Frew 2001 Annual Special

Release Date: 5 January 2001

• Pages: 268 (plus 28 page replica of #10)
• Price: $11.00 inc. GST
• Cover: "Tessa"
• No Phantom Forum in this issue

• The Shipwreckers
  • Script: Claes Reimerthi, adapted from Donne Avenell
  • Art: George Olesen & Fred Fredericks, adapted from Kari Leppänen
  • 152nd Sunday newspaper story; 2 Jan - 30 Jul 2000.
  • First Frew appearance.

• The Plant God of the Massau
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 51st Sunday newspaper story; 3 Aug - 21 Dec 1958.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #328, #482, #660, #869.

• The Childhood of The Phantom
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 53rd Sunday newspaper story; 21 Jun 1959 - 3 Jan 1960.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #325, #479, #656, #865.

• The River Gang
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 54th Sunday newspaper story; 10 Jan - 22 May 1960.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #328, #482, #660, #869.

• Oogooru and the Witchmen
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 75th daily newspaper story; 5 Oct 1959 - 16 Jan 1960.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #169, #275, #418, #588, #794, #1216.

• The Goggle Eye Pirates
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 56th Sunday newspaper story; 30 Oct 1960 - 26 Mar 1961.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #437, #612, #819.

• The Iron Dragon
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 80th daily newspaper story; 27 Feb - 13 May 1961.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #195, #306, #455, #630, #843.

• Fluffy
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Wilson McCoy
  • 57th Sunday newspaper story; 2 Apr - 13 Aug 1961.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #435, #608, #815.

• The Bad Ones
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Sy Barry
  • 90th daily newspaper story; 14 Dec 1964 - 17 Apr 1965.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #302, #450, #621, #831.

• The Killer
  • Script: Lee Falk
  • Art: Sy Barry
  • 94th daily newspaper story; 30 May - 10 Sep 1966.
  • Previous Frew appearances: #340, #493, #671, #886.

• Message from the Publisher:
  Once again we commence a new year with another Annual Special, 2001 Annual Special, being the 11th in the series.
  This year there are ten stories plus another reprint from the Frew archives - Issue No 10 which was published in 1949. As explained many times in the past, the early Frew editors "specialised" in inventing story titles! The reprint carries the title The Phantom Versus The Spy Ring on the front cover, but to save any confusion, the adventure is actually Part One of The Seahorse.
  Before you open the replica issue, a word of warning! Issue No 10 has a landscape cover. Be careful!
  With the exception of the story, The Shipwreckers all the adventures contained in this Annual Special are from the classics file and in most cases, have been out of print for up to 16 years. All of them are presented in their entirety for the first time in a Frew edition and all have been assembled from new copies of the original art.
  Covers for this Annual Special are by "Tessa". The identity of the cover artist commissioned to render the art for issue No 10 remains a mystery. It's a pity such records were not kept, but we continue the research in the hope that one day we can reveal the names of all the artists who produced cover art prior to the late Tommy Hughes, who took over the task for what must be a world record number of years spanning something like 1957-1987.
  The special editorial feature which follows the final page of the Lee Falk / Wilson McCoy classic, The Childhood of The Phantom, explains that this Sunday story was the second to pursue the theme and has not been in print since 1986.
  The first Sunday story about the growing up of the 21st Phantom was entitled The Young Phantom and was last seen in a Frew edition in our 1994 Annual Special.
  Debate still rages about which was the better version, but for the record, I prefer the story contained in this years special edition.
  The two Sy Barry stories in this issue were chosen not only because they were well overdue for reprinting, but because they highlight the formative early years of Barry as he finetuned his style on The Phantom.
  Examine both The Bad Ones and The Killer and you will pick up two interesting things - Barry's use of many of the touches used by master comics artist Alex Raymond (one of the most admired and copied creators in the history of comics) - and the fact that Sy was still coming to grips depicting Devil!
  Both stories originally appeared in the mid-1960s and at that stage Sy had been working on The Phantom for barely four years. His style and especially his rendering of The Ghost Who Walks, was to become more detailed in later years.
  I hope you enjoy the stories.

Jim Shepherd
Publisher