For those picking up their free Phantom comic on Free Comic Day will get a pleasant surprise with an advert promoting a new Phantom 2040 comic series. Information is sparse but this series looks to be a standalone series released by Comics Kingdom and not printed in a comic book series by Mad Cave Studios and or Moonstone . This comes on top of Fantomen and Lightning Strikes releasing their own digital comic book series in the last 6 months. The advert says the series is online at the moment but at the time of writing, the series is not available on the Comics Kingdom website. We have been informed that it will appear on the website in the (northern hemisphere) summer of 2025 which will be June - August 2025. The creative team is: Alex Segura (writer of series like Secret Identity , Dick Tracy and Mara Llave ) Michael Moreci ( Burning Fields , Dick Tracy , Star Wars ) John Amor ( Urban Animal ) For those who have come in late.... Phantom 2040 is an animated TV series with a comic book series and several other items like toys and video game based on the series. The central character of the series is said to be the 24th Phantom. It was aired from September 18, 1994 to March 3, 1996. We have interviewed Thom Schillinger who was one of the art directors of the TV show . It is the year 2040, all environmental disasters and the economic Resource Wars from the early 21st century have decimated the fragile ecosystem balance of an Earth once teeming with life. Everywhere, the privileged and wealthy continue to thrive in expensive real estate developments that tower above the suffering masses. The victims of Earth's misfortune have been forced to subsist on scavenged refuse from the past on the mangled streets of forlorn city-states. In Metropia (once known as New York City), the largest and most powerful of the city-states, the powerful robotics manufacturing corporation Maximum Inc. has slowly shaped a cold, steely urban center, consisting of huge, residential towers intertwined with TubeTrain tunnels. Maximum's robotic "biots" (Biological Optical Transputer System) have replaced enormous amounts of human labor, and the corporation is illegally producing prohibited combat biots to form Maximum's private underground army. Under this guise of efficient progress, Maximum has its own plans for the future, which it refers to as the Maximum Era. Through the construction of the fortress of Cyberville, an immense survival shelter where only the wealthiest and most elite humans will retreat, and the take over of Metropia by means of its biot armies, its plans ultimately involve the dark path of decline and extinction as the culminating result of man's prior errors and efforts, once Earth finally succumbs to its slowly deteriorating state. The only hope for the survival of humanity is the Ghost Jungle — thousands of square miles of mutated vegetation that may be the planet's salvation. This secret source of life is submerged beneath Metropia, unseen by most. College student Kit Walker Jr. is chosen by fate to save the world, donning the black mask and purple suit of his people's savior, the 24th Phantom.

Mad Cave Studios   Phantom #0  was originally released to coincide with the 2025 Free Comic Day on 3 May 2025. This comic features their first comic starting their new ongoing stand alone Phantom series. Please note, this review will have spoilers. Credits for the issue are: Writer: Ray Fawkes Artist: Russell Mark Olson Letterer: Taylor Esposito Editor: Chas! Pangburn   Cover Artist: Greg Smallwood The synopsis: The Phantom, Lee Falk’s highly influential superhero, is back in an all-new adventure series! The first story in an exciting publishing plan that is sure to satisfy both new and returning “Phans” of comics’ beloved Ghost Who Walks. In true Phantom fashion, look forward to pulpy storytelling focused on justice, honor, mystery, and mythology—all told with heaps of action! Most #0 issues and Free Comic Day comics do not feature full length stories. This features a 22 page story which showcases several Phantom elements that new and old fans will enjoy. The Skull Cave is depicted including the Chronicle Chamber and the major treasure room. Diana is showcased and it even features a dry witted Phantom comment or two. Overall, this is a great promising start and look forward to the next issue. Majority of local comic shops around the world will participate in Free Comic Day. Otherwise you will be able to pick these up from secondary markets soon. No date has been given yet when issue #1 will be out. A huge shout out to our reviewer Scott Waldyn  who will reviewing Phantom comics from USA. You can follow him from his Instagram and or website . Jermayn Parker and Stephen East will also review this issue in the next X-Band: The Phantom Podcast . 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.

