A new range of licensed Phantom apparel was launched earlier this week, available immediately and posting out of the United Kingdom via an online store. Pod66 is a clothing label that, according to their website, "specialises in officially licensed graphics based merchandise ranging from niche interest groups through to celebrities, music, photography and everything in between." Certainly the company seems to have all fanbases catered for, with over 60 different clothing ranges covering a huge and eclectic range of franchises from Coca-Cola and Star Wars through to The Simpsons, Dirty Dancing, Tetris and Master of the Universe. Importantly for us that includes the Comics Kingdom (King Features) portfolio, including Hagar, Flash Gordon, Popeye and ... The Phantom! Pod66 boasts 18 different Phantom designs, which can be featured on t-shirts (short or long sleeved), vests [singlets], sweatshirts, hoodies or jackets. These are each available in children's, women's and men's styles/sizes. The Phantom images are obviously sourced from the KFS licensed images collection, and many will be familiar to long-term phans. Pleasingly, however, there are also several that have not commonly appeared often before. Unsurprisingly, they are almost exclusively derived from Sy Barry artwork. By way of due diligence regarding Pod66, we can report that the UK clothing company has been around for almost a decade, albeit under a few different names. They initially traded as BG Shirts (2010-2012), then as Wantashirt (2012-2017), selling simple tees with brief unlicensed slogans/sayings (eg "Done", "meh", trashed", "stop staring, you can't afford me"). The 2017 rebranding as Pod66 seems to mark a dramatic change in direction for the company, as they now boast an incredibly professional looking website and a huge range of licensed images. That said, they do still appear to be a relatively small operation with a very limited number of employees and no physical store front. It would seem that items are printed on demand, although this does promise to be a quick process. Delivery estimates from time of order are 3-5 working days in the UK, 5-8 working days to Europe, and 12-15 working days to the rest of the world. Postage is free worldwide for orders over £40 (about $75AUD or $50US at time of writing). With the cheapest singlets priced at £18 ($33AUD / $22US) through to the most expensive jackets at £45 ($82AUD / $56US), it will not take buyers too many items to hit this free postage mark. You can check out the full range of their Phantom apparel at their website here. For more updates from the company, follow them on Facebook, Instagram or twitter. #Clothing #KingFeaturesSyndicate #ComicsKingdom #Pod66 #SyBarry

Chronicle Chamber's Phantom Preservation Project (P3) has been given a massive boost in the last month or so, with Jermayn sourcing an absolute treasure trove of Phantom history. Keeping his ear to the ground as always, Jermayn was able to save a few boxes of newspaper clippings and other assorted Phantom curiosities, available "clutter" after the estate sale of a devoted phan and collector. With the assistance of Phantom phans and Chronicle Chamber Patreon supporters, we have been able to begin the process of digitising these for the enjoyment of phans phorevermore. The first installment of these dropped today in our October update of the P3, with no fewer than 27 Phantom-related newspaper articles added. 15 are from Australia (circa 2003-2014), while there are also pieces from Italy, New Zealand, Norway and the USA. Another absolute highlight this month is a ten-minute video featuring the founders of Friends of the Phantom, Pete Klaus and Ed Rhoades, as they host a History of The Phantom session. We've also been able to add two more Friends of the Phantom newsletters - #11 and #20. This means we now have a complete run from issues #10-24, with only four more single digit issues left to find! On top of this. we've also included both publications of Kid Phantom: Homework; the 2017 (GFS student) and 2019 (public) release. We promise, there is a subtle variation! And as a bit of fun we also have two more Phantom songs from Sweden, as well as a phan-made video featuring a (time-stamped) interview with Stan Lee. Check out the 7-page Index for a full list of all the Phantom goodies we've been able to preserve. Full access to read, view and download these files is available exclusively to our $5/month Patreon supporters. #P3 #FriendsofThePhantom #PeteKlaus #EdRhoades #KidPhantom #DrPaulMason #AndrewConstant #StanLee #Patreon

