Mikael Lyck from Chronicle Chamber reviews Fantomen 9/2023 featuring the following stories: "Frankensteins arvtagare" ("Frankensteins Heir") by Joan Boix Listen up Chronicle Chamber crew, with some help, I have a pronunciation of Joan Boix name. Hopefully we all get it right now. This is a real special comic with the story written and drawn by Joan Boix along with the cover (with colours by Andrea Cagol). This is a different Frankenstein monster story published by Frew a few years ago. The story is also published in black and white instead of colour. Word has came out that Jacob Habinc discussed this with Joan. The side comic story is the final part of "Libertalia" by Fabienne Pigière, Rudi Miel, and Paolo Grella. Fantomen 10-11/2023 is a double issue with five different stories including two Phantom stories along with the results of the best Fantomen 2022 story. Stay tuned for my write up on that! Until next time, Happy Phantoming! All Fantomen 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. Thanks also goes to Jörgen Karlsson for his help creating the Fantomen review intro which will now be featured for all reviews by Mikael Lyck.

Mikael Lyck from Chronicle Chamber reviews Fantomen 8/2023 featuring the following stories: "I skräckens skugga" ("The Shadow of Fear") by Jörgen Karlsson and Carlos Pedrazzini Featuring a cover by Henrik Jonsson, which is his first cover he has drawn for Fantomen for 7 years. The Phantom looks quiet green and is very striking. A new writer in this issue Jörgen Karlsson, can find out more about him in an interview here conducted by us. He is the creator behind Karl Kämpe The Adventurer which has been included as a side comic in several Fantomen comics. He also received some TV coverage which is great. Also on the editorial page is a snippet about the Chronicle Chamber X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #243 with Mikael Lyck, Andreas Eriksson and Jacob Habinc as we discussed Fantomen 2023. Carlos Pedrazzini is the artist for this new story written by Jörgen Karlsson. The story has great colours. The story is about bandits who encounter the Phantom and the story is from their point of view instead which is a nice change. I would like to see more stories from Jörgen. The side comic story is "Libertalia" by Fabienne Pigière, Rudi Miel, and Paolo Grella and I have enjoyed parts and been confused at the same time. Looking forward to finishing this story. Issue 9/2023 will have a Frankenstein story featuring the 17th Phantom by Joan Boix in black and white. Until next time, Happy Phantoming! All Fantomen 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. Thanks also goes to Jörgen Karlsson for his help creating the Fantomen review intro which will now be featured for all reviews by Mikael Lyck.

Mikael Lyck from Chronicle Chamber reviews Fantomen 6-7/2023 featuring the following stories: "Belle époque, del 2: På takåsarna i Paris" ("On the Roofs of Paris") by Pidde Andersson and Percy Ochoa "Fredsmäklaren" ("The Albee") by Lee Falk, George Olesen, and Keith Williams Cover by Luca Erbetta, reused from the 2021 schedule poster. I believe this was not planned but the scheduled artist couldn't meet the deadline. I really am enjoying this Bella Epoque arc of stories, in my opinion part 2 is as good as the first and I am looking forward to the rest of the stories. The second story is in my opinion a weak story, Phantom goes back and forth and promotes talking instead of waring. However even though it is weak, I think it is good that Fantomen prints those stories in the magazine. This has never been previously published by Fantomen so we might as well have all of them published in the Swedish comic book. Then the rest of the issue is dedicated to a full length French side comic, “La venin” Another amazing story to fill the Fantomen pages in my opinion. It is a Western story about the daughter of a prostitute that grows up and seeks vengence. Very nice setting. Then we have the previews of issue 8, we will get the last part of the side comic "Libertalia" and a new Team Fantomen story from a new Fantomen writer, Jörgen Karlsson. He is the writer of the great comic "Karl Kämpe" so this will be a treat, he is joined by the artist Carlos Pedrazzini. There is also information about how to vote for the best cover of 2022, there is more info about this in the Chronicle Chamber article. Until next time, Happy Phantoming! All Fantomen 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.

In the first of what may well be a series of Retro Reviews, Dan Fraser cracks the packaging of a Fantasma O Espirito que anda ( Phantom The Ghost who walks ) toy, manufactured by Glasslite in 1997 for the Brazillian market. Until next time, Happy Phantoming (Fantasma feliz)! All reviews will be included on our YouTube channel . If you would like to suggest other older items for possible Retro Reviews, please contact us with your ideas.

Christian Moller reviews the German Die Sprechblase Magazine #247 featuring several articles and 12+ pages on the Phantom and his influence in Germany. All 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.

