Better late than never they say! Chinese New Year and the global pandemic may have delayed the shipping, but Mallon’s 2021 iteration of The Phantom Diary, celebrating 85 years of publishing history for our hero, has finally arrived and is available for purchase. Cartons of the finished products have arrived in Melbourne and Sydney Australia. Phans who pre-ordered Trade and Limited Editions are having their copies posted to them as we speak, including the Sy Barry signed prints that accompany the Limited Edition. It is only a matter of days until a faithful reader has it in their hot little hands. More circumspect collectors may have waited until the physical copies were available in Australia - they can now order with confidence direct from Mallon or even head to Frew’s website, with the publication company on-selling the diary on Mallon’s behalf. Frew have Trade copies available now, with Limited Edition copies to come shortly. While it is of course a shame that the diary was not available from the start of the year, it must be remembered that while the calendar year is laid out within its pages, this really is a diary in name only. In reality, this is a comprehensive Phantom reference book with important dates from eight and a half decades of history. All the key ‘firsts’ – first appearance by a character, first publication in a country, first story by your favourite author or artist – you name it, it is listed in these pages. As mentioned above the diary is available in both Trade and Limited Editions. Sy Barry has painted a great illustration especially for the diary, which is featured on the cover of the trade edition and available as a limited, numbered print with the Limited Edition. Sy is personally signing each of these prints. The Limited Edition features an embossed cover based on a Douglas Klauba illustration. So while the slow boat from China and the global pandemic may have caused a delay in release that no one wanted, rest assured that if you choose to pick up a copy, you will delight in and refer to this volume for many years to come. This is indeed a Phantom collectible. Order from Mallon directly by downloading the order form here or contacting them via email info@mallon.net.au. Alternatively, the site to purchase from Frew is here. To watch a special preview of the diary please watch the below video of our exclusive plotter's proof we were given to show you.

Life moves pretty fast theses days, and if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you're going to miss it! Wise words from Ferris, and ones we would all do well to heed. Once again, too long has passed since our last update for the Phantom Preservation Project (P3) as life has moved fast on us, but we do hope you enjoy the latest batch of digital Phantom goodies that we have been able to archive for us all to stop and have a look around at. Among this months latest additions: Rick Hoberg 2016 1996 Movie website landing pages KFS Style Guides - 2020 1996 - Starlog #229 Newspaper articles from Australia (26 files) including a dozen from 1999 observing the death of Lee Falk Official Phantom Club (Australia) - Miscellaneous letters, adverts (5 files) Video files: 1996 USA San Francisco Channel 2 Interview with Billy Zane 1996 USA Entertainment Tonight Movie Review 1998 Australia UP CLOSE & PERSONAL Sy Barry Interview 1998 Australia Newcastle Sy Barry Draws for Children As always, the attached link shows you the full gamut of Phantom history we have managed to preserve. We sincerely hope you enjoy these latest distractions, perhaps with a little time to enjoy them over the Easter holiday. All patreons will be emailed an access link. if you are interested in learning about our patreon or gaining access, head over to our Patreon page and as we always say... Happy Phantoming!

Some good news for Melbourne phans is that the Melbourne Comic Con is still planned to go ahead and it will feature a number of Phantom related created. As is the new normal, things can change rapidly with COVID-19 but at the time of writing the event will be on July 3-4 which is the weekend after Supanova Perth (which is the weekend after Supanova Sydney). At this stage the list of Phantom related guests are: Jaime Johnson Matt Kyme Andrew Constant Camillo Di Pietrantonio No word yet on any Phantom related panels. EDIT: THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED

Jermayn Parker and Dan Fraser with input by regulars Mikael Lyck, Stephen East and Ankit Mitra review all the latest Phantom news and comics from around the world across five continents. We review comics from Frew Publications, Regal Publications and Fantomen plus spend time discussing a big month of Phantom news of new publishers and comics to come in the near future, new items to buy plus some new dates for Supanova events in Australia for the back end of 2021. Frew also drop a huge hint for a potential Christmas present. We also touch upon the sad passing of Claes Reimerthi which we go into more detail and reflection in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast Episode #194. Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. If you only want to listen to specific reviews of the comics and or news, we have included a timeline for you to follow. Enjoy! Frew Publications Frew 1896 (4 Minutes) "Rotten Apples" by Duncan Munro and Jeff Weigel Frew 1897 (25 Minutes 30 Seconds) "Fishers of Pearls" by Lee Falk and Ray Moore "The Maharajah's Daughter" part 2 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy "The Maharajah's Daughter" part 1 by Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy Frew 1898 (30 Minutes 30 Seconds) “The Messengers of the Jungle” by Donne Avenell and Georges Bess Regal Publishers Regal #13 (46 Minutes 30 Seconds) "Temple of the Gods, Part 1: The U-Boat Mystery" by Tony DePaul, George Olesen, Keith Williams, and Paul Ryan "Temple of the Gods, Part 2: Return to Eden" by Tony DePaul and Paul Ryan Regal #14 (50 Minutes 30 Seconds) "Woduro's Secret" by Claes Reimerthi and Graham Nolan "The Viking Fortress Mystery" by Tony DePaul and Graham Nolan Regal #15 (53 Minutes 30 Seconds) "The Ghost Wall" by Tony De Paul, George Olesen, and Keith Williams "The Crime Apprentices" by Tony De Paul and Paul Ryan Fantomen Fantomen 16/2021 (57 Minutes 40 Seconds) "Nosferatus hämnd" by Claes Reimerthi and Janusz Ordon Fantomen 17/2021 (59 Minutes 30 Seconds) "Den förbjudna skogen" ("The Llongo Forest") by Tony DePaul and Mike Manley Daily / Sunday Stories Sunday: "The Visitor" (1 Hour) Daily: "To Wrack and Ruin at Gravelines" 1 Hour 17 Minutes 30 Seconds) Phantom News News from Frew (1 hour 27 minutes) 7 Foot Phantom (link) (1 hour 34 minutes) 2020 Best Fantomen Cover Announced (link) (1 hour 37 Minutes 30 Seconds) Classic Phantom NECA Figurine Announced (link) (1 hour 41 Minutes) Claes Reimerthi Passing (link) & memorial podcast (link) (1 hour 48 Minutes) Hermes DC collection Series Volume 1 out soon (link) (1 Hour 50 Minutes 45 Seconds) Shakti Comics have a new license to produce in Bengali and Hindi and maybe in English as well (1 Hour 54 Minutes 30 Seconds) New Supanova dates for Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane (2 Hour 30 Seconds) If you have ever wanted to do your own Chronicle Chamber reviews we are looking for any French / Canadian fans who have a copy and can review the latest Editions Dante TPB as well as anyone who can review the PNG Shields Book and the 2021 Mallon Diary. We are also still on the look out for a Brazilian fan who can review all the new Mythos Phantom comics. Please email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com if you are interested. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel. We would love to hear from you on what you think of this podcast episode and our reviews and opinions. You can email us at chroniclechamebr@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram.

The latest issues of #13, #14 & #15 comes as a relief to phans, who were anxious about the future of the series, and also nicely coincides with the first anniversary of Regal's publishing of the title. With three books out after a 3 month gap, it remains to be seen what the new publishing schedule will be for Regal. As usual the comics are printed in the same high quality thick gloss paper (similar to the high-quality colour trade paperbacks of Frew) that was very well received and since in use from the first time it was presented with the 2020 Christmas Special Issues #5 & #6. Issue #13's cover is by Vincent Moses Raja and comes with a free mini poster of the cover art. The stories included are the dailies of 'Temple of The Gods Part 1 - The U-Boat Mystery' and 'Temple of The Gods Part 2 - Return to Eden'. Both stories have been written by Tony DePaul. Part 1 has been illustrated partly by George Olesen with Keith Williams on inks and finished by Paul Ryan (who started his long career on the strip from the middle of this story) who is also the artist of Part 2. A great issue considering it collects both parts of what I consider a really intriguing epic story. Issue #14's cover is drawn by Ankit Mitra (yours truly) and it comes with a free sticker of The Phantom based off the the issue's cover art. The stories included are the Sunday Strips of 'Woduro's Secret' written by the late Claes Reimerthi (RIP) and 'The Viking Fortress Mystery', written by Tony DePaul. Both stories have been illustrated by Graham Nolan. Issue #15's cover is drawn by Ankit Mitra (yours truly again) and it comes with a free card which is based off the issue's cover art. The stories included are the Tony DePaul written dailies 'The Ghost Wall', drawn by George Olesen with Kieth Williams on inks and 'The Crime Apprentices', drawn by Paul Ryan. It's great to see Regal come back from this period of uncertainty with their familiar high quality production values. And also capping off their one year of publishing 'The Phantom' with three issues in one go feels like a good boost to get back that impetus all over again! The price for each issue is 200 Indian Rupees which is about: $3.66 Australian Dollars, $2.69 US Dollars, 2.27 Euro & 23.11 Swedish Krona. (Approximate Rates) Due to licensing limitations, Regal 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 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. Regal have an Amazon Storefront for Indian Phans who would like to order these books from Amazon.in Issues #1 to #6 can be ordered HERE Issues #7 to 10 can be ordered HERE Issues #11, #12 & Mandrake #1 can be ordered HERE Issues #13, #14 & #15 can be ordered HERE For any assistance regarding ordering these books directly from Regal you can contact Regal Publishers here: Regal Publishers Whatsapp & Phone No: +91 94810 52592 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/regalpublishers/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/regalpublishers/ E-mail: regalpublishers@gmail.com

