Frew have recently established a great tradition of attending the Sydney Supanova comic convention, and an even better one of releasing beautiful items for Phantom phans to enjoy.
This post is a wrap up of all the items that Frew have published on their Facebook page, as well as those that Glenn Ford told us about in X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #121.
The Phantom Gallery - Series 2 Trading Cards
While they're not necessarily a 'Frew Publications' product as such, the release of the Series 2 cards is arguably the biggest news in terms of products available for sale at the Frew Booth.
We've dedicated a stand alone article on these, as they are seriously big and exciting news that we've been waiting over 20 years for. You can read all about the cards here.
Sword of the Caliph - A graphic novel by Giancarlo Caracuzzo and Gabrielle Enriquez
It’s a brand new story featuring both the 21st and the 6th Phantom, with the two characters sharing a dream (albeit in different centuries), while the current Phantom is trying to stop a terrorist attack on the USA.
This book was first discussed by Glenn back in 2017 - you can read about that here.
Illustrated by Italy’s Giancarlo Caracuzzo and written by Gabriel Henriquez (Kid Phantom #1), it introduces us to a new villain, who acts as a major adversary for our hero.
The volume is 90 pages long, full colour and slightly over sized (like the Swedish Soft Cover Album).
Supanova Price: $16. Regular price: $20
Supanova Special edition comic: Black Glove
The Frew issue timed for release with Supanova this year is the much-requested 1985 Team Fantomen story Black Glove by Michael Tierres (Claes Reimerthi) and Knut Westad. This popular story has only been printed once before by Frew, back in 1988.
The newsstand version is a superb cover from Sunday newspaper artist and Supanova guest, Jeff Weigel, but the Supanova Special edition is wrapped in another Frew jam cover, featuring artwork from the some of the regular Frew Crew: Jeremy Macpherson, Jamie Johnson, Jason Paulos, Shane Foley and ‘Chewie’ Chan.
Price: $12.50
Pholio Set #7: Pirates
The newest in the series of Pholio sets that Frew is releasing will feature A3 size prints of the artwork that was used to create the Black Glove jam cover, as described above.
Supanova price: $60. Regular price: $75
Mini Pholio Set #2: Giantsize Phantom covers
At Supanova 2018 we saw the first mini Pholio set and this year there will be another released.
This is an A4 size collection of all of Glenn Lumsden’s wonderful Giantsize Phantom covers, along with a special ‘faux’ cover drawn up to complete the set of 8 prints.
Supanova price: $50. Regular price: $60
Posters - Set of Five
Frew also have a new set of posters for Supanova this year.
These include:
A Jason Paulos "Vultures" tableaux,
the magnificent recolouring of the cover for Frew issue #1834: The Dark Chalice Pt 2, by Grange Wallis,
the gorgeous wraparound used for the 2019 New Year's Prince Rex special, by Glenn Lumsden,
a new piece from veteran Sal Velluto
a recently discovered retro piece from Keith Chatto.
All posters are A2 on thick stock.
Supanova price: $14 each. Regular price: $18 each
Special Edition Hard Cover TPB
The highly successful 70th Anniversary trade paperback released by Frew in late 2018 has come in for some special treatment!
Printed as an oversize hard cover book, only 60 copies have been created making it an extremely limited edition. To make these books just that much more special, they have traveled all over the world (Italy, Sweden, USA, Australia) to be signed by every living creator involved in the six stories. The freight costs in this alone contribute to the price point, but make it a remarkable high-end collectible.
The hardcover also features a unique Sy Barry drawn bookplate.
No photos have been released yet, but ChronicleChamber has spoken to one of the signatories who said simply: "It's so beautiful."
Price: approx $200
Door Poster?
This stunning Chris Wahl image is being used by Frew as the cover of an upcoming release, the first volume of a hardcover collection called Legacy Series. You can listen to details of this series in our X-Band: The Phantom Podcast #121 interview with Glenn Ford.
The series will collect some of the rarer stories from the 1950s and 60s, with Volume 1 being an anthology of Phantom Adventure stories. Also intended for release at Supanova, this publication has suffered delays at the printers and so unfortunately will not be ready in time.
However, Glenn cheekily stated that if more than two people expressed interest in a door-sized version of the print then Frew would look into getting them made.
With over 30 people in the Facebook comments putting up their hands (as well as two in the podcast interview!), it would not be a massive surprise to see these on sale at the Booth as well.
Projected price: around $60
Attending artists
One of the greatest things about Supanova and the Frew Booth is the opportunity for phans to meet the creators behind the stories, to engage with them and have a chat, and to watch them work. We've been touched by the Good Mark in 2019, with a veritable smorgasbord of writing and artistic talent attending.
Published cover and story artists 'Chewie' Chan, Shane Foley, Glenn Ford, Jamie Johnson, Jeremy Macpherson, Paul Mason, Jason Paulos and Grange Wallis are all linked to the Frew Booth, with many of them displaying pre-drawn sketch covers and artwork that they will have for sale on their personal social media platforms.
Jeff Weigel and Andrew Constant will be present at the convention but largely in their own VIP booths, while Duncan Munro will almost certainly emerge from the shadows at one point or another!
All of these items will be made available on the Frew website shortly after the comic convention. We have also been informed that Frew are aiming to have much of this stock at the Perth Supanova event the weekend 29th and 30th June.
Only time will tell if Frew will release anything else new. ChronicleChamber will be at Sydney Supanova and on the look out for anything else, so ensure you keep an eye on our website as well as social media platforms as we report from the weekend.
#Frew #Supanova #GlennFord #XBand #Podcast #TradingCards #TradePaperback #Pholios #GiancarloCaracuzzo #GabrielleEnriquez #JeffWeigel #ChewieChan #ShaneFoley #JasonPaulos #JamieJohnson #JeremyMacpherson #Giantsize #GlennLumsden #GrangeWallis #KeithChatto #SalVelluto #ChrisWahl #ClaesReimerthi #KnutWestad #DrPaulMason #DuncanMunro #AndrewConstant #SyBarry