Phans may have have noticed that there are strong themes of family and responsibility in my Phantom work. What they might not know is these themes are also an integral part of my creator owned series, 'Wrath of the Cursed'. I am thrilled that the very talented comic creator, Kieran Jack has picked up the gauntlet and is adding his unique flair to my characters and concepts. I’d like to invite phans to check out this series and discover the world that Kieran and I have developed. Matt Kyme, Phantom creator I have had the honour to take the creative reins of the highly beloved series ‘The Wrath of the Cursed’ from Matt Kyme, to drive the next chapter in this series. By having Matt’s blessing and freedom to both write and illustrate this story I have crafted an emotional story, touching on themes most of us can relate to. In which the same themes have been explored throughout the many Phantom stories over the years. Kieran Jack, Halftone Productions We first met Kieran Jack at Border Dimensions, a small Comic-Con event in Albury when he was creating 'Talking Bread'. I asked if he could do an A4 artwork of The Phantom for me. Since that day, Kieran has supported the LFMBEC Phantom Dinner with donations of artwork, and I guess we have supported him by buying his comics and other artwork commissions. I, for one, particularly enjoyed his work on 'Apparition' and I look forward to reading his latest compilation through the continuation of Matt Kyme’s work on the 'Wrath of the Cursed'. I’m sure there will be many Phantom Phans out there that will enjoy Kieran’s creative efforts. Bradley Peach, Huge Phantom Phan Cole The Cursed Returns! A harrowing story of a son dragged back into his father’s life, after he walked away from it 30 years ago. When a wave of blood comes crashing on his doorstep from a gang war raging across the region, Mitsuo and Cole The Cursed will form an uneasy alliance and embark on a blood-soaked track to unmask the demons of their past life. Click to view & support the Kickstarter Campaign You can support the Kickstarter campaign from as little as $10AU ($6.50USD & 6EUR). The campaign goal is $2,500AU with plenty of options for various levels, stretch goals and original art to purchase. For $300AU, you can even get yourself a cameo in the story which includes the original artwork. Please note, while not a Phantom comic, we do like to support Phantom creators with their projects. This is not a paid promotion & we are simply giving phans a chance to support an Australian made comic with a huge Phantom influence. Hope you support & enjoy!

Perth Mint has released another Phantom coin! It is the opinion of this author that this is the best design yet out of the three released in the last six months. You can watch our review and comparison of the 2022 and 2023 designed ones at this link. Click to Buy This Coin Here or Here The price is around $250AU plus postage ($170US, 155EUR, 133GBP, 13,750INR & 1,750 sek/nok). The last two coins by Perth Mint was the same design. This coin is a two ounce silver coin compared to the one ounce - hence why it is double the price. This coin also has a mixture of new and old with the old style Sy Barry Skull Cave & Devil with the new Amelia Vidal designed leaping Phantom getting ready to skull mark someone. The coin comes with a case, the silver is antiqued to make it look older than it is and like the past two coins it is minted for the tiny Pacific ocean country of Tuvalu. Limited mintage of just 2,000 coins and measures 40.69mm in diameter. Will you be buying this coin to add with the others? Is this your new favourite coin or do you prefer one of the others? Please note, this coin is only available to be shipped from June 2023 onwards. As such at the time of writing this article, we have not included the purchase link from the Perth Mint website. Thanks to Will Dorington and Terry Krahe for letting us know about this news from Perth Mint. if you find any other Phantom related news you want to share with us, please let us know. If you would like to help out reporting on new Phantom news or reviewing products and comics, please contact us.

It must be said up front that while the 2022 version coins are licenced by King Features, these gold gilded coins done by Gilded Silver Coins (GSC) while come with a certificate of authenticity are not. GSC is from the UK and they have made a successful business model of gilding many world wide released coins. While not licenced we wanted to inform phans of this coin as we believe it will interest some. For Those Who Came In Late, Perth Mint has released a 2022 and 2023 version coin - we have reviewed and compared the two in a video review which can be found here. One of the review points was that the Phantom logo did not stand out well on the coloured or plain silver coin design. Expertly, GSC has done well to ensure the logo does not hide or merge with the Phantom design. I think they have done a better job on this than Perth Mint. Click here to view & purchase the gold gilded coin. The cost is £88 + postage ($165AU, $110US, €100, 9000 INR & 1150 kr/nok). This coin has been described by GSC as adorned with a beautiful layer of 24k pure Gold enhancing it far above the normal bullion version, in not only beauty but elegant style. It comes in stunning Packaging with COA Authentication. One troy ounce of 999.9% pure 24K Gilded Silver & limited mintage only 100 pieces worldwide. Thank you to Terry Krahe for the heads up on this Phantom news of the release of the gilded silver coin. If you find any Phantom related news that we miss, please let us know. We would love to credit & reward all new Phantom related news with a Chronicle Chamber gift.

