The advent of Shakti Comics as a new publisher with the rights to print The Phantom in English, Bengali & Hindi was reported by us in our X-Band: podcast #195 of July 2021 Comics & News & finally in November 2021 their first issue is out! This is Shakti's first foray into the publishing word, formerly being a retailer of Indian comics. The 64 page comic is of 17.5 × 23.3 cm size, with laminated covers of 240 gsm paper. The inside pages are glossy 110 gsm paper. Its glue binded (also known as 'perfect binding' in India) something you usually see in thick tradepaperback volumes and not in 64 page books. Very impressive production no doubt! Regal Publishers had set a benchmark in production quality of their comics & Shakti seems to have decided to raise the levels even higher! The cover art is by Indian Comic's living legend Anupam Sinha - famous for his work on Raj Comics' mainstay characters of 'Super Commando Dhruva' & 'Nagraj'. The book also has a character bios section written by, yours truly Ankit Mitra and illustrated by Avishek Biswas. The story included is 'The Curse of Old Man Mozz', which is the 247th Daily Strip story written by Tony DePaul and illustrated by Mike Manley. A detailed review of the book is in the video. I would urge you to watch it for visual analysis and comparisons and the details of the good and bad. A quick summary of the pros and cons are: Cons: Original Lettering has been changed to a basic computer font of comic sans. In order to give the comic a more 'comic book' look panels have been enlarged. However those have been stretched and the art however too has been stretched. Its not noticeable as such unless you really compare it with the original strip side by side Removal of some of the inlays in the panels have not been cosmetically made up leading to some strange emptiness in some panel parts. This is rare but present All the above issues were borne out of the inexperience of the publisher and in a bid to make something unique they made some decisions which couldn't be reversed by the time it went to print. The publisher has since however promised to not repeat these errors. Pros Top notch production quality in binding, paper stock, printing, design and presentation. More Phantom for Indian phans and more opportunity for foreign phans to get daily and Sunday strips in very high quality collected editions. Overall keeping aside its obvious issues which are borne out of the birthing pains of a first time publisher, the sheer uncompromising attitude towards production quality and presentation easily makes this release highly recommended! The price for each issue is 200 Indian Rupees which is about: $3.63 Australian Dollars, $2.68 US Dollars, 2.32 Euro and 23.07 Swedish Krona. Due to licensing limitations, Shakti Comics can only sell & ship to addresses within India - so for Phans living outside India, I recommend you befriend an Indian Phan & have these books bought & shipped to you by them. If not, FREW are going to be selling some copies of this series via their website, and I'm sure these issues too will show up for order there - although in very limited quantity. Shakti has a webstore you can order from plus they are also available across various comics retailers in India. For any assistance regarding ordering these books directly from Shakti Comics you can contact them here: Shakti Comics Facebook: https://www.shakticomics.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/268814338130861/ E-mail: shakticomics@gmail.com

