A lot of phans are excited by the new Defenders of the Earth comic book series being released by Mad Cave Studios . To celebrate the release of issue #1 on 14th August 2024, we have had unprecedented access to Dan DiDio , Jim Calafiore the creators and the editor of the new series. Presenting now is the editor of the comic series Chas! Pangburn . We will be reviewing these comics on our podcast and YouTube channel and planning on more access to the creators associated with this series through Mad Cave Studios . If you have a question we have missed, please email us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com . Chronicle Chamber: Thank you for your time Chas, we are all eagerly awaiting reading your take on our beloved Defenders of the Earth  TV Show. To start off, were you a fan of the original Defenders of the Earth TV Show? Have you found yourself going back to watch it? Chas! Pangburn : In full transparency, I was born in December of ‘86, so the Defenders of the Earth cartoon was a little before my time. Full exposure to the series didn’t come until many years later and from an unlikely source: The Weekly Planet podcast. If/when the hosts, James Clement and Nick Mason , mentioned Marvel ’s The Defenders (2017), they immediately played the entire theme song to the Defenders of the Earth cartoon. Being an ongoing gag and a catchy bopper written by Stan Lee . It didn’t take long to memorize the tune and find itself in my YouTube searching habits. With full episodes on the Comics Kingdom page, I was immediately hooked—it was the perfect blend of action, adventure, humor, and had the “very special episode” tone of 1980s cartoons. Being the editor of the comic series, I viewed it as my duty to watch every episode, but it never once felt like “work.” It holds up really well! [Editors note: You can watch the whole series via this link .] CC: Were you a fan of the Phantom, Mandrake or Flash? CP: Due to my age, I’m most definitely a Phantom fan. Between the Phantom 2040 cartoon, the Phantom 2040 video game, and the Billy Zane flick, the mid-nineties had multiple modes of entry for the franchise, and I happily dove into all of ‘em. (That game was ridiculously hard, though) CC:  A fifth unpublished Defenders of the Earth story was nearly completed. The artwork by Alex Saviuk and Fred Fredericks was finished. Is this something you'd be interested in restoring and completing, like for a hardcover version of the collection? CP: Funny enough, we’ve actually been in contact with Alex Saviuk for some fun DotE-related things, so we do know about those seemingly lost pages. Although we can’t speak definitively yet, we are looking into what we can legally do and release! Keep those fingers crossed. CC:  Have you checked out Dynamite Entertainments use of these characters in their Kings Watch & Kings Cross series? CP: I have not! I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t know of either series until recently. Had it been named Defenders of the Earth , I know it would’ve been on my radar, though. Reading between the lines, I’m pretty sure their goal was to lean away from the Defenders branding (because of the Marvel show being released at that point in time), but that meant flying under the radar for folks like me. CC:  Is this going to be an ongoing series or will it depend on sales with this first series? How many issues in this ‘arc’? CP: The series is already mapped out at eight issues—two four-issue arcs—however, we do have long term plans for these characters beyond that. For now, I’d just say to keep an eye out for future issues of the Flash Gordon Quarterly. Issues 2 (December) and 3 (April) have DotE short stories that further expand upon Dan’s storytelling. CC:  Pages per issue? CP: 24! CC:  What was the process of selecting the creative team to work on this project? CP: If anything, I’d say that Dan DiDio chose us! Last year at SDCC , he kept swinging by the booth to speak with Mike Marts (my boss and EiC) about the franchise. His enthusiasm for these characters was infectious, so it was a no brainer to pull him in. Dan DiDio requested Jim Calafiore , so it was another easy decision on our part. Their past adventures with capes and cowls over at DC immediately solidified the project as something special. Juancho! ’s gorgeous colors and Carlos M. Mangual ’s beautiful letters ended up being the icing on the cake. Being an editor that works with licensed characters, I actively do my best to find comic creators who are already fans of a given I.P. As opposed to a work-for-hire gig, it ends up being a passion project. With all members of the team being fans of these characters, they’re truly cooking up something special. CC:  What are you enjoying about working with these characters / this franchise? CP: Flash, Phantom, Mandrake, Lothar, Ming, and co. are staples of the medium. It’s a dream to continue their tales for both old and new audiences. Our hope is to honor their past, celebrate their present, and elevate these characters for fans in the far future. Check out issue one when you get a chance–you won’t regret it! CC : We thank you for your time and we look forward to reading the issue and discussing it on our platforms.

