In the year 2016, a total of 31 issues of Australian comic book The Phantom were scheduled to be published, but due to change of ownership only 28 issues were actually published.
Overview
2016 was a year of great change for Frew Publications, as the company changed ownership. This change caused a delay of the first issue of the year which was published almost two months later than usual. There was considerable online speculation among fans, and some even assumed that Frew would cease operations. However, the lack of information was caused by lengthy negotiations during which no party was allowed to give any more details than what was already stated about the company being on sale. The new Frew owners were announced to be Glenn Ford and Rene White, and Dudley Hogarth remained as the editor. The three were dubbed "The Frew Crew" and brought in many other changes during the year. For example:
Covers
The new owners' policy and the introduction of the new Frew Signature Series led to a much greater variety of cover artists than usual. A record of 12 different artists were credited for the covers: Glenn Ford (6 covers, plus one with Jeremy MacPherson), Felmang (3 covers), Antonio Lemos (3 covers), Jeremy MacPherson (2 covers, plus one with Glenn Ford), Paul Ryan (1 cover), Gary Chaloner (1 cover), Shane Foley (3 covers), Angelo Todaro (1 cover), Jamie Johnson (1 cover), Lindsay Walker (1 cover), Marcelo Baez (1 cover), Sal Velluto (1 cover). The three Collectors Replica Series covers were photos, as usual. An old Mario Caria cover was used as a back cover.
Additionally, Frew produced a variant cover for Supanova by five different artists: Glenn Ford, Antonio Lemos, Jeremy MacPherson, Wai-Chew Chan, and Jamie Johnson. It was sold exclusively at Supanova in Sydney, with remaining copies later made available through Frew's website. The artwork by these artists was also available in a separate portfolio.
Cover gallery
Contents
Phantom stories
Previously unpublished Frew stories
Previously unpublished newspaper stories
Previously unpublished Team Fantomen stories
| Issue |
Title |
Writer |
Artist
|
| 1745 |
"The Snake Ring" |
Darell |
Leppänen
|
| 1747 |
"1943, Part 1" |
Rassy |
Saviuk
|
| 1747 |
"The Heart of Darkness Part 4: Curse of the Pharaoh" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1749 |
"1943, Part 2" |
Rassy |
Saviuk
|
| 1749 |
"The Heart of Darkness Part 5: The Secret of the Scroll" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1750 |
"Nat Turner Mystery, Part 3" |
Reimerthi |
Leppänen
|
| 1750 |
The Heart of Darkness, Part 6: Unmasked Murderer" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1752 |
"Evil Schemes" |
Tierres |
Felmang, Benny
|
| 1753 |
The Heart of Darkness I - Part 7: In the Darkness of the Tomb" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1754 |
"Nat Turner's Spirit, Part 4: A Diabolical Plan" |
Reimerthi |
Leppänen
|
| 1754 |
The Heart of Darkness II - Part 1: Secrets of the Temple Ruins" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1756 |
"Nat Turner's Spirit, Part 5: Revolt" |
Reimerthi |
Leppänen
|
| 1756 |
The Heart of Darkness II - Part 2: The Omen" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1757 |
"Nat Turner's Spirit, Part 6: The King of Louisiana" |
Reimerthi |
Leppänen
|
| 1757 |
Heart of Darkness II - Part 3: Escape" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1758 |
"Singh War, Part 1: The Flying Dutchman" |
Reimerthi |
Spadari
|
| 1758 |
The Heart of Darkness II - Part 4: The Trap" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1759 |
"Singh War, Part 2: Rodiagate" |
Reimerthi |
Bade
|
| 1759 |
The Heart of Darkness II - Part 5: Death has Many Shapes" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1762 |
"The Mark of Cain" |
Madden |
Ruiz
|
| 1762 |
The Heart of Darkness II - Part 6: The Secret of the Force" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1763 |
"Nuclear Terror" |
Semb |
Ruiz
|
| 1763 |
"Deadly Cargo" |
Emberland |
Westad
|
| 1764 |
"The Crying Idol" |
Tierres |
Bess
|
| 1765 |
"Llongo's Amulet" |
Avenell |
Bade
|
| 1766 |
"The Art Collector" |
Avenell |
Vallvé
|
| 1767 |
"Predator's Road" |
Reimerthi |
Bade
|
| 1767 |
The Heart of Darkness III - Part 1: Intermezzo in Cyprus" |
Reimerthi |
Boix
|
| 1768 |
"Fish War" |
Worker |
Leppänen
|
Previously unpublished Bastei stories
Previously unpublished Gold Key/King/Charlton stories
Previously unpublished Fratelli Spada stories
Previously unpublished RGE stories
Previously unpublished Tay Yayınları stories
Previously unpublished other stories
Previously unpublished prose stories
Previously published Frew stories
Previously published newspaper stories
Previously published Team Fantomen stories