Dan Herman from Hermes Press has just released a promo video on their latest collection series. Originally the series was announced to be released in May 2021 (read the release here) but is now on a long ship from China. We expect it to hit comic book shops August/September. The DC series is very popular among phans and the colour reproduction looks to be top quality, Dan made mention that the paper quality is 128 gsm on 90 pound matt stock paper. You can buy these from the Hermes website here or via your local comic shop or other places. The first volume will include an interview with Peter David including his interactions with Lee Falk which will be worth reading. Dan makes it seem that the relationship wasn't completely rosy. Will you be buying these hardcovers? When Chronicle Chamber gets their copies we will record our thoughts in a review. We have been lucky enough to interview both DC creators artist Luke McDonnell and writer Mark Verheiden in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcasts. Below are the video podcast interviews. If you are a phan of this series, these podcasts are a must watch / listen. During the podcasts both creators were asked about republication by Hermes, either at that stage it was not on the cards or they held their cards close to their chest.

Every Phantom phan was devastated when they heard the news of Claes Reimerthi passing on the 23 of July 2021. Please read our obituary on the legacy of Claes Reimerthi. On the podcast the boys (Jermayn Parker, Dan Fraser, Mikael Lyck & Stephen East) spend 90 minutes talking about the great man and his imprint on our hero, The Phantom. We discuss our lasting memory of Claes and what we think his legacy will be. Other topics are: Our favourite characters he created or developed like: Miss Mist, Lubanga, Sandal Singh, The Butterfly Man and Dogai Singh Who takes over from Claes writing the 22nd Phantom ongoing saga? We never had the chance to have Claes as a guest on our podcast but you can read an interview with from 2008 here. If you would like to contribute to a memorial compilation podcast / video, please submit them to chroniclechamber@gmail.com During the podcast we talk about a lot of stories, arcs, characters etc. Below is a list of every story with the Frew and Fantomen publication issue for you to either dig out and read or hunt down a copy. Enjoy! Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Claes Göran Reimerthi Born 12 January 1955 Died 23 July 2021 age 66 Author Fantomen magazine and Daily/Sunday The Phantom newspaper stories Claes Reimerthi, giant of the Swedish comics community and one of the most important individuals in The Phantom history, passed away over the weekend. In this post, Chronicle Chamber pays our tribute and our respects. _________________________________________________________________________________________ Claes Reimerthi’s first published Phantom story appeared in Fantomen #22 of 1984 under the pseudonym Michael Tierres, an anagram of his own name. 22/1984 featured the first instalment of the two-part Gold Fever with art by Jaime Vallve, and tells the story of a young, pre-oath 16th Phantom. With the benefit of hindsight, it was perhaps a telling introduction to an author who would become renowned as one unafraid to make his own mark on the story and legacy of The Phantom. Gold Fever was published in Australia by Frew in 2010, in The Phantom #1583. The emerging author was credited in 61 issues as Michael Tierres over 9 years before giving up the pseudonym. He would go on to be the credited writer in a further 218 issues of Fantomen, for a total of 279 total. While he has quite a number of two- and up to six-part stories spanning issues which means that this cannot be regarded as the total number of stories as such, there is no doubt that he has been clearly the second most prolific Phantom author of all time (particularly once you factor in the epic 50-part Heart of Darkness). The editorial team at Fantomen retains a number of his unpublished scripts written in the months before his retirement earlier this year, so that number will grow posthumously. However, Claes Reimerthi is not remembered simply for the volume of stories he wrote, but also for the enormous quality and talent he brought to the page. His stories include some of the most popular with Phantom readers and have consistently been voted highly by readers in Best Story awards, topping the count eight times in Sweden between 1984 and 2018, a further six times in Norway (1998-2009) and once in Finland (1986). Talented and popular, Claes was one of a small group of influential creators summoned into "the Brain Trust" of Team Fantomen by editor Ulf Granberg in 1992. This core group participated in annual seminars to discuss the Swedish team's development of The Phantom and determine the direction of their own ongoing continuities and story arcs. Claes and long-time colleague Hans Lindahl would later become co-editors of Team Fantomen's Phantom production from 2013 to 2015, following Granberg’s retirement. 