Issue #1 comes out 14 August 2024 and we have been given an advance copy for our review to coincide with the release. An awesome privilege and a huge shout out to Mad Cave Studios and Frank Silva for organising this. Please note, this is a review, so there will be some spoilers included. Before we go into our reviews, we also would recommend you checking our platforms as we have published three interviews with the creator team for the series in Dan DiDio the writer, Jim Calafiore the illustrator and Chas! Pangburn the editor. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Homecoming " Writer: Dan DiDio Artist: Jim Calafiore Colourist: Juancho Velez Letterer: Carlos M Mangual Editor: Chas! Pangburn Cover A: Jim Calafiore Cover B: Djordje Djokovic and Jack Tsai Cover C (Retailer Incentive Cover): Andy Clarke and Jose Villarrubia A huge shout out to our newest reviewer Scott Waldyn from USA who will reviewing Phantom comics from USA. You can follow him from his Instagram and or website .

Some phans will know that we have reviews of all of the Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth Series up on our YouTube Channel and website but we wanted to conduct a mid series review with the whole extended team. Join Stephen East, Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker with our USA reviewer Scott Waldyn. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and or leave them at our social media platforms in Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Remember if you comment, you automatically go into our draw for a monthly competition of free Chronicle Chamber swag. Some of the discussion points we discuss are: The Phantom being a Ghost Who Walks Council of Phantoms. Do we like it? Do we hate it? Is it real? Does this Phantom behave like our Phantom or any Phantoms we have read in the chronicles? We discuss the oath of the Phantom being my 'son and their sons will follow' or should it be 'descendants'? If the DotE Phantom is the 27th. Kurt would then be the 28th, If the DotE Phantom becomes the Phantom again, will that make him the 27th or 29th? Was shrinking the mansion so Mandrake can take it in his pocket a clever way to get around the Phantom’s quandary? Zuffy's transformation into a laughable character to someone with bite. Lothars ex wife is mentioned. Dale is seen at end of issue 4. No mention yet of the Phantom’s wife and or Nardia. With the future Mad Cave Studios sand alone series. Would we like to see it outside the DotE arc? Do you like the series? What do you like and do not like? What do you think will happen in the next four issues? We start off with a state of play for the series from the half way mark. Stephen East does an amazing job with his plots, if you have not yet read the comics, this may change your mind. The year is 2020 and instead of a pandemic, the Defenders of the Earth are battling Ming’s Ice Robots. It is the final day of Earth’s war with Mongo and things aren’t looking good and when The Phantom gets shot in the back after going back for Mandrake’s hat, things look very grim indeed. Then just when it looks like Lothar’s about to breathe his last the Ice Robots freeze and through the smoke and rubble tumbles the head of Ming Merciless, followed by Flash Gordon, striding through with laser sword a blaze. And so begins Mad Cave Studios’ publication of the latest Defenders of the Earth adventure. We then pick up the story 4 years later and the earth seems to have recovered well. A rebuild that experts thought would take twenty years has been done in under 5, very much in thanks to Barin Atomics which has been provided to the earth by Ming’s son Kro-tan. Mandrake, Phantom and Lothar seem skeptical of Kro-tan’s intentions, however LJ doesn’t know what the big deal is about and Flash Gordon has his own battles to contend with, the battles of corporate bureaucracy and the struggle to keep his work-life balance in check. Also, while the Phantom is still in US recovering from his injuries from the war, his mind often wanders back to his homeland of Bangali. News is reaching him that the Ghost Who Walks has returned. Can it be Jedda taking up the mantle that her father has seemingly left behind or could someone else be abusing the title that has meant justice and peace for 500 years? The Defenders then go off on their own separate ways. Lothar and LJ to The Seven Nations, Flash to his office and Mandrake hits the stage with the Phantom in the wings. Though it seems that Mandrake is only interested in his name being up in lights again, it is just an illusion as he has been using his stage shows as a cover to gain information from the underground about what is happening in the world. Which is