Grange Wallis is a young up-and-coming Phantom cover artist for Frew Publications in Australia. In this podcast we have the opportunity to find out all about him, his history with the character and his creative process. It's a wonderful opportunity to build on the brief introduction we had back on our pre-Supanova Special Episode #121, and great to explore his experiences of Australia's most popular Phantom phan gathering. Perhaps most well known in Australia for his involvement with football trading cards (both AFL and NRL), Grange has a fresh style that many phans are loving. His work on covers 1822, 1834, 1844 and most recently 1849 are certainly eye-catching and unique. We hope you enjoy this insight into one of the many exciting new creative talents emerging in the Phantom world. As always - Happy Phantoming! #XBand #Podcast #KingFeaturesSyndicate #Frew #GlennFord #GrangeWallis

It's time again for the ChronicleChamber team to delve into all the latest Phantom news from around the world, followed by an detailed review of recent releases from Frew and Egmont. 1m30 - Billy Zane autographs 2m30 - Kid Phantom cancellation 7m30 - Ray Moore sequel by Matt Kyme 15m30 - Lightning Strike 20m45 - King Features social media 25m00 - Monkey Mail: reprints 33m30 - Frew reviews: #1844 46m30 - #1845 56m45 - #1846 1hr07m - #1847 1hr15m - Phantom by Gaslight conclusion and reflections 1hr29m - #1848 1hr32m - Jermayn gets kicked by a zebra 1hr47m - Phantom Adventures collection 1hr58m - Fantomen reviews: 2019 - 16, 17 & 18/19 2hr06m - Nye Fantomet-historier #1 Enjoy and as always, Happy Phantoming! #Egmont #Frew #Podcast #XBand #KidPhantom #GrangeWallis #BillyZane #ClaesReimerthi #GlennFord #GlennLumsden #ChristopherSequeira #JasonPaulos #RafaelRuiz #CoralMartinez #MagnusKnutsson #JaimeVallve #NormanWorker #GeorgesBess #HeinerBade #MikaelSol #CésarSpadari #Fantomen #Fantomet #JamieJohnson #JeremyMacpherson #ShaneFoley

According to Google Maps I was 13 mins away - I reckon I made it in 10. Not bad for a big bloke. A quick press on the intercom, then swiftly up the stairs, past Starkiller, and I was on the campus of Pulse College, Dublin - home of Lightning Strike Comics. Seeing as I was on “official” chroniclechamber.com business I had decided to wear our ‘Happy Phantoming’ uniform. Just as well, as Eoin McAuley and I had never met before and really only had each other’s Facebook profile pics to go from (and who looks like their profile pic in real life?). Luckily, the first person I met down the halls (just past the TARDIS doors) was none other than the man himself. After a passing hello, he soon realised that there would be no-one else in Ireland with a shirt like mine and I was soon whisked away to Lightning Strike HQ. What I write next is my attempt to do justice to the next 20 mins as Eoin’s passion for the character and comics overflowed in a whirlwind of introductions and stories. Like the CC team, Eoin has nothing but praise for Alex Saviuk. Alex must be the best bloke in all of comic-dom! A great storyteller with a very generous helping hand. There is a signed Saviuk piece on the wall behind where Eoin is sitting, right above the recently released Sy Barry print. This segued Eoin to talk about conversations that he’s had with David, Sy’s son, which (fingers crossed) could be fruitful for phans. Lightning Strike is not a big operation, and as Eoin says, "there are easier ways to make money" but from just speaking with him for a short time face to face it is plainly obvious to see the care he has for our beloved hero and the drive and determination he has to do it right. When the conversation veers into the shipping issues, the complete and utter frustration that we Aussie phans have had waiting for the comic to arrive become personified in Eoin. Ireland is in a really unique spot. Though it is between the US and the UK, distributors don’t send direct from the US. They go through the UK first and then into Ireland and delays inevitably occur. It’s a common occurrence and one that we in Australia don’t really have to deal with thanks to Frew’s clockwork-like ability to get their comic on the shelf every week/fortnight. However, the last of the remaining paperwork has been done and the comics bound for Australia are in the safe and secure hands of DHL. It is worth noting that after I left Eoin and the Lightning Strike offices I popped into a couple of comic shops along the way back to my motel, Dublin City Comics and Sub-City Comics. (Technically I popped into these places after I had a bite to eat for lunch and 3 pints of cider at one of the many, many pubs here in Dublin). Dublin City has LS 1 on the stand but I couldn’t see it at Sub-City so I asked for it. “Sold out, I’m afraid. Someone else was in here after it too. Comic-con, last month, really cleaned them out. I’m keen to get another delivery”. Though they didn’t have the comic in, from a phan’s perspective it was very pleasing to hear that it had proven to be popular. I hope that Eoin and the team can continue to (Lightning) Strike while the iron is hot and that their showcase at this week’s Culture Night in Dublin proves to be very fruitful for them. Taibhse sona! #LightningStrikeComics #EoinMcAuley #AlexSaviuk #SyBarry