We cannot call this a new series seeing issue #1 first came out in December 2018 and five years later we are made aware of it. Greece has a unique history with the Phantom. In the last 40 years there has only been two comics published but in the 1960's and 1970's there was around 130 comics published by publishers like Terzopoulos, Savvelen and Kabanas-Hellas. Interestingly Savvelen even created their own prose adventures created by Hofmey Brantler. This series titled Μπλεκ is a bi monthly series by Mikrosiros featuring "Tarzan", "Il Grande Blek", "Judge Dreed", "Luck Star O'Hara" and many other European classic and new comic characters. The series is named after the comic series "Il Grande Blek". For a comparison, the series is very similar as the USA Comics Revue and Hungarian Kockás series featuring several characters in a comic. You can buy these comics from the publishers website. The latest issue at the time of this article is #28. The Phantom has not appeared in all issues - the first in Issue #1 to issue #5 and then again starting from #20 to current. Each comic has between 100 and 166 pages and is in colour. Each issue retails for 6.50€ ($11Au, $6US, 600 INR & 75 sek/nok). The Phantom has been on the main cover twice so far in issue #2 and #21. The Phantom stories included in this series are a mixture of Moonstone and KFS Sunday newspaper created stories. A complete listing of the stories published so far is below: Issue #1: The 5 Days of the Dragon (part A) by Ron Marz & Rubén Procopio Issue #2: The 5 Days of the Dragon (part B) by Tony Bedard & Allan Goldman Issue #3: The 5 Days Of The Dragon (part C') by Chuck Dixon & Graham Nolan Issue #4: The 5 Days Of The Dragon (part IV) by Rafael Nieves, Tony Akins & Ken Wolak Issue #5: The 5 Days Of The Dragon (Part V) by Mike Bullock & Juan Ferreyra Issue #20: Mandrake's Bon Voyage by Tony DePaul & Terry Beatty Issue #21: The Accursed Land by Tony DePaul & Paul Ryan Issue #22: The Love Triangle by Tony DePaul & Paul Ryan Issue #23: The Visitor by Tony DePaul & Jeff Weigel Issue #24: The Nomad by Tony DePaul, Paul Ryan & Eduardo Barreto Issue #25: The Shadows of Rune Noble by Tony DePaul, Paul Ryan, Eduardo Barreto & Terry Beatty Issue #26: The Sinbad Stone by Graham Nolan Issue #27: The Wharf Rats by Lee Falk, George Olesen & Fred Fredericks Issue #28: The Phantom Is Everywhere by Tony DePaul, Terry Beatty & Jeff Weigel Thanks must go to Manolis Talos for bringing this series to our attention. When we find a reviewer we will add these comics to our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast reviews. If you would like to review them or other comics, please contact us.

In Fantomen issue 10-11/2023 the best Fantomen story of 2022 was announced and as always it brings up some interesting results. As per usual we would love to hear your thoughts on the voting and results on our socials. The winner of the best Fantomen story for 2022 is "Saga of the Vultures Chapter One: The Haunted Castle" written by Pidde Andersson and drawn by Anthony Spay. This is the first time a Frew created story and the first time either Pidde Andersson and Anthony Spay has won the best Fantomen story title as voted by the phans. Tied for second place was two Team Fantomen stories, the reprint of the "Resputin's Puzzle" written by Idi Kharelli, with art by Georges Bess and the story titled "En prins i Almedalen" by Mikael Sol and Kim W. Andersson. "Rasputin's Puzzle" was last published by Frew in issue #1705 (2014) - "En prins i Almedalen" has not yet been published outside of Sweden. The best newspaper story was "Vigil at Phantom Head" by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel, it got a 6th place. Regal (issue #25) and Frew (issue #1934) has also published this story before. The amazing thing which we want to highlight is that 442 people voted, which is an outstanding number and is the highest amount of phan votes post Internet and for over 30 years! It would be great to see a further breakdown to see how many phans outside the Scandinavian region voted and if having Frew created stories helped allowing more non-Fantomen readers to be able to vote as they have read some of the stories. Here are the full results:

It is time to wear our Hero with some attitude! Phans have always loved wearing the Phantom and now thanks to USA clothing company Brisco Apparel they have released seven (7) new designs for us to buy and collect. These will look great at conventions, phan meet ups, work around the house or for most of us, in our Phantom collection never to be worn. You Can Buy Your Clothing Here The best thing about these designs is that majority of them are new designs never before seen. Brisco Apparel is a USA company that has been around for 20+ years. At this stage they do not ship outside of USA but if enough phans contact them, they may start shipping to Australia, Europe or India. The seven (7) designs printed on a range of products like jumpers, shirts, singlets and tank tops means there are 92 products to buy for those completists. The prices range from $18US to $30US ($30AU to $45AU). They do free shipping (inside USA) for orders over $35US - two shirts and you wont have to pay for shipping. The clothes feature artwork from Sy Barry and Amelia Vidal from the 2020 Style Guide. Some designs even feature a mix of both artists which is a nice touch to bring new and past together. Do you like them? My opinion is the new designs look better than anything King Features Syndicate have released on their Comics Kingdom website shop. My favourite is the Phantom Oath design.

Art of Play Games has updated their website with a whole heap of information including four screenshots of the game play from the new Phantom video game due out in 2024. You can view their website at www.ThePhantomGame.com Video gamers will be interested in the screenshots as it gives you more detail in the state of play including health and stamina meters. In the screenshots we also see bad guys in Singh pirates and poachers battling Diana and the Phantom with Devil and Hero playing key roles. We see an example of the Phantom skull marking a bad guy. We also see key roles in the Phantoms country including the waterfall and inside the skull cave with the skull throne with the chain of patience present. If you are interested in the story, we recommend listening to our recent chat with Matt Kyme on our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #247A. Our next X-Band: The Phantom Podcast episode will be with Ash Nicholas. If you have any further details from this recent release, please let us know via email so we can ask him for you. You can view the screenshots in the gallery below.

