interviews

Sy Barry, Phantom artist 1961-1994. (2001-09-16)

What did you do before the Phantom?
I was working for DC with adventure, science fiction, western and love comics. It was titles like Vigilante, Superman and Batman. I was also working with Dare Devil, a comic for Marvel. For a wile I helped my brother Dan with Tarzan and Flash Gordon.

Why did you quit drawing the Phantom?
I was growing tired of deadlines and it was hard to maintain the standard. After more than 30 years with the Phantom I felt to do something else.

So what do you do now when you have stoped working with the Phantom?
I´m painting, mostly portraits and landscape, but sometimes I still paint the Phantom.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
Redbeard, because of two reasons. It´s fun to draw him with his beard, pony tail and eyebrows and he was a migthy enemy that the Phantom had to defeat and when he finaly did that Redbeard joined him and was one of the founders of the jungle patrol. I like that.

How do you think internet and other new technology will affect on the comic industrie?
I´m worried because I think it will take the interest away from comics espesialy from the adventure comics like the Phantom. Humor comics maintain in the papers but the number of adventure comics decreases.

Rolf Gohs, Phantom cover artist. (2001-12-01)

What did you do before the Phantom?
I started i the 1950s with Kilroy in Seriemagasinet (The Comic magazine) together with Nils Egebrant. In the beginning I only did the intro pictures but around 1960 I began to do all the work with Kilroy. I began to work for the pubishing company Åkerlund in 1962. I did illustrations for short stories in Levande livet (Living life) until 1965.
I studied documentary film at a film shool 1965-68 and since then I have been working with the Phantom, X9 and Seriemagasinet.
In the 1970s, parallell with all the cover work, I did my own comic,

Mystiska 2:an (The Mysterius two). It was published in it´s own magazine, albums and as a hard cover book. It was also published in the Phantom magazine.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
It´s the Phantom himself. As a cover artist he is the character I know best.
What are you working on right now?
I´m working on an episode story that will be published in the Phantom magazine. It will be four epsodes with 15 pages in each one but I can´t tell you anyting more, so far it´s a secret.

How do you think internet and other new technology will affect on the comic industrie?
The handicraft is going to be digitalized. For me personoly it´s a disadvantage because I like to express myself with my hands. I don´t know how it will be in the future, everyting is changing and it will probably be good but I let other take that part.

What are you going to do in the future, exept for the Phantom covers?
I hope I can do some philosophic short movies about art.

Stefan Nagy, Phantom artist. (2002-03-02)

What did you do before the Phantom?
When I was 19 years old I began to work as a technical illustrator and did that for 12 years. I started to work with the Phanton 1992 and did that for a couple of years. I also did some thriller stories that was published in the Phantom magazine.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
Guran is my favorite. He has disapeard to much from the stories, I want him back. The Phantom himself is also a favorite and Diana of course, it´s always fun to draw girls. The Phantom should never had married her by the way.

I don´t like when the original concept is changed to much, you shuold follow the rules.

What are you doing now?
I work as a technical illustrator at IKEA in Älmhult, Sweden. But I want to draw the Phantom again, that was the best time of my life.

Do you want to draw any other character than the Phantom?
Yes, I want to do Batman or Spider-man. I have sent some work tests to DC and Marvel and they are positive to my work so maybe I can be a standin for some of theire artists. I also have some projects I´m working at on my own... and I want to draw the Phantom again.

How do you think digital technology will affect on the comic industrie?
I think it will affect the creation of comics in a positive way. It´s posible to get an other kind of motion and other effects in the comic pictures but pencil and brush are still the most important tools to work with, they are hard to replace. You got to have the feeling in the pictures or the readers will react. The digital work with softwares as Photoshop and illustrator just gives a final touch.

(2002-06-16)

Describe the work process for a comic artist.
At first there is a script that describes about 280 pictures. The editor shorten it to 230-240 pictures. I read the hole script and do some sketches and memory notes and then I break the script up into pages with about 8 pictures per page. To get inspiration and to get going in the work I start with some sketches of something else or just a great picture in the story, for example a great action scene. Then I just draw all the pages. The memory notes I did when I first read the script are often quite similar to the final pages. A hole story is done in about two and a half mounth.

