With the announcement of Kings Watch phans the world over wanted to know more about what to expect from this Defenders of the Earth-like series. So, ChronicleChamber decided to ask writer Jeff Parker to shed some light on the book. Happily, he agreed. ChronicleChamber: Hello Jeff and thanks for joining us here at ChronicleChamber. You said in a previous interview that you’ve been a fan of the Phantom for a while now. What is it about the character you enjoy? Jeff Parker: I read the Falk/Barry strips in the paper as a kid and I liked his whole set up; the Skull Cave, his horse and wolf, and his cool belt. And that when he knocks the hell out of you you wake up with a skull on your chin forever. CC: Before we get into Kings Watch, for those who may not know your previous work tell us a bit about your comics experience. JP: I’ve drawn comics for a few years, and after I put out my adventure [graphic novel] The Interman a decade ago I started writing mainly for Marvel. I launched books like Marvel Adventures Avengers, X-Men First Class, Agents of Atlas and have had a long run on Thunderbolts and Hulk. Coming up very soon from DC I’m writing Batman 66, a book based on the famous TV show. CC: So, phans have known Dynamite was planning something Defenders of the Earth-esque since 2011, when it was mentioned just after the end of Last Phantom. Why has it taken until 2013 to see the series come to fruition? Did you have to wait for certain things to fall into place? JP: I have no idea about that stuff. I only know our book came together really fast after Nate Cosby asked how I might approach putting the three heroes together. CC: Is the Kings Watch team an organised, consciously put together team such as in the animated series, or do the three heroes just happen to come together to fight a common threat? JP: The latter; they come together in a natural way in the story because the threat connects them all. They don’t worry about who’s the leader here, they all do what they have to. CC: The characters of the Phantom and Mandrake in Kings Watch aren’t the “traditional” characters we know from Lee Falk. Was this story driven or did you feel the characters needed a polish? JP: They’re pretty close to what you understand as those heroes, the only difference I’d say is that we’re not bringing a lot of past continuity into it that you would need to know. It’s still them, just from a fresh starting or jumping on point.strip, or indeed from the TV series, but have been slightly updated. CC: You’ve said that the Phantom in Kings Watch has been through a lot and is at odds with an idealistic Flash. Are we to assume this is the same Phantom we saw in Last Phantom, Kitridge Walker? JP: Don’t assume that! I need to hold back some of those details for now for story’s sake. CC: Even if the Phantom in Kings Watch isn’t the “traditional” Phantom, are there any aspects of the character you explore in the series? JP: You have to assume there are certain constants in the lineage of Phantom, with everyone through history who wears the mask. I love that he’s the original legacy hero, it’s a rich background and we’re going to explore it. CC: You’ve also said that you’ve made Mandrake a slightly more mysterious character, that he knows things people probably shouldn’t. Reading this, it sounds to me like this Mandrake is more of a Doctor Strange character, a guardian of arcane knowledge. Is this a fair assessment? JP: I admit, that may be from how much Marvel work I’ve done over the last decade, and I’ve written Strange in several books. But really Mandrake influenced Strange, just like the other two heroes influenced so many others. He still mostly uses illusion, but he’s also an old hand at real occult magic. CC: You’ve mentioned that Mandrake’s old nemesis, The Cobra, is in the series. Will any of the other characters’ pasts come into play, such as the past generations of Phantoms or the Singh Brotherhood? JP: Yes on the past generations, but not the Brotherhood. CC: Obviously this is a team book and you’ve said that there is a lot of action. Still, with three heroes who fill such different character types as The Phantom (jungle adventure), Mandrake (magic) and Flash (sci-fi) there must be some interesting interactions between the three. Will we see any of this in the series? JP: Definitely. In our story they’ve never worked together before, and they quickly become pivotal figures in a global event, so they have to adapt to each other’s different ways very fast. But they complement each other well. CC: Something a lot of people have been wondering; will Lothar make an appearance in Kings Watch, or is Mandrake going solo, so to speak? JP: Lothar is in it immediately! CC: So why call the series “Kings Watch” when “Defenders of the Earth” is an established, known name? Did you want to distance yourself from the animated series? JP: I doubt they have the rights to that name, usually when a licensor deals with a studio to produce a show, a lot of that set up becomes its own thing, an offshoot of a property. It was never offered as an option anyway. CC: Will we see any other nods to Defenders other than the main three characters, such as Dynac X or the Phantom’s Strength of Ten Tigers power? JP: Possibly! CC: Is writing for these classic, pulp-based characters different than writing more modern superhero characters? JP: I don’t think so, I tend to treat most heroes as adventurers and that’s what our guys are. Really most superheroes trace elements back to them–who had a cave and servant before Batman? CC: We’ve heard that the story has a lot of supernatural elements. Can you give us any clues as to what we can expect? Those Velociraptor/ human hybrid things in the preview are looks pretty terrifying. JP: That’s because Marc Laming is incredible, he has a lot of creatures to design for the story but there’s few people better suited. Also Cobra’s men are menacing and mysterious. CC: You’ve said in an interview that the series will contain “Billy Zane –isms,” referring to the 1996 Phantom movie. What exactly are these? Will the Skulls of Touganda be popping up? JP: It’s more in little touches. That movie kind of falls apart in the third act, but I still like it a lot. I like that The Phantom enjoyed his role in life. Okay, those skulls might be in here. CC: The series is a five issue mini. If it does well, will see future adventure of Kings Watch? JP: I think that’s a safe bet, but maybe a broader launch even. CC: Are there any final words you’d like to say to the many phans looking forward to Kings Watch? JP: You can expect a lot of characters are going to end up with little skulls permanently etched into their faces. The Phantom comes out swinging in issue 1 and shows what he can do in a big, big way. ChronicleChamber would like to thank Jeff Parker for giving up his time to talk with all of us. #KingsWatch #Lothar #Mandrake #DefendersoftheEarth #DynamiteEntertainment #LeeFalk #SyBarry #LastPhantom #BillyZane #JeffParker

Going through the Previews catalogue today to place my monthly comics pre-orders I came across something rather interesting; some new Phantom merchandise that will be hitting comic stores in a few months time. The two pieces of merchandise, as you can probably tell from the title of this post, are a 2014 diary and a journal. As I was viewing the digital edition of the Previews catalogue which simply gives a listings of items released during the given month there were no further details other than the title of each item. However, after a bit of searching I was able to find a bit more information on both books. According to Westfield Comics‘ website both publications will be available in August with the diary retailing for $18.99US and the journal $11.99. Interestingly, if you take a look at the description of the 2014 diary on Westfield’s page, you’ll notice that the diary contains “Phantom comic covers from around the world.” This sounds very similar to the Mallon published diaries Australian phans have been getting for many years now. While the site does not mention who the publisher is, it would be very interesting if it was Mallon as it would be the first time the diaries have been available internationally. So, if the 2014 diary and a Phantom journal is something you’d like to add to your collection, be sure to contact your local comic store and ask them to put aside a copy for you. Simply quote them the Previews numbers from our listings and they’ll be able to fix you up. #Mallon

Bradford Exchange has produced another of their high quality watches featuring the Ghost Who Walks. Made from stainless steel and limited to 1,936 pieces this is sure to be another desirable collectors item. More details after the jump. Featuring an engraved image of the Phantom on the back of the watch and embossed Skull and Good Marks around its circumference, this new watch continues the high standard that Bradford have become known for. Retailing for $225AU (plus $20 shipping), the watch would make a lovely companion piece for any who bought Bradford’s previously released 75th Anniversary watch. Full details of the watch are as follows; Show the whole world that you’re a Phantom fan with this official 75th anniversary Phantom watch available only from The Bradford Exchange The Phantom Men’s Watch is officially authorised by King Features Syndicate Strictly limited to only 1,936 – Be one of only 1,936 fans to acquire this watch The Phantom Men’s Watch is expertly hand-crafted in tough-as-The Phantom stainless steel Precision quartz movement, adjustable ‘C-clasp’ and is water resistant to a depth of 3 ATMs.​ The watches side is etched with a chain of good and evil Phantom ring symbols, while the back showcases a different, arms folded, silhouette of The Phantom 5 installments of $45 or $225 (plus postage and handling) If you’re interested in securing one of these watches, head on over to Bradford’s on-line store. Thanks to Will Dorrington for this information. #75th #BradfordExchange