What better way to escape the world's troubles with weather patterns & political upheaval dominating our life than spending time with us as we review everything Phantom from March 2025. We review comics from Australia and USA, catch up on the newspaper adventures printed on Comics Kingdom and discuss every bit of Phantom related news from around the world with comic conventions, the latest in soon to be released USA comics, new products to buy and much more. 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. If your one of the phans who can only listen to some parts of the podcast, below is a timeline of what we discussed. Daily / Sunday Adventures Progress Daily #268 - "The Spark" by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley: 4 Minutes Sunday #196 - "The Princess of Songhai" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 17 Minutes & 30 Seconds Sunday #197 - "The Ungraved" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel: 21 Minutes & 30 Seconds Australia (Frew Comics) Frew #1993: 25 Minutes "The Lost Valley, Part 3: The Sacrifice" by Felmang Frew #1994: 33 Minutes & 30 Seconds "The Castle of Evil” by Norman Worker and Hans Lindahl USA (Mad Cave Studios Comics) DotE #5: 48 Minutes & 30 Seconds "Brotherly Hate” by Dan DiDio and Jim Calafiore News from around the world The Phantom census (link): 1 Hour Phantom collector card series out soon (link): 1 Hour & 5 Minutes The Phantom video game updates: 1 Hour, 11 Minutes & 30 Seconds Diamond Distributors & getting your USA comics: 1 Hour, 18 Minutes & 30 Seconds New artist for Mad Cave Studios: 1 Hour, 19 Minutes & 30 Seconds Updates on USA publishers Comics Revue and Hermes Press: 1 Hour & 22 Minutes Fantomen Year Book series cancelled (link): 1 Hour, 27 Minutes & 30 Seconds New digital series by Fantomen (link): 1 Hour & 28 Minutes Death of Phantom people Angelo Todara (link) and Kjell Steen (link): 1 Hour & 30 Minutes Upcoming convention dates: 1 Hour and 33 Minutes We can only report and discuss what we have seen or been told, We may miss something especially conventions in your corner of the world with Phantom related guests. 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 with your feedback at 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 and or our YouTube Channel.

For those who could not make it: Saturday 9 November 2024 saw 19 phans make it to the inaugural Brisbane Phantom Phans’ Dinner (“BPPD”) at Malt Dining in Brisbane . I had the pleasure of organising and coordinating this first BPPD. Let’s see how it went. [Editors Note: For those who would like to listen or watch the speach by Shane Foley plus other shaniagians from the weekend, go and watch/listen to X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #294 .] To start with, there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes to see the event run smoothly. The bigger the event, the more that goes into making sure it all runs smoothly. This makes the dinner in Sydney all the more impressive! We were going to be all by ourselves in the Cellar at Malt Dining , but they were short-handed and we nearly reached the room capacity of 20. We ended up with a little more room upstairs, in the private half of the Attic dining area. When people started arriving the atmosphere quickly became electric. There was a buzz in the air. It was exciting and this was clearly the place to be tonight! It helped that many phans had the pleasure of Chris and Kim Hill’ s generous hosting of breakfast at their home earlier that day – with tour of the Phantom room! The evening was set up to be quite simple: A few short speeches, a guest speaker, some good food, and friends, both old and new. A winning combination, as it turns out. Being November we paused for a moment to recall those no longer with us, particularly Lee Falk , Jim Shepherd, Richard Fry , Don Perlin , John Cassaday , Jose Maria Ortiz Tafalla , Dai Darell , Jose Delbo , and Walmir Amaral . In future we intend to pause to remember especially those who have died in the time since the previous dinner. Dinner was a most wonderful combination of foods that I don’t think anyone who attended would have put together or even would have guessed worked together. We don’t have any photos of the food, that’s how good it was! You could try to imagine from the menu. All I’ll say is it was delicious, delectable, and delightful! What you may notice from the art for the evening is that it is all from the hand of Shane Foley , with the coaster and serviette art courtesy of the collection of Terry Krahe . You may also notice that we had the company of Shane Foley who graciously agreed to a question and answer format discussion. As you can see from the photo, we had some fun with that. The discussion was recorded and can be found on the Chronicle Chamber website . We discussed some of Shane’s stories, art style, approach to first drafts, and even some of what’s to come. Shane also shared some of the techniques to develop a story, which can be as simple as answering a question you have when reading a story. There’s certainly something different about the experience when on the organising side of things. I thought it was a big night, but that might just be me. I certainly had a great time. While I said I was the organiser-coordinator, it was still very much a team effort with thanks due to so many people, most of whom I think I thanked by name on the night. If I missed anyone, I am terribly sorry and I genuinely am very grateful for your help. I had the opportunity to meet a handful of people who were at the dinner in Sydney but I just didn’t get a chance to chat with. I also had the good fortune of meeting Queensland phans who didn’t make it to the Sydney dinner this year. It’s the people who make up this community – the ones like Bradley Peach who welcomed me into this community and encouraged me to go to my first Phantom dinner in Sydney . At the end of the night no one was in a rush to leave. The food stopped coming and everyone kept talking. The staff started packing up and cleaning tables… and everyone kept talking! I think that was a success. I think we should do that again! What an incredible journey – from the opening night of the exhibit in Bundaberg to organising a dinner less than a year later. What an amazing bunch of people in this community! NB If you would like to join us next time, feel free to contact Chronicle Chamber and ask that your details be put on the BPPD mailing list. They can pass your details on to me. [Editors Note: If you are attending any event with any Phantom related guests or having a catch up and you want to let us know about it, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com . We love to see phans getting together and enjoying the Phantom together.]

Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth #3 was originally published 30 October 2024. This issue features two covers with Lothar having his time to shine on the variant cover. Please note, this review will have spoilers. Have you been following the series and what are your thoughts on what is happening with the Phantom? Please note, issue 4 comes out 11 December 2024. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Phantom Pains " 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 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 . 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 . 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.

Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth #2 was originally published September 252024. This issue features two covers featuring the Phantom being prominent on both with a huge twist at the end which may see some phan tongues talking. Please note, this review will have spoilers. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Killing Time " 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 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 . 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 . 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 Defenders of the Earth TPB is a 2024 release that contains the material originally published by Star Comics originally back in 1987. The four part comic book series featured King Features characters "Flash Gordon", "The Phantom", and "Mandrake the Magician" with the stories based from the TV series. List of stories included in the TPB " Defenders of the Earth " by Stan Lee , Bob Harras , Alex Saviuk and Fred Fredericks " Creation " by Michael Higgins , Alex Saviuk , and Fred Fredericks " Family Honor " by Michael Higgins , Alex Saviuk , and Fred Fredericks " Magical Child " by Michael Higgins , Alex Saviuk , and Fred Fredericks The price for this issue is $9.99US and can be brought from Mad Cave Studios website , most online retailers and local comic stores.

Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth #4 was originally published 11 December 2024. This issue features two covers with Mandrake having his time to shine on the variant cover. Please note, this review will have spoilers. Have you been following the series and what are your thoughts on what is happening with the Phantom? Please note, issue 5 comes out in March 2025. Credits for the issue are: Title: " Whiplash " 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 The synopsis: With Kro-Tan now controlling the world’s power source, the leaders of all countries have lined up against Flash Gordon and his friends, the Defenders of the Earth. Now hunted by the people they swore to protect, they’re forced to make their last stand. All roads end here in the action-packed conclusion of the first arc of Defenders of the Earth! This issue does not feature the Phantom much but with the tease of the cover of issue 5, we are likely to see more Phantom featured. We would love to hear your thoughts on the series. 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 . 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 . 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.

20-22 May 2025 will be the worlds largest licensing trade show held in Las Vegas, USA . This expo brings together thousands of brands under the one roof. One of those brands that will be in attendance will be King Features Syndicate who will be promoting their full suite of brands on show including The Phantom and Defenders of the Earth . KFS attended in 2024 and showcased their new trend guide for the Phantom and Flash Gordon.