The Phantom has been published in many comics in many languages in over 30 countries through out its 80+ year lifespan. For majority of us, we have samples of these comics in our collections - now with this handy tool you can read these comics and understand them. The best and free tool has to be the Google Translate Tool which is available for both Apple and Android Devices. What makes this tool work so well, is that it uses the camera option to automatically translate over the top. We have created a video highlighting how to use this tool. Now you can add international Phantom comics to your collection for more than just their cover.

Bane Kerac is a name many Phantom phans may not know but is a giant throughout many European countries including his homeland of Serbia. Bane only has one full Team Fantomen Phantom story to his credit along with a trading card in the recent Phanfare 2019 gallery card series. However as you will read, in a sliding doors moment, he could easily have been a house hold name for us Phantom phans. Chronicle Chamber: Can you tell us about yourself? I believe you originally studied to become a dentist but dropped out to become an artist? Bane Kerac: Born 67 years ago in Novi Sad, north part of Serbia. I have been a friend with comics since I wore nappies, I grew up on Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, Phantom, Kit Carson, Larrigan, Kansas Kid, Dan Dare, Daredevil and Blueberry. After a professional job in comics (Lt. Tara, 1975), yes, I left the dentist faculty with no regrets. I have worked on my own created characters such as Tara, Kobra, Cat Claw, Billy The Speed and licensed comics as Tarzan, Blek and Zagor. I also drew adventures for Americans comics industry including DC for Ghost and Black Pearl and the French comics industry Lignes de front, which featured adventures about Desert Soldiers and perhaps interesting for the Australians an adventure about the Kokoda campaign. Today, I am part of the Zagor editorial staff for Sergio Bonelli Editore in Milan. CC: Was drawing and writing comics always a passion of yours? BK: Always. My mom gave me paper and pencil when she wanted me to be quiet. Yugoslavia at that time had a very strong comics scene and we read worldwide comics parallel with their origin countries. I always remember drawing these characters as I read their adventures since I was young. CC: The Phantom was very popular among other characters in former Yugoslavia and surrounding countries. Did you ever read the comic? BK: Naturally. The Phantom was published in Yugoslavia before WWII, just a few months after debuting in USA. Tradition continued in Magazines and comics after the war. I was much in love with Ray Moore, very unsatisfied with Wilson McCoy and impressed with Dan & Sy Barry. One of the adventures I remember fondly was the Hanta the Witch story (Editors Note: 91st Daily Newspaper story published in newspapers in 1965). CC: What did you like about the Phantom and his adventures? BK: Simple narration, lot of action, mystery, his 1911 Colts and Diana Palmer in swim suite. I was amazed with Barry's clean and clear lines, the perfect balance between black and white and economic usage of the dot raster. My favourite scene even today has to the the scene when the Phantom shoots in the air on Hero jumping the downed tree. CC: I believe you are also a musician. BK: Music is my second love. I was a drummer in metal bands for years. Today, I am less loud with my drumming and play for pleasure. Today I play for a Creedence Clearwater Revival tribute band. One of my albums from 1996 was an album titled "Cat Claw" for a brand I played in called GeroMetaL. You can view the Youtube click here. CC: Cat Claw may be relatively unknown in Australia but for our other readers it was a huge success. Can you tell us about your influences on this character? BK: Cat Claw was created as parody to Spiderman for Yugoslav publisher Decje Novine. The similarities are fairly obvious - bite of spider compared to a cat scratch, proportionally multiplied power, sight in dark, in-out claws, enemy sense etc. But, we left that clone concept very soon and went on our own way. Catty was very popular in Scandinavia. Her episodes are printed in many countries such as USA, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Romania and Turkey. The most important influences on my work on Cat Claw would be John Romita Sr with his Daredevil, John Buscemass and his Spiderman, Don Heck with his Avengers and Dick Giordano / Irv Novick on Batman. CC: How did you get the Egmont job to draw the Phantom? BK: Via Cat Claw. I sent sample work to my friend and editor in Magnum. When Egmont took over Semic (Editors Note: You can learn more about this in our Podcast interview with Ulf Granberg) Magnum retired and his successor found my work and samples in his desk and contacted me. CC: This story was called “Day of the Dead” and published by Australia (Frew #1685 - 2014), Sweden (Fantomen 1/2014) and Norway (Fantomet 3-4/2014). Can you tell us about the story? BK: The story is classic mobster / drug thriller situated in Mexico. A young police woman, linked to the Phantom, investigates the murder of a journalist. The Elvis-like gang boss massacres all in a police station to find evidence against him hidden in a teddy bunny. As this happens, people celebrate the Day of the dead which does not impact the story in anyway. CC: Can we ask why only the one adventure for Egmont? BK: I was disappointed with many situations including the first story I drawed. When originally I talked with the team, I was promised "classic" Phantom stories with jungle's, hunters, bandits, beasts etc. To me that is what I grew up on and I wanted to draw my hero in his natural element. Instead, I get a boring story with the unnecessary mass scenes of the "Day of the Dead" celebration. Perhaps the most disappointing was the very small part the Phantom played in this adventure - he features less than a quarter of the whole story. I also had some concerns with the story including the inaccuracy with a ship's window unable to be broken by a wooden chair. The Phantom was able to slip through a boats window was also a bit unbelievable. Also the unnecessary "Day of the Dead" celebration element to the overall story, it works on the big screen but can be a waste of resources in a comic. I was then offered a better role with a French publisher and sadly left Team Fantomen. CC: Apart from that you also worked on the team for Stripoteka magazine for a decade and half which has a strong history with the Phantom. I believe you were the cover artist for issue 1000 which featured the Phantom? BK: Sort off. The Phantoms panel was Sy Barry. I compiled the elements and retouched were needed. CC: Can you tell us your process for drawing? Do you use original means by ink and paper or do you use the computer? BK: As a classic artist, I prefer classic tools as fabriano paper, brause 513 pens as well as ink and marker brushes. However, in this modern time, a computer is necessary with it helping on deadlines. After finishing the classic drawings, the pages go to the scanner and I use Photoshop to add frames, effects and digital colours. For lettering and other pre press work, InDesign is very useful. Click the above images to see the process between pencils and inks and then finished on the computer adding the effects in Photoshop. You can also see final changes - see the second panel with the Phantoms face. CC: For most Australian phans, we would know your name because you have an artwork from the new Phantom Trading Card set. Could you tell us about that piece? BK: The piece was originally done as cover for my Team Fantomen story however as this image of the Phantom in his natural element had no connections with the story. It remained unpublished. When Glenn Ford and the Frew publishers asked me to contribute with the card series, I finished the cover and am happy it has now seen the light of day. I have another cover I had started with the Phantom battling pirates which you can see attached. CC: Would you like to draw more Phantom? BK: Yes I would love to, as long as I have a better story and experience. The Phantom is too big a character for a minor role as he had in "The Day Of The Dead". I would love to work on adventures with the Phantom in his natural element, the jungle fighting bad guys. CC: Do you accept commissions? BK: Yes. Commissions are mode of correspondence between me and fans, and I am happy to do drawing for admirers of my work. CC: We thank you Bane for your time with us and we enjoyed learning about you as a Phantom fan and comic book artist. We hope to see you back drawing the Phantom soon. #Yugolslavia #BaneKerac #Egmont #TeamFantomen #GlennFord #TradingCards #Phanfare #Frew #Fantomen #Fantomet #SyBarry #WilsonMcCoy #RayMoore