The passing of a legend… Some phans may be puzzled as to why it’s taken ChronicleChamber so long to post about the untimely passing of one of the greatest artists to not only grace The Phantom but comics in general. The real, honest reason for this is because it was tough. Very tough. There are very few celebrities out there that I feel strongly toward. Sure, I’ve my favorite actors and actresses and so on, but very few in my 30 years have truly saddened me with their passing. In fact, up until now, only one had. Paul Ryan is the second. Myself, Jermayn and several other phans had the pleasure of meeting Paul at the 2014 SupaNova con in Sydney. We bothered him from the moment the doors opened on the day of the con and even afterwards he couldn’t get away from us as he was the guest of honour at the Lee Falk Memorial Bengalla Explorer’s Club dinner that night. My overwhelming memory of Paul was just how great a bloke he was. He listened to everyone who wanted to talk to him, he kindly signed all the stuff that was thrown at him and he was incredibly generous and honest in the tales he told about working on The Phantom. The highlight for me was watching Paul create some Phantom artwork live. It was amazing and something I’ll never forget. Outside of The Phantom, Paul has one of the most impressive resumes in comics. Having worked for both DC and Marvel, his art has appeared in Batman, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Avengers, and a defining run on Fantastic Four among others. At only 66 Paul was taken much too soon. Considered by many as one of the best artists to have worked in the industry, he is going to be very, very sorely missed. #PaulRyan #LFMBEC #Supanova

Well, this we didn’t see coming! Hot Wheels, the famous collectible die cast car company is to release a new line this year called Pop Culture, and it will feature the Phantom! Information on the Pop Culture line is sparse at best. In fact, CC only became aware of it when phan Jermayn posted a link to an eBay listing for the car on our Phantom Collectors Facebook page. Nearly all of the information we have found has come from eBay listings of the various cars in the line being made available as pre-orders. While regular toy stores are offering them, they all seem to be doing so in group lots, which isn’t ideal if you’re only after the Phantom car. There isn’t even any information on Hot Wheels’ site. At the moment, it seems your best bet in quartering one of these cars is via eBay. The line, which is to be released sometime this February, will feature all kinds of characters well known in pop culture. From the Looney Tunes to the Muppets and, of course, the Ghost Who Walks. The Phantom isn’t the only King Features character to be featured, however, as Flash Gordon, Popeye and Hagar the Horrible also adorn the side of some models. Of all the cars from this line listed on eBay, we’ve only found ONE active listing for the Phantom car, so it seems that this will be quite the collectible. Of course, they may become more readily available once the line is officially released, but if a die cast Phantom car is something that appeals to you, we recommend jumping onto eBay ASAP. #KingFeaturesSyndicate

400 years ago the first Phantom swore an oath to fight “piracy, cruelty and injustice in all its forms.” Unfortunately, one of the most prevalent forms of injustice in the world today is discrimination. Wear It Purple is a movement that works to battle discrimination toward one of the most misunderstood of minorities; the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer community. Given the name of the movement there is no better hero than The Phantom to fight this cause and we think you’ll agree it’s something he’d fight for. In this article we talk to an artist who has worked on The Phantomand identifies as transgender – Lindsay Walker. ‘Lindsay Walker’ may not be a name phans recognize. This is because up until two years ago Lindsay was Mick Collins. Mick, who had worked on Moonstone’s The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks and Phantom: Generations series, among other Moonstone projects, identified as transgender and not long after finishing her last project for Moonstone took steps to become her female alter ego, Lindsay. CC: G’day Lindsay and thanks for joining us on Wear It Purple Day. For those who may not know, can you give us a basic description of what ‘transgender’ means? LW: Hello and thank you very much for inviting me. Transgender generally applies to an individual whose inner gender doesn’t conform to the one assigned at birth. Gender is truly identified with what‘s between a person’s ears, not what’s between their legs. CC: Phans of Moonstone’s work and visitors to CC before our relaunch may be more familiar with the name Mick Collins than Lindsay Walker. However, it’s not only recently you’ve identified as transgender. Can you take us through how you came to the realization that Mick was simply an avatar for Lindsay? LW: For as long as I can remember I knew there was something that didn’t quite fit. Over the years I’d hear about trans women. As I got older it became clearer that I wanted to live as a female. But when I’d have these thoughts I quickly tried to think of something else. I was under the impression that it was sick to think this way. Society and certain family conditions can do that to you. There were a few occasions where I came close to self-mutilation. That’s how desperate I was to change. I couldn’t go through with it though. I didn’t want any questions if I had. Plus there’s the sight of blood. So I repressed the thoughts. I did a pretty good job at it too. I was putting up a good fight for a long time. I was never a typical masculine boy. I hated sports and cars. Never smoked. But I started drinking. I grew my hair long for a while. All my friends did so I had that excuse. Eventually I shaved it all off and kept it that way for years. I grew a long scraggily goatee and I went to the gym. They were all just bricks in the wall. Ha! I was tricking myself into masculinity. Bad idea. I was turning into a ticking time bomb. The misery and depression was spreading so fast it didn’t care who it was going to take out along the way. I literally started plans on ending it all. But I had my own family to think of too. Before it was too late I took the first step out of this world I was creating. Kim and I began dating 2002. I thought the right thing to do is to tell her I wanted to live as a woman. She didn’t quite understand and found it a bit weird. I would bring the topic up every now and then but she would shrug it off and change the subject. She thought it was a stage. Over the years I learned to keep my mouth shut. September 2009 we took a holiday to Adelaide. On our last night there something happened. I couldn’t stay quiet anymore. My feelings spilled out. She was in tears. Not because of the stigma associated with trans people but the loss of a loved one. She was beginning to mourn for Mick. I needed her at my side for this. And she has been ever since. CC: The stereotype for transgender women is the idea of “a woman trapped in a man’s body” and that if a man feels that he is truly a woman he must be homosexual. However, you and your partner Kim have a very healthy relationship which begs the question does this stereotype have any truth in it at all? LW: There’s no truth to that at all. There are even gays and lesbians who believe this about transgender people. I’m a trans woman in a lesbian relationship. I’ve only ever been attracted to women. Kim and I have been together for over ten years. We’ve been best friends for even longer and we have three daughters together, Ariel, Heloise and Evelyn. Our relationship has grown so much especially since becoming a Rainbow Family. CC: You’ve taken steps to truly become a woman for all intents and purposes such as hormone replacement and laser hair removal. These are pretty big steps, was it hard to make the decision to go through with them? LW: They were some of the easiest decisions to make. Waiting was the hardest part. I started seeing doctors and psychiatrists around November 2009. I was approved for HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) around November 2010. It wasn’t until May 2011 I finally had my first pill. I’ve heard others receiving prescriptions very quickly but I had to go through a very long wait. As for laser hair removal… It’s not a fun experience. They tell you it’s like being flicked with a rubber band. I’d say it more like being whipped in the face with a wet towel. The upper lip is the most sensitive part to be zapped. At the moment I still have a way to go with laser treatment. I have to pluck the hairs in the meantime until I can afford it again. CC: I’ve also noticed on your Facebook page there is a photo of you sporting some rather nice cleavage ^_^ . Have you had operations to make your body appear more feminine? LW: Nope. No work done at all. HRT has only grown them to a B cup after 16 months but with the right bra and support it’s easy to accentuate those womanly features. CC: I would