Following the 2016 success of Frew Publications' Supanova booth, their first in many years, it is wonderful to see they are renewing their appearance in 2017. So, what can we expect to see from them this year?
From the outset, we already know that they will have double the floorspace from last year with not one but two booths in 2017. Clearly, while The Phantom may be a "niche" and "antiquated" character, he still draws enough of a crowd to really cram a small area!
Given the comments made by Paul Mason and Andrew Constant (Kid Phantom creators) toward the end of their conversation with us in our conversation on X-Band: The Phantom Podcast, ChronicleChamber expects that one of the booths will be manned by visiting artists, while the Frew Crew and their 'regular' booth will sit next door.
No other guests have been revealed conclusively at this stage, however an extensive post from Frew on Facebook suggests that we could also expect to see artists Antonio Lemos, Glenn Ford, Jamie Johnson, Jeremy Macpherson and ‘Chewie’ Chan make an appearance.
Why? Because they are confirmed as the returning artists for Frew's second ever jam cover, a Supanova exclusive that follows the success of the #1755 jam variant in 2016: "A variant Supanova edition of {issue #1785} will also be available to coincide with the Sydney leg of the well-known pop culture and comic convention/exhibition. This version will have a ‘jam’ cover from the same 5 artists that contributed to last year’s Supanova jam cover."
With #1785 also slated to be the issue in which the much anticipated Phantom by Gaslight series makes it's debut, it seems logical to assume that the jam artwork will be Gaslight themed - an idea that seems well supported by Jamie's postings on social media in the last week or so. After regular progress updates, his striking image (right) was unveiled with the caption "My 'Phantom By Gaslight' cover in all its glory ... #phantombygaslight #variantcover #conventionexclusive"
We may not be rocket scientists here at ChronicleChamber, but that does seem fairly clear evidence!
Clearly last year's jam cover and the associated Frew Pholio collection of that artwork was a success, as "the full unedited artwork (of the 2017 jam cover) will be the focus of the Frew Pholio #4 - also available at Supanova."
Sidenote: ChronicleChamber have confirmed with Glenn that "Frew Pholio #4" is not a typo and that the Supanova release will indeed be the fourth Pholio set - despite no word yet about #3 being available! This raises the question: what will the theme of Pholio #3 be? With so many wonderful covers in the last year, the Crew is spoiled for choice. However it seems likely that they would take the opportunity to promote one of their other innovations - Kid Phantom, the Giantsize comics, or Phantom's World perhaps?
Either way, a jam cover and a new Pholio set feels like this could be just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Frew goodies at the Supanova in June. We anticipate that there will be a raft of other announcements coming out over the next few weeks. If you're going, you may need a second mortgage. And if you're not, make sure you keep a close eye on the Frew website as the big weekend gets closer!