What´s the funniest, hardest or most boring thing with drawing?
Nothing is boring. It´s just a matter of visualize the script for the readers. The Phantom gives a lot of opportunities to draw the most different kind of things. I would like to draw historical adventures with pirates and underwater scenes.

What´s important to think of when you draw the Phantom?
The Phantom is not a super hero. He is more of a mysterius crimebuster, the ghost who walks, you have to think about that. He is frightening for the criminals and everybody fears him. But I think that the Phantom should be beaten once in a while if the bad guys are smart but the Phantom should always make it in the end. In the actual sketching I often experiment with shadows to get a dramatic sense in the pictures. It´s also important to remember that the Phantom is not a humor comic.

From where do you get youre inspiration?
I´m inspired by super heroes and masked crimebusters with alter egos like Batman and Daredevil. Among other artists I´m very inspired by Jaime Vallvé and american artists like McFairlane and Frank Miller and there kind of story telling.

Knut Westad, Phantom artist. (2002-06-16)

What did you do before the Phantom and what are you doing now?
I am educated in graphic communication and did some temporary jobs before I began to work with the Phantom magazine in Norway in 1977. There I met Lee Falk in 1978 and he intruduced me to Ulf Granberg, the editor of the swedish Phantom magazine and 1979 I began to work with Phantom stories for the swedish Phantom magazine and did that until 1985. Then I worked as a coverartist and as an editorial artist with the Phantom magazine in Norway.

I have also been working with other comics than the Phantom. In 1986 I draw the Pink Panter and in september last year I finnished the second album of my comic Tigalo. I also work as a teacher in graphic form for computers.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
It´s the Phantom himself. You have to be careful with the dark and the dynamic part of the character. He is both two dimesionell and very expressive. That´s exiting but it´s important to not exaggerate his expressions. He´s a bit diffuse even though he´s the main character.

So what is important to think about when you draw the Phantom?
It´s to keep the mysterius part of the character. Is he human, nemesis or a ghost?

Do you want to draw the Phantom again?
Yes, but right now there´s a surplus of artists, so we will se.

How long time does it take to draw a comic page?
It can take from one to seven days depending on what kind of page it is. An opening page or an action sequence is done rather easy. Detailed surroundings is harder and takes a lot of time. I love to draw ships and aeroplanes so it takes lot of time to.

What is the best thing whith drawing comics?
Comics and other kind of illustrations are two different kind of things. In a cover for example is everything in just one picture. With comics there is a different process with a story that must reach a reader. Comics is in a way the poor mans movie. You have to do everything on youre own, make sure that the characters have the right expression, create the enviroment etc. That is fantastic.

How do you think internet and new digital technology will affect the creation of comics?
The comics are already affected by that technology. I have been working digital since 1993. I do the sketch work on paper and the inking with computer. In four to five years I want to go back to entierly work on paper but now I work 50-50 with old and new technology.

Lennart Moberg, Phantom author and artist.
(2002-06-16)

What did you do before you worked with the Phantom?
When I was 12 years old I began to work as an illustrator for UFO-sweden. That was fun because I like sience fiction. For 23 years I was working in the paper idustrie at the same time as I was freelance as an artist. Now I am a freelancer at full time. Exept for the Phantom I also do postcards and posters etc.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
It´s Lubanga, he is a strong character you can do a lot with. The Phantom has such a one-track mind.

How do you think internet and new digital technology will affect the comic industrie?
I think it will affect in a negative way. The comics are losing readers. Comics and digital technology must be more combined. I did a CD-rom with the Phantom ten years ago. It was like a comic with some animations and other things you can do with multimedia but King Featuers stoped it. I still got the idea but today there is no money for a project like that.

What is the advantage and disadvantage with beeing both an author and an artist?
You got the picture solution in youre head when you are writing but other artists sketch as the want anyway. I have sketched other author stories but most of the time I´m an author.

What´s the most important thing to think of when you write and sketch the Phantom?
It´s to compose the story in a readeble correct way. To do that you have to be extra clear in the writing. It´s also important to do research when you write historical adventures so all the facts is correct. In that case it´s easyer to write stories about modern time. I´ve written a phantom story called Merlins eye and even though Merlin is a fiction character it´s important to hav all the facts correct.