1994’s two-part tale Election in Bengali was one of the first stories produced under this new regime and was the first time a story is attributed to Claes Remeirthi. As the harbinger of a new editorial direction, Election in Bengali remains a seminal, if somewhat controversial, story to this day. In periodically removing Lee Falk’s Lamanda Luaga from the Presidency, Claes and Team Fantomen created a split in the Phantom universe that (spoiler alert for non-Fantomen readers) would not be completely resolved until Luaga was returned to the position in 2019's A New Hope by Mikael Sol and Anthony Spay (Fantomen 24/2019 – not yet published by Frew). In much of that 25-year interim period, Team Fantomen were able to play with the politics of Bangalla and create a raft of unique tensions for the Phantom to deal with. This freedom allowed another key story arc that Claes had a lead hand in: the generational evolution of the Singh dynasty. He oversaw the introduction of Sandal Singh as the leader of the Singh Pirates in the mid-2000s and developed stories that saw her take her turn as President of the fictional African nation. While Claes’ development of Sandal’s complicated relationship with the Phantom through the early 2010s remains contentious among many phans, it is further evidence that he was prepared to expand and develop the character right throughout his career. This spirit of creativity and expansion saw some of the most formative stories in Team Fantomen’s contribution to the Phantom universe coming from the pen of Reimerthi. He was particularly active in historical stories about previous generations of the character, from the 1984 Best Story winner The First Phantom to the popular The Triads and Nat Turner’s Spirit sagas. While many of these tales were well received by phans, there was also the occasional criticism that his historical tales could become wordy and bogged down in detail at times. While always respectful of the source material Cleas was also very prepared to step well away from Falk lore, creating such diverse titles as The Phantom Crusader, The Phantom Gladiator, In a Strange Land, and Rahotep, all set before the established Phantom timeline and reconsidering some elements of possible Phantom history. While not to the taste of all phans, this genre of “fantasy” Phantom stories were clearly a favourite of his. Not restricted to the past, Claes also threw the Phantom into a future scenario in The Phantom vs Singh 2050, which was initially written as a "what if" story but has since been accommodated into potential lore by editorial choices around the cryogenic freezing of Dogai Singh. One of Claes' last undertakings as a writer was to begin a process that few authors would dare – shifting The Phantom from the 21st to the 22nd generation, not as a "what if" scenario, but as an extension of Phantom canon according to Team Fantomen. 2016’s The 22nd Phantom saga has established a succession path for the character and opened the door for another writer to move Team Fantomen’s Phantom into the next iteration. It remains to be seen if the current editorial team, and indeed the powers that be at King Features, are keen to continue the move in this direction. Claes retired from writing Phantom scripts this year, to spend more time to write his own projects. His final script for the Phantom was finished early in 2021, so Phantom fans can find some solace in that he wrote everything he wanted to write for The Phantom and left no unfinished Phantom scripts. While obviously it is his work for Sweden’s Fantomen magazine that he will be most remembered for, it is also vital to commend his role in the newspaper strip. Credited as the author for three Daily stories and six Sundays between 1999 and 2003, Claes helped bridge the gap between Lee Falk’s death and King Features appointing Tony De Paul as a permanent replacement. Claes was an influential figure in Tony’s development as a Phantom author and appointment, having been his colleague at Team Fantomen for a number of years through the 1990s. There are phans who would argue that without the assistance of Team Fantomen and Claes Reimerthi in particular, The Phantom newspaper strip may not have survived the immediate post-Falk period. Outside the world of The Phantom, Claes was also very active in the Swedish comics community, writing a variety of titles including for Kerry Drake and The Gauntlet of Fate. He contributed to the comedy strips 91:an, Lilla Fridolf and Sputnik, the children's comic Bamse and the historical graphic novel series Gustaf Vasa about the Swedish king of the same name. In his spare time, Claes was a comics scholar who produced several books, articles and reviews of comics and comics creators. He received The Adamson Statuette (Sweden’s finest comics award, presented to an acclaimed comics creator) in 2001, and The Unghunden Award in 2015 (for his contributions to comics for children and youth). Claes Remerthi is survived by his partner Anna-Marie, daughters Sanna and Malin, and his loving grandchildren. Many thanks to Andreas Eriksson, Pidde Andersson and Michael Lyck for their feedback and provision of information for this obit. Chronicle Chamber will release a special podcast tribute discussing the life and legacy of Claes Reimerthi later this week.