Comics Kingdom has had products for sale for a while but with their recent change of free shipping it has prompted several Australian and other international phans to buy products from their catalogue to make the most of the free shipping. Today included in the review are three mugs, the SDCC Pin and the SDCC Shirt. The SDCC Pin is currently not available online at the Comics Kingdom shop (URL) but the rest plus more are all available. #KingFeaturesSyndicate #Clothing

It's an odd sort of podcast this time around! About 3 weeks ago we recorded a conversation with Dr Paul Mason and Andrew Constant, the creative duo behind Frew Publications' made-for-kids magazine, Kid Phantom. It was an extensive chat, covering the highs, lows and minutiae of producing Australia's only 100% locally-developed comic book while managing the challenges of licensing and reaching the target market. Then, just a few days before our planned release came the bombshell from Frew: Kid Phantom as a standalone comic release has been cancelled! So the ChronicleChamber team got together to record a short introduction to the interview, placing it in the context of a book that has just been withdrawn from publication. Fair to say that emotions were high with the news so raw! Anyway, we hope you enjoy what has turned out to be a retrospective look at Kid Phantom and as always, Happy Phantoming. #Frew #Podcast #XBand #KidPhantom #PhantomsWorld #GlennFord #AndrewConstant #DrPaulMason

We are saddened to announce that Les Grey, Phantom collector, historian and phriend to many, passed away peacefully on Tuesday 13th August. Hailing from Adelaide South Australia, Les was renowned as an avid collector and devoted historian who gathered much information about Phantom comics and their history for the Phantom Wiki and before that for the Deep Woods website, run by Bryon Shedden. I first met Les, at Supanova Sydney in 2009 and was immediately drawn to this kind hearted gentlemen who took time to spend with myself and other young collectors. My first impression was when it came to swapping our "wish lists" with each other. Most phans had a list of what they had, Les had a list of what he needed, and he was down to like 10 things. Les collected everything - he had two rooms full of Phantom collectibles and comics, and looking through the photos everyone was very jealous and impressed. Les Grey (standing, far left) at Supanova 2009 For those who knew Les, he did not seek the limelight as a Phantom collector and historian. He had several great loves including his wife, family and working at the Adelaide Oval. He worked at the Oval for 43 years. One of the stories I loved about his time at the Oval was how they gave him a framed picket from the fence surrounding the oval before it was redeveloped, as a thank you gesture for his work. Occasionally his love for the Adelaide Oval and the Phantom crossed paths. Les worked as a supervisor for an international Rugby game between Australia and the Pacific Islands. A customer spotted his Phantom watch and commented that he used to read them years ago. He was the Fijian Consul from Canberra. The two of them bonded so much over the Phantom that he took Les' address and promised to make some inquires. A couple of months later Les received issues #3, #4, #5 of Bera-Na-Liva as thanks for the way Les had treated him. Les was a phriend to many phans from around the world. I have asked some phans who had friendships with Les to leave their messages of respect and love towards him. I hope you enjoy reading some stories about one of the nicest Phantom phans and historians that ever lived. Swaroop Chand One of the best things about comic collecting is that we make friends from around the world. Les was the first overseas friend I made. Besides being a giant among collectors, he was extremely helpful in hunting comics on behalf of friends. He had a uncanny knack of remembering what friends are after and find them for you or make introductions to other people who can help. My favourite thing about Les is he was an incredibly upbeat and cheerful man with a brilliant sense of humour. He told me a story where he was hospitalized. He convinced the staff to let him go home at 2-00 in morning, tripped in his garden, hurt himself and was back into hospital looking like the man in the iron mask. He