[Editors note: This article was originally released in the amazing Friends of the Phantom Newsletter #13 released by the late Ed Rhoades and Pete Klaus in the USA Spring of 1996. The interview was conducted Summer 1995. This article was republished with permission. Access to all Friends of the Phantom newsletters and much more can be found at our Phantom Preservation Project. This republishing of the insightful interview is in reflection to his passing 21 March 2023. You can read the family release here on Facebook.] It was Don Heck who first directed me to Joe Giella. I had known that Joe was an assistant on The Phantom as well as a legendary comic artist, and I eagerly looked forward to speaking with him. After a few phone conversations, I finally met him at a Berndt Toast Gang meeting. He invited me to visit his studio on my next trip to visit with Sy Barry. On the day I ventured to Joe’s house, the temperature was in the triple digits and I was lost driving through sweltering streets over melted tar. Twice, I stopped at phone booths to ask for directions and felt like I was stepping from my car into a furnace. His kindly, patient, reassuring voice redirected me and I learned that I had been driving the length of a street only one block in the wrong direction. I caught Joe at an incredibly busy moment, catching up for time lost in the midst of his son’s wedding. Still, he made me feel welcome and unhurried, putting his strip aside to show me an impressive portfolio, some rare mementos on classic things he had done. He answered my questions with thoughtful insight and fascinating glances into the workings behind the scenes of one of comics greats. I knew about his impressive contribution to comics, but was absolutely knocked out by his watercolors and oils painting. Besides being a major talent, Joe is a warm human being and a delight with which to spend an afternoon. Ed Rhoades: I understand that you worked on The Phantom for 17 years. Joe Giella: Right, 17 years. ER: Where did you meet Sy? JG: We went to school together in high school, the School Of Industrial Arts. That’s where I met him. ER: When is your birthday? JG: June 27, 1928. ER: Was the 17 years all at one time, or was it sporadically? JG: On the Phantom it was 17 years, but prior to that, I worked with Sy on Flash Gordon. When his brother was in Europe, Sy handled the strip. ER: Who else did you work with on The Phantom? JG: Well it was really with Sy, because it was his strip. Occasionally, he’d ask me to recommend someone, and I would. Don Heck, Frank Springer and what we’d do, we’d take their layouts, rub them down, tighten them up and then ink them and try to maintain the style. That’s the way to do it. If I asked you, “Do you want to do a week of dailies?”, you would probably say “Gee, I don’t know if I can imitate that style.” Don’t worry about it; just give us layouts, what we would do was rub them down with the kneaded eraser, tighten it up and then ink it. That’s why it looked consistent all the time. ER: Were the pencils done by Don Heck and George Olesen? JG: No, George Olesen always penciled the strip. I think from the beginning. I’m not sure. Now, I’m not talking about Wilson McCoy. ER: Actually, I believe Sy penciled the first episode himself and then Bob Forgione helped him on the Sunday. JG: Yes, see I wasn’t with him then cause I was doing my Batman strip or I was working on Sherlock Holmes. And I think it was years later, I got a call from Sy and I started working with him. ER: In the 70s, there was a while where Andre LeBlanc did the penciling instead of George Olesen when George got real busy. JG: Yes, I think you’re right. George, I believe, was working for an advertising agency. Yes, that’s true. ER: Did you do any of the pencils on The Phantom or just inking? JG: When George Olesen would go on vacation, Sy or I would pitch in with the pencils. But I was penciling all the time because I was tightening up the roughs, the backgrounds, tightening the figures. The Sunday page—believe it or not—we used to do a lot of paste-ups on the Sunday page. George would indicate the panels that he would refer to, and he’d say daily so-and- so and month and the year, we’re using that shot. So what we’d do is, we’d take that shot and we’d paste it up, embellish it, you know—add something to it, add figures—utilize it just to save time. ER: Would you trace it or cut it? JG: No, we actually cut it up. He’s got a pretty good copy machine. The blacks are black and we were able to do that. With the Phantom, he may be on a horse, we have to put him on a horse here or whatever. ER: You would cut out the talking balloons? JG: Oh yeah, just delete the balloons and just put in different footage, see? There’s another shot, see? Whenever we could do that on The Phantom... we’d have panels and panels of foliage, which is so time- consuming. It’s nothing worth swiping, I mean Sy did that so many times. We would just cut it out and put [it] in back of maybe a figure, you know, utilize it just to save a little time. The Phantom is a grueling strip. It was tough. Mary Worth is real easy because it’s mainly two panels. That’s it. It’s a soap opera. No one has thrown a punch in 65 years. [laughter] In fact the writer said to me, “Joe, you’re not going to be used to this, cause you’re used to guys flying off buildings— Batman, Superman,” he says, “This is very dead.” It does take a little bit of skill to try to make it interesting. It’s dead. It’s a quiet strip, it’s a soap opera, but you have to create layouts, expressions, characters— you know, it’s a little different. ER: More subtle. JG: You got it; that’s it. Now the Batman strip, you can see, three panels. Now this was a heavy strip, very time-consuming. I mean what you’re seeing here was every week. To answer your question, whenever we could save a little time, we would take advantage of it. ER: What observations did you make about Sy’s style when you were copying it? JG: Our styles were similar, because you see, his brother was a big influence on us. There was another fellow who had a big influence on me, my good friend who passed away, Frank Giacoia. He used to live a