After initially announced back in May 2021, the Chronicle Chamber team has their Jungle Patrol hat and beanie and have washed, worn and fully tested them to bring to you a detailed review. One question we have heard been asking is would these beanies keep your head warm in the Scandinavian winter. While the Australian winter is nothing on the Scandinavian winter we did our best to try and find out. Dan Fraser took his out camping and Stephen East wore his in the Ballarat winter. It has been tested in sub 0 degrees, worn in the Australian winter and bush and then washed after the wives got a hold of it. Have you purchased either a hat or beanie? Will you be? Tell us your thoughts on the Jungle Patrol beanie and hat. You can buy them online here

NECA's Online Comic Con Panel on 19th July 2021 confirmed that they would be making a 7 inch scale fully articulated Classic Phantom figure scheduled for release in Late 2021 under their new upcoming 'Original Superheroes' line of figures. As per Randy Falk, NECA's Creative Director, and the prototype pictures that were shown - The figure seems to be the same base sculpt as NECA 'Defenders of The Earth - The Phantom' figure but with added gun belt holsters, striped painted briefs, newly sculpted Colts hand guns, extra palms for posing and holding the weapons, a whip & a skull accessory which can also be used as an alternative head sculpt (I wonder why?) Also the eyes and the skull on the belt buckle will glow in the dark! The figure is reportedly going to come in packaging that has been carefully made to pay respect to the art and heritage of the classic comic strip. Let's hope this time around NECA takes care in ensuring all the Quality Control issues that plagued their earlier Phantom figure don't turn up on this one as this would probably be THE definitive Phantom Figure for most Phans all over the world. All the Phantom news starts at 5:24 and continues with Flash Gordon news continuing until 13:30. Randy Falk also mentions that the extra 'Original Superheroes' line and Flash Gordon series is because of the phans buying the Defenders of the Earth figurines. So congratulations everyone for making these a possibility. Randy has also confirmed that Lothar and Mandrake will be released in wave 2.0 in the Defenders of the Earth series.

In the latest issue of Fantomen (16/2021) we have learned that the winner of best Fantomen cover goes to Henrik Sahlström and his reimagined The Mysterious Passenger in issue 5 of 2020. It won with a huge margin, more than double the amount of votes of the second place. It was mentioned in the X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #179 - Phans' Phavourites Of 2020 as a top 3 cover of 2020 by both Jermayn and Dan! Second and third place also went to Henrik Sahlström. And here are the rest of the votes: A great trend is the amount of votes from the 254 votes for 2019 to this years 421 votes. It is a great improvement! What cover did you vote for?

Glenn Lumsden is a very popular Australian artist who first drew comics in Australia back in the 1970's. He was one of the first Australian artists to draw a full length Phantom story, has worked for several American comic companies including DC and Marvel. Some of the topics we touch upon are: History of the Marvel Phantom series including the amazing lengths he went to to get it right including mapping out the whole car chase and even his trip to Africa. History on comics from the 1930s to current. History on comics in Australia and who he worked with for several decades. His history with Glenn Ford and who he looked like in the 70's and 80's. His Giant Size covers The Phantom and crossovers with other Frew Giant Size characters including the next story he is working on. The Phantom by Gaslight and the next installment. Being a mentor to other creators. His love for gray and the Phantom's fashion being like "Harry Highpants". You will not be disappointed in listening to this two hour chat. You will learn a lot and you will laugh at the same time. Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel.