Can you describe the writing process?
I have an idea that I go around and think of. I do some notes and then I write a synopsis. When I have written and rewritten it a couple of times it´s about four to six pages. When the editor have read it and told me his point of view it´s time to write the script. A finnished script contains 228-230 pictures and how much text that is depends on how much details you give the artist.

I write about four Phantom stories per year.

What´s the main difference between you and other Phantom creators?
The main difference is that I´m both an author and an artist and that I write both historical stories and stories about modern time.

Janne Lundström, Phantom author 1970-1977. (2002-06-16)

What did you do before the Phantom and what are you doing now?
I´ve been freelancing hole my life and I have only had two real jobs. One was as a book reviewer and the other one was at the radio in the 1960s. I studied everything that was fun, litterature, art and theatre. All what you need to work with comics. After that I started as a freelancer.

Now I only write books.
It started with my comic Johan Vilde that the publisher wanted as books. The good thing with books are that I can do everything on my own.

When you write for comics it´s hard to make the artist to do what you want. When I write books they always ends as I want them.

Who is youre favorite caracter in the Phantom?
I don´t have any favorite caracter. The Phantom is rather empty and dont´t really have any personality, The supporting characters are more important. They give the stories athmosphere. I have made upp some supporting characters that returns several times in different stories. I tried to give the Phantom more personality by doing him more as a detective than a fighter. I also tried to do him more cultivated and sometimes put him in new situations. For example I once let him hit the wrong guy with the skull ring.

How do you think internet and new digital technology will affect the comic industrie?
I don´t know but I´m sure it will affect it in some way. I´m not really interested. There will probaly bee a new way of producing comics and they will look different from today. If it´s better and sheaper then it is good.

Is there any rules in story telling you are following when you write a script?
There is no rules but there is some tricks that is good. Yoy got to have a fundamental idea and it is also good to have closeups on all the attendant charcters at every page. I often start with a little story with some action that lead to the main story. The adventure can also start with a bang that catch the readers interest at once.

One important thing to think of is to tell a story in sequences. Every new sequence must begin in a new stripp or even better in the beginning of a new page. Some people want cliffhangers but I think that destroy the idea obut sequenses. It is also important to have the same tempo in and between the pictures in a story.

Describe the writing process for a Phantom story.
I start with some notes with coponents that I put in order. Then I write a synopsis that connect all the ideas at the notes. I split the story up in 240 peaces, one for each picture in the story. Then I write the actual script with story and page layout. I tried to put myself in the artists situation to get balance in the page layout and to make the story flow.

How much time do you need to write a Phantom story?
To come up whith the plot is the hardest. Sometimes I just need one day and sometimes I need three weeks. Then I write and I do about one page per day.

Do you want to write about the Phantom again?
No, I can´t do that. It´s hard to think in pictures again after writing books for so long time and there is so many books I want to write so I don´t have time for comics.

Claes Reimerthi, Phantom author.
(2002-09-22 / mail interwiew)

When and how did you start to work with the Phantom?
I met Dai Darell who was working with the Phantom at the time and she helped me to be an author at the Phantom magazine in 1983. At first I wrote The glove of fate and later that year I wrote my first phantom script.

What have you done more than the Phantom?

I have written about 50 Kerry Drake scripts and I have been working with Litle Fridolf but I wasn´t comfortable with that comic.

In the begining of the nineties I did Murphys law together with Hans Lindahl for the X9 magazine. I have also written foure albums about the swedish king Gusatv Vasa.

Nowdays I also write 91:an. I write about one third 91:an stories and two thierds Phantom stories. I also write articles in the Phantom magazine and in the magazine of the swedish comic society, Bild och bubbla. I would like to write more books, especially criminal stories and books for young people.

Why did you use the pseudonym Michael Tierres and why don´t you use it any more?
When I started in 1983 most other autors used pseudonym so I did that to. I used it until 1994. Then I wearied of it because it was impractical with pseudonym.

Can you describe youre work process when you write a Phantom story?
At first I got to have an idea. I got impulses from ewerywhere, magazines, radio or news. I am interested in history so many of my stories are about history. It is important with a careful research, the stories are often better if you use the reality.

After the idea part it is time to start the actual work. The first step is to write a synopsis for about seven to nine pages. I send it to the editor who gives his point of view of the story.

