moonstone licensed characters but we assume it will. For the variant comic collectors, we can confirm there will be at least two covers available through Diamond Comic Distributors (assuming they will still provide this service with them going into bankruptcy) and possibly special exclusive covers through their website. For those international fans, you can buy these comics through your local comic shop or via Moonstone 's website. To ensure your local comic shop gets the comic, talk to them and ask for them to get them in for you. As we get more news, plus images, we will share them on our website and social media platforms. Thank you to Joe Gentile and Mike Bullock for sharing the news with us and Benjamin Thomas for spotting the news on Moonstone 's website. For those interested, we would suggest you watching our last podcast interview with author of the series Mike Bullock . Below is the video, you can listen to the audio only on your favourite podcast platform or via our website .

Moonstone Books , one of the US-based publishers who has been producing Phantom titles since 2002, launched a sale this week on all Phantom products. This includes their regular series stories from fan favorites Mike Bullock and Ben Raab , graphic novels, double-shots featuring The Phantom, and more. From now until December 12th, all Phantom-related books and products are 25% off when you enter the offer code ' phantompickup ' (without the apostrophes) during checkout. Find a link to Moonstone's Phantom products here: https://moonstonebooks.com/ols/categories/the-phantom Image courtesy of Moonstone Books For those looking to pad their collection, some titles are already out of stock. You have been warned. Question for the Phans: Are there any favorite Moonstone stories you're looking to pick up?

As posted on this website many times, many Phantom phans have been waiting all their lives for a decent articulated Phantom figure. We published a detailed post about all figures available about this time last year in anticipation of the NECA Defenders of the Earth line (released in the USA February 2021), as well as the Boss Fight Studios toy due out later this year. It has taken a while but finally the NECA figure is available throughout the globe, and each member of the team at Chronicle Chamber is now delighted to be the proud owners of a 7" articulated Phantom figure - albeit one without the striped pants! Unfortunately, most of us have heard the stories about the dangers inherent in opening the NECA toy, with disaster stories of broken limbs and frozen joints. While it all looks very promising in the box, it seems that the quality control down at NECA headquarters is not what it might be, and none of us want to break our new toy as we get it out of the packaging and ready to play with! To that end, we present to you a series of YouTube videos that shows the you everything you should do after bringing it home from the store and posing him on the collectables shelf, capped with a thorough review of the final product. To start off with, we present an unboxing of the figurine by Dan Fraser and then the bath by Ankit Mitra .