few blocks away, and he did Sherlock Holmes and he worked for the comic books, too. He was a very good friend of mine. Between Frank Giacoia and Dan Barry, Sy and I developed a very solid style. When we started in the comic books, comics at that time didn’t have the reproduction that they had today. The reproduction left a lot to be desired. It was very bad, and the production manager was constantly telling [us] “You guys gotta thicken your lines, you gotta put more blacks, the colors falling apart... it’s weak... it’s not standing up.” So I would put [in] more blacks and keep the lines solid. We were indoctrinated with this and we kinder developed a solid black-and-white style. Sy’s style and mine were very similar so it was very easy for me. In fact, if I needed help on Mary Worth and I asked Sy to pitch in and ink a couple weeks for me, you couldn’t tell the difference. Really, you couldn’t. It’s very close. So between the comics, because of the bad reproduction, we had to solidify our work. His brother, Dan Barry, Frank Giacoia and a couple of illustrators that we liked, Robert Fawcett and Noah Sickles, we developed our style. ER: Did you follow the Phantom strip when you were younger? JG: On and off. I liked the Phantom strips. It was very interesting. I bounced back between Dick Tracy, Smilin’ Jack and The Phantom. Yeah, I followed it, all the strips, Terry and the Pirates, Smokey Stover, Joe Palooka [laughter]. ER: How would you describe your brush and pen work? JG: My pen work is a little illustrative and I use my brush sparingly, just for solid blacks and effects, dry brush effects, or for a very large figure like that poster, like that [pointing to a dramatic action poster of Batman]. I don’t use a brush on something this size [showing smaller strip rendering], but when you take the strip, I use the pen as a brush. ER: Would you tell us about the licensing you did on the Phantom? JG: Yes. Allison Manufacture had two T-shirt companies. They were both based in the Empire State Building. They liked what I did and they sought me out and they asked if I would be willing to work on some projects for them. I went up to see them and both of them were in one week. ER: It wasn’t through King Features? JG: No, it was through Wilke Brothers and Allison. They had the licensing. They were children’s apparel, pajamas, T-shirts. ER: Do you have any of the designs around? JG: Yeah. [He showed me an outstanding action scene of a karate figure.] ER: That was painted with those dyes? JG: Yeah, but now the Phantom and the characters - they had a whole array of characters and that was for, I think Wilke Brothers, but they looked like these. ER: I’d love to see some of those Phantom shirts. JG: I wish I had them. I have no idea where they ended. I’m lucky I got these. ER: They look terrific. JG: And those dinosaurs you saw in the book, they were on here too. Somebody stole those paintings. They were big and they were supposed to give them back to me. He felt so bad. He said, “Joe, I’m not gonna lie to you; somebody stole them.” Now the Phantom and the comic characters, it’s similar to these. These are proofs. That’s the way they come out. If it was approved I had to make some changes. It’s a dye cut. There were 21 of these, similar to this for Walt Disney. ER: Do any of the Phantom stories that you did stand out in your memory? JG: There were so many. Lee Falk was such a great writer. I enjoyed every one. That same was true of James Saunders; he was a TV anchor man, but he could write. It amazes me how he could create interest in a supposedly low key strip. But the Phantom, there was one story where he built something up in a tree, a treehouse, there was a name for it too, but I forget. It’s been awhile since I’ve drawn the Phantom now. ER: Andre LeBlanc designed that treehouse. I have the first drawing of it. JG: I liked that. ER: I was wondering what years you worked on the strip. JG: Year from the 1970s on. I did the Batman for four years. Probably in the 1970s sometime, right after the Batman, I started working with Sy. ER: When did you last work on it? JG: Maybe one of those will have a date [pointing to Phantom artists proofs]. 1984. ER: So you did it from late 1960s to mid 1980s? JG: Yeah. Whenever I started it was 17 years. [Looking at Batman work] You see Bob Kane’s name here, penciling and inking. You won’t see Joe Giella’s. My kids used to watch TV every Saturday, and Bob Kane, what he would do was draw on a pad and he did a figure, that was my drawing lightly [done] in pencil. I’d sketch the Batman figures on the big pad and just went right over my line. And my kids were so perturbed. I said it’s not my strip. But things have changed, but what are you gonna do? That’s the way it is. ER: I think they have changed for the better. How long did you work on Mary Worth? JG: Mary Worth will be four years this June. In fact, they just renewed my contract. ER: You’ve done a number of other syndicated strips. JG: Yes. I did a strip called Character Clues. It was sort of a one panel deal. If a person has like beady eyes, maybe it means that he’s devious or whatever, or a long nose or a wide face. These were all character clues. It was a feature that was run with the Batman. And then I worked on Flash Gordon, Batman, Johnny Webb, Sherlock Holmes, and then Mary Worth. ER: And you worked on the biggest Superheros: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash. JG: Oh yeah. Mostly inking for the comics, but for the licensing, it was penciling and inking. ER: Did you work for DC alone? JG: I started at Marvel, but it was called Timely Comics then at the Empire State Building. I was around 17 and I remember I had to leave school a few months before I graduated, because my mother was losing her house. All my brothers are educated but me [laughter]. But we saved the house. I started at Timely Comics and then Frank Giacoia said, “Come over to DC, it’s a better deal here.” But it took them three years to convince me to leave and I left Timely Comics to DC. But Stan Lee and I were still friends even thought I left. At the first Superman movie, me and Stan went together. We went to see the