great as Flash Gordon, as well as the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to notice, Is it that he, and they, doesn’t notice or is attention, intentionally diverted elsewhere? Even when taken to Ice Station Earth, Kro-tan’s Earth base he, as well as Kshin, can’t seem to see what is right in front of them, Rick Gordon however, is far more observant and his curiosity grows even deeper when he sees a few familiar faces. Back in the 7 nations Lothar and LJ confront Kurt Walker, the brother of The Phantom, who has taken up the title and is leading a terrible vengeance to reign upon the Singh Brotherhood, and taking Jedda along for the ride. Has Jedda been seduced by Kurt to believe that what he is doing is right because she only sees the people that they’re helping, not the wake of blood that he’s leaving behind? Why can’t the True Phantom go back to his homeland and put an end to the bloodshed? He seems to have become a mere ghost, haunting roughnecks in alley ways. The Phantom feels at a loss with what he has become and is lead to the Council of Phantoms, where all Phantoms of generations past sit. The First Phantom leads discussions and is impressed with Kurt’s inroads to finally put an end to the Singh Brotherhood, no matter the cost. The cool head of The Phantom’s father prevails and our Phantom leaves the council, shaken but ready to follow Mandrake’s lead, especially as news has reached him that Rick has been attacked! It seems that Flash Gordon can only be distracted for so long. When a blatant attack is blasted upon his son, the True Flash Gordon rises to the occasion. But why the attack on Rick? What has he stumbled upon? Is it Kro-Tan who has sent his Ice Soldiers to silence Rick, or could it be Kro-Tan’s sister, the Princess Castra, who has been working as Flash Gordon’s PA for sometime, ensuring that his attention is always on the rebuilding of the planet earth. But how did Flash know about the attack on his son? He tried calling Rick’s landline and he didn’t pick up, but then Gordon gets a message from Rick alerting him and he’s there in a Flash. But Rick is no position to send a message. Do the Defenders of the Earth have an ally in the machine. Someone who can support them to finally crash this system of injustice? Well, they’re going to need to work fast because even though Rick and Flash have made it to the sanctuary of Xanadu where Mandrake and Phantom are, the Ice Soldiers and Mongo Jets are hot on their heels. If only they had a rocket to out run them with? Something that didn’t rely on Barin Atomics? A real blast from the past… something built by Professor Zharkov would do just nicely. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Do you like the series? The artwork? The plot? Or you have opinions on where the story will be going, please let us know. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Mad Cave Studios   Flash Gordon Quarterly #3 was originally published April 9, 2025 and is included on our Chronicle Chamber Phantom fan platform because it includes a crossover story into the Defenders of the Earth  multiverse. This review will contain spoilers. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Ming's Final Hours: A Flash Gordon Defenders of the Earth Tale " Writer: Dan DiDio   Artist: Alex Sanchez   Colourist: Dan Brown Letterer: Buddy Beaudoin Editor: Sarah Brunstad   Please note; While this issue does not feature the Phantom but is within the universe of our Defenders of the Earth . These short stories help add background to the wider world of Defenders of the Earth  and is helpful for all fans of the series. This issue may include some clues on what we will come to see in issue #7 onwards and gives us the background on what happened to Ming at the end of issue #0 where we see him headless. Have you been following the series and what are your thoughts on what is happening with the Phantom? Please note, issue 7 comes out in May 2025. We would recommend you checking our platforms as we have published three interviews with the creator team for the series in Dan DiDio  the writer , Jim Calafiore  the illustrator  and Chas! Pangburn  the editor . You can also watch our mid series review of the Defenders of the Earth  comic series on our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #297 . A huge shout out to our newest reviewer Scott Waldyn  from USA who will reviewing Phantom comics from USA. You can follow him from his website . All Mad Cave Studios  comics and other comic reviews will be included in our monthly X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts . You can find out more at our website and or subscribe to our YouTube channel  for more videos and reviews.

