Frew Publications is an Australian comic book publisher, known for its long-running reprint series of Lee Falk

Lee Falk

Lee Falk, born Leon Harrison Gross , was an American writer, theater director, and producer, best known as the creator of the popular comic strip superheroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, who at the height of their popularity attracted over a hundred million readers every day...

's The Phantom

The Phantom

The Phantom is an American adventure comic strip created by Lee Falk, also creator of Mandrake the Magician. A popular feature adapted into many media, including television, film and video games, it stars a costumed crimefighter operating from the fictional African country Bengalla.The Phantom is...

. Frew formerly published other comics, including Falk's earlier creation Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician

Mandrake the Magician is a syndicated newspaper comic strip, created by Lee Falk , which began June 11, 1934. Phil Davis soon took over as the strip's illustrator, while Falk continued to script. The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate.Davis worked on the strip until his death in 1964,...

. It operates from central Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and its managing director is Jim Shepherd.

Frew was founded in 1948 by Ron Forsyth, Jim Rishardson, Jack Eisen, and Peter Watson, with the four founders each contributing 500 Australian pounds. The name "Frew" is an acronym made from the surnames of the four founders, Forsyth, Rishardson, Eisen, and Watson.

The Phantom publishing chronology

The following section is a publishing chronology for the years when Frew used original titles. The first edition of The Phantom was issued in Australia in 1948 and it has today reached an estimated circulation of 25000 units. As of 2007, Frew sales figures place The Phantoms distribution above all other contemporary comic books sold in Australia. It also places first in duration of publication: in 2006 Frew celebrated 70 years of continuity, longer than any other Australian comics syndicate.

1948

Edition Number	Production Code	Official Title	Frew Working Title	Writer	Artist
1	D9	The Slave Traders	Enter the Phantom	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
2	D28	Queen Asta of Trondeley	In the Tiger's Lair	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
3	D29	Mister Hog	Smashing the Crime Ring	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
4	D30	Romance Pt 2	The Phantom versus the Jewel Thieves	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
5	D15	The Phantom's Treasure	The Phantom's Treasure Stolen	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore

1949

Edition Number	Production Code	Official Title	Frew Working Title	Writer	Artist
6	D1	The Singh Brotherhood Pt 2	The Phantom's Revenge	Lee Falk	Lee Falk, Raymond Moore
7	D13	The Game of Alvar Pt 2	The Phantom versus the Gun Runners	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
8	D2	The Sky Band Pt 2	Death to the Sky Band	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
9	D8	Fishers of Pearls	The Pearl Pirates	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
10	D12	The Seahorse Pt 1	The Phantom versus the Spy Ring	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
11	D12	The Seahorse Pt 2	On Bleak Island	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
12	D7	The Shark's Nest	The Shark's Nest	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
13	D11	The Golden Circle Pt 1	The Phantom's Dilemma	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
14	D11	The Golden Circle Pt 2	Golden Circle Pt 2	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
15	D11	The Golden Circle Pt 3	The Poison Gas Chamber	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
16	D6	Adventure in Algiers	Adventure in Algiers	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
17	D10	The Mysterious Girl Pt 1	Kidnapped in Egypt	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore

1950

Edition Number	Production Code	Official Title	Frew Working Title	Writer	Artist
18	D10	The Mysterious Girl Part 2	Trapped Under the Sea	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
19	S12	The Golden Princess	The Golden Princess	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
20	S8	Castle in the Clouds Pt 2	The Phantom versus the Old Man of the Mountains	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
20	S9	The Ismani Cannibals	The Ismani Cannibals	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
21	D5	The Prisoner of the Himalayas Pt 1	The Kidnapped Bride	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
22	D5	The Prisoner of the Himalayas Pt 2	Sentenced to Death	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
23	D14	Diana Aviatrix Lost Pt 1	Jungle Victory	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
24	D14	Diana Aviatrix Lost Pt 2	The Phantom's Triumph	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
25	D22	The Maharajah's Daughter Pt 1	The Kidnapped Maharajah	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
26	D22	The Maharajah's Daughter Pt 2	The Royal Prisoner	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
27	D16	The Phantom Goes to War Pt 1	The Phantom Goes to War	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
28	D16	The Phantom Goes to War Pt 2	The Red Invaders	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy

1951

Edition Number	Production Code	Official Title	Frew Working Title	Writer	Artist
29	D16	The Phantom Goes to War Pt 3	Death to the Invaders	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
30	D16	The Phantom Goes to War Pt 4	The Hero of Oolan	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
31	S10	Hamid the Terrible Pt 1	Hamid the Terrible	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
32	S10	Hamid the Terrible Pt 2	The Sultan's Prisoner	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
33	D17	Bent Beak Broder	Bent Beak and the Phantom Mark	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
34	D18	The Phantom's Engagement	The Phantom's Engagement	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
35	S11	The Young Phantom, The Childhood of the Phantom	The Young Phantom	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
36	S15	King of Beasts	King of Beasts	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
37	S16	The Scarlett Sorceress	The Kidnapped Princess	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
38	S14	Queen Pera the Perfect	The Reluctant Bridegroom	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
39	S18	The Dragon God	The Dragon God	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
40	S13	The Strange Fisherman	The Strange Fisherman	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy

1952

Edition Number	Production Code	Official Title	Frew Working Title	Writer	Artist
41	D24	Lago the Lake God	Underwater Doom	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
42	D25	The Wild Girl	The Lion Woman	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
43	S1	The League of Lost Men	The League of Lost Men	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
44	S4	The Beachcomber	The Beachcomber	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
45	S2	The Precious Cargo of Colonel Winn	The Precious Cargo of Colonel Winn	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
46	D41	Whirlpool Channel	Whirlpool Channel	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
47	D27	Princess Valerie Pt 1	Princess Valerie Pt 1	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
48	D27	Princess Valerie Pt 2	The Phantom versus the Hairy Twins	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
49	S21	The Haunted Castle	The Haunted Castle	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore, Wilson McCoy
50	D42	The Tiger Girl	The Tiger Girl	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
51	S3	The Fire Goddess	The Fire Goddess	Lee Falk	Raymond Moore
52	D39	The White Monkey	The White Monkey	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy
53	D32	The Lady Luck Part 1	The Lady Luck Part 1	Lee Falk	Wilson McCoy

Unnumbered Editions

The following Frew editions were without edition numbers when issued. For ease of reference, official Frew archivists have assigned them either an 'A' or a 'B' as per their publishing date:

• 1
• 2
• 65A
• 76A
• 76B
• 817A
• 825A
• 840A
• 858A

Untitled Editions

In editions 43-47, 49-821 and 823-828 no story title appeared on the front cover. Frew did not alter the official titles, which in most instances appeared at the start of the story.

Missing Edition

Due to an accident in production, edition number 330 was never issued. Edition number 331 was substituted in its place.

Exclusions

List is restricted to pure Phantom comic books; supplementary Frew editions and associated publications have been excluded.

Sources consulted

• "Index: The First 50 Years of The Phantom", compiled/edited by Jim Shepherd, first published by Frew Publications in 1998
  
• "The Phantom: A Publishing History in Australia", by Bryan Shedden