was so hilarious narrating this and ended by saying “Keep well and off any gardens as they are dangerous”. We usually discussed The Phantom, our families, his collecting days and cricket. He knew Sir Don Bradman and fondly recalled the chats he had with the Don on Wednesdays at the Adelaide Oval. He was amused how when he retired from Adelaide after 43 years, the local TV stations, newspapers, websites did interviews with him. He was very happy about the joys he derived while collecting over the year. In 2018 the collecting bug bit him again and he started off with New Zealand comics. In 3 months he had collected 546 of the 556 comics in the series. Paul Moloney Les was a true gentleman and a classic collector. The thrill for him was in the chase for something that he didn't have. That drive was second only to his eagerness to help other collectors fill gaps in their collections. It wasn't unusual during our frequent chats for him to tell me about a phan he was helping out by keeping an eye out for items from their wants list or for him to have put together a run of New Zealand issues for them. I'll fondly remember our discussions about his work as bar supervisor of the famous Adelaide Oval scoreboard, as a bread delivery driver and his interactions with Don Bradman. One thing he said still brings a smile to my face years after he uttered it....."mate don't ever start collecting those Italian comics.... there's too many series and thousands of the buggers!!" Collecting sure can be a slippery slope. Vale Les. Jon Cookson Les to me was typical of most phantom people. Kind and generous and always keen to discuss new additions to his collection, especially his New Zealand issues. I believe at the peak of his collecting, Les’s collection would rival the best. Safe travels mate to whatever journey you are now on! Ian Crawford A true gentleman. He had am amazing way of making contacts with all sorts of people from all over the world in his collecting of comics and memorabilia. He compiled a complete Commando Comic collection in 18 months. My wife and I visited Les and Norma in Adelaide some years ago and were blessed by their hospitality and friendship. His outhouse/skull cave was a little “slice of heaven” (iconic Kiwi song) for a novice Phantom collector like myself. I count myself privileged to have known Les and to have partnered with Les in the pursuit of NZ Phantom comics. Jimmy James One of my favourite chats with him was about mutual Phantom phriends! One in particular was Swaroop. Les really valued and loved his passion and interest in the phantom. I can’t recall exactly, but vaguely recalled how he mentioned his family and how he had made a great friend through the Phantom. My chats with him were more about the good old days of collecting and help he gave me trying to finish my Frew collection. We thank all of the above phans with their beautiful memories of the man and we wish Les Grey's family all the best as they deal with their loss. His service is being held today, Thursday 22nd August in Adelaide. Rest in Peace.

At the start of every season (Spring, Summer, Autumn [Fall] and Winter) we hold a competition for our loyal Patreon supporters. For the Australian Spring, we have another book donated by Hermes Press to give away to our Patreon winner. This issue is the collected works of The Phantom Charlton Comics Volume Two, digitally remastered and presented in a hardcover book with 224 pages in full colour. This volume originally retailed at $US49.99. The competition is open exclusively to Patreon supporters of ChronicleChamber.com, the fine folk who help keep this website running with their contribution. The competition will be drawn on Sunday the 1st September and announced via video. How to enter: Current Patreon supporters: Do nothing. You are already entered! Not a current Patreon supporter? Head over to our Patreon page and sign up for as little as $1/month. It's that easy! The raffle draw is random, and Patreons will be entered at a rate of one ticket for each dollar pledged monthly. For instance, supporting at $1/month equals one entry; supporting at $5/month equals 5 entries. Of course, $5/month support also entitles you to access all the Phantom goodies that are stored in our very own Major Treasure Room, the Phantom Preservation Project (P3). #HermesPress #Charlton #Patreon