The next step is to write the script. It contains description of the images, text and dialog. Each story is about 225 images and I write it in four days. Then I´m editing the text three times. The writing is rather boring but the editing is fun.

What is important to think of in a Phantom story?
It must be a structured story with a begining, a midle and an end. The start is important and the conflict must be presented early. You have to know why the characters are fighting. All stories is based on old themes like love, hate or greed. that will engage the reader.

The fight between good and evil is important and the evil ones must be puniched in the end. There is always good to have a delay to keep the reader exited. One thing that´s important in comics is to tell the the story in pictures, the text is just a complement.

What is the main difference in writing a Phantom story for the magazine and the American newspapers?
I write all 26 episodes at the same time. It´s not that fun to write sunday pages because It´s so limited with only nine images to work with in each episode and there is so many restrictions.

The Phantom must apear in every episode and there can´t be any flashbacks, that would confuse the reader if they havn´t red all the episodes. It´s got to be simple stories and the concept can´t be changed at any point.
The swedish version of the Phantom is much more realistic than the american and got swedish values.

Who is youre favorite caracter in the Phantom?
The answer has to be the Phantom himself, but there is some characters that is rather fun to "write", like Heloise and old colonel Weeks. I'm trying to maintain Heloise a bit at Kits expense.

How do you think internet and new digital technology will affect the comic industrie?
That's a tough qestion and I don't think I can give a good answer at it basicly because I don't know that much about it. I've bought Scott McClouds book "Reinventing Comics" where he discuss these matters but I haven't been able to read i yet.

I know of course that ther's poping up a lot of new comics on the internet but I don't know if the authors and atrists are making any money at there work and in that case how. I heven't even been close tio work with net comics my self but maybe I do so in the future.

So, unfortunately, my answer at this question has to be a quite stupid "I don't know".

Magnus Knutsson, Phantom author.
(2002-11-30)

How started youre interest for comics and how did you began to work with the Phantom?
I grow up during the comic debate when many adults thougt that comics was bad and affected children badly. I red the Phantom at my friends. I studied art sience during the time of pop art and during that time comics became popular again. The comic Ironman woke my interest for comics again. I met Janne Lundström and founded the swedish comic society with him.

At the Phantom magazine I first started as a deputy, editing italian stories. Those stories was wery bad. Sometimes I cuted the

pictures apart and made new stories with them. I said I wanted to write my own stories and I was alloud to do that. The first one was drawn by Bertil Wilhelmsson.

I stopped work with the Phantom because I had a company together with Ulf Jansson and the Phantom didn't fit him at all so we worked with other comics instead.

What do you think is the most important thing to think about when you write for comics?
You got to folow the rules and not leave the universe of the actual comic. As long as you don't break the magic the readers will belive what they are reading.

The Phantom work so well because the comic is based on a clasic hero tale with myths in a mix with the realistic parts of the comic. The Phantom as a person can die but the myth says he's imortal so in one way he actually is a super hero.

Have you changed the Phantom or his world in any way?
Yes. I invented Rhodia, a country next to Bangalla with a withe rasism regim. It was South Africa that inspired me to create Rhodia and bring some realistic parts in the world of the Phantom.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
That's hard to say, every story is standing by it self. What I'm working on is always the best at the moment and then I forget about it.
Diana is a living character that's powerful and full of initiative. It's also fun to find out new bad guys and to bring up old bad guys and write about them again.
Characters that's full of contrasts are the funniest to write, you can do a lot with them.

What have you done more than the Phantom?
I have written stories for almost all the great comic magazines in Sweden like 91:an and Seriemagasinet, and worked with around 20 to 30 different artists.
I have also been working as a freelancing journalist and reviewed books for children in the newspaper DN 1978 to 1999 and I've also been searching in masscomunication. Soon the swedish comic society will publish some of my texts about comics, for example a text about boys and superheroes and an analysis of Carl Barks work.

Witch story is the best you've written?
Many people say that Diana in the Jungle patrol is a great story. The story have been reprinted but the paiment for reprints doesn't always work.
I think I've been a better author the more I write with better, sharper, lines for the characters. I don't think my older stories are that good today. You got to keep on writing to be a good author.

How do you think internet and digital technolgy will affect the comic industry?
Internet do that people read less comics than before but it's a great media for publishing, espesially for new comics. It has a lot of possibilities like animations and sound. Comic stripps work rather good on the Internet but money is the problem. How do you subscribe on internet comics?