opening together. As we were approaching the theatre, I remember mentioning to Stan, look at all these cops here, cops on horses, we walked into the theatre and we sat down and Stan says to me "Joe, know what all these cops are here for?" We looked down in front and there was Mayor Koch and Governor Carey. They were at the opening about four or five rows ahead of us. I’ll always remember that when Stan and I went together. ER: They should have been protecting you and Stan. [laughter] Did you know Carmine Infantino did one Sunday of The Phantom? JG: Yes. He also did one week of the Batman, but they didn’t like it. ER: You and he designed the new look of the Batman for the 60s. How did that come about? JG: Well, see, this was the old style. The reason I have this here [showing me old original Batman art] is because my son is a comic buff. This is by Sheldon Moldoff & this was the old style. We got together and we gave it a little more of a modern style, a different look. Along came Neil Adams and he even embellished it a little more, and gave it a nicer look, see. A lot of people are jealous of Neil Adams, but I always felt that the guy is a talented man. Talented! There’s no reason to be jealous. It’s like a singer you know. Forget about the guy’s personality altogether and go by the art work. Neil Adams is a terrific artist. ER: Did Carmine always do the pencils and you the inking? JG: Yes. I used to pencil and ink, but Carmine was strictly a penciler. I’m not saying he didn’t ink a few jobs, he did, but he wasn’t really an inker. His strength was really in his layouts. He was a terrific layout man. Terrific! And I think he put the drawing secondary. He really concentrated mostly on the layouts. I loved his layouts. Terrific layouts! I really did. ER: What other comics have you worked on? JG: Well for Timely (Marvel) Captain America, Human Torch, Submariner, Mighty Mouse. Would you like to see the first comic book I ever worked on? ER: Oh I’d love to! JG: I’ll show it to you, it was called Captain Codfish, I penciled and inked it. It’s falling apart. [The comic was indeed falling apart from years of wear.] I worked on practically all the characters. At DC, I worked on Hopalong Cassidy, The Flash, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman. Many times I’d get a call here, early in the morning—an artist would call and say, “Joe, can you pitch in?” Many times my wife would serve coffee to sober them up. She’s Irish but I taught her how to make Italian coffee real quick. [laughter] It used to wake you up. I worked on all the characters though. ER: And for animation? JG: The Disney characters, Woody Woodpecker, I’m not an animator, just for the licensing. That was a little more lucrative for me, you know. For the animation, the studios were in California and I couldn’t go out there. Oh, you know what else I worked on? Captain Marvel for Beck Costanza in New Jersey. I worked on Captain Marvel before I went to Marvel (Timely Comics). ER: I read Captain Marvel as a little kid. JG: That was a good character. I loved Captain Marvel, good head, great head. ER: Fred MacMurray, I believe was the model. JG: Yes. Right, right, that’s what I heard. ER: Did you consciously make it look like him? JG: No. You couldn’t deviate from that head. They’d give you the head and, man I’ll tell you, you had to come up with that head. There was only one studio that was more of a stickler on the the characters than Beck Costanza and that was Walt Disney. I gotta tell you, I bled on those tee shirts. I thought I had that character, I traced every line. I’d submit it for approval and sure enough it came back. And they were justified ... little subtleties, little things you just wouldn’t get unless you were doing it constantly. ER: What other kinds of illustration have you done? I noticed some oil here. JG: Yeah, mostly for advertising agencies, for publishing companies, brochures. ER: You’ve been an art instructor at C. W. Post College ? JG: Yeah an adjunct teacher for C. W. Post. ER: What kind of art background do you have. Any formal studies? JG: You know something? I picked it up on my own, self taught. I went to the School of Industrial Arts, then I went to the Art Students League, then I took courses in layouts at Long Island University. I don’t want to give you the impression that I teach there [C. W. Post]. I’m an adjunct teacher. If someone’s on vacation they call me, the same with the Institute of Technology. I went to the School of Industrial Arts, a fine school, and I spent quite a few years in the Art Students League at 57th Street. Three years ago I was still going on Friday nights. And I took a couple of courses at Hunter College, art courses. I wanted to get into different fields, because the writing was on the wall. You have to diversify. That’s the name of the game. So that’s my education, but I taught myself. ER: Do you ever use markers? JG: Occasionally, I’ll use a marker. I’ll use them on compos; my son is a comp artist. He uses markers. I’m not too crazy about using them. I like the older [mediums] but I use them for effects, but oil is my favorite. And watercolor, Dr. Martin’s Dyes. ER: Where did you first develop your technique? JG: You know you don’t develop it right away. It takes years to work to develop it. You know there wasn’t a job that I did, well there were a few jobs but most of the jobs I did, I wished I could do over - even from last week. You’re constantly learning and your style improves as you go along. I like my style to be loose and solid. ER: Do you use any photographic refences? What’s your morgue like? JG: Yes. I use reference, stored in three file cabinets. I see something interesting. I pull it out. You can see I’m doing Mary Worth [showing some fashion advertisements], bathing suits around the pool. You have to be up-to-date. It’s a dead giveaway if you bomb out on the styles. Look at hair styles and see what they’re wearing: a touch like this, a haunting look. Occasionally I’ll delete them and go with something new. ER: Do you retain many originals of your work? JG: Now I do. Years ago, they destroyed them, but now they send all the originals back. ER: Do