The second volume TPB of the Defenders of the Earth series by Mad Cave Studios is now out for sale around the world. Scott Wydon joins Stephen East and Jermayn Parker as they review all 8 issues from the series. They do a 5 minutes synopsis of the series and then get down to business talking about what they like, what they do not like and much more. We will be discussing the story in detail, so there will be spoilers. We recommend ensuring you read the series before you listen / watch this podcast. We have warned you! Why does the Phantom carry revolvers instead of his 1911's? Is the Phantom still alive and the Phantom? Or is Jedda now the Phantom? Will Jedda taking on the role of the Phantom see Rick, LJ and K'shin also take over the roles by their fathers? Will this then see a change of the song to become "8 becomes 4..." Is Ming still alive? Will Kurt return? Considering that Barin Atomics was used in the first series, will we see Prince Barin? Was bringing Xanadu in the pocket of Mandrake genius or too convenient? Are we seeing a return to the classic golden oldie characters? What would you like to see in the new Defenders of the Earth series starting in 2026? These plus much more are the questions we have. Have you read the series? What did you think about it? We love your comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. You can either email us, leave your comments at our YouTube Channel, and leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter and/or Instagram. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and/or our YouTube Channel.

Ahead of its December 10th release date, Mad Cave Studios dropped a sneak peek at art for Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny , the follow-up to their Defenders of the Earth 8-issue series. You can take a look at the art, created by Alex Sanchez and coloured by Juancho! Velez, below. Defenders of the Earth Dark Destiny releases December 10th, 2025. Synopsis: "Flash Gordon! The Phantom! Mandrake the Magician! Lothar! Mongo is a shattered empire—and it’s at least partly Flash Gordon’s fault. The Defenders of the Earth may have saved their home planet, but Mongo paid a hefty price for Ming the Merciless’s games. Now the tolls come due—and it’s the Defenders who will pay it!" This new series will be written by Dan Didio , with art by Alex Sanchez , colors by Juancho! Vele z, and letters by Carlos M. Mangual . At Chronicle Chamber, we reviewed each issue of the previous series, as well as discussed the storyline as a whole on X-Band: The Phantom Podcast .

For those who have been reading the recent revival of Defenders of the Earth from Mad Cave Studios , the first issue of a follow-up Defenders series has officially been listed for preorder. It was originally leaked back in August 2025 . Series writer Dan Didio is returning for Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny , as is Colorist Juancho Velez and letterer Carlos M. Mangual . Artist Alex Sanchez , whose previous Mad Cave Studios credits include Blade Forger and Flash Gordon Quarterly , joins the team, taking over illustration duties from Jim Calafiore . The story snopsis is: "Mongo is a shattered empire — and it’s at least partly Flash Gordon’s fault. The Defenders of the Earth may have saved their home planet, but Mongo paid a hefty price for Ming the Merciless’s games. Now the toll’s come due — and it’s the Defenders who will pay it. "And while the Defenders face their former friends and allies, their offspring face challenges of their own. Determined to find Rick’s missing mother, Dale, the Gordon child and his friends K’Shin, Zuffy, LJ, and Jedda investigate a former secret base held by the son of Ming. Kro-Tan may be gone, but the danger is not. A fan-favorite villain goes after the Second Gen Defenders!" Currently, there is a main cover by Marco Santucci and a variant cover by Vasco Georgiev . You can check them out below: Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny #1 is scheduled to release on December 10, 2025. Series issues can be ordered through your local comic book shop or at the Mad Cave Studios website . Need a Refresher on Defenders of the Earth Volume 1 ? We recently gave our thoughts on the first Defenders of the Earth series on X-Band: The Phantom Podcast . Listen below, and let us know your thoughts on the series.