Hans Lindahl, Phantom artist and author.
(2002-11-30)

How did you began to work with the Phantom?
1980 I did a comic called Axel B. Storm for the magazine Svenska Serier (Swedish comics). Throu that I came to Semic and there Ulf Granberg asked me if I wanted to draw the Phantom. At first I said no. I tought it semed to be very bothersome but I did some test pages and 1982 I did my first full story. Since then I've worked with the Phantom except for a break 1989 to 1992.

What have you done more than the Phantom? I have done Little Fridolf, Murphys law and Chuck Riley. I'm busy working with comics and I always say no to advertising jobs. I want to avoid that kind of work. I also do covers to swedish and noweigian comics.

What do you like best to draw, covers or stories?
To be honest I don't like to draw covers, it's to static. I'm more of a story teller. When I studdied at art scool other student could sit down and just draw a picture. I'm not that kind of person. I'm a comic artist. I like to tell stories. And most covers I do is to my own stories, and to the chronicles but that is just six times a year.

What do you think is fun and boring to draw in a story?
Meeting with people sitting around a table is very boring to draw. If I have to do such a picture I always lett somebody stand up to vary the picture a bit. Action is fun to draw if it's logical. Long scenes of assault is just unnecessary.

Describe youre work process with a Phantom story?
I don't have any real writing process. It's just a very calm process of writing. When I then draw the adventure I always start from the beginning to get a coherence in the story. First I sketch the hole story and then I ink it.

Why did you as an artist began to write Phantom stories?
I began to write adventures with Phantom when I realised that other people was writing my ideas, so I thought I could write them myself.

What is the best and the worst story you have done?
The best story I've drawn is The Castle of evil, it's got a lot of atmosphere. But after I did that story everybody just wanted the same thing again, for a while I almost got "typecasted". And the worst I've done? I'm not so satisfied with all of my scripts.

Who is youre favorite caracter in the Phantom?
Actualy it's Devil. I think he is a bit forgotten. Mr Walker without Devil is just Kerry Drake. I think Devil is a important character that can be developed a lot.

How do you think internet and digital technolgy will affect the comic industry?
I don't think it will affect the actual art work that much. I will still use pecil lead for the sketching and brush for the inking work. But the coloring work will probably change. You can get another kind of deep in the colors with digital technology.

Ingebjørg Berg Holm, Phantom author.
(2003-04-25)

How did you start to write the Phantom?
It was a comic festival in Bergen called Raptus. I went to a author course where Eirik Ildahl was group teacher. The story about the

Phantom and the female pope started as a practise there.

How did you get the idea to the story?
I´ve heard the myth before and thought it was interesting. I have red the Phantom since I was about 12 years old and I thougt that the myth had a lot of material that would be great in a Phantom story.

You are not a full time author, what do you normally do?
I´m going the last year on a art school preparing for higher studies. It´s a lot of practical work like sculpture and installation. Next year I hope I´m coming in to a design school.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
The Phantom is my favorite character, I like the absudity. He is serius, good locking, clever and capable to do almost everything, but is running around in a blue costume.
My favorite story is when he is in Las Vegas and is singing dressed like Elvis Presely.

Describe the work process with youre story.
I learnd story telling at the course. First I wrote a synopsis with the main characters travel through the story. You have to deside who the main character is. In my story it´s Giovanna, the female pope.
The Phantom is just a starter.

After the synopsis it´s time for the detail script. I was working on the story from synopsis to finnished script for about a year. But in total it was just a mounth of active writing.

What inspires you in youre storytelling?
Eirik Ildahl has given me a lot of inspiration. It´s also inspiering to find out what it is that makes a hero interesting and why he is running around in the kind of costume, that most heroes do. With the Phantom it´s important to keep whats special and not make him funny.

Youre first story have just been published, are you going to write any more Phantom stories?
Well, I have some ideas and I hope I can make great stories of them. "Giovanna" was rather controversial, the Phantom falls in love with, what he for a while think is a man. In my next story, if there be any, the Phantom maybe meets a famous psycho analyst.