In this episode we are excited to be joined by the one and only Alex Saviuk. Alex is an accomplished and experienced Phantom artist, and in fact boasts the extraordinary achievement of having worked for the greatest variety of The Phantom publishers of any artist in history! His Phantom credits (both covers and stories) include: Marvel, Egmont, Moonstone, Lightning Strike Comics, Frew, Hermes Press, and even the King Features' syndicated Sunday strip! Over the course of this extensive and expansive conversation, we talk about all of those publishers and more! As luck would have it, this chat was recorded immediately after the announcement of the end of the Spider-Man strip (both Dailys and Sundays will finish with the conclusion of the current stories, mid-March 2019), and it fascinating to hear directly from a key creator of that strip at this sad time. We also talked about the Rainbow flag story The Golden Eagleand other topics like working with Stan Lee for over 20 years and much more. As you would expect with a Phantom career 30+ years, this is a mammoth podcast to listen too. Get that cuppa and get ready for one of the best podcast interviews with a Phantom creator you will likely ever hear. As always - Happy Phantoming! #EdRhoades #Moonstone #XBand #Podcast #DouglasKlauba #LightningStrikeComics #PeteKlaus #StanLee #KingFeaturesSyndicate #Marvel #Fantomen #Frew #HermesPress #SyBarry #DC #WilsonMcCoy #BillLignante #PaulRyan #FriendsofThePhantom #UlfGranberg #DickGiordano #HansLindahl #ClaesReimerthi #HenrikSahlström #GlennFord #JeffWeigel #TonyDePaul #MikeManley #DynamiteEntertainment #DefendersoftheEarth #TerryBeatty #RichBuckler #GrahamNolan #KeithWilliams #GeorgeOlesen #LFMBEC #ReneWhite #MikaelSol #JayKennedy #AlexRoss #AlexSaviuk #AnthonyTollin #FredFredericks #JackKirby

Glenn Ford broke the news of this new series on his recent visit on the podcast in episode #121 (from 2hr48m05) and plenty of phans were excited. What makes the Legacy Series so appealable to phans and collectors is the fact the 1950's Phantom Adventure books are so hard to add to your collection in today's market. At a guess 90% of all Phantom phans will never add one of the three prose comics to their collection - let alone all three. The other draw card is the amazing cover by Chris Wahl who knocks this cover out of the park, so much so Frew have released a stand alone door poster you can buy at their website - purchase here for $60AU plus postage. Video unfortunately does not do justice the cover as Frew have pulled out all the stops to make this collectible. You can watch our review below: Part of the book is a brilliant insight and appreciation and illustrated history of the work of cartoonist and illustrator Jan Kickhefer who was one of the artists featured in the prose stories. You can purchase the book direct from Frew here for $32 incl. postage (Australia only) and $20 plus postage (for international orders, check out the shipping costs for your country). Or you can purchase from your Local Comic Book store. #GlennFord #ChrisWahl #Podcast #Frew #JanKickhefer

The team of Chronicle Chamber chat with Sal Velluto, an Italian American artist who we have admired ever since his work first graced a Fantomen / Frew comic. One thing we were surprised at was he has only been doing Phantom comics, covers and images for 12 years, yet he feels like an elder statesmen who has been at it for years. We learn all about Sal, from growing up in Italy and reading Fratelli Spada comics to working on comics around the world from Egmont / Frew and Hermes Press. Three continents and two hemispheres. We ask questions about the fateful Hermes Press comic book series and gain an amazing insight into those delays plus learn so much more including how Massimo Gamberi and Angelo Todaro drew comics and covers for Frew. It may be a three hour listen but you will be glued to your earphones eagerly listening even if one of the team falls asleep half way through. Enjoy and as always, Happy Phantoming! #TeamFantomen #Egmont #Frew #Podcast #XBand #Spada #GlennFord #AndrewConstant #LeeFalk #SalVelluto #DanHerman #HermesPress #MassimoGamberi #AngeloTodaro

