So I actually played this machine, believe it or not, but I walked away $500 richer! Played at Viejas Casino here in San Diego, Ca .; Asked the staff if a picture would be okay, but as was no surprise, they said no. It was fun, even when I was down $100; it was just nice to play something so exquisitely designed with iconography that you enjoy. The machine actually doesn't pay out that much on its usual lines. I won my bet back maybe a handful of times in the span of about an hour. The real money maker was, of course, the bonus games, which I played I think all the versions of. In each of the Phantom's animal friends games, the animal tokens themselves only appear in the middle rows, and during the bonus game they have different 'power-ups.' Hero's token will cause all the icons in the column to convert to a credit value, Devil's token themselves have singular, high values but may come in pairs, and Fraka's token expands the reels to 5 rows and gives you bonus spins on the mini-game. You can get one bonus meter full or multiples, I actually got all three for my last stretch of play before I cashed out, and so each of these tokens had their 'abilities' along with Fraka's 5 row slots, which led to big wins on the 250 credit ($2.50 USD) tier I was playing on, with the max bet being $8 per spin, while the min bet was $0.75. While there is a meter for each friend, I didn't see much of a rhyme or reason for when they activate. Fraka's activated the most, often when his meter wasn't even close to full, while it took ages to activate Hero's even though his meter appeared near-full when I started and I had hit his token several times on the reels. The icon that comes up most often on any play is the Phantom's, which awards a very small payout even per column, much less than your actual bet. Other icons are standard card suits, like other slot machines; credit value icons, which, as they sound, award the amount of credits as the number listed; the "phantom bonus" icon in the first reel, which "activates" the combo across the reels; and the Phantom's Fist on the last reel, which can be won when eligible icons land across the reels and the Phantom Bonus is active. Eligible icons are the credit and animal icons (if I recall correctly). The final bonus game, activated with the Phantom's fist, changes the field of play into a 3x3 grid, giving the player 3 free spins; each cell of the grid then spins, the 8 on the exterior oscillating between "no win" represented by a brown Mark of Good symbol, and "win" as a gold Mark of Good. At 250 credit play the win bonus for each grid was 300. In the middle, there is the no-win "wham" and the win "Phantom Icon", when the Phantom Icon is landed upon, one of the current winning Mark of Goods (sometimes multiple) is increased by the value of "The Phantom Prize" - This prize value is based on the reels when the mini-game was active, so if you activated the mini-game with 3x "300" credit icons, the value would be 900, and each time the Phantom appears in the middle, one of the winning marks of goods would have the 900 value added to it. Each time a mark of good wins or Phantom appears, the free spins are reset to 3. This game is also where the jackpot occurs, which happens when all Marks of Good appear, which is a chance between the "Major Prize", a machine-based value that was around $900 on mine, and the "Grand Prize" which I think is the machine-linked value between multiple at $10,000. Each time any jackpot is won, or bonus game concludes, this very fanciful tune plays that doesn't fit the Phantom at all. Some of the icons I simply have no information on include Diana's, which appeared often but never hit for anything in the hour I played, as well as the Phantom's rings and a bejeweled shield and spear icon, which I equally had no winning lines with. As I said, I had a fun time. I went in expecting to drop about $200 just to spend some time on the casino floor and enjoy a few free beverages and some Phantom gaming while I was there. I will say that, yes, this not only makes little sense for the character of the Phantom, it's something he would actively be against; to be fair, that might be true of many aspects of merchandising as well, though I acknowledge that there is a unique level of predatory consumerism with gambling that makes it different than providing a product (even of questionable quality) that a fan can walk away with. As always, game responsibly. [Editors note: Thanks to ' Pirate Dave ' for his first article and review with us at Chronicle Chamber - look forward to more from you. This article first appeared on the Phantom Reddit group and was re published here with permission. As Pirate Dave said, The Phantom would not be impressed with his likeness on a gambling machine, and Lee Falk created a story featuring the pitfalls of gambling and another story where a young 21st Phantom rescued his friend who was ensnared by it. As a Phantom site, we will review all things Phantom, even if we do not agree with them personally. We ask that if you do not agree with the game, you voice your displeasure at King Features instead of us.]