imagine that during the decision making process of whether to become a woman or not that many questions about your own identity must crop up in your mind. Without getting too existential, did you at all have a battle of the ego and id? LW: It took some time, and still, is to make these mental changes. I was conditioned from birth to live by certain male rules. But after a while with HRT my estrogen levels annihilated my testosterone. I become extra sensitive and would sometimes cry over nothing. This is coming from someone who’d rarely cry. I’ve become obsessed over looking right when I leave the house. I’ve become so self-conscious with my vanity. My feminine identity has flourished greatly. CC: I understand that the choice of ‘Walker’ for your last name is due to your love of The Phantom? LW: That’s right. When the time came to choose a new name I made sure they were all changed to further remove myself from my old family. Originally I was keen on Julie because of the female Phantom. Kim didn’t like it and could never see me as a Julie. So I picked Lindsay because I liked it and Kim approved also. So now I thought ‘I won’t pick Walker because it’s too obvious that I would choose It’. But I couldn’t think of anything else I liked. Kim then suggested ‘Walker’ to me. Who was I too argue? But I still had to pick a middle name. I love Judge Dredd but I wasn’t going to use his name. Next best thing Judge Anderson. Her name is Cassandra. It was a done deal. Not only do I sport a Phantom name but so does my second and third daughters. Heloise is named after the Phantom’s own daughter and Evelyn’s middle name Falk is of course named after his creator Lee Falk. CC: Has the fact that you now identify as female affected the way people interact with you all, both in your personal and professional life? LW: Yes it has. I’ve really noticed how much men are pervs. I mean it’s crazy. I get looks all the time. The construction type workers are the worse. They really stare through you and lock on their eyes when passing by. I’ve had random compliments from old ladies and stuff like that. It makes my day when that happens. I get a lot of friend requests on Facebook too. I don’t know if it’s affected my professional life in any way. I am working with Devin Grayson on Womanthology: Space. It’s an all women production. So I guess that’s one perk in my career as a female. I’ve been getting a lot of artistic job offers this year but that might be due to luck. CC: In a multicultural world that continuously makes amazing advancements in technology and infrastructure it seems rather at odds that there are still pockets of society who refuse to acknowledge or try to understand transgender people. Why do you think this is? LW: For me the number one observational cause is religion. Religious people in power are always trying to dictate their beliefs on the lives of others. And then you have these T.V. programs such as Jerry Springer and Maury Povich. Their excuse is they’re just bringing entertainment. What they’re actually doing is portraying transgender people as circus freaks. They give us derogatory names such as ‘Tranny’ or ‘She-Male’. They make us out to be men trapping straight men into sexual relations. We’ve been stigmatized by the media so often that most trans women cannot get a good education or job. They’re kicked out of their families and live homeless. It causes drug and alcohol abuse and many will work in sex services. Every week or so I read about a murdered trans woman. I feel incredibly lucky and grateful for the way my life is turning. CC: Finally; you’re a phan. Do you think that the Phantom would fight for the rights of gay, lesbian, transgender, et al peoples? LW: I believe he would. If only the right authors would come along and be brave enough to tackle these issues in the Phantom’s world. In Uganda for example you’d receive the death penalty for homosexuality. This year they had their first gay pride parade. Now that’s bravery. There’s definitely a story there to be told. I’d love to illustrate that book. CC would like to give a big thank you to Lindsay for talking with us. Wear It Purple is an important movement for all GLBTIQ people and their families and friends. If we really wish to be the advanced society we claim it seems only right that GLBTIQ peoples receive the same respect, acknowledgement and kindness that we afforded everyone else. Be proud and be supportive – wear purple. The Phantom does! If you’d like to learn more about Wear It Purple, you can visit the website WearItPurple.org If you’d like to see more of Lindsay’s art, you can view her website at http://puggdogg.deviantart.com/ #LindsayWalker #Moonstone

Recently we told you about the new Phantom price guide from Niche Press that has found its way to eBay. Well, we have a few more details about the guide so that you know exactly what to expect from it. The new guide is set to have a number of features that will make pricing your collection easier, such as: giving estimates of current values across a range of comic grades provides a snapshot of your collection’s value identifies issues, titles and publication history offers quick-reference collection checklists explains grading and other collecting issues examines market trends to help inform your buying and/or selling, and provide tips and advice for successful collecting The guide is also designed to be portable so if you need to travel to your Phantom-filled storage location this should make things a lot easier. #NichePress #PriceGuide

Today is a very sad day for the Phantom community. Ed Rhoades, a man who has for many years been one of the most key figures in international Phantom fan circles, has sadly died due to a tragic cycling accident. A lifetime long Phantom fan and a personal friend of Lee Falk, Ed was one of those amazing people who would always take time out to talk with other fans, no matter which side of the planet they hailed from. Best know as editor and publisher of the US Friends of the Phantom newsletter, Ed also contributed to many other Phantom-related publications including being a consultant for Moonstone on their various Phantom series. An artist, teacher, musician and songwriter, Ed had many talents. News of his death due to a horrible accident in which he lost control of the bicycle he was riding and collided with a pickup truck, is sure to leave many fellow Phans shaken. Although Ed and I only spoke a few times, as a member of the Phantom community and someone who has given a lot of time to help build that community in my own small way, Ed was someone I truly looked up to. He will be very sadly missed! For a full report on Ed’s death as well as a video of the story as it appeared on Ed’s local news station, see the WNEP website. Ed also had his own website, which you can visit HERE. #EdRhoades #FriendsofThePhantom #Moonstone

As you may have gathered from the site’s logo, 2016 marks 10 years of Chronicle Chamber. When I first started the site I had no idea how long it would last, or even how long I’d want to keep doing it for. As it turns out, both those things lasted a lot longer than I expected. 10 years is a pretty good achievement in this age of constantly changing media. It’s also been a big 10 years for the Phantom himself, arguably with the last two to three seeing the most change – for the better – with the character in a long time. I’ve tried to push the site in new directions and expand its scope each year, mostly making it up as I went along. Easily the biggest success to come out of that is X-Band: The Phantom Podcast, of which I am extremely proud. However, it is now time for me to hand the site over to someone else, at least for a little while. As some of you may have heard via the podcast, or on Facebook, or elsewhere, I’ve moved to England for work. While my passion of The Phantom has not at all diminished, being in the UK does make it somewhat harder to keep up to date with everything that is going on with the Ghost Who Walks. Sadly, it is a fact that he just is not terribly popular here. It also makes it harder to record podcasts because the time difference is so great between the UK and Australia. I thought about it a long time, but I decided it is best to leave the site in the hands of those who will do it the greatest service, and currently I don’t have access to news and so forth in a timely enough manner to be that person. The people who are in the best position, though, are people you’ll be familiar with. Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser and Stephen East will be looking after the site in my absence and – while I’d never admit this to them – I’m sure they will do a brilliant job. Their passion for The Phantom is unmistakable! This doesn’t mean I’ll not be around at all, however. I’ll still post the odd news story and hopefully put up an article or two. I might even be able to join in on a podcast episode from time to time. However, for the foreseeable future Jermayn and Steve will be running the day-to-day goings on of the website as well as being your main hosts for the podcast. I wish them well and hope that you all continue to support them, and the site. Thank you to everyone who has stopped by the site over the last ten years. To those of you who have been here since day one, I can not thank you enough for your continued support. For those of you who are new to CC, thank you for checking the site out. To everyone, thank you for keeping such a brilliant character as The Phantom relevant in the modern age. Long live The Phantom!