It has always been known that artists have assistants and Sy Barry was no exception and some of his assistants went on to become well known. Sy frequently used pencil artists on the strip, working primarily as an inker (although he often drew entire stories when time permitted). Some pencillers and assistants included George Olesen, Joe Giella, Bob Forgione, André LeBlanc and Rich Buckler. Sy Barry himself started off as an assistant for his brother Dan Barry on Flash Gordon. As they are pencillers and assistants no credit is usually given with credit normally only given to the main artist. After some research between Australian Phantom artist Shane Foley and myself we have found out more about another Sy Barry assistant in Don Heck who is credited as a ghost artist / penciller possibly between the years 1966 to 1978 along with some examples of his work coming through the final inked newspaper published versions. There is a slight confusion with the dates he assisted Sy Barry. In the publication Alter Ego #42, the dates are 1972 to 1978 but on wikipedia and the Lambiek Comiclopedia he is credited as Sy Barry's assistant between 1966 and 1971. The Daily newspaper story we look at below is from 1973. In a "Friends of the Phantom" newsletter 13 (found in our P3 archives) Joe Giella mentions that he suggested Don Heck to Sy Barry as an assistant. In issue 12 of "Friends of the Phantom" they included a Gallery of Unpublished Phantom Art which included this rare pencil from the Anthony Tolins collection. Donald L. "Don" Heck (January 2, 1929 – February 23, 1995) was an American comics artist best known for co-creating the Marvel Comics character Iron Man, and for his long run penciling the Marvel superhero-team series The Avengers during the 1960s Silver Age of comic books. Don Heck was considered the best renderer of attractive women in comics by Jack Kirby, who suggested him to DC as an artist for Batgirl. Heck drew this comic for several years, and also did other DC titles like Justice League of America, Steel, The Indestructible Man, Wonder Woman and The Flash. In a 2014 released book titled "Don Heck: A Work of Art" there is a part of an interview where the interviewer Howell talks to Don about his days working on the Phantom which we have included below. HOWELL: have you done much work outside the comic book industry? It looked like you were ghosting The Phantom for a while... HECK: I did some of the pencil work on that, and I was just doing breakdowns at one point. Funny part is, you feel like you don't have that much of a special style, especially in those jobs where two or three people are going to be going over it, but for some reason or other, your style comes through. Do you know Mike Tiefenbacher, the fellow who ran The Menomonee Falls Gazette? HOWELL: Yes HECK: I was subscribing to that, and all of a sudden they sent me a letter and asked me some questions. They wanted to know how much I was doing on the Phantom, because they could tell I was doing some of it. I was amazed. Because you figure nobody could ever tell. HOWELL: It looked distinctively Heck to me, too. In our X-Band podcast episode #113, we asked Sy Barry about Don Heck and he confirmed he assisted on the strip and had the following to say about him. You can listen to it yourself as he talks about Don from 24 minutes in the above podcast. "Don was a nice, quiet man who was pleasant to work with. He was very fast and his layouts were good and some of the best layouts he had used" Seeing he and the book doesn't give us specific examples from a Phantom perspective he has always been just one of those names who helped Sy Barry and nothing else. However Australian Phantom phan and creator Shane Foley has now shed some light on some examples of Daily strips compared to his comic book art. Vandal-Looters originally released in the newspapers in 1973 and was last published in Frew #1746 (2016), Krønikebok #36 (2007), Fantomen 26/2001 and Kızılmaske #6 – #7 (2013). Shane Foley has found two near perfect example of Heck traits (or Heck-isms) that have still shown through after the inking stage. Compare the punch of the bad guy to the Jungle Patrolman Sergeant Tamos to the punch of Iron Man (Iron Man issue 26 -1970) with the very distinctive enlarged fist and nice, loose arm action. (You can click on the below images to open up a larger version of the examples of comparisons) Then compare Dr Cole's Daughter Madge to Carol Danvers in the Captain Marvel page (Capt Marvel issue 5 - 1968) - You can tell they are from the same artist with the same eyebrows, long blonde hair, lips, nose and check bones. Shane Foley has found another slight example which is a lot harder to spot but notice Don Heck's frequent use of slightly forward bending profile's. While historians may have known Don Heck ghosted and penciled for Sy Barry, until now examples of his Phantom Daily Newspaper stories work has been non-existent. Thanks must go to Shane Foley for his eagle eyes reading and scouring through dozens of Phantom stories for a hint. Also thank you to Howard Gesbeck for a copy of the above Don Heck Phantom image - the only known one Phantom drawing still to exist. #GeorgeOlesen #JoeGiella #BobForgione #AndréLeBlanc #RichBuckler #DonHeck #ShaneFoley #Dailys