you do any comic shows like the Great Eastern? JG: I attend a few and walk around, but I don’t do them. But they’re trying to get me to one in San Diego 1996. But they don’t want me there as a Batman artist; they want me there as a Mary Worth artist. I thought for sure because of my affiliation with Batman and the comics and everything. He said, “I know, but they want to get into the syndicates now. They like what you’re doing, you came recommended and they are going to try to get you in as a Mary Worth artist.” Every Saturday in front of my house there was a row of bikes lined up. The kids, they used to come from all over every Saturday. My brother, John, lives across the street. He says “Joe, what do have, a bike store?” I said, “Now it’s kids from Levittown, Hicksville,” and I used to look at their work. A few of them became editors, like Marv Wolfman at DC. These were comic fans. Lynn Wein, he’s a writer. He was a fan of mine and he became an editor. ER: Do you collect any art or comics? JG: No, my son does. I don’t go near it. [laughter] ER: What are your hobbies or interests outside the art field? JG: Well, I’m a cabinetmaker. I built all of Sy’s furniture in his office. I built all this. I used to build furniture for artists, custom furniture. I make all the stuff, cabinets etc. I have a woodshop and that’s what I enjoy doing. This house was a shell. I built this house. ER: Where were you born? JG: I was born in Manhattan. ER: Did you serve in the military? JG: Eight years, mostly reserve. ER: When you worked with Sy, was it in his studio or was it separately? JG: It was both. I would take the work, bring it home, rub them down, tighten them up, do the inks and then bring them over to his house. Then he would do the heads, and touch them up and whatever he wanted to add and that was it. I worked at Sy’s house about two days a week. ER: How has your family responded to growing up around illustration? JG: Oh, they loved it. Especially my wife. She was my biggest fan. She loves when I do the comics. ER: And your children, have they gone into it? JG: Yes I have four children, three boys and a girl. My son Danny is an artist, he paints and he is an art director in an advertising agency in Manhattan. My son, Frank, is a school teacher. He draws and is very good and he also teaches an art class. He teaches American history, but he also teaches an art class in school. He likes to draw. Those plaques are his; he won those plaques. Both boys can draw. My first son is Joe, he is one of the top salesman in the country, he’s won many awards, a computer salesman. He also has his own business, a neon business. He knows quite a few people. My daughter, Maryanne, is an executive. She’s a regional manager. She’s been on TV many times on commercials. ER: What are your plans for the future? JG: I want to do a little more fishing, less work, and I want to continue more carpentry. Right now, I’m fixing my daughter’s house - the windows, doors, whatever. And I want to do a little more painting. ER: Do you find time to paint things for yourself? JG: Not too much. Not too much time with the strip. Most of the painting I do now is for the advertising agency, commercial jobs. I like to go in the back yard and just paint with nobody around. ER: What advice would you give young aspiring artists? JG: You have to feel it. Work hard and feel it. Like I tell my kids, it’s like a bank: put nothing in, you get nothing out. Just study, work, read, ask questions, and just keep doing it. Keep working hard and you can’t miss. ER: Do you have any messages you’d like to impart to your fans? JG: I want to thank them all. They call me. They write me. I can’t answer all of them, but I try to answer most of them. Especially now with Mary Worth, I get thirty letters per month. It’s not that I’m a slob or anything, I just don’t have the time. I thank them and I love them. ER: Do you have any stories to add for your readers? JG: They wrote this up in a periodical when I was at the Jacob Javitz Center, because they asked me the same thing. When I first started at Timely Comics, I had a lot of trouble getting in there because you know you have no experience, and how are you going to get experience when nobody gives you a chance? Me and Frank Giacoia went in as inkers because his family was in bad shape too. We could ink two pages [instead of] penciling one, so monetarily, it was a little better for us. So that’s why we kind of sought out the inking. So Stan Lee says, “Okay, I’m going to give you a chance.” He gave me a story to take home, a night job. So guess what? I left it on the train. I didn’t sleep that whole night, my mother was crying all night. I couldn’t sleep. I went in the next day and Stan Lee, oh my God, he was blowing his stack. I was 17 years old. He called up the BMT, the RIT, the subways ... nothing. And that was the end of the job. Then this big fellow comes in, Mike Sekowski, he was some artist. He helped Dan Barry many times, he helped Frank Giacoia with Sherlock Holmes, and he must have recognized poverty on me, I’m telling you, because he said, "Don’t worry about it, Stan, I’ll take care of the job. Keep the kid. Don’t get rid of him." I go to him and I says “I don’t even know your name.” "Mike Sekowski." “I can’t pay you back.” I had no money. I had nothing. But I said, “I will, I’ll give you a little bit from my check each week.” He wouldn’t take a dime. We became good friends. We went to plays together, drinking buddies, a wonderful man. And I went to work for DC and he went to work for DC. And a few years back he passed away, he passed away in California, and I was like destroyed. [Editors note: This article was originally released in the amazing Friends of the Phantom Newsletter #13 released by the late Ed Rhoades and Pete Klaus in the USA Spring of 1996. The interview was conducted Summer 1995. This article was republished with permission. Access to all Friends of the Phantom newsletters and much more can be found at our Phantom Preservation Project. This republishing of the insightful interview is in reflection to his passing 21 March 2023. You can read the family release here on Facebook.]