Another bumper (and long) X-Band: The Phantom Podcast as we look back at the comics and Phantom related news that have come out in October 2021. Mikael Lyck, Ankit Mitra review comics from Sweden and India and are joined by regulars Jermayn Parker, Stephen East and Dan Fraser. If two hours is too long for you, below is a list of topics that was discussed including their time stamps for you to pick and choose. We do recommend listening to the whole podcast though. Frew Publications Comics Reviews Frew #1902: 2 Minutes "Nest of the Undead" by Pidde Andersson and Joan Boix Grey Malkin Part 4 and 5: 10 Minutes by Glenn Lumsden and Jason Paulos Frew #1903: 17 Minutes 30 Seconds "The Prisoner of the Golden Cage" by Claes Reimerthi, Joan Boix, Rafael Ruiz, and Coral Martínez Frew #1904: 31 Minutes 115: “Wambo the Gambler“ by Lee Falk and by Wilson McCoy 114: “The White Monkey” by Lee Falk and by Wilson McCoy 113: “The Governors Family” by Lee Falk and by Wilson McCoy Giant Size #18: 35 Minutes "Scorpius: Judgement Day" by Shane Foley Fantomen Comics Reviews Fantomen 20/2021: 43 Minutes "Befria Avaria!" ("The Free Avar Front") by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel "Monumentet" ("The Ghost Wall") by Tony De Paul, George Olesen, and Keith Williams Fantomen 21/2021: 46 Minutes "Lätta pengar" ("Easy Money") by Michael Tierres and Georges Bess Fantomen 22-23/2021: 49 Minutes "Spionskeppet" ("The Spy Ship‎") by Tony DePaul and Jeff Weigel "Hanta-Häxan" ("The Hanta Witch‎") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry "Heloise" ("The Name‎") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry "Halloweenligan" ("The Halloween Kidnappers") by Claes Reimerthi, George Olesen, and Keith Williams Fantomen 2021 Softcover: 53 Minutes "Slavstaden" ("The Slave Market of Mucar") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry "Den grymma Samaris" ("Queen Samaris XII") by Lee Falk and Bill Lignante "Den gyllene strandens gåta" ("The Golden Sands of Keela-Wee") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry "Mysteriet med de fyra lejonen" ("The Lions of Kukhan") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry "Djungelolympiaden" ("Jungle Olympics") by Lee Falk and Sy Barry Regal Publishers Comics #16, #17 & #18: 59 Minutes Phantom issue #16 "The Jungle Trek" by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan "The Scoundrel" by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan Phantom issue #17 (Claes Reimerthi tribute issue) "The Snake Goddess's Island" by Claes Reimerthi and Graham Nolan "The Lion's Head Tamarine" by Claes Reimerthi and Graham Nolan Phantom issue #18 "The Halloween Kidnappers" by Claes Reimerthi, George Olesen, and Keith Williams "The Challenge" by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan No video review of the Fantomet Annual but it's on our website. Daily / Sunday progress Sunday #191: The Visitor : 1 Hour 13 Minutes 30 Seconds Sunday #192: The Ingenues: 1 Hour 21 Minutes Daily #258: To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines: 1 Hour 26 Minutes Daily #259: The Chronicle of Old Man Mozz: 1 Hour 29 Minutes X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #200: Tony DePaul, Jeff Weigel and Mike Manley joined us with patreons and there are lots of comments and discussions about these newspaper past and future stories. The Apparition #1 review: 1 Hour 34 Minutes Not licensed but obviously Phantom inspired. Phantom News for October Games by Lyck Kickstarter campaign (link): 1 Hour 38 Minutes New German Publisher Zauberstern Comics (link): 1 Hour 41 Minutes 30 Seconds Wick Publications out in first quarter of 2022 also: 1 Hour 41 Minutes 30 Seconds Mythos new format for their comics: 1 Hour 44 Minutes Editions Dante releasing TPBs instead of single issues (link): 1 Hour 46 Minutes 30 Seconds Update on Boss Fight Studio Phantom figurines (link): 1 Hour 49 Minutes 30 Seconds Hermes Complete DC Phantom collection volume 2 out in 2022 (link). 1 Hour 55 Minutes Mallon Diary, print and journal: 1 Hour 58 Minutes Norwegian cassette being turned into a CD crowdfund: 2 Hours 3 Minutes We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed in the podcast and we hope you have a great time listening to the podcast. You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Following the success of the 85th anniversary diary that Mallon released this year they have started sending out pre order forms for their 2022 diary, a limited print featuring the new painting and a journal all featuring amazing covers by Douglas Klauba. You can download the pre order form here: The print and 2022 diary covers is a brand new painting by Douglas while the journal cover is from the cover of Lightning Strikes #3. You can listen to a podcast interview with Douglas Klauba here on X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #112. The details of the three items are: Diary cased with concealed-wiro binding, full colour throughout. Trim size 230 x 170 mm with 120 pages. AUD 50 + postage/packaging limited-edition print of painting by Douglas Klauba, painted in acrylic paints and printed on 270 gsm archival stock. It will be limited to 200 copies, each copy signed and numbered by the artist AUD 100.00 plus postage/packaging Undated journal with a soft cover in full colour. One colour throughout. Trim size 210 x 150 mm and comprises sections for daily notes, addresses and calendar. Total of 176 pages. AUD 40.00 plus postage/packaging To secure your copies of these Phantom collectibles, please indicate your required numbers and complete the form attached. Please send a scanned copy to info@mallon.net.au or by post to Mallon Publishing PO Box 1210, Research, VIC 3095, Australia and send payment by one of the methods offered. What will you be buying? All three? Special thanks to our patreons who passed on the news, in Callum Markin and Nathan Mckee-Duff.