Christian Moller  reviews Zauberstern #22 , which was out in late December 2025. The issue features the following stories that are a mix of stories first published in the USA by Charlton Comics in the 1970s, DC Comics in the late 1980s, and a modern-day daily newspaper story. It is the same mixture as issue #21 and is a perfect blend of old, not so old, and modern. " Verblendet " (" Blind ") by Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell " Hungersnot " (" Famine ") by Mark Verheiden and Luke McDonnell " Das Geheimnis des Riesenaffen " (" The Giant Ape of Tawth ") by Don Jon Arneson and Jim Aparo " Das Erbe der Zwillinge " (" The Twins' Futures ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan You can purchase this comic and other back issues of Zauberstern  Phantom comics from their website . This comic is of great value with 100 pages of comics in full colour on great-quality paper for 10€. This magazine sees Zauberstern  reusing a past cover instead of creating their own new covers, which they have done previously and seems to be done more and more often. Do you prefer the publisher creating their own unique covers? This cover was created by Luke McDonnell  and was originally used as the cover #12 for the DC Comics series, originally published in 1989. It is worth noting that these DC stories have only been published in three other countries previously. The " Das Geheimnis des Riesenaffen " (" The Giant Ape of Tawth ") story by Don Jon Arneson and Jim Aparo was previously published in a Bastei comic in red, black and white. This time, it is published in full original colour. Ensure you read our interview with the publishers and editors behind Zauberstern  here - Interview with Simeon Hrissomallis  and Charles Bone . We also review Zauberstern special magazines on our platforms. All Zauberstern and other German 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. If you would like to join the team and review new comics being released around the world, please contact us.

We all know the Brazilians know how to party, and on Saturday, 7th February 2026, a whole bunch of creators, cosplayers, the team from Mythos and phans gathered to celebrate the Phantom's 90th birthday . Thanks to Chronicle Chamber 's friend Celso Nunes , he was able to photograph some moments from this event and share them with us all. Present at the event was Dedy Edson , a Brazilian Phantom collector who met Lee Falk  before he passed in 1999 and has helped several publishers in the past writing articles and editorials about the Phantom. He is also recognised as having perhaps the largest Phantom collection in the country. Franco de Rosa , who edited the Phantom for Opera Graphica ; Gonçalo Junior , author of Lee Falk 's biography book , which was released in 2025, the Fantasma cosplayer; and Glaucio Cardoso  from the Fantasma YouTube Channel also attended. Mythos gave away cool prizes (a video of the gift bag being opened is below) and had great discounts on Phantom and other publications. Below is a photo gallery from the event with all photos taken by Celso Nunes . Glaucio Cardoso  from the Fantasma YouTube Channel  has recorded an opening of the gift bag Mythos  gave their guests, and he will be releasing a video of the event on 16th February 2026. So ensure you check out his channel.

There's something cataclysmic happening in the Ghost Jungle in Phantom 2040: A New Shadow ! We're not quite sure what it is, but it's the driving factor propelling our hero, Carlos Oserio, toward his big encounter with the villainous Charles Tyrus! Read Phantom 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 14 here . This is arguably one of the most beautiful episodes in the Phantom 2040: A New Shadow series thus far! The colors, the style, and the techno-organic edge are firing on all cylinders. George Kambadais delivers the goods as writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci focus this latest episode on Tyrus. We're not quite sure what to make of what's happening at the moment. There's some information missing, intentionally so, that keeps us from connecting the dots. While it helps propel the mystery, it is a detriment to our enjoyment of the story. Phantom 2040: A New Shadow episode 14 art by George Kambadais Question for the Phans: What do you think makes The Ghost Jungle so special? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

To celebrate Fantomen 's 75th anniversary in 2025, the editorial team of the magazine held a multi-level contest for a new Old Jungle Saying, and the winning saying has now been announced. The initial entries for phans to enter their sayings closed on 17 October 2025, and in issue 25-26/2025, the top 10 as voted by the editorial team were released for us phans to vote on. The editorial team had 174 different original entries to choose from. Out of the final 10, 28% of 457 people who voted all agreed that "Where the Phantom's shadow falls, justice shines" was their favourite. The phan who came up with the new Old Jungle Saying is Martin Blad from Ödåkra . The new Old Jungle Saying has made its way onto a tote bag, which will be made available as a free gift for anyone who subscribes or renews their subscription to the Fantomen magazine for 2026. You can renew or subscribe to the magazine here

Late 2025 saw Aristocrat Gaming release a new Phantom slot machine in casinos around the USA. This follows on the back of their successful 2009 poker machine with the collectible poker top, which many phans have in their collection. A promotional figurine was released to coincide with the release of the slot machine. The figurine is the same as the Boss Fight Studio 2022 wave 1.0 release. This new promotional limited edition figurine features a new design card with imagery from the Aristocrat Gaming slot machine design. Have you managed to hunt this limited edition figurine into your collection yet? For those who want to learn more about the game, we would recommend this review by Cowboy Slots who goes through the game.

