Jim Shepherd

I began my working life as a Sydney newspaper reporter, specialising in sport and later drifted into radio and television as an on-air announcer and presenter, calling sports ranging from motor racing to boxing, all local codes of football (Rugby League, Rugby, Soccer (Football) and Australian Football plus track and field, golf, tennis, rowing and cycling. I participated in a wide range of sports with a fair degree of success at tennis, amateur boxing and track and field before I discovered my real interest - motor racing. Started out racing stock cars on dirt track speedways and later graduated to road racing in firstly Formula Fee racing cars and later, our version of Formula Two (2000cc) and sedan cars. Never a champion, but won a few and had a lot of fun and only a couple of quite minor accidents. I still have a passion for all forms of motor sport and last year wrote and published A History of Australian Speedway (Frew was the publisher) which I'm delighted to say sold out. Nowadays, Frew and The Phantom is my all-engrossing 'hobby', but I keep active on the sports sc ene as Patron of the Veteran Speedway Riders Association of Australia and hisdtorian for the NSW State Sports Centre Hall of Champions at Sydney's Olympic Games (2000) complex.

What do you think of the Phantom as a literary figure?

As a literary figure, The Phantom is incredibly important in Australia. The title is the only comic book admitted into the Australian Education system, mainly because so many stories have an historical background, but at least partly because the scripts are usually clean and well constructed. The title is also highly regarded in Italy and France. Lee Falk paved the way for a new generation of comics and fiction writers, because he was able to create such wonderful continuity, a believable main character and so many appealing villains.

Do you think that the Phantom is still relevant today?

Yes - The Phantom still leads the way in general appeal action comics because every story (and I include those created for Egmont) are always tightly capsuled and are in themselves, mini movie scripts. The same cannot be said for the vast bulk of the current super-hero comics characters.

Why do you have this interest for the Phantom?

I first became aware of The Phantom at quite a young age and have always loved the character and the support players. The Phantom was syndicated in a weekly women's magazine called 'Women's Mirror' before it appeared in local newspapers and it was in the Mirror, circa the late 1930s, that I first came into contact. The Mirror also published five or six Phantom comic books in the early 1940s and these are now highly collectable. In the early 1950s, I met the late Ron Forsyth, who was then publisher of the Frew edition and we became good friends. In the mid to late 1980s, I helped Ron and his late partner Lawford Richardson when both were ill and struggling to produce the comic book. This association led to me becoming involved on a full-time basis around 1988 and in 1995 buying out all the shares in Frew and becoming sole owner of the company.

Why do you think the Phantom has become so popular in New Zealand and Australia?

As stated, The Phantom has been around in Australia since the late 1930s and in New Zealand from around the same time. It is still the second most widely syndicated newspaper comic strip and is basically (because of the long time span) part of the Australian scene. Everybody here is aware of The Phantom!

What do you think of Lee Falk as an author?

Lee Falk at his peak was a brilliant comics writer. You muist remember that The Phantom preceded all the super heroes and was obviously the inspiration for Batman. Remember also that from 1936 onwards, Lee was scripting both The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician and by the late 1930s was writing both daily and Sunday stories for both his characters. That was a tall order! Naturally, Lee's inventivness faded a little towards the end of his career, but he still managed to hold readers throughout the world.

What is your favorite Phantom story of all times?

My favourite Phantom story will always remain the original (The Singh Brotherhood). It was a masterpiece of comics writing. Others I still love are (in no order) include The Sky Band, The Slave Traders, The Mysterious Girl, The Wedding of The Phantom and Childhood of The Phantom.

What is your opinion on the Egmont stories?

In the main, Egmont stories are excellent. I publish most of them, despite the fact so many are based on Scandinavian and European history and the majority of Australians have more American interests.

Do you prefer historical or recent stories?

I prefer historical themes provided they are not too steeped in European/Scandinavian history.

Frew has produced some Phantom stories. Can you tell a bit about those stories?

I wrote four stories. The first three were all illustrated by the late Keith Chatto....Rumble in the Jungle, The Kings Cross Connection and Return of the Singh Brotherhood. The fourth (The Search for Byron) was illustrated by Sydney artist Glenn Ford. 'Rumble' was our biggest seller back in the early 1990s We were a little unlucky with that one. I developed a character closely based on Mike Tyson, then world heavyweight champion. A week or so before the issue went on sale, Tyson lost his title to Buster Douglas! We were a little unlucky also with 'Connection';. I wrote Australian Prime Minster Bob Hawke into the script and Mr. Hawke left office barely three weeks before we went on sale!

Do you think there is any chance that we in Scandinavia will get to enjoy these stories?

No - I cannot see Egmont running any of these stories. They are now rather dated and three (The Singh was the exception) were probably too closely aimed at Australian tastes.

Can you tell a bit about Frew’s cover artists?

Sadly, no records were kept about the identity of the original Frew Phantom cover artists. The late Tommy Hughes took over in the early to mid-1950s and produced covers for some 30 years, which is probably a world record. Tommy then retired and in 1988 I commissioned a wide range of artists beginning with Terry Welsby, who signed his work 'Tessa'. Later came Glenn Ford, Keith Chatto, Terry Lee, Meg Coates and in more recent times, Antonio Lemos, who wsas a commercial artist in Uruguay before settling in Sydney. I occasionally render the odd cover. I used to sign them 'JS') b ut dropped this practice several years ago. Unsigned covers are mine! I once had 'Felmang design a cover and very shortly, you will see a cover designed by American artist Alex Saviuk.