Back in 1984, the Fantomet magazine in issue 19 released a complementary floppy single. It led to a 1984 cassette titled Nærradio sold for the Fantomet club is a mix of songs, containing 13 tracks, 3 of them feature the Phantom and then there is some fake commercials, news and talk between the songs to make it feel like a radio station in the deep woods. The three Phantom themes songs are: The Theme of the Phantom” The Boss” The Spirit That Walks” Almost 40 years later with the cassette only in the memory of die hard Phantom phans and the odd nostalgia moment browsing YouTube (player below). That is all about to change. Listed now on the Bidra.no crowdfund website you can now get your own copy on a CD. It is worth mentioning that the option for shipping outside the Scandinavian is not available for the crowdfund. (Instructions on how to crowdfund is below) However if it is successful, it will be on sale on the Norske Album Klassikere website and then it will be available for shipping overseas. Will you be funding it or hope to wait for it to be sold on the website and buy that way? Instructions of Thanks to Kristian Hellesund for his insight and the above instructions image and phans Mikael Lyck and Håkon Dåffen Sandvold for their help also in the writing of the article.

Fantomen editor Andreas Eriksson joins us in episode #201. He introduces himself, his role and how its different to past editor Mikael Sol (His interview in episode #116). After that Andreas goes through what we readers can expect for Fantomen 2022 which includes a new publication released in the first half of next year plus many more tid bits that should excite every reader and phan. One of the cool things was that some past creators will be back - who would you like to see return creating stories for Fantomen? We in total over 20 questions ranging from Sandal Singh, the fatherhood dilemma of Nadir, who will take over from Claes Reimerthi and the Phantoms diversity. If two hours is too long for you, below is a list of topics that was discussed including their time stamps for you to pick and choose: How you became a Phantom phan: 3 Minutes History with Fantomen and your past roles: 5 Minutes Black and white and or colour Fantomen: 16 Minutes 30 Seconds Most favourite story: 18 Minutes Timeline filling in for Mikael Sol in the past: 20 Minutes Difference between Mikael Sols job role and yours: 30 Minutes Why Sandal Singh is good for the Phantom: 35 Minutes Is Nadir The Phantoms Son?: 40 Minutes What is to come in Fantomen? 2022: 44 Minutes - Will 2022 be the same amount of issues?: 45 Minutes - Will there be the same softcover album and christmas album?: 46 Minutes - A new publication for Fantomen 2022: 47 Minutes 30 Seconds - The 22nd Phantom saga: 55 Minutes 30 Seconds - A Phantom Bible: 1 Hour 9 Minutes - New Phantom stories for 2022?: 1 Hour 12 Minutes - Any new creators?: 1 Hour 24 Minutes - The 1000th Fantomen created story: 1 Hour 28 Minutes 30 Seconds - Will you ever publish a whole black and white fantomen comic again?: 1 Hour 31 Minutes 30 Seconds Other Random Fantomen questions - Who will take over from Claes Reimerthi?: 1 Hour 35 Minutes - We will ever see a return of extras (supplements) in our Fantomen?: 1 Hour 37 Minutes - Does the Phantom need to be more diverse or have more diverse characters?: 1 Hour 40 Minutes - What do you do if there is a continuity issue?: 1 hour 48 Minutes - Process with KFS: 1 Hour 53 Minutes - What do you want your legacy to be?: 1 Hour 55 Minutes - About Jacob Habinc: 2 Hours We would love to hear from you on what you think of what we discussed with Andreas Eriksson. and we hope you have a great time listening to the podcast. If you want to listen to our past podcast with Andreas 7 years ago in August 2014, an audio player is attached: You can email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles with your feedback at Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