Many phans may not know or heard of Kerry Thew , but to many others he was a treasure in the Australian comic and Phantom community. In recent years, he sold Phantom clothing at conventions under the name Limitless Visions which also included the red and purple Kasual Friday figurines. Antonio Di Dio had a great relationship with him over many decades since Kerry was importing USA comics into Australia back in the late 1970's (almost 60 years ago). Kerry was also one of the first invitees to the popular LFMBEC dinners . Antonio recently posted this letter to the LFMBEC members which we have permission to include here. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends, family and loved ones who knew Kerry. Dear LFMBEC Family, You may have heard already but let me say with a sad heart that we have lost a dear member. Our friend Judy informed us last week that Kerry Thew, a major feature of the comic collecting field in Australia for 50 years, died peacefully in Queensland recently. His memorial service will be held in Sydney on 9 May and I will be there representing the Lee Falk Memorial Bengali Explorers Club family. Through his side business, Limitless Visions, Kerry introduced many of us in the 1970s and 1980s to a highly intelligent, warm and humorous approach to fandom. He did this alongside a highly successful career as a Commonwealth public servant. In later years he sold t-shirts as much as other collectables and continued to travel extensively. About 35 years ago when I moved into a general practice in inner West Sydney, I used to look after his family, and saw yet another lovely side of him, a great and caring son. Nothing, of course, will beat the joy of his ‘at-home’ shop when, on a Saturday afternoon, his lounge room became a comic shop. He, Terry, Peter, Gerry and others would sit and chat and any customer who left the Belvoir Street terrace without laughing for an hour was rare. I will never forget Iron Man on the front cover of a Tales of Suspense fighting Ultimo, and Kerry’s hilarious description thereof. More a book club than a store, Kerry saved hearts and lives on those Saturdays as much as I ever did. When Richard and I started the LFMBEC in 1999, the first people he called were Bron and Daniel. The first I called were Kerry, Gerry and Jim. He was there from day one. One night, maybe Dinner 7 in about 2002, I was stuck at home with an ill child and Kerry stepped in as auctioneer with aplomb. Kerry was part of the first generation of Australian comic retailers, and like almost all of them, his personality and kindness brought people to the industry more than anything else – he was from day one till the end, first and foremost, a fan. Vale Kerry Thew, from your friends, with love and respect to Judy and everyone dear to you.

Following a 50 year tradition, the readers of the Fantomen magazine have voted on what they think is their best adventure for 2024. 2024 saw a new voting system where the fan was able to vote for their 1st, 2nd and 3rd favourite story as well as giving some stories a negative vote. The results have been published in Fantomen 10-11/2025  and as always the discussion from what the fans voted on is always worth dissecting and looking into. The top three stories published in Fantomen in 2024 as voted by the fans are: " The Singh Raiders " written by Andreas Eriksson , with art by Ivan Rodriguez " Curse of the Granite God, Part 1 " written by Scott Goodall , with art by Kari Leppänen " The Man Who Could Not Die " written by Idi Kharelli , with art by Georges Bess The complete list of the 36 stories are listed below and a number of things caught the teams attention which the team highlight below: All but one story received a vote and only three stories did not receive a 3 point vote (ie was their favourite story of the story). This shows that majority of the stories were hits and that they are catering for a wide audience of readers. Out of the top 10 stories as voted as the best of 2024, only two were printed in a Fantomen magazine for the first time in " The Singh Raiders " written by Andreas Eriksson , with art by Ivan Rodriguez (voted best) and "The Killer and the Ghost, Part 1"written by Pidde Andersson , with art by Alex Saviuk  (voted 10th best). Worth pointing out that much like the Frew results, the Fantomen readers like their stories created by their countrymen - both Andreas and Pidde are Swedish. At first the lack of new stories in the top 10, may seem like a negative but in looking at the reprint stories, they all polled very well in their original first printed years results and are all time classics like " The Man Who Could Not Die ", " Curse of the Granite God, Part 1 & 2 ", " Giovanna ", and " Hero's Death Sentence ". Two of the short stories in " The New Clothes of the Ghost " by Jacob Habinc and Rafael Ruiz (voted 16th) and " Return of the Eastern Dark - Shameful Trade " by Duncan Munro and Daniel Picciotto (voted 29th) only received 4 votes as their first placed favourite story but received 20 votes as either their 2nd or 3rd favourite story of the year. The story that received no votes was a Bastei reprint story " The Blackmailers of Paris " written by Peter Mennigen , with art by José María Ortiz Tafalla . The other Bastei reprint story " The Slaves " only received 7 votes. It will be interesting if the lack of interest by the readers see's the editors not printing anymore of their stories? Of the international stories (created by non Fantomen creators), the best performing story is " Masks of the Phantom " which was a 2018 Lightning Strike Comics story, written by Arild Wærness and Mike Collins assisted by Knut Robert Knutsen , with art by Mike Collins . " Phantom’s End ", written by Tony DePaul and drawn by Mike Manley , Bret Blevins (uncredited) and Scott Cohn was the best performing newspaper story at 15th. Only one Lee Falk and Sy Barry  story was printed in 2024. We would like to see Fantomen continue with the top three voting as it showed that several stories that got 0 or few votes for the 3 point option were still quite popular and scored a lot of 2 or 1 points instead.

Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo  (better known as C2E2) For Those Who Came Late… A mainstay of classic, pulp adventure stories, The Phantom has graced syndicated newspaper strips since February 17, 1936. Though pulp scholars disagree over whether or not he was the first “superhero” (emphasis on the “super” part), it’s safe to say that The Phantom is the first costumed crime-fighter to enter the stable of heroes who would soon follow. Whereas costumed vigilantes that came after predominantly filled the panels of comic books, The Phantom would, at least in the United States, stick primarily to newspaper stories in both black and white dailies and color Sunday strips (introduced in 1939). Like Batman, he was and remains a stalwart bastion of light without powers. Unlike Batman, The Phantom’s staying power in the United States hasn’t rooted firmly outside the world of newspaper comic strips for too long. This isn’t a testament to his character so much as it is to the pulp entertainment landscape. Many of the characteristics that define The Phantom inspired similar qualities in other heroes—both super and not—and often, when companies like Marvel and DC Comics have decided to add The Phantom to their roster, it has been tumultuous or short-lived for one reason or another. This is especially true of Marvel’s Defenders of the Earth  miniseries, which was canceled mid-arc. Watch our Defenders of the Earth trade paperback review Around the world, The Phantom’s “phan”-dom has grown exponentially. Australia is easily home to the number one Phantom fanbase, and the hero enjoys popularity in Sweden, India, Germany, France, and many other countries.  The Beauty of Fandom Regardless of where they are in the world, each one of these fans has a memory or a story that first made them a fan. It’s often because of a special bond between Phantom-loving family and friends or deeply rooted to a moment where The Phantom inspired solace and courage. That’s the beauty of fandom. That’s the power that pulp heroes like Kit Walker hold over people around the world. And it’s why many of us champion his name.  Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo  (better known as C2E2), is one of many celebrations around the world that taps into this type of fandom. Comic book lovers and fans of all stripes and mediums come together to swap stories, engage with creators and artists, and meet new friends. For 16 years, this festival has grown from the new convention on the block, replacing the once unbeatable Wizard World Comic Con that dominated the 1990’s, to the flagship convention of Chicago. Each year it grows, welcoming a new subset of fandoms. In 2025, C2E2 surpassed its attendance record as over 100,000 fans descended upon McCormick Place in Downtown Chicago . In the sea of Anime cosplayers, horror hounds, members of Batman’s Rogues Gallery, Spider-Men, and steampunk versions of pop icons, there was one lone Phantom fan on the hunt for anything related to The Ghost Who Walks. Quite literally—anything.   The Phantom #1 from DC Comics Hi, it’s me. I’m the Phantom fan. You Don’t Find The Phantom; He Finds You My love of The Phantom was born of two things: (1) Purple is a fantastic color for a costumed hero and (2) I caught the Billy Zane -led film at the right age. When the Moonstone series started up a few years after the film’s release, several key stories (such as the fantastic “ Curse of the Phantom ” in the pages of The Phantom #3  and The Phantom #4 ) sealed the deal.  As an avid reader of the comic book medium, it’s been a rather difficult road exploring the lore of Kit Walker. I doubt this is a unique experience for other American readers. When publishing companies like Moonstone Books  or, more recently Mad Cave Studios , take up the charge to create new stories, it can be feast or famine. When those opportunities don’t exist, hunting down back issues from various publishing companies in the United States can be a challenge.  Which is what drew me to C2E2.  C2E2 is held every year at McCormick Place in Downtown Chicago In years’ past, C2E2 has been my go-to source for niche back issues for many of the other comic book titles I read. Finding back issues of Batman , The Amazing Spider-Man , or Superman  is a breeze. Looking for something more artsy or obscure like The Maxx  or The Mask ? No problem. Even beatnik or counterculture comics from the 70s are fairly easy to find if you know which vendors to visit.  But what about the original pulp costumed avenger? What about The Phantom? Friends, stalking for back issues of The Man Who Cannot Die is challenging, to say the least. I spent hours sifting through back issue bins, and I managed to find only a handful of titles, mostly from the DC Comics miniseries in the late 80s. Beyond those issues, I found a total of four Hermes Press single-issue reprints, three Gold Key titles, three Moonstone books , and four Charlton Comics issues. The best assortment of the bunch, which included Gold Key , Charlton , and Moonstone , was discovered at Harley Yee Rare Comics . Graham Cracker Comics , a large, local chain that covers the greater Chicagoland area, came in second.  As a sucker for both apes and The Phantom, this is my prize find. When it comes to C2E2’s Artist’s Alley , which is less of an alley and more of a sprawling bazaar filled with over 500 creators, searching for anything related to The Ghost Who Walks is a stretch. There is no fan art. There is no merch. I found only one artist in Alex Saviuk who had worked on The Phantom.  While known for his pencils on Spider-Man , Phantom fans will recognize Alex Saviuk as the artist whose contributions include Marvel’s Defenders of the Earth  miniseries, as well as Phantom stories for Frew , Moonstone , Hermes Press , and Fantomen , among others.  You can listen to our podcast with Alex Saviuk here . Saviuk still drafts beautiful covers for Phantom stories in Sweden, contributing a couple of covers annually. Though the output of new Phantom stories in Sweden has slowed in recent years, Saviuk’s enthusiasm for the character is as strong as ever, leaping at the opportunity to contribute to this icon.  In the vast jungle of comic-con, finding any mark or sign of The Phantom is near impossible. In the United States at least, that old jungle proverb rings true, “You don’t find The Phantom; he finds you.”  Though elusive at C2E2, US fans are on the cusp of a resurgence.  Last year, Defenders of the Earth  was relaunched by Dan Didio , Jim Calafiore , and Carlos M. Mangual for Mad Cave Studios . In a recent podcast interview , Didio noted that he had a follow-up storyline already written.  Mad Cave Studios is also launching a new The Phantom  series, which will kick off with issue zero on Free Comic Book Day . Ray Fawkes  has been announced as the writer.  Moonstone Books is also publishing The Phantom , written by fan-favorite Mike Bullock , as a backup story to their new  Bystander title.  These new titles, along with the continued publication of The Phantom  strip by Tony DePaul , Mike Manley , and Jeff Weigel , have the potential of bringing this original costumed hero back into the American lexicon.  Listen to X-Band: Phantom Podcast #300 - Phans chat with Mike Manley & Jeff Weigel From one Phantom fan to another here’s to hoping that The Phantom finds his roots in the American comic book community. [Editors note: If you are a fan who attends comic conventions around the world and would like to be a roving reporter for Chronicle Chamber and or want to let us know of related creators attending comic conventions, please contact us at ChronicleChamber@gmail.com ]