Sad news has come through that sadly Ulf Granberg has passed away. In our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #110 , the team had Ulf in the top 5 of all-time influential Phantom people. Once you look into his legacy and footprint, it is not hard to see why. Ulf Granberg became the 12th editor of Fantomen in 1973, succeeding Per-Anders Jonsson , and continued until 1987 and then returned again in 2003. He did, however, remain in charge of the Team Fantomen production between his two periods as an editor, serving as editor-in-chief. In addition, Ulf was the editor for numerous issues of Fantomen Krönika . He retired from all of his Phantom duties with Fantomen 9/2012 , after a total of 1001 issues. He was succeeded by Mikael Sol as editor for Fantomen and by Claes Reimerthi and Hans Lindahl as editors for the Team Fantomen production of stories. If that doesn't impress you, he also wrote 38 stories, many including stories that added to the Phantom's legacy and lore, filling in gaps left by Lee Falk . In talking to several Phantom creators on this website and our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast , they all mentioned how Ulf would educate them on the finer details of the Phantom and 'correct' lore elements that may have been missed. In 1999, after Lee Falk died, many phans naturally wondered what would happen to the newspaper Sunday and Daily newspaper stories. The quality under Lee Falk 's watch had diminished, and many thought the stories would cease. Again, thanks to Ulf Granberg , he stepped up and ensured the Sunday and Daily newspaper stories continued. He hired Claes Reimerthi and Tony DePaul as writers, with Tony eventually taking the job full-time. He also hired Paul Ryan as the Daily and eventually Sunday artist for the newspaper stories. Without Ulf stepping up, it is safe to say that we would not be getting current new stories today. From everyone at Chronicle Chamber, we thank you, Ulf Granberg for the legacy you have left us. You have truly left your imprint on this character for close to 40 years, and the Phantom is better off for it. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends, family, and loved ones left behind who saw Ulf as more than just a great in the Phantom community. Attached is our video reflecting on his legacy, which you can watch. For those who would like to learn more about Ulf, we were lucky enough to interview him back in 2018 and recorded the chat with him for 3 hours. It is included below so you can go back and learn more about Ulf Granberg .

Brazilian artist Wendell Cavalcanti has some original art from his latest Frew story, " Return of the Golden Circle " that was written by Julie Ditrich . What makes this story special is that it was featured as the showcase story in Frew 's celebratory 2000th issue. You can learn more about that issue here and watch and/or listen to our detailed review of the comic and the story in X-Band: Phantom Podcast Episode #311 . If you want to learn more about Wendell Cavalcanti , you can read an earlier interview with him on our website . Below is a small sample of the artwork that was still available to be purchased at the time of this article being published. If you are interested in purchasing any of the pages, we would suggest contacting Wendell at either of his social media pages. Wendell Cavalcanti Facebook Wendell Cavalcanti Instagram

Brazilian fans are some of the most enthusiastic fans out there, and several are teaming up to celebrate our hero's birthday. The Brazilian Phantom publisher Mythos will hold an event on the 7th of February 2026 at their store headquarters. Present at the event will be Dedy Edson , a Brazilian Phantom collector who met Lee Falk before he passed in 1999. Others who will be attending are Franco de Rosa , who edited the Phantom for Opera Graphica ; Gonçalo Junior , author of Lee Falk 's biography book , which was released in 2025 and Glaucio Cardoso  from the Fantasma YouTube Channel . The event will be live-streamed, and those who attend will have access to an exclusive bookplate, shirt, and mug, with other items given away throughout the event. The Mythos team will also be present with discounts to buy Mythos  products and announcements of future products from Mythos . On top of this event, the website Coletive Arts ( website ) will be showcasing art to celebrate the birthday on the Coletive Arts  website. Coletive Arts is inviting artists from the most varied styles to participate in a virtual exhibition dedicated to the 90th anniversary of the comic book character Phantom. Any artist can participate with your drawings of our hero that will stay online on the website forever in the virtual exhibition on the Coletive Arts  website. Artwork can be submitted by 2nd February 2026 by email to coletivearts@gmail.com , and please include your name, city, and country. On top of this art exhibition, the Coletive Arts  website has recently also interviewed Glaucio Cardoso ( link to interview ) and Frew artist Fábio Alves ( link to interview ). We believe there will be other interviews to come with creators who have worked on the Phantom over the past 90 years. Glaucio Cardoso  from the Fantasma YouTube Channel will also be hosting a special live show from 7pm local Brazilian time. Details on how to join will be given out soon. If you see any other celebrations, Phan gatherings, etc., celebrating our hero, please let us know. We would love to help promote the event(s).

