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Recently in Frew #2017, the 1987 Team Fantomen story "The Secret of Polymos" was published, and in our X-Band: Phantom Podcast #333 - March 2026 newspaper stories, comics & news review, we made mention that the Jungle Patrol Monument shown in the story was when it made its debut in the Phantom's world. The monument has remained consistent in that it memorialises an unknown patrolman; however, the design has changed slightly over the years by different creators and publishers. Cesar Spadari drew the monument as an obelisk with the date of 1827, and by the time the monument made its way into the newspaper adventures written by Tony DePaul, it included a bust of the unknown patrolman on top of the column. Scene from the "The Secret of Polymos" story first published in a Fantomen comic in 1987 created by Donne Avenell and Cesar Spadari Scene of the monument from the "Plutonium Pirates" story. First published in Sunday newspapers in 2007. Design is by Paul Ryan. What may interest some creators is that the story of the battle in the jungle in 1827, which saw at least one patrolman die, has not yet been explored by anyone. On top of the yet-to-be-told story is why the patrolman is unknown. Surely there is a story that a current-day creator can create on the origin of the monument. According to the Phantom Wiki and our dates in the Phantom Bible, 1827 will be the time that the 14th Phantom was alive. At this stage, the monument has only been included in Team Fantomen and newspaper stories post-Lee Falk's death. Claes Reimerthi wrote it in one story, and it has been written in several other stories written by Tony DePaul. In the newspaper stories, the monument has been slightly changed, with the upper part of the obelisk being a bust with the shape of a patrolman (see above). Thanks to the amazing Phantom Wiki, the list of stories the monument has been included in are: Newspaper stories "The Halloween Kidnappers" (Daily adventure #197) "Plutonium Pirates" (Sunday adventure #167) "The Battlements of the Nomad" (Sunday adventure #182) "The Wiseguy" (Sunday adventure #184) "The Phantom is Everywhere" (Sunday adventure #185) "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" (Daily adventure #258) Team Fantomen stories "The Secret of Polymos" "The Commander is Dead" "Duel on Destiny Top, Part 1" "The Halloween Gang" "Fight Evil, Part 2" "The Bank Robbers" "Return of the Commander, Part 1" "Return of the Commander, Part 2"

On our 90th anniversary celebration podcast, the creative director of Saturday Morning Cards (SMC) announced in his birthday message that they will be releasing a new volume of cards in 2026. That volume two is still to be released with news to come, but in other exciting news, SMC will be attending San Diego Comic Con in 2026 again with a new celebrational range. San Diego Comic Con is held between July 23-26 2026. As you will notice, the design of the card is using the same Erick Marshall design as is in their first release. However, everything else is different. The case has a different design. The standard purple 'slam evil' punch card with the ring and the movement effects featuring a glow-in-the-dark element. There will be new sketch cards in this SDCC 2026 set There will be 75 star sets of this design. These will be numbered. There will be 50 ice sets of this design. These will be numbered. There will be 25 of each Phantom colour in gray, blue, and red. These will be numbered. There will be numbered 10 purple glow-in-the-dark gold cards There will be a 1/1 black glow-in-the-dark card. As per last year, they will be selling these first at their San Diego Comic Con booth with the remaining stock listed for sale on their website after the event. Australian phans please note: Dan Fraser from Chronicle Chamber is importing a bulk lot of these SDCC cards for collectors in your region. Email SaturdayMorningCardsAUS@gmail.com for pricing and to be added to the order - delivery likely to be in August 2026 after the SDCC event.

Sy Barry currently lives in a senior resident community in Andover in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. April 2026 saw him featured in a local resident magazine and May 2026 sees an art and creativity room being opened named after our phan phav Phantom artist Sy Barry. Thanks to Herb Bond for taking the photos and sharing them on social media.