With Free Comic Book Day (May 3rd) being just around the corner, we have some updates regarding the highly anticipated phantom comic book from Mad Cave Studios to be released on that day. With the writer of the comic, Ray Fawkes , appearing on a podcast as well a glimpse of a few of the pages being released, we have enough tease of what to expect from the book. Ray Fawkes , the writer of the comic book, recently appeared on a podcast on the YouTube channel ' Traversing the Stars ' where he was interviewed regarding his upcoming Phantom comic book. You can watch the YouTube interview below: The key takeaways from the podcast are: Ray Fawkes talked about what attracted him towards the project with the character's rich history as well as him being the first character to have white eyes. Ray Fawkes describes Russell Mark Olson 's art style being exactly what he wanted for this project. His style is classic and timeless with and not too gritty or cartoony and a perfect way to tell a fun adventure of the phantom. He also describes his creative process with Russell. Fawkes also talked about why the phantom has still made it through after 89 years of creation describing him as a classic, iconic, simple jungle adventurer and a not very complicated character. He thinks that is why he becomes so relatable. Fawkes talks about the setting of the book and mentions that the story is a very time independent adventure. Fawkes also mentions that he is a fan of the 1996 film, but went back to the old comic strips for his research. He feels that his interpretation of Phantom is loyal to the old classic stories than any other version. Regarding the comic book, Fawkes mentions it is a full length one with 20-22 pages featuring a complete story. It isn't an origin story of the phantom, but does feature the same for new readers. It features the 21st Phantom going on an adventure in the jungle. Diana also appears, but the phantom is on his own in the story. Fawkes also mentions of there being a new antagonist for the phantom in the story. The antagonist won't be a recurring one and he would love to explore the rogue gallery centred around a criminal organization from the older comics (Singh Brotherhood?) for the next stories. Fawkes discusses the idea of the phantom with the use of his legend as a weapon and shield. He also discusses the motivation of the current phantom and describes him as an adventurer who enjoys adventuring, as well as delivering justice. He also mentions that the motivation hasn't remained the same with all the past phantoms. He also discuses phantoms no kill rule with him not harming others intentionally. Fawkes mentions of the story being set in the same world as Dan Didio 's Defenders of the Earth series but not dependent upon each other. He also mentions of his phantom being the same phantom as Defenders of the Earth (actually the 27th). Fawkes also teases the future and says he hopes for continuation. He also would love to work with Russell Mark Olson on the rest of the series. He also urges fans to raise their voices to Mad Cave Studios after the book comes out and ask for a continuation. Fawkes finally tells us to expect a really fun jungle adventure where the phantom trades blows with nasty characters with jungle predators involved, and with humor, violence and a lot of fun. This segues perfectly to the previews of the book released by Mad Cave Studios where we see, along with the cover, at least three of the pages from the story. With the interview and preview pages, we surely are being teased for an interesting comic book. What do you think of the interview and preview? Are you excited for the comic book? Let us know your thoughts on our social media.