With Dynamite Entertainment’s The Last Phantom series just around the corner, Paul Jonassen and Joe Douglas decided to put some questions towards the series writer Scott Beatty. ChronicleChamber: For those who may not be aware of your work could you talk a little about titles you’ve worked on in the past? Scott Beatty: If you Google me or search my name on Amazon.com, you’ll find that I’ve spent a good portion of my career writing for DC Comics in the company of Bat-Characters mainly. I also wrote RUSE for CrossGen Comics and I just concluded a 12-issue run on BUCK ROGERS for THE LAST PHANTOM publisher Dynamite Entertainment, a company that has graciously allowed me to play with some very cool “action figures.” CC: Having written several books about the DC Comics universe, it’s obvious you are a knowledgeable and passionate fan of comic books. But how big has your previous exposure to the Phantom been? Have you read Lee Falk’s stories, US or overseas Phantom comic books, etc.? SB: I’m a HUGE Phantom fan and I hope that comes through in the writing. And as any reader of my Ultimate Guides for DC knows, I’m pretty “immersive” when it comes to research on any given character. I’m familiar with Lee’s stories and I count the Jim Aparo and Don Newton tenures on Charlton’s PHANTOM run as some of my favourite stories. CC: The Phantom is arguably the most influential costumed hero of all, given that Lee Falk basically created what would later be known as the ”superhero”, complete with a costume, origin and style that has been copied by a thousand other characters. The character is an icon in Europe, Australia, and parts of Asia, but at the time of writing this he seems to be largely forgotten in his ”home country”, the US. Why do you think that is? SB: Inarguably, The Phantom is an archetypal superhero and the model for just about every costumed hero who followed him beginning with comics’ Golden Age. Perhaps it’s the setting. Superman and Batman are inherently American. The Phantom is the guardian of Bengali, yet doesn’t shy away from globetrotting to battle evil. I think that latter trait makes him so easily embraced by other parts of the world. His primary loyalty, after Bengali of course, is to JUSTICE. So therefore he’s not just the defender of a major Metropolitan city, but a hero to THE WORLD. He belongs to EVERYONE. CC: Given the lack of exposure and general knowledge about the character in the US as well as the very non-traditional take on the character would it be safe to assume that DE’s series isn’t really aimed at long-time Phantom phans and more at a newer audience who is yet to become familiar with the hero? SB: I don’t think you can have one without the other. Obviously, we want to appeal to both Column A and Column B. Alex, Ed, and I want to please the hardcore fans while introducing Kit Walker to readers who’ve never read a Phantom story before. But we’re not slowing down for either camp. A good “jumping-on point” for any comics story is simply a GOOD STORY, and that’s what we’re striving for in THE LAST PHANTOM CC: The Phantom is many things to many people from many different cultures. What is the very core of the character for you? SB: The core of the character is the enduring nature of Kit Walker. Generation after generation there’s always a Kit Walker, and by extension—always a Ghost Who Walks—because evil is often hard to kill. The Phantom isn’t simply a hero who dons a costume in order to exact retribution on the villains who wronged him. He’s part of a DYNASTY. If you’re the son of Kit Walker, this is the family business, no questions asked. Except Alex and I envisioned a Kit who didn’t exactly figure on carrying on the Walker legacy. That’s a CONFLICT that’s every bit as important as the schemes and stratagems of the bad guys. CC: One of the many unique aspects of the Phantom character is the whole ”lineage” aspect, where a writer automatically has the ability to write stories that can span around 500 years. Are you interested in exploring the Phantoms of the past in your stories? SB: Yup, and we will. CC: What kind of a Phantom story can we expect from this series, and is it an on-going or a mini with the possibility of an on-going if it does well? SB: As far as were concerned, and this may seem contradictory given the title, THE LAST PHANTOM is an ongoing series until the wheels fall off. CC: According to the announcement, the title of the book will be The Last Phantom. Could this change later on to the standard ”The Phantom” if a second series or on-going happens? SB: We’ll see. As far as Kit Walker is concerned, the 21 Phantom is THE LAST PHANTOM. CC: We know that the Singh Brotherhood features in this story, but if the series goes past this initial arc will we see the return of any other classic Phantom villains or will you be concentrating on new enemies? SB: Oh yeah? Where did you hear that? I think the best Rogues Galleries are like that old wedding tradition where brides-to-be carry with them four specific items: Something OLD, Something NEW, Something BORROWED, and Something… RED. I’ve said too much! CC: Let’s talk about the depiction of the Phantom in this series. We heard early on that the character was going to have a costume re-design, that it would be bringing the costume into the “modern era.” However, what we’ve seen in the preview images is very basic (for lack of a better term) costume; it’s basically body paint and a loin cloth. To say this rendition of the costume has shocked some phans would be putting it mildly. Not only is the mask gone – it’s something of an unwritten law that the Phantom’s eyes should never be shown – but the character is also covered in what looks like blood. It seems quite a departure from the traditional costume and the biggest departure from any of the other adaptations of the character we’ve seen. Can you comment on why this design was chosen? SB: Alex has sworn me to secrecy! It’s a blood oath and I bear the mark of the Good Ring to prove my fealty here. Change is inevitable. Superman didn’t even wear boots in his first appearance. His costume resembled a toddler’s footy pajamas! And Batman carried a gun! Phantom fans need to read the story. Every detail means something. Trust us: WE HAVE A PLAN. CC: So, where you and/or DE aware that showing the Phantom’s eyes is something of a no-no? If so, why did you decide to do so? SB: I’m going to go on record and say that Kit WANTS his enemies to see his eyes. As for the reason, you have to read the opening story arc, “Ghost Walk.” CC: Obviously it’s unfair to judge a book before it’s released but from what we’ve seen thus far the series looks to be very different from anything we’ve seen before. Are you at all worried about alienating current phans of the character? SB: We’re quite respectful of The Phantom’s huge phan following. And I’m not about to spoil the story by explaining what we have planned. Give us six issues and you’ll be HOOKED. CC: It’s interesting that the story involves the 21st Phantom giving up the role of the Ghost Who Walks. Why did you decide on this rather than, say, have a descendant who was ignorant to his heritage only to discover it? SB: THE LAST PHANTOM is set in the here and now. The current Kit Walker believes that after 20 generations, there might be a better way. He actually thinks that he has a CHOICE. CC: Can you give us any insight into the thoughts behind the Phantom giving up his mantel? Some phans have said that such an action does not ring true for the character. Would you care to comment on those thoughts? SB: It “rings” true for the latest Kit Walker. CC: We know Alex Ross was instrumental in bringing the Phantom to DE and that he redesigned the costume and will be doing covers for the series. Will he have any other input into thePhantom books? SB: Definitely. Alex is part of the creative team from the get-go. CC: In Dynamite’s initial announcement of their Phantom project a couple of years ago, they proclaimed their plans to relocate the Phantom to New York. Is this still part of your approach? SB: There are many jungles in this world, including the so-called concrete jungles. CC: Moonstone put out a few stories where the Phantom teamed up with Mandrake the Magician, Captain Action and the Domino Lady. Is there a possibility to see stories where the purple guy teams up with characters licence by Dynamite, like the Green Hornet, Zorro, etc.? SB: That’s up to Dynamite Head Honcho Nick Barrucci, as well as the characters’ individual owners and licensors. You’ve undoubtedly read by now that Dynamite acquired the rights to publish stories with Mandrake and Flash Gordon. Want DEFENDERS OF THE EARTH? Write to Nick and make your voices heard! CC: Since I remember reading one of Dynamite’s ”secondary goals” is to make the film industry interested in classic characters again, I just have to ask: Have you seen any of the previous Phantom film or TV-adaptations? If so, what did you think about them? What do you think a new film has to do to correct mistakes done in the past? SB: I’ve only seen the Billy Zane film, which I think is simply a hoot. Much fun. In my mind, any comic book film worth its salt simply MUST take the subject matter seriously. I’m talking about staying true to the character(s) core motivations and not dumbing it down for an audience. And for God’s sake, make it about THE HERO. Not his love life. Not umpteen villains vying for screen time with hammy actors chewing scenery. Show us why he wears a purple leotard and zebra shorts. Trust us. If it’s good, we’ll stay until the final credits roll. CC: And finally, the dumbest question you will ever have to answer in your entire career: Is it true that Alex Ross has a dog called Phantom?! SB: Didn’t I already tell you Alex and I have a pact! What happens in the Skull Cave STAYS in the Skull Cave! A HUGE thanks goes to Scott for taking the time to answer our question and to Paul for helping me with this interview! #LastPhantom #DynamiteEntertainment #ScottBeatty #AlexRoss