For those who have come in late, the Sydney Supanova event, held in June every year, is the pinnacle of Phantom catch-ups for the Australian phans. For 2026, the weekend is fast approaching: 19-21 June 2026, which includes the Sydney Supanova comic convention and the LFMBEC dinner. Guests for Supanova Sydney Supanova has started to announce their guests, and many of them have Phantom credits for Frew and other international publishers, which matches a huge influx of phans arriving from around Australia. We believe there is still more to be announced, but at the time of the article being written, the guests with Phantom credits are: Glenn Ford: Cover and story artist for Frew as well as the current director of art at Frew. Daniel Picciotto: Cover and story artist for Frew. Jamie Johnson: Cover artist for Frew, Lightning Strike, and Hermes Press. Ken Steacy: Cover and story artist for Frew. Ben Bradi: Cover artist for Frew. Alex Trpcevski: Cover artist for Frew. Lauren Marshall: Cover artist for Frew. Duncan Munro: Writer for Frew. To book your Supanova Sydney tickets, click here Frew will not be having a booth at the Supanova event like in the past. However, Glenn Ford, the Frew director of art, will no doubt have the Frew products also available, including their 90th Phantom birthday special comic. Frew will be releasing their 90th Phantom birthday celebration comic around this time, which will be a collection of old and new stories all printed in colour. At this stage, details on the stories and which stories are being included are not yet released, but we believe one of the stories will be a new installment of the new Vietnam war series written by Duncan Munro, with art by Ken Steacy. The first part was released in the #2008 issue released in 2025 for the Brisbane Supanova event. About the LFMMBEC dinner If you would like to learn more about the past LFMBEC events, you can go to their website at www.lfmbec.org. The best way to get an invite to the event is to sign up to the email subscription list on the website. We can announce that the guest speaker for the event is Uruguayan-born Antonio Lemos who is royalty among many Australian phans with close to 200 Frew covers published over a 30-year career working on the character. We were lucky enough to interview Antonio Lemos in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode 159, and you can watch or listen to it here. Learn more about the weekend & how to join in on the fun Generally, most phans meet up during the event on the Saturday and during the weekend. if you have not attended before and would like to join up to meet with like-minded phans, send us an email, and we will invite you to the private group chat. Attached are some of the speeches from past Phantom phan weekends at Supanova and the LFMBEC dinners. Sounds from the 2025 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2024 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2023 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2022 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2021 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2019 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2018 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend Sounds from the 2017 LFMBEC dinner & Supanova weekend If you are attending the event and would like to take some photos and write an article about the event, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com.

On the 16th & 17th of May 2026, in Stockholm, Sweden, the Stockholm International Comic Festival (SIS) will be held at the Hörsalen. Janne Lundström, a legend of the comics industry in Scandinavia, will be in attendance. Janne has created 70+ Phantom stories, with many of them classic stories cherished by phans throughout multiple countries and continents. Janne will be having signing sessions on both days. Along with his Phantom work, some of his other work will be made available to be purchased at the event, including the new Johan Vilde collection book. If you do not have any of his Phantom work to get signed, the Swedish LFMBEC Chapter will be selling some of the recent hardcover collection books. The "On Forbidden Land" collection hardcover book features some of his Phantom stories. The Swedish LFMBEC Chapter will also be selling their "Från lila vålnad till blågul hjälte" (From purple Ghost to blue-yellow Hero) and "Lee Falk Storyteller" collection books, as well as clothing; holding a quiz; and, of course, being a great central meeting place for phans to gather and talk Phantom. Many other comic creators will be attending. From a Phantom perspective, Kim W. Andersson and Jimmy Wallin will also be attending, who have created recent Fantomen comics in the last few years. If you are attending the event and would like to take some photos and write an article about the event or help us with reviewing Fantomen comics, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com.

It is of no doubt that the Phantom is popular in India. Even though it is probably not as strong as it used to be, the charecter lives on among a very passionate phanbase. This phanbase as a demography include both the older and the newer generations, though the later seems to be lesser in number. In such a diverse country with many languages and cultures, The Phantom’s popularity is of no doubt with it having so many publications so far over the years. However, the present state of the Phantom publication in India, quite frankly, is not very good and perhaps a bit confusing. Publishing The Phantom for a market like India is such a challange. Not only is the market price sensitive, but it is selective. Many of the passionate phans are attracted to the back issues of the old comics (e.g. Indrajal, Diamond, Regal etc.) than the newer ones. Their also comes the issue of selectivity of stories, artists etc. While the publishers have addressed this by putting out kind of a ‘mixed-bag’ of old and new content, the sales aren’t at that level as it was 40-50 years ago. With these kind of challanges, the Phantom has still seen publications that have been quite successfull, but the longevity of that success is what seems to be unstable. Therefore, putting out a high quality Phantom comic book to the Indian market that is both price sensitive and selective as well as the issue of lower margins and production is what seems to be effecting the Phantom publishers, e.g.