Unfortunately we have more sad news to share, with veteran German artist Heiner Bade recently passing away. Heiner Bade  (born 1949) from Hamburg is an unusual phenomenon among comic artists—one who is unknown to many fans in his own country. However, for the rest of us Phantom readers, he is well known, as Heiner spent over 45 years drawing 91 Phantom stories for the Phantom. What some may find interesting is that until 2026, only a small handful of his Phantom stories had been published in his home country. However, in a beautiful twist, that will soon change, with his own countrymen soon being able to read some of his best stories over the last 45+ years. As announced in December, German comic publisher Comics und Mehr  (translated to Comics and More ) will be starting a new series celebrating the Phantom's 90th anniversary . The series will be featuring six volumes in total, and all in colour. Each volume will feature two stories and will be 72 pages in total. In the blurb on their website, they do make mention that one of Heiner Bade 's true classic stories, " The Ku Klux Klan ," will be featured in one of the volumes. Volume one will be released in March-April 2026. While Heiner Bade won't be able to see his collective works, we will be able to celebrate his life and legacy he left us with some of his amazing stories he has drawn for us. Frew readers have not yet read all 91 stories, with approximately 20 still unpublished, including his last two stories, " The Man in the Shadows " and " Dark Smoke over Bengali ". Here's hoping both will soon be published by Frew and we are sure Fantomen will do something similar to reflect and say thank you for what he has left us. Thanks to current Team Fantomen writer Bernd Frenz , we were able to conduct an interview with Heiner Bade before he passed - you can read the interview here . We are hoping down the track, Bernd will be able to reflect on Heiner's legacy in more detail as a friend, a colleague, and as a partner in a Phantom comic creation. From everyone at Chronicle Chamber, thank you for your legacy you have left us.

Coming April 2026, The Phantom will take on the Sky Band once more in a new one-shot from Mad Cave Studios . Preorders are currently available for The Phantom vs. The Sky Band #1 , which is being billed as a 40-page one-shot story. This issue has a planned release date of April 22, 2026, with a retail price of $6.99 to match the oversized nature of this one-shot. For those eagle-eyed readers currently following along with Mad Cave Studios' The Phantom series, a member of the Sky Band has been seen in the jungle around the Bandar Village. In fact, a member of the Singh Brotherhood tried to hitch a ride and was denied! For those newer to The Phantom, the Sky Band is the second organization The Phantom went up against in the original, Lee Falk-written newspaper strip. The Phantom vs The Sky Band #1 main cover by Federico Sabbatini Synopsis: THE PHANTOM’S JUSTICE IS SWIFT AND ETERNAL! The Sky Band entered the Phantom’s domain when they took blood money to carry the Singh Brotherhood into Bangalla. They thought their helicopters would make them untraceable, immune. Now the mercenaries-for-hire will face the Phantom’s wrath. Those who survive…will be irreparably MARKED. Ray Fawkes , the series writer for Mad Cave Studios' The Phantom, is set to write this one-shot. Federico Sabbatini is providing the art, with colors by Juancho Velez and letters by Taylor Esposito . The Phantom vs The Sky Band #1  cover B by Freddie Williams II and Andrew Dalhouse

