New@FREW



Frew #1419
by Tessa
#1419
(this edition is the 1447th actually printed)

Release Date: 1 Jul 2005

  • Pages: 36
  • Price: $2.50 inc. GST
  • Cover: Tessa (Terry Welsby)
  • No Phantom Forum in this issue

Fantomen Nr.10/2005
by Hans Lindahl

  • The Plague
    • Script: David Bishop
    • Art: Kari Leppänen
    • First published in Fantomen Nr.10/2005 by Egmont, Scandinavia. Original cover shown on the left, thanks to Ulf Granberg.

  • Message from the Publisher:
    In this edition, we step back in time to 1632 to be precise and follow The Phantom through an engrossing adventure in Europe. The Phantom, travelling with his faithful companion Suran, battles not only evil-doers, but illness. Not any illness, but what a few characters in the story at first think is the plague!
    In case you are among those Who Just Came In, Suran was a pygmy companion and friend of earlier Phantoms and preceded the present day Guran. Don't forget we're going back centuries with this adventure!
    Written by David Bishop and beautifully illustrated by Kari Leppänen, The Plague touches upon a disease which once killed many hundreds of thousands of people. Variations of plague, which invariably sprang from poor hygiene, once ravaged not only Europe, but big cities in what is now Great Britain and an alarming number of countries and regions throughout the world. Rats (shudder!) were among the carriers of plague. Centuries ago, people had few solutions to the plague. They lacked understanding of the cause and of course, lacked modem medicines. If you feel like scaring yourself silly, look up the Internet and read about the great plagues!
    Bishop has come up with one ingenious sub-plot! With The Phantom temporarily out of action, Suran teaches some local youngsters how to use a blowpipe to bring down heavily armed invaders. Suran dips tiny darts into a highly watered down mixture of Bandar poison which does not kill, but renders the invaders unconscious! This is almost certainly the first Phantom adventure in which "outsiders" put the Bandar poison to good use!
    Covers are by Terry Welsby who has perfectly captured the spectacular mountain scenery in which much of the adventure is set.
    In our next edition (Frew #1420) to go on sale on 15 July, we return to modern times with an intriguing story called, The Phantom - Man or Myth?. American artist Alex Saviuk illustrated this adventure - and he has also rendered the covers. Frew has only once previously commissioned an overseas artist to design the covers. Felmang was the first. The Phantom - Man or Myth? will become a highly collectable issue, if only for the cover artwork. But the adventure is really engrossing. Imagine yourself as The Phantom, walking into a museum and seeing a giant display - about the legend of The Ghost Who Walks! That's just part of what happens in The Phantom - Man or Myth? Not to mention a maniacal killer on the loose - and a killer with almost superhuman strength! Minerva Brooks who has featured in previous adventures of The Phantom returns in this story which goes dangerously close to revealing the true identity of the 21st Phantom and goes just as close to unravelling the entire legend of The Ghost Who Walks! How does the 21st Phantom solve a killing, narrowly avoid death himself and protect the centuries of secrets? All will be revealed when this amazing story hits the newsstands on 15 July! I can guarantee you will not be disappointed. Stories like this come along only occasionally and you will find yourself trying to guess the outcome after only the first few pages.
    In place of the planned The Union Mob story which was supposed to follow, we will now switch to The King of Norway in Frew #1421, which goes on sale on 22 July.

Jim Shepherd
Publisher


Future issues planned as of 20 May 2005 (subject to change without notice):

Check the New@Egmont and The Missing Semic Stories pages for details of other upcoming stories.

My thanks to the staff of Frew Publications for providing this information.


More Frew stuff ...



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Bryan Shedden / guran@deepwoods.org
Last updated 29 June 2005