- Regal Publishers, Shakti Comics and Lion-Muthu Comics/ V Comics (Prakash Publishers) at the present state. Regal Publishers When it comes Regal, the first thing that is on phan’s minds is regarding their present condition. Phans all over social media are asking for new updates, some are wondering if they have stopped publishing altogether. The concern is valid as the last issue published by Regal, #39 was released an year ago in April 2025, which too was released six months after their previous issue (#38). In August 2025, Regal had put up a social media post celebrating their five years anniversary publishing the Phantom in English, which was their final mention of the Phantom in any medium. Some eager phans were able to get in touch with Regal who has teased a potential comeback in 2026. However, as of the time of reporting, there has been no announcement so far. We were also able to get in touch with Regal who had neither denied nor confirmed their comeback or closure. In our last communication, Regal stated that nothing had been decided yet. What does it mean for Regal? Have they ceased publication? It is a question that Regal can only answer. We know that Regal has their contract with King Features for at least 77 issues in English and Malayalam, out of which they have published 5 issues in Malayalam and 39 (40 including ‘The Chatu Saga’ TPB) in English, which means they still have issues left in their contract. Now, we don’t have an exact idea of what their revenues were, but we assume that they were quite successful but not successful enough to sustain their publication on a regular schedule. We know for a fact that ‘The Chatu Saga’ trade paperback hadn’t been that sucessful to guarantee a follow up. Regal still has all of their comics in stock and are available through their website as well as other ecommerce platforms, which suggests that they had a larger print run which is still not running out of stock. Eager phans have also noticed Regal selling bundles of comics for a rather cheaper price. Regal’s website, quite surprisingly, also lists Shakti Comics’ publications of Rip Kirby, Popeye, no Phantom as of yet. Regal was known for their quality and attention to detail that reflected on their publications. That is the reason many phans worldwide are concerned with their absence. However, it is best to keep hopes up as we still have the rest of the year and hope Regal comes back as strong as ever. Meanwhile, supporting Regal would probably be a great idea. Shakti Comics Shakti Comics, a newer publication compared to Regal, is now probably the only active publisher of The Phantom in English in India. However, aside from English, Shakti also publishes the charecter in Hindi and Bengali. With quite a few ups and downs in their five years of publishing since 2021, they have managed to put out an impressive number of 23 regular issues in English (25 including 2 TPBs), 13 in Hindi and 12 in Bengali (15 including 3 TPBs). They were the first to explore and experiment with different formats and strategies, launching variant covers of their comics starting from their second issue. They had also experimented with sizes and formats before arriving at a stable one since #9. In the last five years, besides the comics, Shakti has also launched merchandise including posters, calenders, mini figurines and clothing through their sister brand. Shakti’s main strategy, which is perhaps their strength, are their experiments, which in turn have made them sustain in a market like India. Through their experimentations, they were able to find their current model that while not perhaps entirely effective, has enabled them to put out comics in semi-regular schedule. Shakti also prints their comics in limited quantities, which prompts them to be sold out in some time. Shakti works with the ‘supply and demand’ model to then again reprint some of the comics or bring out a new collected edition altogether. We recently saw it happen with #18 and #19 where a new collected edition replaced the comics following them being out of stock. Shakti’s strategy with the comics in their other two languages has been quite the same but it has seen some mishaps. Following the publication of #12, Shakti had paused their publication in Hindi and Bengali for an indefinite period of time, citing lower sales as the reason. Both the languages were absent from their publishing catalogue for about a year until collected editions were released in both languages following the publication of #19 in English. Shakti’s new distribution partnership with Bhasa/ Read Bengali Books prompted them for the newest Bengali publications which has proven to be quite successful, leading to Shakti to have their own stall in the 49th Kolkata International Book Fair held in 2026. Shakti’s last set of comics #20 and #21 were released in November 2025. With #21 Shakti started their ‘Indrajal Series’, reprinting classic stories originally published in Indrajal Comics in an unedited form starting with ‘The Belt’. Their strategy with a mixed bag of stories, both modern and old seems be working as they are also publishing the complete ‘The Death of the Phantom’ daily newspaper strip saga in their next issues (can read about that here). On speaking with Shakti by ourselves, we have learned that Shakti’s goal is to publish the next chapters of the saga along with the ‘Indrajal series’. The newest issues #22 and #23, announced April 2026 are going to features two stories from ‘The