Dynamite Entertainment and Hermes Press have both announced new Phantom comics which will be on sale in November and October of this year, respectively. Dynamite has announced the follow up to their second Kings Quest crossover, however, this time it will be appearing in a new issue #1 for Flash Gordon, rather than a stand alone series. The announcement article on Newsarama mentions states that this will be an "all-new five-issue storyline, beginning in November with Flash Gordon #1." This suggests that the storyline may spread across several series so we may see anther Phantom and Mandrake series from Dynamite, containing the other parts. Of course, this is just conjecture at the moment and we'll provide more solid details as they become available. Meanwhile, Hermes has announced on Facebook The Phantom: The Art of the Ghost Who Walks. This new tome from Hermes is to be dedicated to the many artists who have worked on the character from his inception through to the modern era. According to the description, the book will offer "rarely seen early original artwork by Ray Moore and Wilson McCoy. This deluxe art book additionally offers chapters on the artists who have worked on the strip from its beginning in 1936 to the present with numerous examples of original artwork, speciality pieces, and unpublished artwork." The book is set to be in full colour and safe coffee table book format of Hermes' previous releases. It will retail for $65US. UPDATE: ComicsAlliance has some nice preview art from the Kings Cross issue. #HermesPress #DynamiteEntertainment #KingsQuest #FlashGordon #Mandrake

No matter what your interest, if you are part of a fan community something you’ll quickly discover is that all these people, united by a common love, will all have entirely different opinions on that item of interest. It is what makes we humans grand; our differences. In the world of comics different people want different things from the sequential art medium. Comic book characters, the modern day myths and legends that have inspired several generations, are, in most cases, just like us in their complexity. They are not simply any one thing but many. While a hero may be the personification of good and justice, ready to rush in to save the day at any given moment, they may also be a dedicated family man who wishes no more than to spend the day with his children and let the world look after itself. As with any comics hero this is of course true of the Phantom. Lee Falk did not create a 2D character but one with a faceted personality, as rich as any real person. Due to this versatility of character nearly every fan, in theory, could and should be able to read the type of Phantom stories they enjoy. How? Well, let me deviate slightly: As some of you know a number of comic publishers, namely Marvel and DC, have several titles for a single character running parallel to each other. Recently on the forums I saw a post in which a member said “Do we really need several different Spider-Man titles?” My answer to this would be “Yes! And give me several more.” The reason for having several different titles for the one character is so that various facets of the characters personality, as well as different story theme and tones, can be explored. How would this multi-title approach work for The Phantom? Well, let’s take a look at what Phantom stories are being produced. Currently we have four different ‘versions’ of Phantom stories in publication; the newspaper strip, the original stories from Egmont and Moonstone and the Lee Falk re-prints published by Frew and Egmont. Let’s take a look at what kind of Phantom stories these four variations give us. Newspaper Strip: The strip is a direct continuation of Lee Falk’s works. It picks up where Lee left off and continues it into the future. As it is a newspaper strip, the form in which the Phantom originally appeared, and not a comic book this could be considered the central or ‘main title’ of the Phantom publications. Egmont: Egmont began creating original Phantom stories while Lee was still writing himself. They may follow Lee’s continuity up to a point but it could be said that from there on they run parallel to the strip. Egmont’s stories have a large emphasis on adventure. It can be argued that Egmont’s stories are the ‘mature’ stories and take the Phantom in directions the strip maybe wouldn’t. The art also gives this more mature feel with artists such as Hans Lindahl and Felmang. Egmont has now established their own continuity (Lubanga, the destruction/ re-building of the Jungle Patrol, Dogai and Sandal Singh) that continues to take the Ghost Who Walks in new, interesting directions. Moonstone: As Moonstone’s Phantom continuity received what would be described as a ‘re-boot’ when Mike Bullock took over the series, I’ll only refer to stories appearing from issue #12 and on. Moonstone’s continuity picks up right after the last panel of the last Lee Falk written adventure so are more of a continuation. Thanks to current artist Silvestre Szilagyi this is enforced due to his art looking remarkable similar to Sy Barry’s. But how is Moonstone different from Egmont? The exact time in Egmont’s tales is very often left undefined. We know it’s a modern setting, but how modern? 2007? 2001? 1993? We can not be exactly sure. In Moonstone’s stories, however, we know for a fact that the stories are set in present day 2008. We know this not only because Moonstone’s stories deal with the issues of today but also because the creators have told us that the stories are set here and now. Also, Egmont’s stories were being published at the same time as Falks’ therefore they are obviously removed from them. Moonstone’s tales came after Lee’s so are more of continuation of the strip than Egmonts’. However as the strip is still running (under Tony de Paul) so the two entities remain separate. Thusly, Moonstone could be seen as stories about a modern Phantom. Again taking him in a new direction, but a different, perhaps more political one than Egmont. Re-prints: These are self explanatory. Re-visiting tales by the creator. So shouldn’t the re-prints be the central Phantom line? Well, no, because they are exactly that; re-prints. They are not current stories, they are old tales, passed but not forgotten whereas the strip is current, what is happening right this moment in the world of the Phantom. In summary the currently published stories from the four separate Phantom publication lines could form something like this: The Phantom – the newspaper strip, following directly on from Lee’s tales. The Legend of the Phantom – Egmont, an emphasis on adventure, more mature and an established continuity outside Falk. The Phantom: Ghost Who Walks – Moonstone. New, modern stories set in 2008 follows on from Falk’s strip but creating its own continuity separate from the strip. Phantom Chronicles – Re-prints of Falk’s original tales. Four Phantom publishing lines catering for different tastes of different fans. The great thing about having the lines separate is that readers only need to buy the line (or lines) that provide the stories of interest to them. If you don’t care for, say, Moonstone’s modern Phantom you need not buy the Ghost Who Walks line. Another good thing is that each line can run sequentially to each other and be separate parts of the total of Phantom canon yet, apart from perhaps the main The Phantom line, you don’t have to read one to follow the other. This can, of course, be taken further. There are fans who love reading stories about past Phantoms so another line, lets call it The Phantom: Man Who Cannot Die, could be dedicated to adventures of past Phantoms. Others perhaps would like to see what would happen to a Phantom of the future, something along the lines of Phantom 2040 so there is another publication line possibility. Again these two lines could be considered canonical or ignored depending on the views and opinions of the individual. We could also have a ling for lighter stories for younger readers or even a line for darker, more horror based stories such as Egmont’s Beast and the Beauty. What about a line of books just set in the Deep Woods, another for a globe trotting Phantom? Perhaps one more for the solo adventures of Diana Palmer-Walker as she goes on her UN assignments. The possibilities are endless! Of course we will most likely never see this happen unless a very dedicated publisher who has the money and the resources to make it viable comes along. However, one can dream about how wonderful a dozen Phantom titles could be. As fans we’d know exactly which lines contain the stories we enjoy and which ones to avoid. Still, we do currently have four brilliant publications to choose from. The strip, continuing the work of the legendary Lee Falk, original tales from Moonstone and Egmont which take our hero on new, vast, exciting adventures and of course the re-prints allowing us to revisit the golden age of the Ghost Who Walks. Thanks to the fine folks behind these publishers we fans have a varied choice of stories and adventures. And, truly, that can only be a good thing. #LeeFalk #Marvel #DC #Egmont #Moonstone #HansLindahl #Felmang #SyBarry #TonyDePaul #Phantom2040 #SilvestreSzilagyi

