New@FREW



Frew #1368
by Jason Frazer
#1368
(this edition is the 1396th actually printed)

Release Date: 7 November 2003

  • Pages: 36
  • Price: $2.20 inc. GST
  • Cover: Jason Frazer
  • 2 pages of Phantom Forum in this issue
  • The Phantom to the Rescue by Jim Shepherd - 2 page editorial about the various appearances of children in Lee Falk's Phantom stories.

Fantomen Nr.10/2003
by Rolf Gohs

  • The Boy from San Diablo
    • Script: Graham Nolan
    • Art: Kari Leppänen
    • First published in Fantomen Nr.10/2003 by Egmont, Scandinavia (1 May 2003). Original Swedish cover shown on the left, thanks to Brian Jensen.

  • Message from the Publisher:
    Another new and unusual story in this issue! Written by Graham Nolan (best known for illustrating the current Sunday Phantom stories) and illustrated by Kari Leppänen, The Boy From San Diablo takes us to a semi-West Indies style outpost ruled over by a tyrannical despot.
    Covers for this issue by Jason Frazer who makes his Frew debut.
    As the story largely centres on the young boy Jorge, we decided to go back through the Chronicles to establish how many Phantom adventures by Lee Falk and other writers have featured a young boy or girl in need of help. You might be surprised at how many times such themes have been used! A special editorial feature can be found on pages 30 and 31 in this issue.
    Commencing in Frew #1369, on sale on 14 November, we will bring you a three-part blockbuster adventure called, Secret of the Skulls! Part one is written by Claes Reimerthi and illustrated by master artist Hans Lindahl and I can guarantee you will be enthralled! Secret of the Skulls is really special. So special in fact, that all in the Frew office almost battled to be first to read the next two episodes!
    There is, of course, a vague connection to the skull theme built into the Billy Zane Phantom movie, but this adventure is nowhere near as far-fetched and is set in modern times with The Phantom's old adversary Dogai Singh and his merciless Singh Pirates making an overdue reappearance.
    The second and third parts will appear respectively in Frew issues #1370 (on sale 28 November) and #1371 (on sale 12 December). Covers will be by Antonio Lemos and the three stories will provide the perfect lead-up to our 2003 Christmas Special which will be on sale on 19 December. Such was the artistic detail required for Secret of the Skulls, that Hans Lindahl gave himself a well-earned break after part one and handed the illustrative chores to Bob McLeod, who turned in a beautiful job.
    Without giving too much away, I must tell you that at one stage The Phantom is placed in a no-win situation and is forced to carry out a mission for Dogai Singh! Hard to believe, I know! Well, what you may also find hard to believe is that in part two alone, The Phantom faces more deadly challenges than you would see in a dozen Indiana Jones movies! All that even before we move into part three and an amazing climax.
    Secret of the Skulls looks like winning hands down as the most popular adventure for 2003 and is destined to win recognition as one of the greatest adventures in the 67 year history of Lee Falk's world famous comics creation!
    In many ways, this three-part adventure represents a return to the golden years of comics when writers and artists combined to entertain, comic books sold in millions and newspaper readers could hardly wait for the next day's edition of their favourite tabloid to find our what happened to the likes of Dick Tracy, Joe Palooka and Rip Kirby.

Jim Shepherd
Publisher


Future issues planned as of 21 November 2003 (subject to change without notice):

Check the New@Egmont, Frew Reprint Schedule, and The Missing Semic Stories pages for details of other upcoming stories.

My thanks to the staff of Frew Publications for providing this information.


More Frew stuff ...



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Bryan Shedden / guran@deepwoods.org
Last updated 22 November 2003