Death of the Phantom’ saga while one of the next issues are expected to feature the reprint of ‘Prince Orq’, originally published in Indrajal Comics #2. Shakti had also shared a while ago glimpse at two of their future covers on their social media. Shakti’s primary goal right now seems to be reducing the delays and putting out comics on a regular schedule. We learned from Shakti that they plan to publish the plan to publish the English version first followed by the two regional languages leading to the ultimate goal of putting out comics per month. Shakti also has got an impressive expansion of their catalogue with characters like Popyeye, which they are putting out in regular intervals. Shakti is currently the one of the only two publisher carrying The Phantom’s banner in India and only one publishing in English, Hindi and Bengali. Whether through their social media marketing and engagement or attending various conventions and book fairs, they seem to be actively involved in the popularisation of the charecter. Their partnerships and extention of catalogue with merchandising seems to have paid off. The very experiments and risks that they were not favoured for taking have helped them sustain. Whatever the future holds, we can confidently say that they aren’t going anywhere. Prakash Publishers Prakash Publishers, unike Shakti aren’t new to publishing The Phantom as their earliest titles under the ‘Muthu Comics’ banner dates back to 1972. Based in the state of Tamil Nadu, their foucus predominently has been on the Tamil Language and readers. After being absent from publishing the character since 1980, they were back publishing the character in 2022. After producing two hardcover collections, they launched a new series titled ‘V Comics’ in 2024. Starting 2025, they have launched an anthology collection titled ‘The Kings Collection’ under the Muthu Comics Banner. Muthu Comics’ current catalogue is impressive no doubt, so is their value. Compared to the other two publications, their comics are priced at a much cheaper rate while maintaining good production value (glossy, full colour, binding). Even though their colouring work as well as censorship on some of their previous ‘V Comics’ have been criticized, the newer issues with the colourings by Nilanjan Sayed (previous colouring at Shakti) has seen much improvement. All these elements together along with their pricing make them such a value for money item. But what is their greatest strength also probably is their weakness, its readership, especially the language. It is not deniable that the Tamil phanbase is probably among the strongest readership of the Phantom in the country. But being limited to one language limits for such quality products to reach phans all over India and the world. Prakash Publishers’ great production value is something that the other companies may take a lesson from. Regardless to say, Prakash Publishers’ Phantom comics are a very important part of their publishing catalogue and it is evident from him having own separate section on their website and promotions. Prakash Publishers is also actively participating in book fairs where the Phantom is getting his separate focus. As of May 2026, Prakash has had three comic books released so far, a new issue of V comics in January coinciding with the Chennai Book Fair in January, ‘The King’s Special #2’ in February, and the new ‘The King’s Special #3’ in April and it seems their schedule is packed for the rest of the year. In a country like India, publishing the Phantom and sustaining it does take a great effort and require a lot of problem solving. With two of the active publishers putting out content one after the other, the charecter seems to be doing quite well. While it would be great to have potential comeback for Regal as the third publisher as it was a year ago, the character will live on as strong if the other publishers put out content in a timely manner and maintaining their quality. Alongside the comic books, the Phantom continues to have his presence in several newspapers and magazines in India. While the number of newspapers and magazines are handful, the character does live strong on his original medium in his 90th year.

In this episode, the boys Dan Fraser, Jermayn Parker, and Stephen East come together to review and discuss Phantom comics, stories, and related news from around the world, including the team arguing over story elements in the latest Newspaper and Frew stories. Christian Moller and Scott Waldyn join the team with their reviews of the latest comics from Germany, Austria, and the USA. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. If you agree and/or disagree with us, you can either email us; leave your comments at our YouTube channel, and/or leave them at our social media platforms on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. If you're one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed. Note: "Simulacra" was included in Frew issues 2020 and 2021. For the sake of discussing these parts together, we have included our review of these parts together instead of reviewing them in the individual comics. We have also decided to correct the spelling of "Judgement" to the Australian spelling in Frew issue 2020. Comics Kingdom stories Daily 269: "The Muckmen of Zumaridi River" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 2 Minutes Daily 270: "The Grudge" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 11 Minutes Sunday 198: “1536”: by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 24 Minutes Frew (Australia) comics Frew #2020: 34 Minutes "Solomon's Judgement" by Lee Falk and Germano Ferri Frew #2021: 45 Minutes & 30 Seconds "The Totem of Evil" by Joan Boix "Simulacra pt 1 & 2" by Julie Ditrich and Wendell Cavalcanti: 55 Minutes German & Austrian comics Zauberstern Spezial #8: 1 Hour, 7 Minutes & 30 Seconds "Das Liebesdreieck" ("The Love Triangle") by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan "Das verlorene Königreich von Avaria " ("The Lost Kingdom of Avaria") by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan "Das dreckige halbe Dutzend" ("The Dirty Half-Dozen") part 1 by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan Die Klassiker #5: 1 Hour, 10 Minutes & 30 Seconds "Das geheimnisvolle Mädchen" ("The Mysterious Girl") by Lee Falk and Ray Moore "Der goldene Kreis" ("The Golden Circle") by Lee Falk and Ray Moore The USA comics The Phantom One-Shot #1: 1 Hour & 15 Minutes "The Phantom vs. The Sky Band" by Ray Fawkes and Federico Sabbatini Defenders of the Earth: Dark Destiny 4: 1 Hour & 27 Minutes "Blood Wedding" by Dan DiDio and Alex Sanchez The Phantom news from around the world TV show updates (link): 1 Hour & 40 Minutes The Phantom Video Game updates (link): 1 Hour & 44 Minutes SMC will be at SDCC26: 1 Hour, 45 Minutes & 30 Seconds KFS releases a free digital issue of the original Phantom 2040 comic on Free Comic Day (link): 1 Hour & 47 Minutes New Fantomen collection book's details for 2026: 1 Hour, 50 Minutes & 30 Seconds Layoffs for Mad Cave Studios (link): 1 Hour & 52 Minutes Latest news from Phantom comics from India: 1 Hour & 54 Minutes New Frew poster (link): 1 Hour, 55 Minutes & 30 Seconds Sy Barry featured in a local town magazine (link): 1 Hour, 58 Minutes & 30 Seconds Austrian publisher Art:9 printing Ray Moore Sunday stories (link): 2 Hours Jan Håfström and his Phantom work featured in an exhibition (link): 2 Hours, 1 Minute & 30 Seconds LFMBEC Sydney weekend (link): 2 Hours & 4 Minutes We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told by the phans. We may miss something, especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom-related guests, so please let us know of them so we can promote them on our website, socials, and podcasts. We are also looking for reviewers who can review comics from India, Sweden, Finland, France, Italy, and some other locations that publish the Phantom. If you would like to join the team with regular reviews, please contact us. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram. We love comments and feedback from the Phantom phans from around the world. Make sure you stay with us, and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast on our YouTube Channel.

Prakash Publishers (also known as Lion Muthu Comics), based in the state of Tamil Nadu, is no stranger to the Phantom with their earliest comics dating back to 1972. After ceasing publication in 1980, they had published a series of hardcover books starring the Phantom in 2022. In 2024, they started a new series titled ‘V Comics’. Since then, Prakash has published newer issues of the ‘V Comics’ series as well as a new series titled ‘The King’s Special.’ With their newest comics out in 2026, this article aims to catch the readers up to the previously uncovered issues along with the newest ones. V Comics is an anthology series where the Phantom has appeared so far in 5 issues. We last covered issues #13 and #17, published in 2024. #21 was also released in 2024 featuring the daily story ‘The Curse of the Sacred Image’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry with a cover by Henrik Sahlström. 2025 has seen two new issues being released so far, starting with #25 , marked as the ‘2-year anniversary special,' featuring two daily stories, ‘Guardian of the Eastern Dark’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry, and ‘The Halloween Kidnappers’ by Claes Reimerthi, George Olesen and Keith Williams with a cover by Ertuğrul Edirne. The second issue, released in 2025, remains unnumbered, instead featuring the title ‘Vethalar - Kabala Vettai’ (translated as ‘The Phantom: Skull Hunt’) with a cover by Ertuğrul Edirne. The issue featured the daily story ‘T’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry. In January 2026, Prakash released another issue of ‘V Comics’ titled ‘Vethalar - Suniyakkariyin samrajyattil’ (translated as ‘The Phantom: In the Empire of the Witch’) with a cover by Henrik Sahlström. The issue featured the daily story ‘Mystery of Kula-Ku’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry. The comic is priced at ₹100/- ($1.05 USD, $1.46 AUD, 9.71 kr) and features 70 full colour and glossy pages. At the time of writing this article, all the comics published in 2024 except #17 are in stock on their website. The rest published in 2025 and 2026 are in stock and can be purchased by this link. Prakash’s new series, which began last year in 2025, is titled ‘The King’s Special.' It is a series of hardcover books featuring various King Features Syndicate characters, including ‘The Phantom’, ‘Mandrake the Magician’, ‘Rip Kirby’, ‘Secret Agent X-9’, etc. The first issue, released in August 2025, features two daily stories - ‘The Normal Life’ and ‘The Cavelands’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry with a cover by Ertuğrul Edirne. The book is priced at ₹450/- ($4.74 USD, $6.57 AUD, 43.66 kr) and features 370 b/w pages. ‘The King’s Special -2,' released in February 2026, features two daily stories, ‘Return of the Terrorists’ and ‘Jungle City’ by Lee Falk and Sy Barry with a cover by Henrik Sahlström. The book is priced at ₹450/- ($4.74 USD, $6.57 AUD, 43.66 kr) and features 370 b/w pages. ‘The King’s Special -3’, was just released last month, April 2026. It features two stories, including the Sunday story ‘Waterman’ by Lee Falk, George Olsen and Fred Fredericks, with a cover by an unknown artist (if anyone knows this artist, please let us know). The book is priced at ₹450/- ($4.74 USD, $6.57 AUD, 43.66 kr) and features 370 b/w pages. The three books are available for sale on their website. Just a reminder for phans that these books are not in English but in Tamil. However, they are quality productions that are worth picking up. If you are interested in learning more about the present state of the Phantom publication in India, please refer to this article.