When, how and by whom was Frew founded?

Frew was established in 1948 by a syndicate comprising Ron Forsyth, Lawford Richardson, Jack Eisen and Peter Watson. The name 'Frew' deriv ed from the first initial of each surname. Eisen and Watson puilled out of the syndicate before the business officially began, but the name was retained. Forsyth and Richardson remained co-owners and partners until I bought them out. Other than The Phantom, Frew published a wide range of comic books and general fiction magazines and paperbacks until the arrival of television in 1956 crippled the publishing industry. By the early 1960s Frew ran exclusively with The Phantom, which is now the oldest continuously published comic book title in Australia - and the oldest Phantom comic book title in the world. (Semic commenced The Phantom title in 1950, some two years after Frew.)

Can you tell a bit how the Phantom magazine is built up? How about special issues and so on?

We now publish 31 editions each year....26 x 36pp editions, 4 x 100pp editiopns and one Annual edition which averages some 300pages and comes plastic wrapped with a replica of an old Frew Phantom edition from the 1940s and onwards.. We have also produced a few special editions, notably, one to celebrate Frew's 1000th issue and another in honour of Lee Falk, not long after his death. Another special celebrated 50years of Frew publishing The Phantom title.

Why does not Frew have its own webpage? A Frew website might increase the popularity, and reach to a broader specter of readers.

I decided to let local enthusiasts run with Phantom websites, rather than crowd them out with an ;official' Frew site. I'm glad I did.The site oproduced by Bryan Shedden especially, is excellent. We help with some input when required.

How is the situation for Frew at the moment? Is the popularity increasing or decreasing?

Sales of The Phantom comic book in Australia are best described as steady - and profitable. There are some signs of growth, but nothing dramatic will happen in the short term.

Can you tell how many numbers printed Frew has for each issue of the Phantom on average?

Frew's average sale is in the high 20,000s.

Can you tell a bit about the expenses of the Frew magazine?

Expenses are considerable. Apart from printing, we commission artists to produce cover artwork and pay an outside studio to computer letter all stories purchased from Egmont. Atop this, we naturally pay royalties to King Features Syndicate and have all the normal costs involved in running an office and paying office staff. Frew is fully owned by myself.

Do you think the magazine will change from black and white to colors?

We'll stick to B & W with colour covers. The local market is not big enough to even consider colour issues.

Do you have any contact with the readers of the Phantom? How do you get feedback on your work?

Frew receives an enormous amount of mail from readers and the vast majority receive a reply. Somebody from Frew attends all local comic book conventions and Frew plays an active role in the Sydney-based 'fan' club, (The Bengali Explorer's Club). Fortunately, The Phantom is hot in media circles and I do some 15-20 radio and television interviews each year. Press mentions are very frequent and last February, the mass circulation Sydney Sunday newspaper (circulation in excess of 500,000) ran a full page in colour about my role in running the title.

About the Egmont stories. Do you get them by e-mail or by printing sheets in the mail? Do you receive the pages in color or black and white?

We receive all Egmont material by mail - and in B & W. The art sheets are copied and used for translations from Swedish into English. Everything is then handed to our computer lettering company and the final job is then transmitted electronically to our printers in Adelaide in South Australia.

Do you have close contacts with Ulf Granberg or any of the other members of Egmont?

Yes. Ulf Granberg and I are always in contact by telephone and Email. I have twice visited Ulf in Stockholm and we have also caught up on a few occasions in New York. I also maintain contact with some of the Egmont writers and artists.

Have you seen the Phantom movie? What is your opinion on that one?

I was fairly close to The Phantom movie from the very early days. The director (Simon Wincer) is Australian! Saw some of the final shooting in Australia, attended a preview showing in Los Angeles, met Billy Zane and helped the Australian woman who was in charge of makeup. The movie was enjoyable enough, but I only wish it could have been closer to Lee Falk's original concept and that the script had been completely based around Lee's original story. The movie was very successful in Australia and when it was finally released on video, actually made No.l in sales and rentals. It has, by my estimation, subsequently been shown on free-to-air TV and cable TV in Australia on at least 20 occasions. I believe it was also quite successful in New Zealand.

What will happen to Frew when you retire? Will that be the end of the Phantom in Australia?

I have no intention of retiring in the immediate future, because I enjoy everything so much. However, if and when the time finally arrives, my eldest son, in true Phantom tradition, will take over. Steve Shepherd has already accompanied me to the United States and met many of the key KFS players (and also Ulf). Steve has also spent a lot of time in the Frew office and knows the ropes. He runs his own website production company and is very much a Phantom enthusiast. I can safely say that the entire retirement situation is well covered.

Finally, thank you for inviting me to participate. I have thoroughly enjoyed answering your questions and hope we can do it again some time in the future.

Best regards,
Jim Shepherd.

Thank you very much for this interview, Jim. Have a nice day.