The forthcoming Phantom exhibition in Albury, which features the collection of our good friend Bradley Peach and has the title of Enter the Phantom, now has its own website. The site, which can be found at EnterThePhantom.com, contains a wealth of information about the exhibition, the Phantom and his mythology and the Albury museum. If you’re planning on heading to the exhibition checking out the site would be a great idea. While you’re at it, be sure to check out our interview with Bradley on the recent X-Band episode if you haven’t already. #BradleyPeach

With the Phantom’s 80th Anniversary coming up King Features Syndicate is set to release a very special item (well, four, but more on that later) and India gets some cool new collectibles. First up, you may remember we posted a little while ago about Indian store Entertainment Store. Well, they have just announced a “Phantom Launch Plan,” showcasing a whole heap of merch that they will be releasing over the coming months from keychains to mugs. Check out the image at the bottom of this post to see all the releases. If you’re anything like us you’ve probably been wondering if KFS plan anything special for the Phantom’s 80th anniversary. Well, according to licensing.biz they are – with some of it already on store shelves. According to the article the recently released PopVinyl figures were an initiative by KFS for the 80th anniversary, even though no mention of the anniversary appears on the packaging. Apart from this, however, the article also mentions that commemorative silver coin will be released through Perth Bullion though no other details have been released. As soon as we know more we’ll pass the info on. #80th #KingFeaturesSyndicate #PopVinyl #PerthBullion

You only have one more month to Enter The Phantom in Albury - and there's one special day you should aim for! On February 25th February, Bradley Peach is hosting a Phantom Fun Morning from 10am - 12:30pm. There will be dress-ups and story time for the kids, as well as all the materials they need to create and draw their very own comic strip. For the grown ups, there's a Collector's gathering with phans encouraged to bring along their special collectibles and to share stories with like-minded individuals. In addition, Bradley and wife Joyful will conduct a tour of the exhibition. In the meantime, friend of ChronicleChamber.com, Sean Bassett has visited the display. He's shared some of the pictures of his visit, which we're sure will whet your appetite! So make sure you get along to the Lavington Library (366 Griffith Rd, Albury) and see it all for yourself! You may just be surprised at which Phantom luminaries you will be joining! #BradleyPeach #LukeMcDonnell

Kid Phantom recently shared a big announcement on their Facebook Page: a new title Kid Mandrake is coming soon! This is the first new publication featuring Mandrake the Magician in many, many years, and comes from Frew Publications on the back of their successful Kid Phantom comic book series. The artist for Kid Mandrake is West Australian Brenton McKenna (creator of Ubby's Underdogs for Magabala books). The character was hinted at as far back as Kid Phantom #2, when posters featuring the magician's father could be seen in some panels. We look forward to seeing the new story Kid Mandrake as a complement to the successful Kid Phantom book. It would also seem likely that young Kit and Mandrake would meet in a future Kid Phantom comic. It has not taken long at all for some phans to cheekily apply the nickname 'Boydrake' to the youngest incarnation of the character, who was first created by Lee Falk way back in 1934. On the right is Kid Phantom artist Dr Paul Mason’s character design mock up of the Young Mandrake, from when the pins and cards (currently being issued with Kid Phantom comics) were being planned last year. Eagle-eyed viewers will notice the rabbit in the hat... perhaps this rabbit will be like Paul's birds which appear in various panels and some kids find in a Where's Wally-style activity. Editor Glenn Ford has told us that we will first see Brenton's work in the Sydney & Perth Supanova Program guide; we saw Frew use this technique last year to introduce us to Phantom by Gaslight with a #0. It can be assumed that this will be a similar concept, giving us an introductory look at Mandrake as a boy. It would also seem likely that the next pin to be released with Kid Phantom #5 might be Kid Mandrake, and it would be great to see a poster featuring the two released at Supanova. Hopefully, Brenton will also be at Supanova Sydney to meet and mingle with Phantom and Mandrake phans. No word yet if or when Kid Mandrake will become a regular comic book series or used as a bonus in the Kid Phantom comic book series. Below is a copy of the local Broome (North West WA) newspaper article and a photo of the two artists together. #Mandrake #KidPhantom #DrPaulMason #BrentonMcKenna #Frew #GlennFord #Supanova #Gaslight #LeeFalk