Shakti Comics, the Indian publisher, announced on 26th April their newest set of comics from their ‘The Phantom’ series. The announcement for issues #22 and #23 includes the story details along with the cover and a potential release date. Six months since their last issues, Shakti’s newest comics are set to feature two daily newspaper stories following what was published in #20. Following the 258th daily story, ‘To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines’ the next two issues are set to feature the next two parts in the long ‘The Death of the Phantom’ daily strip saga. Issue #22’s cover is done by a new artist to Shakti’s realm, Moin Khan. Featuring the 259th Daily Story ‘The Chronicle of Old Man Mozz’ written by Tony DePaul with art by Mike Manley, the issue is priced at ₹249.99 ($2.63 USD, $3.67 AUD and 24.38 kr). The issue features 28 full colour glossy pages. Issue #23 features a cover done by a familiar Italian artist, Joel Folda. Joel has previously worked on comics published by Lightning Strike Comics especially in the ‘TASQ Force’ series. We were lucky enough to have interviewed Joel last year where we discussed his association with the character and his creative process, among many other things. The issue featuring the 260th Daily Story ‘Death in the Himalayas’ written by Tony DePaul with art by Mike Manley, the issue is priced at ₹249.99 ($2.63 USD, $3.67 AUD and 24.38 kr). The issue features 28 full colour glossy pages. The issues are expected to ship starting 4th May. The issues are available for pre-order through Shakti’s website as well as other retailers in India. For the phans overseas, Shakti also offers international shipping. Shakti’s issues are also available for purchase through Frew Publications’ website, though these two are not listed yet. Shakti is expected to continue publishing the rest of ‘The Death of the Phantom’ daily strip saga, of which three more stories remain. If you are interested in learning about the present state of the Phantom publications in India, please do check out our report.

A lot of comic readers around the world are currently enjoying Free Comic Day. While there is no physical free comic for 2026, King Features and Comics Kingdom have teamed up to release a digital copy of the first comic from the 1995 Marvel Phantom 2040 comic series. Download your free copy now It must be said that this is just a temporary link, so expect it won't always be available to download. To add it to your collection, go to the link and add it to your cart. Go through the checkout and you will be emailed a download link. This comic excludes the original advertisements that were included in the original comic and also includes the promotion of Comics Kingdom's current Phantom 2040: A New Shadow web comic. The details of this comic is: "Generation Unto Generation" by Peter Quinones, Steve Ditko and Bill Reinhold. You can watch our reviews on our website and YouTube channel. Free Comic Book Day is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to attract new readers to independent comic book stores. It usually takes place on the first Saturday of May and has historically been cross-promoted with the release of a superhero film. It is held around the world, including in Australia. In 2025, Mad Cave Studios released their #0 issue on Free Comic Day. In 2026, Mad Cave Studios did not release another issue. In 2015 and 2016, Hermes Press released two issues on Free Comic Day, when they had the license. Thanks to Kristian Hellesund for the heads up on this news. if we have missed any Phantom-related news, please let us know.