Kari Leppänen has been drawing Phantom comics since the late 1970's. For many of the phans reading this interview, Kari has always been around and they would not remember a Phantom world without his iconic style and dramatic storytelling. The honour roll is amazing. 120 Phantom stories, 19 best story of the year awards and classic iconic stories like "The Test", "The Battle on Malta", "The First Phantom", "The Commander is Dead" and many others. It is a great honour to be interviewing one of the most iconic Phantom creators for the last 40+ years. Chronicle Chamber: Can you tell us a bit about yourself? What country and region are you from? Kari Leppänen: As a Finnish person I was born in 1945 in Helsinki Finland and I spent my childhood in the southern area of Finland. CC: Did you ever study art? KL: I have never been a student of art. During my childhood it was the golden time of comics in Finland were there was an abundant of comics to buy from small moving kiosks which sold newspapers and other printed material and a large amount of different comics. They were mainly American and British and my mother bought plenty of them for me to read and devour. There was more than enough material to learn how comics are done and drawn and I used them to create my own homemade magazines and comics as soon as I was able to read. My favorite genre of comics as a kid were Westerns and Science Fiction. CC: Is there anyone in particular who has inspired you and influenced your work? KL: Yes there were several talented artists who were the best in the business during that time. They all inspired me and they all were doing natural style comics. To mention the best of them would be no surprise to many – Jose Luis Salinas with his perfect Cisco Kid, Burne Hogarth´s Tarzan, Alex Raymond with his excellent Flash Gordon and afterwards also Dan Barry. In the Science Fiction genre, Ron Turner was a standout who was from England. CC: What made you want to be an artist? KL: Hmm, it may sound strange but I never imagined myself to be a professional comic artist for a number of reasons. Firstly it was only ever a hobby to me and then during my younger years it was unknown for anyone in Finland to become a professional in the comics business. It never occurred to me that I could make a career while drawing and living in Europe. CC: Do you like working on the Phantom? Did you know of the Phantom before you started work on those stories? Did you ever read the character as a child? KL: His adventures by Wilson McCoy and Ray Moore were published in some of the magazines which I regular reading as a child. However I must say that the artwork was not my favorite comic or artists, so I was not interested in the Phantom. Sy Barry's talented work came later after I stopped reading as many comics as I did when I was younger. CC: How did you get the role of the Phantom for the Fantomen magazine? KL: From memory it was not very difficult or memorable. I had drawn comics already by then for 30 years beforehand including my own magazines and for the Swedish magazine called Min Häst (My Horse). The only difficulty I found during the whole process was that we were instructed to draw the Phantom´s face in the same style as Sy Barry. I found the jungle setting easy because of my love for the Tarzan books. The love was so much I even had a go at creating own Tarzan story which sadly never got completed. CC: Do you have any particular writers that you enjoyed drawing for? KL: A lot depends on the writer, the more interesting the script it helps me draw more exciting and enthusiastic pictures. The writers I found that I enjoyed the most was the late British Norman Worker and soon to be retired Swedish Claes Reimerthi. There has been a couple more good ones too, but with Norman and Claes I have worked on a lot of their stories over the years and enjoyed them all. CC: It may be hard but with almost 120 Phantom stories, do you have a favourite story? KL: Actually, it is very difficult to choose. Some of the stories that stand out to me even today are: Duel in Venice (Frew #1741 - 2015 & Fantomen 14/2005) The Battle on Malta (Frew #1742 - 2015 & Fantomen 14/2005) Public Enemy Number One (Frew #1132 - 1996 & Fantomen Christmas Album 2016) The Phantom Crusader, Part 1-3 (Frew #1484, #1487 & #1493 - 2007 & Fantomen 14, 18 & 25/2007) The Phantom Gladiator, Part 1-3 (Frew #1545, #1546 & #1557 - 2009 & Fantomen 7, 15, 25-26/2009) The New France (Frew #1707 - 2014 & Fantomen 17/2014) CC: Is there a story or two that you are extremely proud off? If so, can you share with us why? KL: To answer that it may sound a bit egoistic but to date I have written and drawn only one Phantom story with the story taking place in Germany during the 30 years war in Europe. (Editors Note: The war lasted from 1618 to 1648, starting as a battle among the Catholic and Protestant states that formed the Holy Roman Empire) The Phantom story was called "The Ring of Death" (Frew #1211 & #1212 - 1998 & Fantomen 17&19/1998) and I spent hours to get familiar with the plot and the history of the period and war. The script became so long, that it was turned into a two part story. Sadly the experience became disappointing when it was published because I was only listed as the artist and not also the writer. It was sadly not the first time when a Science Fiction adventure series titled "Achilles Wiggen" that I created were the editor was also mistakenly credited as the writer. CC: What about a favourite cover? KL: Difficult to say... Maybe the cover for a rather good story "U-118" (Frew #1639 - 2012 & Fantomen 16/2012). CC: Do you prefer drawing historical and or current day Phantom stories? KL: Easy question to answer... Historical always. I do not like to draw the modern world except airplanes. CC: In the early 1990's when Semic changed to colour stories. Did that affect your drawing? Do you prefer to draw in colour or black and white? KL: When Fantomen turned coloured the first issues had really horrible colours, they were too strong. Now the situation is much better, but somehow when I compared coloured pages to black and white ones, the modern style of artistic coloring is not pleasant to see for me. CC: Do you think the Phantom has a future for the next generation? KL: Hmm... To be honest I do not think that it can live on for very long any more - not on its current traditional style. Today the young people are too digitally brainwashed to read traditional comics. If they change the Phantom too much then it is not the original type of Phantom we all love anymore. In the USA there has been some changes and from what I have seen, it makes me sick. I am one of the last dinosaurs in this business. CC: Do you work traditionally using pencils and inks on paper or do you prefer working on the computer? KL: Nowadays I am working with both, but the drawings are made traditionally by the way you referred. But there are some items which are easier to be made and edited by the computer. The computer is an important device and useful when I cannot send any more originals by mail to the editor. CC: Do you accept commissions and if so, how can they contact you? KL: It depends of the commissions, but the best way to contact is my guestbook on my website. I do not like to make my email public. CC: What is the best place for phans to see your Phantom work? KL: The best place is my website KariLeppanenComics.fi CC: Thank you so much for joining us and for your work on the Phantom, on behalf of everyone - Thank you!

