The results from Chronicle Chamber's annual poll of Frew phans' phavourites results are in!
We greatly appreciate all the phans who cast their votes during the Christmas break, sharing their appreciation for the work of Frew Publications from the year that was 2024. Voting numbers remained consistent with last year's figures, and we saw a diverse group of phans from across Australia and indeed the world taking the time to express their opinions, providing us with clear insights into Frew's successes over the past year.
Through the year Frew continued to appeal to a large phan base with 17 different cover artists appearing on a proven variety of issue sizes and types, with seven brand new stories, 23 stories never before published by Frew and 24 reprint stories (these mostly appearing in the now familiar replica series)..
By way of an overview before moving through the individual results, it's clear that FREW continue to produce something for everyone:
ALL 30 covers received votes (i.e. was in someone's top 3)
ALL 54 stories received votes (i.e. was in someone's top 5)
27 of 30 issues received votes (i.e. was in someone's top 3)
For a full break down of the results, the team have a full examination and exploration in episode #298 of X-Band: The Phantom Podcast.
Phan votes for Best FREW Cover of 2024
According to the popular vote, where people nominated their Top 3 covers of the year:
Points of note:
A massive congratulations to Daniel Picciotto, taking first place with his only Frew cover for the year. Daniel is clearly a phan favourite, having previously topped this poll with first place for his covers in 2020 and 2021.
Another serve of congratulations to Jeremy Macpherson, with his two Frew covers for 2022 sharing in a tie for second place in the phan poll. A Frew cover artist since 2014 (Jeremy actually produced the cover for #1735, the first issue under the new Frew Crew regime), this is his second year in the top 3 having also placed twice in the top 3 of 2023.
A thoroughly-deserved honourable mention to Lauren Marshall, who joins Jeremy as the only cover artist with two entries in the top 10.
Welcome to Marcelo Baez, whose fourth cover for Frew earns his first appearance in the annual Top 10 list.
Frew readers have again proven themselves to be a patriotic bunch, with 9 of the top 10 positions filled by Australian artists.
Phan votes for Best FREW Story of 2024
According to the popular vote, where people nominated their Top 5 stories of the year:
Points of note:
Demonstrating that serialised stories are still popular with comic book readers, especially when the chapters come out in quick succession, the eight-part Operation Domino series heads the 2024 Top 10. Congratulations to the creative team, especially writer Duncan Munro who reprises his 2019-2021 form when tales from his Prince Rex saga topped the poll in each of these years.
Sole creator Matt Kyme is another consistent performer, having previously placed in the Top 3 in in 2019 and 2022.
Without revealing the full details, we can say that Kyme's Enter the Phantom and Munro's Operation Domino dominated this year's poll - it was tight in first and second, then a reasonable gap to third.
In 2024 the only creators to have multiple entries in the Top 10 were Shane Foley, Pidde Andersson and the pairing of Andrew Constant and Jason Paulos. Oh, and some blokes named Lee Falk and Wilson McCoy... Well done Shane, Pidde, Andrew and Jason on joining some illustrious company.
Continuing the trend, our Top 10 list is once again dominated by original stories developed and commissioned by Frew themselves. While there was a reduction in the total number of Frew Crew stories in 2024 (only seven this year), tellingly all seven of them made the Top 10 list. A reminder that last year there were eight in the final list, with seven each in 2021 and 2022.
Phan votes for Best FREW Issue of 2024
According to the popular vote, where people nominated their Top 3 issues of the year:
Points of note:
Congratulations to Matt Kyme (story writer and artist) and Marcelo Baez (cover artist) on issue #1969 achieving top place in 2024. This is the first time ever that a humble 36-page regular issue has topped the charts in the eight years we have been conducting the poll.
#1969 just pipped the 2024 Annual and #1972 the 2000th issue, which shared second place. This is probably something of a surprise, as at the beginning of the year the 2000th issue would have been a short-priced favourite to win the poll this year (backing up from the success of the 75th Anniversary issue in 2023).
Having Operation Domino pop up as a 'back-up' story certainly does no harm to a comic book, with their offerings featuring in 5 of the 7 regular issues to make the top 10.
Thanks to all voters, and a huge "Well done!" to everyone who finished rear the top of any category - with Frew pumping out an amazing 30 books and 54 stories last year creating a highly competitive field, to emerge as a popular favourite is no mean feat.
Most of all: well done, congratulations and THANK YOU to Glenn Ford, Rene White and Dudley Hogarth - the core of the Frew Crew and the men who make all of this possible.
Prize Winners!
After all that of course we need to say a special congratulations to the five winners of our lucky prize draw, selected at random from all respondents.
The live draw of winners was conducted toward the end of our "Best of 2024" episode X-Band: The Phantom Podcast (#298), which you can listen to on your favourite platform or watch on Youtube.
Sean is the lucky winner of the Frew merch pack featuring a Messenger Bag, a Frew Crew badge and assorted paraphernalia - well done.
The next four voters drawn at random are winners of a set of ChronicleChamber merch - congratulations to Ken, Christopher, Stuart and Adam.
Make sure you all keep an eye on your mail as the prizes make their way to you!
So what are your thoughts? Did the right issue, cover and story win? Any surprise placings for you? Can you complain if you didn't manage to vote? Please let us know via any of our social media platforms!
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