Every year Semic and then Egmont puts out a Christmas Album which is a tradition which started all the way back in 1944 and 2018 is no exception with it already hitting stores late October. For the third year in a row it features a cover from Henrik Sahlström and includes the Facsimile copy of a past annual – this year 1968 includes a traditional cover by Rolf Gohs and the contents. All up the issue is 96 pages, costs 99 sek ($15AU) and includes the following stories. " Kistan från Bombay ("The Coffin from Bombay") by Michael Tierres and Jaime Vallvé (Not published in English) "Shamurs öga" ("Shamur's Eye") by Michael Tierres and Jaime Vallvé (Not published in English) "Det magiska bergets hemlighet" ("The Secret of Magic Mountain") by Bill Harris and Bill Lignante (Part of the Facsimile copy of Annual 1968) "Hotell Wambafallet" ("Mystery of Wamba Falls Inn") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry (Part of the Facsimile copy of Annual 1968) Most shops in Sweden should be selling the Christmas Album otherwise I would recommend contacting someone or you can buy online at shops like Pressbyran . Some fans not familiar with the Christmas Albums will notice the non-Christmas feel to the cover unlike the 2017 Australian Frew Christmas issue. From my understanding no Semic & Egmont Christmas albums have ever had a distinct Christmas style cover. You can check out the past 75 issues here at Phantom Wiki . Below are a couple of photos of the 2018 Christmas Album out in shops including a dedicated pop-up Point of Sale for other comic titles Christmas Albums. Click the images for a better close up look. The other very exciting development which you will see in the photo attached is a third special comic being sold at shops. It holds a regular issue cased in a cardboard box with a special Sal Velluto drawing which also houses a subscription special for three comics at a price of 129 sek ($20 AUD). The image off Sal's first appeared back in 2015 and has been altered slightly. This is a great idea as a Christmas stocking filler gift and for many a completist, another thing to hunt down and buy. Again, most shops in Sweden will have these available and if your one of the many non-Sweden completist fans out there reading this, try contacting a phan who may be able to help you. The front and back of the cardboard box. Click the images for a better close up look. Thanks to Andreas Eriksson and Thomas Askjellerud for the information, photos and links. #Semic #Egmont #ClaesReimerthi #JaimeVallve #RolfGohs #HenrikSahlström

Friday 28 May Frew Publications announced some important changes to their subscription service. Back in January 2017 Frew announced that for every subscription they will give them a pack of 9 phile cards for free. The announcement is that from now on, these cards are not free with every subscription. These Frew Philecards are trading card-sized collector cards, showing the cover to every single Phantom comic that Frew has produced, starting at #1. On the back are all of the relevant information about that issue. The announcement from Frew reads: Philecards have become a major expense which the business can't continue to provide for free. We are going to ask all subscribers who wish to continue collecting Philecards to pay $1 per pack in addition to the regular subscription price, which will be $26 per year for subscribers who want the philecards. This is a cost price, as we just need to cover expenses to continue providing these cards to collectors. This change will appear on your next renewal notice if you have a current subscription we will continue to provide cards until renewal time when you can opt-in or out! Some phans find the Phile cards confusing and others love them however at the end of the day, they were free and who does not love something for free? With the original announcement of free phile cards, it caused many phans to ditch their local comic shop and newsagent which means Frew get more money per issue. Now with many phans subscribing for life, Frew can change tact and the phans who never got the concept will stop getting them. That saves Frew money. Frew also save money for the completist who will continue with their Phile card as they will now be charged cost price. It is a smart business decision but will phans see that or will they see that they now have to pay for something they used to get for free?

Digital comics are very popular with fans able to read their favourite new and old comics and characters without the need to physically store them or even be in the same country as originally published. Frew Publications had the option up until recently, Fantomen currently have an online subscription service and through Comixology (now Amazon ) has limited Phantom stories on their service ( list here ). Now through the online service Comics Kingdom they have started to also offer digital vintage strips through DiscountMags.com. You can subscribe to the service here . The prices are: 1 Year Subscription (12 issues): $99.95US 2 Year Subscription (24 issues): $199.90US 3 Year Subscription (36 issues): $299.85US 4 Year Subscription (48 issues): $399.80US At this stage Discount Mags only has the first story " The Singh Brotherhood " by Lee Falk and Ray Moore online at a cost of $30US singular or via the yearly subscription costs above. This is compared to having the Hermes reprint series "The Phantom: The Complete Newspaper Dailies Vol. 1: 1936-1937 " on Amazon for $0. While I applaud the licence holders of the Phantom to try and provide digital comics, they already have an online source with their Comics Kingdom website ( our review here ), why not make that better and why not use Amazon which is the superior more popular service?