Everyone needs a Phantom protecting their Skull Cave and house and boy would it not make an impression at your office as you close that deal? The sculptor that designed the bust for Phan Fare back in September 2017 has built upon the initial design and now has brought us a beautiful, impacting and striking 7 foot statue. It is such a statement piece we had to share it among all phans. If you are interested in this piece and would like to enquire about it with the sculptor please contact us.

Dan Fraser and Jermayn Parker continue the podcast with #192B discussing all the news from May and June 2021. This follows the comics from May and June 2021 which can be found here. At the end of the podcast after discussing the news, we talk to Ankit Mitra who is a Chronicle Chamber contributor but also a cover artist for Regal Publishers. He talks about Regal and their struggles gaining a foot hold in the India market with COVID still reeking havoc in the country. Please make sure you share, like and leave a comment on our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram as well as our YouTube Channel. If you only want to listen to specific reviews of the comics and or stories, we have included a timeline for you to follow. Enjoy! Card Game Extention Pack - 2 Minutes New Phantom art Exhibitions - 9 Minutes LFMBEC & Supanova Sydney - 12 Minutes Melbourne & Perth postponed - 16 Minutes Wulfric Media New Headwear for sale - 18 Minutes Chat with Ankit Mitra - 27 Minutes If you have ever wanted to do your own Chronicle Chamber reviews we are looking for any French / Canadian fans who have a copy and can review the latest Editions Dante TPB as well as anyone who can review the PNG Shields and Mallon Diary. We are also still on the look out for a Brazilian fan who can review all the new Mythos Phantom comics. Please email us at chroniclechamber@gmail.com if you are interested. Make sure you stay with us and do not forget to subscribe and leave a review on our podcast and or our YouTube Channel. We would love to hear from you on what you think of this podcast episode and our reviews and opinions. You can email us at chroniclechamebr@gmail.com or chat with us via our social media profiles: Facebook, Twitter and or Instagram.