How do you think Internet and digital technolgy will affect comics and the comic industry?
Internet is a great opportunity for non established authors and artists to show there work, it will be exiting to see what is happening in the future.
I have a double feeling for digital technology when it is used for the visual part of comics. In the end it´s a tool like paper and penn that you can do great thing with. I have for example seen very exiting work with photo- manipulation from video stills but I have also seen bad things without soul or style. I´m afraid that the handicraft in the comics dissaper and that the possibilities of digital technology take over if youre not a good artist.

Dag R. Frognes, Phantom author and artist.
(2003-04-25)

What do you do more than the Phantom?
I do adwertising and book illustrations. I find the comic media fascinating so I´m also working on two comic projects on my own where I do both the script writing and the art work. It´s wiking stories in french-belgian style

with a starting point in nordic religion and mythology.

How did you began to work with the Phantom?
In 1992 I met Claes Reimerthi and through him I met Ulf Granberg in 1999 and by that time I wrote my first script. I started as a Phantom author. The art work came later.

What is the advantage and disadvantage with beeing both an author and an artist?
As both an authot and an artist the work became an integrated process. I see pictures when I write. A disadvantage when you write for other is that the atist not always draw what you have intended. That kind of work claims a rather tight cooperation. I would like to draw other authors scripts so I can consentrate on the art work.

What is the best and the worst you have done?
The best I have done is the cover to "The pirate night". I worked in two weeks with it and used water colours, a technice I´m used to. That cover also became the best cover 2001 when the readers voted for the best cover that year.

The worst I have done is the cover to "Eldorado part 2". I painted it in acrylic and I´m not used to work with that. I also only had two days to work.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
The Phantom is the main character so he is my favorite. In the Phantom the supporting character are quite weak. In Donald Duck there is a lot of strong characters but it is not like that in the Phantom. But I think Sy Barry draw Diana verry beutiful.

What inspires you in youre work?
I am interested in history and mythology and what people have done through the ages. I have a Bachelor exam in history from the university.

Is there any comic creators that you admire?
Yes! Al Williamson, that done for example Agent Corrigan, was an idol before I became professionel my self. Jean Giroud, Herman and Huppen are also great, and of course - Frank Miller.

How much time do you need to write a Phantom story?
A synopsis can take from a couple of days to several weeks. It could be a verry long proces with a lot of writing and rewriting. From the first draft to a full script with 220-240 pictures it take about a week to write. I often work parallel with several projects and the time can vary a lot depending on what kind of story it is. I have a lot of stories in my head but all of them wont be good as Phantom stories.

Are you a collector youre self?
No, I´m not a active collector. I have taken care of work by artist that I admire, a lot of artists are rather anonymus despite they are verry good. But I´m not keeping my magazines in the best conditions like real collectors do.

Mats Jönsson, Phantom author and former editor. (2003-11-29)

What did you do before you began to write Phantom stories and how did you began?
I heve been interested in comics all my life and started to draw my own Donald Duck pictures when I was about three years old. When I was nine or ten I began to read the Phantom.

When I began to work I strated as a reportage artist. Later I work with the magazine Svenska Serier (Swedish Comics) and throu that magazine I came to The Phantom. I wrote the comic Ödeshandsken (the Glove of Destiny) that was published in the Phantom magazine. After I while I felt I wanted to affect the Phantom comic myself so thats why I began to write Phantom stories. I have done five advetures and I am working on two more.

I was editor for the magazine from 1987 to 1990. My time as editor ended before the Phantom was printed in coulor again.

I was against it and felt at the time that I wanted to do something else so I worked with the comics Seriemagasinet and X9. I also worked with the game magazine Interface, the first magazine that was digitaly produced.

What do you do today?
I am the swedish editor for Mumin and I do layout for Agent X9, X-men, Mega Marvel and Spiderman. I do some covers and editorial pages. I am also editor and do the layout and some artwork for Digimon.

What is the advantage and disadvantage with beeing both an author and editor?
It is a great advantage because I know how to think and I know how to transform a script into comics. There is no disadvantages at all.

Describe the work process when you write.
At first I think the stoty together so I do the first part of the work in my head. Then I write a synopsis for abou one and a half page. After that Ulf Granberg reads it comes with some input and ideas. Then it is time to write the actal script, 31 pages with 220 pictures.