Great news for Phantom phans who will be attending the Perth and Sydney Supanova  event in June 2025 with the actor famous for playing the Phantom in the 1996 movie attending. Billy Zane attended the 2019 Adelaide and Brisbane event and many phan traveled interstate to grab a photo with their favourite purple clad hero. We even managed to get a X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #133 recording with him as well. What makes this news even better is that it coincides with the annual Phantom weekend with multiple phan catch ups, the LFMBEC dinner and much more phun. You can find out more about the LFMBEC event at their website . While tickets are now on sale for Sydney and Perth , the tickets for photographs with Billy Zane and panel discussions are not yet available. Will you be attending? William George Zane , better known as Billy Zane , was born on February 24, 1966 in Chicago, Illinois. Soon after graduating from high school, Billy decided to venture out to California to attempt acting for the first time. Within three weeks, he won his very first big screen role in Back to the Future , playing the role of Match, one of Biff Tannen’s thugs. He would later reprise that role for the sequel Back to the Future Part II . Then, after a small role in the science fiction horror film Critters , he landed starring roles in several television films. Billy played villain Hughie Warriner in the Australian thriller film Dead Calm . He also co-starred in Memphis Belle , a film version of a 1944 documentary about a World War II bomber. In 1991, he appeared as John Justice Wheeler on several episodes of David Lynch’s television series Twin Peaks . Billy starred as the eponymous superhero in The Phantom , and as Caledon Hockley in the billion dollar grossing Titanic . He then starred in the television movie Cleopatra . In 2005, he had a recurring role as the poetry loving ex-demon Drake on the television series Charmed . Recent credits include Zoolander 2, Dead Rising: Endgame, Guilt, Sniper: Ultimate Kill, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Lucid , and action-thriller series Curfew . With over 160 credits in movies, TV, animation, and beyond, Billy Zane continues to be one of the busiest actors. He is also an accomplished artist.

As mentioned on our #304 podcast episode and in this interview with writer Dan DiDio , issue six of the Mad Cave Studios Defenders of the Earth series has a new fill in artist(s) to help Mad Cave Studios  stay on their publishing schedule. Thanks to the team at Mad Cave Studios  we have learnt that Matt Horak , Brent Schoonover and Sal Velluto are the fill in artists and we have included a sneak peak of their art before the comic hits the shelf in the last week of April 2025. [Editors note: this article and the preview images do not include spoilers for the story] It is fair to say that the art in the comic is a different style to Jim Calafiore  but I feel it is not too much of a jump and the three fill-in artists art style work together well. The comic is split into two stories and the artist teams work on their own side which helps make the transition smoother. Most fans will know of Sal Velluto who has worked for all the major USA publishers including various Phantom publishers in Fantomen (18x stories & 50+ covers), Frew (product art and covers) and Hermes (6x stories & covers). You can listen to an interview podcast with Sal here . You can follow him on Instagram . Some fans may know of Brent Schoonover  who worked on The Phantom for Dynamite Entertainment . Brent was very candid in his interview with us and we are sure you will feel his passion and love for the character as you read the interview. You can follow him on Instagram . Matt Horak is however a new name for Phantom fans. He has worked on several Marvel titles includes Black Panther , Spider-Man and Deadpool . You can follow him on Instagram . Our thanks to Frank from Mad Cave Studios for this news and we hope you will enjoy this comic and the ongoing series. Please follow our social platforms for our reviews of this and other Phantom comics, products and related news.