To celebrate the 90th Phantom anniversary, Fantomen will be releasing a reprint of the first two Phantom stories in their 2026 softcover album. The softcover album series has been published by Fantomen since 2015 and is a yearly collection of Lee Falk-created themed stories. At this stage, you can pre order the 2026 book via the Swedish and Norwegian websites listed below, but the total page count and cover have not yet been released. Since 2018, the covers have been designed by Luca Erbetta - we assume he will also be the artist for the 2026 softcover album as well. Preorder book with Adilbris Sweden Preorder book with Wessmanbok Preorder book with Adilbris Norway The book will be available to ship in August 2026, and we expect the cover to be announced by June-July at the latest. Keep an eye on our website and/or our socials for the latest news on this publication. We are looking for someone to review the book for us, if you are keen to help, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com. Past themes of the softcover albums are: The man who cannot die (2016) Wedding stories (2017) The Phantom v pirates (2018) Noir style stories (2019) Rough on roughnecks (2021) Cowboy Phantom stories (2023) Prince Rex (2024 and 2025) Our past reviews of the Singh Brotherhood & Sky Band Phantom stories Matt Kyme during COVID reviewed these stories for us on our X-Band: The Phantom podcast. You can watch the reviews of the stories in the video below.

unnamedThe boys Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser and Stephen East join together to interview Jeff Parker the writer of the popular Dynamite Entertainment "Kings Watch" series. Jeff also returned to write the Flash Gordon "Kings Cross" series which ended the series of Dynamite Entertainment exploring the King Features characters they had licensed. If you enjoyed the "Kings Watch" series (or even hated what they did), this podcast is a must watch / listen. Jeff is very candid in his comments and details why he chose to have an imposter fulfilling the role of the Phantom. He also answers the question that has been on some phans lips since the character Jen was introduced as the missing Walker heir. Was that his idea or someone else's? Jeff also talks about other plots and tid bits which you may find interesting, some of them are: The uncredited co writer to the Flash Gordon "Kings Cross" storyline. What the inspiration was for giant tarantula formed out of drowned apes. The un named Phantom imposter who took over the role was at one time going to be wearing a Skull Mark on his face by the previous Phantom. The relationship between Lothar and the Phantom and how he became an obvious replacement. How Jeff got the gig for Dynamite Entertainment and then how that morphed into a modern version of the 1980's classic TV show. Why Sydney, Australia faces perhaps the most dangerous beast/alien in the comic. Why its important to mess with fans slightly. When Jeff released that the Phantom was going to die. What was Jeffs vision for the missing Phantom if Jen was not shoehorned into the role. To get in touch with Jeff Parker, you can follow him on twitter @JeffParker or his website www.JeffParkerWrites.com What did you think of this podcast? 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.

In a bumper 2 hour podcast Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser and Stephen East go over their favourites for 2021 from around the world. Mikael Lyck and Ankit Mitra also give us their favourites. We cover every country, every publisher and every comic. 10 countries, 100+ comics and 20+ new stories is a lot and even through a pandemic, 2021 has been a good Phantom year. In December we started the competition for the best of Frew of 2021 and we go over the results including drawing the winners which are: Frew Crew Badges: Dale Maccanti Michelle Forrester Chronicle Chamber Pack: Wade Chad Kyme Zac Savage You can read a detailed break down of the results here. If you would like to just listen to specific opinions on what we think was best of 2021 from around the world, you can use the below timeline: Best non-Frew / Fantomen / Indian Cover: 13 Minutes 30 Seconds Best Frew Cover: 17 Minutes 30 Seconds Best Fantomen Cover: 29 Minutes 30 Seconds Best Indian Cover: 39 Minutes Best Writer: 44 Minutes Best Story Artist: 51 Minutes 30 Seconds Overall Best Story published by Frew: 58 Minutes Overall Fantomen Best Story: 1 Hour 16 Minutes Best Fantomen Issue: 1 Hour 18 Minutes Overall Best Indian Story Published: 1 Hour 19 Minutes Best Indian Issue: 1 Hour 19 Minutes 30 Seconds Best Frew Issue: 1 Hour 20 Minutes 30 Seconds Prize Draw: 1 Hour 38 Minutes Best Merchandise in 2021: 1 Hour 40 Minutes Best Chronicle Chamber Moment: 1 Hour 53 Minutes Overall reflection on 2021 & looking forward to 2022: 1 Hour 59 Minutes What did you think of 2021? If you think there is a cover, artist, writer or story you think we missed, 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. We love your opinion, so please leave it. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