In Fantomen 6-7/2023 we get a preview of the next Fantomen issue with a story titled "I Radslans Skugga" ("The Shadow of Fear") which is written by a new writer Jörgen Karlsson. If you are like us, we want to know who he is, his history on the Phantom and what we may get from his stories. As you will find out, Jörgen is not new to readers of the magazine. Chronicle Chamber: First of all, thanks for your time Jörgen Karlsson, can you please tell us a bit about yourself? Jörgen Karlsson: My name is Jörgen Karlsson, I live in Luleå, a city in the northern part of Sweden. I'm 48 years old and work as a graphic designer, mostly making ads for news paper printing. In 2016 I began publishing my own indie comic book called Karl Kämpe The Adventurer. CC: Do you have a history with the Phantom? If so, can you please tell us? JK: As most kids in Sweden growing up in the 80's I read Fantomen. As you probably know The Phantom is by far the most popular superhero comic in Sweden, beating Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Hulk and all the other comics by a landslide. When I moved from my home town of Boden to Luleå I gave away all my Phantom comic books and albums to a collector I meet at a stag party. I thought that would be the end of my relationship with The Phantom, how wrong I was. CC: How did you go full circle and get the opportunity to write adventures of our costumed hero? JK: Many years later I was writing a still unpublished book about a 18th century adventurer called Karl Kämpe. I thought at the time that the book needed a companion piece to introduce my protagonist. I decided to make a comic book and in that process I got to know Andreas Eriksson, editor of Fantomen. Just for fun I wrote a script for The Phantom and after getting some critique from Andreas I trashed about 10 pages and rewrote the whole thing. The new script was accepted by the publisher and I can't wait to see it in print. CC: We cannot either. What can we expect from your first story? JK: As a comic book with over 2,000 stories The Phantom sometimes can get a little repetitive. We always follow the story from the perspective of The Phantom. For once I wanted to change that. In my story we follow the perspective of a young man called Ashan and The Phantom is more of a secondary character. The Phantom still play a big part but more as a legend than a real person. I think writers sometimes forget this part of The Phantom lore. The Phantom isn't just a crime fighter, he is also a boogeyman to criminals and evil doers. The Phantom walks in shadows and is the man that cannot die. CC: Have you written your next story yet? JK: Yes, I have written a second script called "The Iron Snake". It's an exciting adventure in the life of the 18th Phantom. Dealing with the Scramble for Africa (Find out more about that era here) and Bangalla in particularly. Bangalla is being connected to the Uganda Railway but evil forces do not want the new railway line to be built. The Phantom must solve the mystery and save the day. I hope the Swedish publisher will accept it but the ball is still in the air on that one. CC: Who is your favourite character from the Phantom. JK: Hard to say, there are so many good "one-shot" characters. Not including the Phantom himself I must say Kigali Lubanga who is a foe worthy of any superhero. CC: If you had free reigns to change / update / add something permanent to the world of the Phantom what would it be? JK: In my opinion, time should pass in real time, so as a year passes in life, a year passes in the comic. That way The Phantom would get a mini reboot every 20 years or so when the old one die (in some dramatic fashion) and his son/daughter takes over and takes the comic in a slightly new direction. CC: Will we see any Karl Kämpe references in your story? JK: No, I don't think I have enough clout to get away with something like that (yet). CC: For those who want to learn more about Karl Kämpe or yourself, do you have some social media profiles for us to follow your work at? JK: Thank you for your time. Hope you all enjoy my story and look forward to watching Mikael Lyck's review. You can follow my work at the following places. Website for my comic book (Swedish) Website for my small business (English) Facebook Instagram

It's been a tough time for small enterprises of late, facing a number of challenges impacting their ability to thrive. Unfortunately, it appears that Reapers' Quest (formerly Wulfric Media), an Australian company that has been producing high-quality merchandise and collectibles for phans of The Phantom, has become the latest victim of these challenges. Recently, the company announced that they would be relinquishing their Australian KFS license for the production of The Phantom merchandise and high-end collectibles, with this expiring at the end of March. This news will come as a disappointment to fans who have enjoyed or aspired to the products created by proprietor Kelby Wooldridge, who has been on the radar for Phantom fans for many years. Over the last few years, Reapers' Quest has produced and sold a variety of Phantom merchandise, including "Jungle Patrol" caps and beanies, and more recently bespoke Phantom jewellery (Skull Mark and Good Mark rings, as well as Good Mark pendants/necklaces). Over time they have proposed comic storage boxes and last year also launched a sadly unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign for a range of Phantom Country miniatures with map. However, the group's recent email to subscribers and past customers confirmed that they will no longer be producing merchandise due to rising costs, world changes, and the impact of COVID-19. Kelby writes, "It was wonderful to be part of the Phantom world for a short time and interacting with other Phans to share their passion." While phans may be disappointed to hear this news, they still have one final opportunity to purchase a personalized high-quality piece of Phantom jewelry. The company will be fulfilling all orders until the end of March 2023, so fans must act quickly to place their orders by contacting Kelby via email at wulfricmedia@outlook.com. In addition, fans can also purchase cardboard jewelry boxes for $2.50 each plus $1.50 for postage and handling. Each purchase will put them in the running to be gifted the last Good Mark pendant worth $220.00. On behalf of all Phantom fans, the team at Chronicle Chamber would like to thank Kelby for his contribution to our Phantom collections, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.