One of the things we have been critical off with King Features on the X-Band: The Phantom Podcast is that the style guide is out dated and been using the same set of images for at least a decade. It has meant that a lot of products have used the same images including past Comics Kingdom products and they are boring. Imagine my surprise when Comics Kingdom added new products with new images we have not seen before. You can view them here at the Comics Kingdom website. Time will tell if these are new additions to the style guide that King Features send out for potential customers and business looking to use the Phantom on their products. However the fact we have new images is a start.

The last month has been exciting for Phantom phans from around the world with a discovery that the Phantom was published in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the late 1980's and 1990's. Nearly 40% of the population from the UAE are Indians so it is no surprise that The Phantom who is very popular among Indian phans was published there. In the late 1980's and 1990's a childrens magazine called "Young Times" was released and along with the magazine came a comic book supplement called "Funtimes" which included 16 pages of comics, posters of musical and sporting stars, puzzles and activities. The characters along with The Phantom that were featured in the supplement "Funtimes" included: Mandrake the Magacian, Spider-Man, Tarzan, Donald Duck, Flash Gordon, Henry, Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Beetle Bailey, Archie and many more. The magazine published Sunday stories of the Phantom with a few weeks lag of when they originally appeared in newspapers. In looking at the supplements we have, the stories are "The Eastern Dark at Janorra" (Sunday 135) and "Return of the Thuggees" (Sunday 136) by Lee Falk and Sy Barry. Attached is a scanned copy of one of the Supplements. You can flick through the album and see the various pages. A huge thanks goes to Anjan Kumar for finding the magazines and supplying them for the research into this article.

2020 looms as a year of sentimentality and celebration in Sweden as we lead up to the 70th Anniversary of the Fantomen magazine, first published way back on October 5 1950. We are led to believe that throughout 2020 we will see nostalgic reprints and new surprises. This begins with the very first issue of the anniversary year, which included a very special version of their traditional "Schedule" poster, featuring a previously unseen Jaime Vallve painting (see bottom of page). Issue 1/2020 includes the full story about how the original artwork came to be, it's rediscovery by a Phantom phan, and how it became the Schedule poster for 2020. You can read the full story in the issue itself; a brief summary is included below. The comic will not be on shop shelves for much longer, so if you have missed out or are an international collector, you should look to purchase the comic from special shops including Serie Kallaren, Serier & Sant, Bosses Comics and Tradera (a Swedish style eBay). If you wish to organise your own subscription to Fantomen, you can do so here. The story goes that in the middle of the 1970's, at the height of Jaime Vallve's popularity, he had a summer house in the south of Sweden. During his visits over the years he formed a friendship with his Swedish neighbours - the Bolinder's. As a gift for their friendship he painted this picture for them. It was not until 2011 when Elias Bolinder, the grandson of the original owners, contacted the Fantomen staff and showed them the original. After some research from Andreas Eriksson and then editor Ulf Granberg, they decided the image could have been inspired by the story The Ghost Pirates, originally published in Fantomen 15/1977. It was also only the sixth Team Fantomen story that was reproduced in Australia by Frew, in issue #765 (1983). It must be stressed that this fresh image is not simply a cover, sketch or preliminary cover that was rejected by the editorial team. Ulf has confirmed it was never presented to him and he had never seen it before. Fast forward to 2018 and planning the 70th Anniversary of Fantomen. On a suggestion from Andreas Eriksson it was decided that this image would have a great nostalgic feel for the start of the anniversary year of 2020, along with a reprint of The Ghost Pirates - this time in color. Fantomen 1/2020 also includes a reprint of Lee Falk & Wilson McCoy's Danglor, International Bank Thief, which has never before been published in the Fantomen magazine. All this behind a Henrik Sahlström cover that features Mr Walker wearing a McCoy era chequered coat, drawn in Sahlström's own style. Fantomen's anniversary year continues in issue 2-3/2020, with two recent KFS daily strips (A Reckoning with the Nomad and Kit's Letter Home) and the Frew story Jungle Love by Pidde Andersson and Shane Foley. This marks the first time ever that a Frew story has been printed in Sweden. Big thanks to Mikael Lyck and Andreas Eriksson for their help contributing to the article and providing scans. To listen to our "X-Band: The Phantom Podcast" interviews with Ulf Granberg, they can be found here and here) #JaimeVallve #Fantomen #TeamFantomen #UlfGranberg #AndreasEriksson #MikaelSol #HenrikSahlström #WilsonMcCoy #LeeFalk #KingFeaturesSyndicate #PiddeAndersson #ShaneFoley