The Egmont owned website DinTidning.se is the go to place for Fantomen subscriptions and they have just added a new piece of merch for the new subscribers. This tote bag is added as a free extra when you start a new subscription of 4 or 8 issues of Fantomen. At the time of this article published (14 January 2023) they have a special of up to 50% off for partial subscriptions. The partial subscriptions is great if you want to test a subscription before committing to a yearly subscription. I have earlier used these kind of offers while having an ongoing subscription and got the new issues to be added on back of my current subscription. I would suggest contacting DinTidning website support to be on the safe side regarding this though. Get your Tote Bag and Subscription from here

Fantomen - Den inbundna årgången ( Fantomen - Year's issues in hardcover) is a Swedish series that collects issues of Fantomen as facsimile reprints in hardcover books. Each book includes several Fantomen issues, meaning that three to five hardcover books collects one year. It is a very similar production that Frew release with their Replica series from issue 2000 down to 1. However, the Swedish version are in hardcover and each book contain related articles about Fantomen and Swedish comic books history from that time. The series starts in 1950 and as of July 2024, they have just finished the year 1972. The subscription format is that you get the first book for only SEK 99+ postage ($15Au, $10US, €8). After the first book, subsequent volumes will be delivered to you every two months by post for SEK 299/piece + postage ($45Au, $30US, €25). Please note that this is only available for the phans with Swedish addresses. Subscribe now

The phan world is eagerly awaiting for issue #1 of the Defenders of the Earth comic book series from Mad Cave Studios to be released. For those who do not have a local comic book store, do not like floppy / single issue comics or even want to taste before they commit to the series, a digital subscription could be a great option. Please note, at this stage, this is only available for USA, Canadian and Puerto Rico addresses. Order your digital subscription now This subscription includes issues 1, 2, 3 and 4 and also the first volume TPB posted to you. The cost is $19.99US. The TPB will include issues 1, 2, 3 and 4. We assume there will be a second subscription option for issues 5, 6, 7 and 8 closer to the date.

Do you subscribe to the Fantomen magazine? Have you ever thought about subscribing but never got around to it? The marketing team of Egmont has created a new subscription incentive with a new design of a Fantomen towel. On top of getting a new towel to add to your collection, you can also save up to 50% off on the total subscription cost. Purchase your subscription here This news was informed by us during an interview with the Fantomen magazine editors which will be released in a near future interview as they talk about what will be coming out in 2025 which will be their 75th anniversary of the magazine. At the time of writing, you can purchase subscriptions either for 4 issues, 7 and or 12 issues. If you are not interested in the towel, on top of the discount, you can instead get an extra issue added to your subscription. The discount prices are below: It must be mentioned that Dintidning will only ship the towel to Swedish addresses. Note, you can be an overseas subscriber but will need a Swedish address for the towel to be posted to. For the past 5-10 years, the subscription incentive was a red and black striped towel and or the 2020 designed Fantomen magazine folder. For those who have come in late, you can see examples below.

The ChronicleChamber team is lucky enough to sit down with Billy Zane in a quiet moment at Brisbane Supanova 2019. Generous with his time, Billy tells us how he became a phan and why the character resonates with him. He talks through the journey of getting the 1996 movie off the ground and convinces us that the time is right for a new Phantom film. We also hear about interactions with Australian phans and potentially exciting plans for future visits Down Under. If, like Billy, you want to see a new The Phantom movie, click here and sign the petition to make this happen. Beat those jungle drums! As always enjoy and - Happy Phantoming! #Supanova #XBand #Podcast #BillyZane