As a passionate collector I like to know how much my collection is worth. Not that I’d ever sell it, I just like to know these things. This is where a book such as Johnson’s Official Phantom Price Guide comes in quite handy. Mr. Johnson has copped a bit of flack over his past price guides from many Phantom collectors. The reason for this is that every man and his dog selling Phantom collectibles, be it toys, clothing, key rings or back issues, has a copy of the guide on hand. When you try to buy a Phantom item the seller would look up the price guide, see the price of that item and then add a few dollars on top to cover their own costs and make a little profit. While I’ve bought back issues both above and below the prices listed in the Guide one must remember that Johnson’s book is exactly that, a guide, not the be all and end all of pricing Phantom items. Just because the Guide says you should pay $5 for whatever number back issue doesn’t mean that you will. As the prices of collectibles, especially back issues, are in a constant state of flux the reliability of the price information in this book is not something that I’ll be taking into account in this review. Rather, I’ll be looking at how the work is presented and if its information outside the pricing framework is helpful. As stated on the cover this is the third edition of Johnson’s’ Phantom Price Guide. I have not seen the first edition but did buy the second edition in 1996. While my copy of the second edition is a much loved piece of my Phantom library, dog-eared from constant re- reading, it is not by any means a perfect publication. Things such as the index telling us prices for Phantom stationary kits can be found on page 120 when there are only 112 pages in the whole book are almost laughable. But that is the sort of problem the Third Edition can iron out…. …And it does, but introduces completely new problems. While the index listing is correct this time around there are a number of other strange goings on that are confusing and at times simply infuriating. The book starts off really nicely with an introduction to the world of The Phantom and collecting with a very helpful breakdown of the grading system Johnson uses and diagrams on how to tell a Near Mint grade book from a Very Good grade. These diagrams would have been a little better if they had been in colour and a bit bigger as the small back and white images can be a little tricky to see, but in all it’s a helpful visual guide. The guide proper begins with a section on Frew’s comics. Unlike the previous edition which had one big list of issues here the issue list is divided up into years of publication which makes both viewing the list and finding the issue you’re after a lot easier. The year divisions start off being highlighted by a strip of grey behind the year text making it very easy to see where one year ends and another begins. Suddenly, these strips disappear and you need to do a double take. Then they return. Then disappear. And return…..And eventually they are gone for good. Although this could be considered a minor oversight the book would look much more appealing if the design remained constant. Something I noticed as soon as I opened the Third Edition was the lack of images. The Second Edition is chock full of images of various Phantom collectibles and they make the book very interesting visually. What we have here in the Third Edition is page after page of text. The only images are the advertisements and visually the book is quite boring. Flipping through the Second Edition you’d see an interesting image and then read the entry on it to find out information connected to that image. With the Third Edition your eyes search only for the entry you’re interested in and your eyes glaze over everything else. “But the CD”, I hear you cry, “the images are on the CD.”Third Edition comes with a CD boasting over 2000 pictures. (By the way, if this is an Australian publication, why is the American spelling for“colour” on the front cover?) A CD full of images is all well and good but not everyone wants to be sitting in front of their computer while they are looking through the Guide. Also, such a CD would need to be easy to navigate and have high quality images. Johnson’s CD manages to be easy to navigate – not perfect, a search function would have been nice – but it is a simple click to find what you want and each image is given a reference number which corresponds to a reference number in the Guide so you can see what images belong to which listing. However, the image quality leaves something to be desired. All the images are quite small and most of them look as if they have been taken with a digital camera. Taking photos of toys, clocks, mugs and other collectibles that wouldn’t fit on a scanner if fair enough, but why take photos of the comics or cards? The image quality would have been so much better had these items been scanned. And, as I said, the images are very small, most no higher than 150 pixels. I have most of my comic collection scanned onto my computer, each cover image being 750 pixels high at a resolution of 75dpi, the normal resolution for Internet images. In total that is about 2000 images, the same as the number on Johnson’s disk and it takes up 266MB of hard drive space. A CD can hold up to 700MB, so there is plenty of unused space that could have been used for higher quality images. One would think that for a publication such as this high quality, large images would be expected so readers could get a good look at the various items. And if the small size and poor quality isn’t bad enough a number of the images are so badly blurred that you can’t make out what they are supposed to be. Truly, the CD is a wasted opportunity. Moving back to the Guide itself, the book still holds lots of interesting information on each of the items listed and is very informative. The information is very good at providing background info on your collectibles and will have you reading for hours. There are, however, some annoying exclusions. Take, for example, the section on Videos and DVDs. Here Johnson’s says “I have not included Defenders of the Earth, Phantom 2040 DVDs and video tapes as they have not really increased in value.” Increased from what? Obviously not from the prices listed in the Second Edition as there weren’t any. Regardless of the prices changing the prices for these items should have been listed here. Some people may have received these items as gifts or as ex-rental videos and there for would have no idea of the original cost. There are many other reasons why this information should have been listed. To me, this sort of thing seems simply lazy. Another infuriating trend Johnson seems to have adopted in this edition is listing what price brackets items fall into. For example, the 1994 Monkeys of Melbourne Phantom plate is listed as valued “between $80-$150.” Ok, but in what condition? Are we to assume that $80 is what a chipped, Good to Poor quality plate would cost while a Mint quality plate is $150? $80 seems a lot for a chipped plate. I realise this is a guide but that is simply not enough information to make even an informed guess. People new to the grading system may be at a complete loss as to how they should price their items. Not every Phan has been collecting for 20+ years. On a smaller note, where Johnson does actually give graded prices I wish he’d use more grades than just Fair, Very Good and Near Mint. There are many grades between those listed and it makes it hard to guess what price your item would be if your grade is not listed. Again, I think people new to collecting and grading would have some trouble here. Scoring the Price Guide has been hard. Although it has some very annoying problems and the CD is a huge let down, the book does still give you a decent idea of what your collection might be worth. People new to collecting and grading may feel a little lost and if you want decent images of your items you’ll have to take them yourself. Yet the Guide does hold interesting information and while the books image-less presentation is boring to look at it is still easy to read and find the item listings you’re after. If there is to be a Fourth Edition of Johnson’s Official Phantom Price Guide I would like to see it presented as a high quality production. Colour pictures throughout, items listed and valued at all grades, not just one or two, the same amount on information if not more and an interesting presentation. In the mean time though, if you simply want a no frills price guide Johnson’s Official Phantom Price Guide delivers. If you’re are after something more, you may be left feeling a little cold. #PriceGuide #NigelJohnson