One of the most unique Phantom stories has to be the relationship Papua New Guinea people have with our Ghost Who Walks or "man ino save dai" (Man Who Cannot Die) or "man bilong pait" (Man of War). The collection of antique and newly created shields depicting our hero painted on them has increased significantly in the last 5-10 years. So much so, a website has been built to celebrate them and now a coffee style book has just been released on 24 February 2021 just weeks after The Phantoms 85th birthday. The book is not cheap at $99 US plus shipping but with this book being the most detailed history of the war shields plus the history of the Phantom in PNG it will appeal to many. Buy the book via the Publisher: $99US Buy the book via Frew: $120Au Art dealer Chris Boylan (Sydney, Australia) and Jessica Lindsay Phillips (Toronto, Canada) are the publishers and creators behind the book which includes illustrations of over 100 examples of shields and a history of them. Along with a history of the shields, resident Phantom historian Kevin Patrick has contributed an essay about the publishing history of the Phantom comic strip in Papua New Guinea which gives it a great all round effect of the impact this hero has to the whole nation. Rita Uechtritz who is involved with the book, gave a speech about the book at the 2019 LFMBEC dinner and you can listen to her talking about her experience through the Wahgi tribe and their shields either here or via the audio play section below. She speaks from 1hour, 3 minutes 30 seconds. Here is a sample of two pages from the book.

Reapers Quest (formally Wulfric Media) are now taking orders for their new headwear being a hat and beanie - perfect for the Australian winter. In our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #174 with Kelby Wooldridge, he spoke a lot about his love for the unique Phantom's Jungle Patrol which is clearly demonstrated with his new Jungle Patrol hat and beanie. It must be said having a Phantom product not actually featuring The Phantom is somewhat unique and new. Other characters and publishers have the ability to have cross platform but does the Phantom? These Jungle Patrol products will be a great test. All orders can be made from their website: http://reapersquest.org/ While some of the prices for their rings may be priced beyond all phans, the headgear are not. As per normal Reapers Quest are producing a top quality product with a great attention to detail especially with their product packaging. Below is a gallery of the items along with a sneak peak video of both hat and beanie from Kelby. Will you be buying one?

Games by Lyck has on designed or by accident dropped a hint that we may get an extension pack not once or twice, but thrice. Attached is their latest update: We will continue working with all the partners that have helped us, kept the communication going and been great. Next time the products will be handled from doorstep to doorstep by the fulfillment partners to decrease the paperwork needed and increase the overall responsibility by our more experienced logistics partners. We have plans to move to another manufacturer for the upcoming expansion..... I am so much looking forward to talk more about the expansion, hopefully I can share more about that soon! Even with the shipping delays, this is exciting news. The American backers are in the middle of receiving their orders at the moment and lastly Australians and New Zealands are still waiting for their games to arrive after some unforeseen delays. This is exciting news that we are looking like we are getting a new extension pack. Have you played the game? Are you looking forward to the extension pack? What would you like to see as an extension? What would like to see the extension pack bring to the game?