To wrap up our festive season we have created a New Years Resolution that we all can get around and ensure we follow through. Forget eating healthy, saving your money or doing more exercise - let us all take some time out and read a Phantom back issue. Mikael Lyck, Duncan Munro and Ankit Mitra join regulars Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser and Stephen East in reviewing (one or two) stories that are worth digging out and having a re read. Some of the stories have been reprinted regularly and within the last 5 years but many have been out of print for 10 or 20 years. The stories we have reviewed are: "The Hanta Witch" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry Frew #1746 (2016) Fantomen 22-23/2021 Fantasma #282 (1979) Diamond Comics #73 "The Founding of the Jungle Patrol" by Lee Falk and Sy Barry Frew #1653 (2013) Fantomen 13/2021 Fantasma #284 (1979) Diamond Comics #73 "The Ghost Pirates" by Norman Worker and Jaime Vallvé Frew #765 (1983) Fantomen 1/2020 Fantasma #367 (1986) "The Devil's Brotherhood, Part 1-3" by Idi Kharelli and Hans Lindahl Frew #867A (1986) Fantomen Krönika 2/2002 L'Uomo Mascherato #4 (2009) "The Avenger" by Janne Lundström and Jaime Vallvé Frew #883 (1987) Fantomen Krönika Band 1 (1999) "Red as Blood - White as Snow" by Lennart Moberg, Felmang, and Germano Ferri Frew #1607 (2011) Fantomen 22/1992 "The Phantom vs Singh 2050" by Claes Reimerthi and Hans Lindahl Frew #1276 (2000) Fantomen 21/2000 "Guns, Part 1-2" by Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell DC #1 & #2 (1989) Hermes The Complete Series: The Complete DC Comics Volume One (2021) Fantasma #1-#2 (1989) What did you think of the stories? Have you read all of them? If you have another story you think phans and us should read, add a photo in the comments section or on social media. 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.

For our Merry Phantoming (Christmas) X-Band: The Phantom Podcast we decided to have some phun. We created a quiz to celebrate the festive season. The quiz was open for a live participation with phans from around the world and then afterwards open for all. While we only received three participants on the night, we had over 100 phans have a go at the quiz afterwards. The top ten who got the most answers correct are: Indian 30,477 Seuj 28,464 Mase 25,934 Marcus 24,579 Callum 22,748 Oyvind 22,448 PhantomCaveRev 21,696 Erma 19,465 DanB 18,449 Glaucio 18,395 A huge thank you to all who participated plus Mikael Lyck, Marcus and Seuj Abir who joined us and participated. Seuj and Indian are both young teenager phans from India and we hope they stick around and are part of the next generation of long term phans. Indian, Seuj, Mase, Marcus and Callum, please contact us with your mailing address so we can ship some prizes out. The list of questions are: Who is the artist? Who is the artist? What is Ray Moore's middle name? In which story is Bangalla first shown to be in Africa? In what year did Mike Manley begin working on the daily strip? What are the start and end dates for Sy Barry's time on the Phantom daily strip? What date was the first Phantom strip published? In what year did Tony DePaul solely take the reigns on the Newspaper strip? What was the title of Paul Ryan's first Phantom Newspaper Story? The Baronkhan Sedition is Mike Manley's first Phantom story - True or False? What is the date of the First Frew issue? Which was the first Frew issue to be published in "portait" rather than "landscape"? How many times did Ralph Gohs win Best Cover for Fantomen (Sweden)? Who was the writer of the 1000th Team Fantomen story? In what year was Frew issue #1000 published? What do the letters in Frew stand for? Who was the 12th editor of Fantomen? Which USA publisher has published the most Phantom comics? Which of the "Big 2" Comic Publishers published a standalone Phantom comic first? What was the first Frew issue published by "The Frew Crew"? When did chroniclechamber.com launch? In which episode did the current line up of Dan, Jermayn and Steve host their first podcast together? Who was Joe's first guest on the Podcast? Where was the first X-Band theme from? Happy Phantoming is now our traditional sign off but who signed off with it First? Who designed the current Chronicle Chamber logo? What is the P3? Which Phantom creator has appeared on the most episodes of the X-Band Podcast? In which episode did the Phellas first interview Sy Barry? What number episode was the December 2021 Comics and News In what year was the First Mallon Diary published? What is the first known Phantom "jam cover"? In the 1996 movie, what is the name of the Palmer family's butler? What is the name of the 1980s cartoon which featured The Phantom? Which company recently released a Jungle Patrol Hat and Beanie? Who composed the score for the 1996 The Phantom movie? What is the name of the shape-shifting fractal biot from the 2040 series? What is the name of The Phantom's alias in the 1943 Movie serial? The quote, "Things are hotting up" is attributed to which Phamous Phantom Phan? What is the longest running Lee Falk Sunday Story? What did you think of the questions? Were they too hard? How did you find them? Did you enjoy the quiz. 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.