You may remember a little while ago we let you know that famous Phantom artist Sy Barry was setting up a website to sell and promote his work. Well, that website is now live and is accessible via the sybarry.com URL. The website itself is nicely designed with a clean, visually interesting theme. It contains a biography on the famous artist, lost of examples of his work including non-Phantom illustrations and, of course, a portfolio from which you can buy his original works. Prices for each of the works is not given on the site, rather you need to contact the site if you wish to buy or inquire about a piece. Sure to be a URL that will be in every phans’ bookmark list, it’s well worth having a look through and being tempted by the beautiful, clean art of arguably the greatest Phantom artist, Sy Barry. Check out SyBarry.com! #SyBarry

New writer. New artist. New direction. Debuting with issue #12, Moonstone’s new on-going Phantom writer Mike Bullock has a huge task in front of him. There is always pressure on any new writer just coming onto any book. ChronicleChamber.com catches up with Mike to discuss what phans can look forward to come September. Chronicle Chamber: G’day Mike, thanks for joining us here at ChronicleChamber.com. First of all, I have to ask, as a Phantom Phan yourself, surely you must be extremely excited to be writing your own Phantom adventures? Mike Bullock: Very much so. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited to write the Phantom? He’s an exciting character with an almost limitless sandbox to play in, story-wise. He’s mysterious, adventurous, carries a few big guns and gets to hang out with a wolf all day. CC: So, who inspires your writing? MB: A lot of it comes from Mr. Falk himself. I’ll read some of his stories and wonder what happens next, or it’ll give me ideas for other stories. Another strong inspiration is the artists that I work with. When I get a new cover from Joe Prado, or new pages from Carlos Magno, it just adds so much depth to what I’ve imagined, that I find myself inspired to write more. For example, the cover art for issue 16 (by Bret Blevins) completely inspired the story inside. CC: You are perhaps best known for the brilliant series Lions, Tigers and Bears – the first volume TPB of which just received a second printing due to demand, congratulations on that by the way. It is an all-ages book where as The Phantom is slightly more “mature,” for lack of a better word. Did you have to alter your writing style at all due to this more adult edge? MB: Well, not really. If anything, I feel less confined with The Phantom. When writing something that has to remain appropriate for kids, you have to be very careful with how you handle the story. Doing something that impacts the lives of children is a huge responsibility and I take that very seriously. With the Ghost Who Walks, it’s strictly entertainment and it’s a bit liberating to write his adventures. As for “my style”, I’m trained in writing children’s literature, but I also write science fiction, horror, action, adventure and poetry. Therefore, I don’t think “my style” is summarized by any one genre. I think a lot of folks jump to the conclusion that writers are only capable of doing the particular genre the reader is most familiar with at the time. Take JM DeMatteis, for example. If you’d only read his Formerly Known As The Justice League you might think he only writes parody, but you’d be missing out on classics like ABADAZAD. Ron Marz is a great example, also. He’s best known for Green Lantern, yet he’s also done fantasy (Scion), samurai (Samurai: Heaven & Earth), crime/mobster stories (his Darkness run & upcoming Russian Sunset), and sci-fi with his upcoming Pantheon City. I think a good writer has many stories to tell and won’t let genre or setting dictate where their imagination leads them. CC: You mentioned in a number of articles and on message boards that you went back and read every story written by Phantom creator Lee Falk. That’s 70 years worth of material! Did you feel that such a huge backlog of stories was inspirational or did it make it harder to find your “own voice” when writing The Phantom? Did it take some time to find your own groove? MB: I haven’t read every Falk story, but at this point, I think I’ve read between a third and half of them. I find it very inspirational, with every story I devour, my appreciation for the storytelling skill of Mr. Falk grows. As for my own groove, it did take me a bit to find it, but I think I’m there now. I’m currently scripting #17 and it’s flowing much faster and easier than #12 did, by far. CC: When looking at Falk’s complete list of stories, you can see there are a number of changes in tone that his writing takes. The Ray Moore era concentrated more on the mystery of the Phantom and was perhaps the “darkest” period of Falk’s writing with a number of the stories being quite grim. When Wilson McCoy came aboard the stories took more of an adventurous turn while still retaining most of that mature edge. However, during Sy Barry’s time Rex came into things, the Phantom and Diana were married, eventually Kit and Heloise come onto the scene and as a result, the stories became much more family friendly. As a writer who has also written several all-ages series what are your thoughts on these changes in tone? Is there one era in particular that inspires your writing more than others? MB: I think he did an admirable job at “changing with the times”. His early stuff reflected the pulp fiction style that was so dominant in that era, then after the pulp era died off a bit, Americans wanted more light-hearted, fun adventures in their entertainment, and that’s what Mr. Falk delivered. Towards the end of his life, when America became more “self aware” as a culture, he covered that as well. It was truly a prime example of art imitating life. As for which era I love the most, I’d have to say the early stuff. The Phantom’s mystery is, after all, the foundation of his only real “power”. His legends were sown in that soil of the unknown, nurtured by the light of mystery and flourish with his ability to “psych out” his adversary. Take away all that and he’s just a guy in the jungle with a couple guns and some purple underwear. CC: Of Falk’s stories, was there one in particular that really stood out for you? MB: Whichever one I read last is usually the one I’ve enjoyed the most. However, looking back on everything I’ve read, those that stick out in my mind are The Singh Brotherhood, The Sky Band, The Terrorists and a few others whose titles escape me at the moment. CC: Many Phans seem keen to see the return of classic Falk villains such as General Bababu. Although you have introduced a new villain to the Phantom’s world in your stories, would you ever bring any of these classic villains back? On the flip side of that, are there any new villains besides the one you’ve already mentioned on various boards (not that we know too much about him!) that you’ll be introducing in future stories? MB: Well, we have Manuel Ortega who makes his debut in #12, Temur Singh who comes along shortly thereafter, the members of The Grinning Skull Gang, and a certain Warlord simply named “HIM”. Along with these not-so-nice guys are a slew of others who will be along for the ride as the stories propel the Phantom, and these villains, on a collision course at the intersection of issue #25. CC: You mentioned on a Phantom message board that you hope that Moonstone’s 25th Phantom issue will be a big one. Any hints as to what it might involve? MB: See above. That’s all the cats I’m letting out of the bag this early in the game. CC: Tease! I believe you have said you have written the scripts for, or at least planned up to issue #20. Now you have experience at writing a Phantom script, could you take us through the process? MB: Well, it always starts with an idea. Then I take that idea and flesh it out into a story synopsis. That synopsis is then run past our Phantom Consultant Extraordinaire, Ed Rhoades as well as Joe Gentile and other editors at Moonstone. Once that’s ironed out, I script a very rough draft (with #12, this rough draft went to the editors & consultant instead of the synopsis), then script a second draft, which is sent over to the fine fellows at King Features. They’ll respond with any changes they want and I edit the final draft. It then heads out to the artist who pours his heart and soul all over the pages before sending them to me. The pages are then shipped over to letterer Troy Peteri, who does his typographical wizardry, then I’ll do the final dialogue editing and corrections before it’s sent off to be colored, run through production and off to the printer. CC: You and Moonstone are aiming your Phantom stories toward an American audience, as your goal is to widen awareness of The Phantom in America. However, as a