In episode 12 of Phantom 2040: A New Shadow , Carlos Oserio meets with Kit Walker Jr. Now that Carlos has learned of his past and accepted who he is, all roads lead to his legacy. It's a colorful, heartfelt, and action-packed episode that's fun and a welcome reinterpretation of The Phantom for fans both old and new. Read Phantom: 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 12 Here Writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci , with art by John Amor and George Kambadais , craft a compelling episode that serves as both an introduction to The Phantom for new readers and a passing of the torch in the Phantom 2040 storyline. From reader this series, one gets the feeling that while the assignment is continuing the 2040 storyline from the 90's cartoon, the goal is to create a compelling narrative that embraces all of The Phantom. This episode dives into what makes Phantom, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year, a memorable hero. It serves as an argument to explain why, unlike other popular superheroes, The Phantom is distinctive and unique. In a way, it's also coded to celebrate the more global nature of this character. Phantom 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 12 art by George Kambadais Question for the Phans: Which episode of this series is your favorite thus far? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Christian Moller  reviews the sixth issue from the newest magazine series from Zauberstern . The magazine was first released in shops at the end of November 2025. This is the first time that these stories have been published in Germany - for many readers it will be the first time they have read these stories. Like the last couple of issues, these feature all Sunday stories. The stories we review in this video are: " Der Zeitsprung " (" The Time Skip ") by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan " Das Beinhaus " (" The Ossuary ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan " Plutonium-Piraten, Teil 1 " (" Plutonium Pirates ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan You can order your copy of this from the Zauberstern  website . They also sell their comics from shops throughout Germany. This issue only costs 7.99 euro, is full colour and this issue is 64 pages. This cover is by phan favourite George Wilson  and was repurposed, with the original appearing on the USA Gold Key #7  comic published by Gold Key Comics . In this comic, the third story, " Plutonium-Piraten, Teil 1 " (" Plutonium Pirates ") by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan features the first half of the story and the last part will be published in the next issue. The print quality is great with thick glossy paper, and the colours are very bright as per normal. This magazine does these stories justice. All Zauberstern  Phantom comics and other Phantom comics from Germany 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. If you would like to join the team and review new comics being released around the world, please contact us.

We have received messages and seen phans asking about the various variant covers for the new Mad Cave Studios Phantom series. Hopefully this will help those phans identify the comics and how to buy them. Please use the below gallery as a starting point. The first seven covers can all be ordered through your local comic shop (including Australian comic shops). The eighth is a 1:10 retailer incentive: The 1:10 ratio is a retailer incentive used by publishers to encourage comic shops to place larger orders for a new title. The higher the ratio (e.g., 1:25, 1:100, 1:500), the more regular copies a retailer must order to get the variant, making it even rarer. The Mad Cave Studios web exclusive cover can only be purchased via their website . The NYCC variant cover can also now be found on their website after they released it at the convention. You can also get their regular and ratio comics from their website . At this stage we have found four store exclusives, which can be bought from their shops or by contacting them online via email or social media platforms. It is also worth mentioning that some of these covers have other variants, like virgin (no trade dress), metal, and foil versions. There is even a purple background sketch comic. Details of the variant covers Cover A regular: By Freddie WIlliams II  ( Instagram ) Cover B regular: By Canaan White  ( Instagram ) Cover C regular: By Russell Mark Olson  ( Instagram ) Cover D regular: By Dan Brereton  ( Instagram ) Cover E regular: By Freddie WIlliams II (B&W) Cover F regular: Blank sketch cover Cover G 1:10: By Natacha Bustos  ( Instagram ) Mad Cave Studios Web Exclusive: By Maria Wolf  ( Instagram ) & Mike Spicer  ( Instagram ) Mad Cave Studios NYCC variant: By Marco Santucci  ( Instagram ) Store exclusive 1: By Jesse Hansen  ( Instagram ) & Tom Rapka  ( Instagram ) Boom Tube Comics Store exclusive 2: By Keith Williams  ( Instagram ) Harrison's Comics Store exclusive 3: By Richard Maurizio ( Instagram ) Main Street Geek Store exclusive 4: By Tom Feister ( Instagram ) If you find any other details on store exclusives please let us know at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com . Chronicle Chamber's review of Mad Cave Studios Phantom series #1 For those who are yet to decide to pick up the series, we would suggest you watch the preview of issue one by Jermayn Parker  and Scott Waldyn below.

In episode 11 of Phantom 2040: A New Shadow , we leap back to the Carlos Oserio storyline. Carlos, now in his stolen Phantom 2040 threads, gets closer to accepting and embracing his role in the Phantom legacy. Fitzroy, a cool and sassy mutual friend of his and Mel's, helps Carlos work toward embracing this new path forward. As readers, we're treated to an episode that really centers around the notion of repairing and patching up relationships. Read Phantom: 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 11 Here Writers Alex Segura and Michael Moreci and artist George Kambadais craft an episode that's mostly focused on relationships, but longtime Phantom 2040 fans are treated to a surprise character as well! Considering the surprise cameo last episode, it was only a matter of time before this character reappeare d as well. As we dive further into the second half of this 20-episode storyline, we see a clear line forming between The Phantom and his allies and Tyrus and his shadowy partners. Phantom 2040: A New Shadow  Episode 11 art by George Kambadais Question for the Phans: Do you like the redesign of the classic Phantom 2040 character who reappears in this issue? Let us know by commenting below this article, on our YouTube, or by dropping us a line . We'd love to hear your thoughts!