What is important to think of when you write a Phantom story? That is a tricky question. The story must fit with the Phantom, the character and his world. It is hard to come up with great characters that just is assecories and dont take over the story. It is also hard to come up with new great criminals.

What inspires you in youre writing?
The great feeling you get when you can deside and have control over whats happening in the story.

What is the best and the worst that happend in youre work with the Phantom, both as author and editor?
Don Perlins pictures to one of my scripts was very bad. We improved his artwork here but they was still very bad. There havent been any other real disasters.

The best of my scripts is the thirsty godess. It had great artwork to and there will be a sequel.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
The Phantom himself is my favorite. He is an interesting character, honest and straight-backed. A kind of super hero but not a real one.

How do you think Internet and digital medias will affect the work with comics?
It is going to be easier for amatures to show there work without a publicher and it will improve the publishers contact with new, young artists.

Is there any other comics you would like to work with? Do you have any dreams?
It would be fun to write Modesty Blaise. Thats something I want to do, but I alredy got the best jobb. What I work with is really my thing to do.

George Olesen, Phantom artist.
(2004-08-28)

How did you start your drawing career in the first place?
It all started when I first came to kindergarten. I was just crying all the time so I was told to draw instead of cry because that's much funnier. And it really was. Then I became class artist in school and after serving in the second world war I studied at the national academy of design.

What have you done more than the Phantom? I have been working a lot with adwertising and illustrations. For NBC I did news illustrations of incidents like bankrobberies, court illustrations and political caricatures. Storyboards for commercials is something I also have been working with.

Have you done any other comics than the Phantom?
Yes, long before the Phantom I did Ozark Ike that was a newspaper comic strip created by Ray Gotto. I also did The Hawk and a comic about Litle Beaver, the indian boy who was a side kick to the character Red Rider. A kind of spin off. I did a Sunday page story called Inspector Deduce and sold it to a syndicate but it was never a hit. It's hard to introduce a new sunday story without a succesfull daily.

Who is your favorite character in the Phantom?
I must say it's the Phantom himself. The great thing with him is that he is a normal person, a very fine athlet, but still human. He doesn't have superpower or gadgets.

Describe the work process for a comic artist.
I break the script down in pictures per day and then I do marks in it for Devil or an L for the logo so I don't forget to draw them. I also note the number of words in every frame. After thet it's just to start the drawing.

What´s important to think of when you draw the Phantom?
You have to remember how the characters are dressed trough the story so they don't suddenly change theire clothes. Other things to think of is for example to make criminals look bad.

What's the hardest part of the job?
It's when the author write the script like a movie script. For example: A car drives up in front of a house and three people are comming out and start smiling. It's hard to draw that in one single frame.

How long time does it take to draw a comic strip or a page?
A page takes about two days to do, script reading and layout included. A strip is done in about five hours.

Have you changed the Phantom or his world in any way?
I have tried to do the Phantoms face to look a bit older and more solid with a bit more lines.

What is the best and the worst you have done?
It's hard to say, I realy don't know.

How do you think internet and other new technology will affect on the comic industrie?
I think computers can do marvelous things to the drawing but it's nothing for me. My wife is a wiz on computer but I know nothing about them.

Do you feel that you have been working in the shadow of Sy, doing sketches for him?
No, the truth is that I never cared about it. I have done so much other things so the Phantom was just a part of all my work. It's jus silly to think that way. Sy Barry wanted my work to be a secret as long as possible but I was hired by him and he paid me with his own money so for me that was all right. It all changed when Lee Falk find out about me but no, I have never cared.

Magnus Seter, Phantom author.
(2005-04-01)

How did you begin to work with the Phantom?
I have always liked writing and since 1989 I'm writing adventures for role playing games like Dragons and Deamons and Kult. I wrote scripts to the magazine Svenska Serier (Swedish comics) but they where refused. I wrote scripts for fanzines and interactice medias too. Trough the Conan editor Jerker Sojdenius I met Jonas Darnell and Patrik Norrman and they asked the Phantom editor Ulf Granberg if I could try to write the Phantom.

You are not a full time phantom author, what do you normally do?
I write adventures to role playing games and scripts for computer games. Mostly advertising games but I also do other kind of games, for example a game called Nikki.