large majority of Phantom Phans reside in countries outside the USA one would assume that the stories you produce must also relate to them. An example I’ll use if I may is Marvel’s Civil War, which I’m told really taps into the political situation in America with the war on terror and the Bush administration etc and the comics have caused quite a stir. However, these references are sometimes lost on people in other countries and those fans see it as an interesting character study, but no so much a political statement. With this in mind, do you feel that The Phantom has to deal with more universal concepts than your average comic does? MB: I’ve never written “your average comic” so I really couldn’t say, in fact, I’m not even sure what qualifies as an average comic anymore. I write stories I’d enjoy reading. If Americans love them, great. If folks worldwide love them, better still. However, a writer can’t get caught up in worrying about what the reader will think. A writer needs to concentrate on crafting the best story possible and always understand that some will love it, some will hate it and some will be indifferent. Hopefully, you’ll get more of the former, but I don’t think you can worry about all that and still write a good story. CC: A number of very vocal Phans have been displeased with what they see as Moonstone “mistreating” the character. Some say that Moonstone have modernized the Phantom too much while others argue the Phantom does things in the Moonstone comics that creator Lee Falk would never have him do. What is your reaction toward this? MB: Well, I’ve read several Falk stories where the Phantom shoots and kills people. I’ve yet to see anything worse than that in a Moonstone book. There are some technical errors in the early Moonstone stories (such as rings on wrong fingers etc) but I read a Sy Barry story yesterday where the Skull Ring was on the Phantom’s left hand in one panel. Therefore, you can’t start a witch-hunt on Moonstone for these sorts of things when it happened to masters such as Mr. Barry. We’re all human and until you, me or anyone reading or creating the Phantom learns how to walk on water and turn it into wine, we remain imperfect and anything we create will be equally so. I think part of the trouble any creator faces when working on a character with such an established history is rooted in the magic of the comics’ medium itself. In order for a comic book (or any other form of visual storytelling) to be entertaining, the writer and artist(s) must create enough written and visual information to engage the imagination of the reader, but not enough to “spoon feed” them. In most cases where this is properly achieved, the readers mind “fills in the blanks” left by the storytellers. When you’ve spent a long period filling in these blanks, you sort of take on the idea that you have some sort of ownership in the property. Star Wars fans are a prime example of this sort of thing. It’s human nature. However, with any form of art there is no right or wrong, there’s just interpretations. Art is totally subjective and for every one person who voices displeasure at what Moonstone has done, I’ve found ten others who love it. As humans, it’s far too easy to travel down the slippery slope of nonconstructive criticism and focus on the negative aspects at the expense of the positives. CC: Each story from Moonstone thus far has been pretty much self-contained, easily allowing new readers to jump on-board. Once you have a few issues under your belt would you consider doing an “event” that would shake up the Phantom's world and have major and long-term repercussions? An example of this would be the Egmont story Election in Bengali in which President Luaga lost his presidency to the evil Lubanga. MB: #25 will shake things up quite a bit. You can’t be a man like the Phantom and not make powerful enemies. CC: Ben Raab has left a number of his stories open for follow-ups, such as the return of Sala in The Aviatrix and the escape of terrorist Ali Gutaale in Stones of Blood. Would you consider revisiting these characters to tie up loose ends? MB: You can expect to see both of them in the future. CC: What is your favourite aspect of the Phantom’s character? MB: The mystique. As I said above, without it, he’s just a guy in tights. I really have to applaud Mr. Falk for employing that as a staple of the character. When you really get down to it, most criminals are barely more than animals, in the broadest sense of the word. What is it that sets humans apart from animals? Our intellect. The Phantom’s mystique is the embodiment of his intellect and that of the twenty Phantoms who came before him. By using his mystique, he also forces the villain’s intellects to work for him as well, enslaving their imaginations to fight for him, carry on his work in his absence and instill the notion that justice is all- encompassing at any time, in any place. CC: How long do you plan to stay on the series? MB: As long as I can. The retailers and readers will vote with their dollars, and if I receive enough “votes” then I should be in for a very, very long haul. Based on the pre-order numbers for issue 12, the voting is working in my favor. CC: Is there one scenario that you would love to place the Phantom into in order to indulge your inner Phan-boy? MB: The final scene of issue #19. That’s all I’m gonna say… CC: Killing off the 21st Phantom (the current Phantom in the Moonstone books) and having his son take over the role of the Phantom has always been a topic of much discussion amongst the Phantom community with many arguments for and against. Hypothetically, what is your opinion on this? What sort of options do you feel it could give you story wise and, if you had the opportunity to kill him off, would you? MB: I don’t see any need to do that. Now if a reason arose in the story where it worked to go that route, I’d consider it, but the Phantom in Moonstone continuity is in the prime of his life, so killing him off would serve as nothing more than worthless shock value on the page. CC: Not to take anything away from issue #12 artist Gabriel Rearte or on-going artist Carlos Magno who are both brilliant, but if you could choose any artist to work with on The Phantom who would it be? MB: You have to consider a lot of things when you look at a question such as this. Is the artist visually appealing? Can s/he make a deadline? Is s/he fun to work with? Will s/he “deliver the goods” every panel of every page? Looking at those questions and more, the only artist I could think of at this point in time is Carlos Magno. The guy is a shooting star and I count myself lucky to be basking in his glow. CC: Here is one of our favourite questions; have you seen the 1996 Billy Zane Phantom feature film and what did you think of it? MB: I’ve seen the movie twice now and I think it’s a very fun movie with the potential to be great, but that potential isn’t realized. The parts of the plot taken from Mr. Falk’s stories were incredible and a true testament to his storytelling prowess. However, in the place where the plot veers away from Falk inspired things is where it gets into trouble. I also think Treat Williams’ character dragged the movie down a bit as well. His dialogue and demeanor was very campy, something the good superhero movies aren’t known for, but something that hangs like an albatross around the necks of the bad ones. While Mr. Williams played the role he was given superbly, the role was written poorly and the character itself was anything but menacing or villainous. You can’t really portray the heroic depths of a character as grand as The Phantom unless you have an equally despicable villain. The Phantom flick sorely needed such a villain. I do think that cast was top notch, and had they taken a bit more care with the crafting of Treat’s character (maybe shown us he was Kabai Singh’s puppet and given Kabai a larger role?), and then the movie would have been two thumbs way up. CC: Moonstone issue #12, your debut issue, is out very soon. Is there anything you’d like to tell the Phans about it before we close? MB: Every story must have a beginning… no wait, that’s Star Wars… sorry. Issue twelve debuts not only my writing, but new cover artist Joe Prado (with an alternate cover by Ruben Procopio, a man Phans will become very familiar with over the next year or so). A new ongoing column by Phantom expert and friend of Mr. Falk, Ed Rhoades and a new villain, new direction and a contest where Phans can… oh wait, I’m not supposed to mention that yet. CC: Yes, tell us more about this “new direction” that the book is taking. Is it a new direction story- wise, character wise, tone wise or no more striped undies wise? MB: It’s a new direction story-wise. Basically, whenever you have a new chef in the kitchen things take on a new direction. With Ben no longer at the helm, a new direction is inevitable. CC: Cheers Mike, and thanks for speaking with us. So you’ll be back for a follow up interview after the release of issue #13 to discuss your first arc as on-going Phantom writer? MB: Certainly. Thanks for the time, guys and keep up the great work with the site. #MikeBullock #LeeFalk #EdRhoades #Moonstone