Who is your favorite character in the Phantom?
There is no really good characters in the Phantom. The Phantom himself is to much of a nice guy and Diana is to good at everything. The twins are just boring and Guran is no fun either but I like the Jungle Patrol. Not a single patrol man but the whole organisation. The bad guys are better. I like Goldhand and Redbeard and of course the Sing pirates. The phantom is to nice, he must be harder.

From where do you get your inspiration?
From comics like Spirou, Watchmen, Dark Knight return and V for Vendetta. But I don't want the Phantom to be like them, the concept can't be changed to much. I like funny comics too but they are not inspiering in the same way that other adventure comics are.

What do you think of your first Phantom story?
It's OK. It's my first phantom script and I can always be better. I didn't really catch the dynamic of the Phantom but I'm pleased with the story anyway. The art was quite good to.

Do you want to change anything?
No, the story works. I rather write a new adventure instead. I really want to do that. I have more to give and a lot of ideas. As a player of role playing games I know that part. Stories just pops up in my head all the time, It's just hard to choose among all the ideas.

Can you describe the writing process?
First I talked to Ulf Granberg and he gave me a script by Norman Worker so I could see how it was written. Then I wrote the synopsis and the next step was to write the ten first pages as a test. Ulf gave me feedback and then I wrote another ten pages and finally the rest of the story. I have learned a lot and the next story will be much better.

How long time do you need for a script?
I worked with this script for three weeks. I can't work to long with a script and changes from Ulf Granberg must be fixed fast. I got much help from Ulf, he is an icon in this business and really knows the Phantom.

What is the hardest part of the writing?
With this Phantom story it was the underwater scenes. There can't be any dialoge under water so I had to put in thought bubbles instead. There is also textboxes that sometimes describes the pictures but I think it's rather unnecessary to write what you already can see. In my ordinary job I actually think it's the writing that's the hardest part. It's fun to come up with ideas for games but just sit and write background stories and rules are rather boring.

Is there any comic creators that you admire?
I can't draw my self so I really want to say an authour and that's of course Allan Moore. His mad but I like that. His story "The Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen" is really good. Among Phantom creators it's Hans Lindahl. It was a kick when he started. Kari Lepännen is good to.

Is the Phantom best in colour or black and white?
For me the Phantom is black and white because that's what I growed up with. I think a black and white Phantom is less ridicolous than one in colour.

What do you think is good and bad with the Phantom?
I think historical adventures are great, especially those where the father dies and a new Phantom must take over. The new Phantom is angry and want revenge and everybody else is also angry and all that anger gives the story extra energy. The milk thing is a gimmick but a funny part of the concept. A bad thing with the Phantom is that he has no bad habbits, he is too perfect. It's easy to get irritated at someone that has no bad sides at all.

How do you think Internet will affect the comic industry?
I think it will affect the distribution and give power to creators of small press. Interest can be made on the net with help of forums and mailing lists and that will give space for strange ideas, new artists and authors and virtual publishers. I also think this will give a lot of junk. People will discover how hard it is to make comics and that will give respekt for those who are really good.

Anna Jansson, Phantom author.
(2009-08-22)

What did you do before the Phantom?
I was working as a nurse until january 2009 and I have also been writing novels about the police Maria Wern for many years and books for children in the age 7-11. Crime stories as well. Ethic dilemmas in the health care sector is something I also been writing about.

What are you working on right now?
A short story that's a bit longer than normal but I won't say more about that right now. I'm also writing on a new book, a crime story.

How did you began to work with the Phantom?
The Phantom called from the cave and asked with his deep voice if I wanted to write a story about him and of course I wanted to do that.

Will you write a phantom story again?
If I have the time. With six children, two houses and a lot of books to write it's hard to do everything you want.

What´s important to think of when you write a Phantom story?
The story must be exiting, you have to stay within the "Phantom frame" and stay close to the history. I had to do a lot of research for the Phantom. What's the name of the wife and so on. Then you have to choose the language for the target audience. School books, books for children, comics, they all need different kind of languages. Something thats easy to read is the hardest to write. Crime stories are easiest to write.

What is the main difference between writing book and comics?
The vocabulary is the biggest difference. There is som many words in comics that you never use in a book. Like glurf, krasch and urf. Hasse Lindahl who is the artist to my story developed the language and did a great job with the pictures. To write illustration descriptions was also new but not that hard. I always think in pictures when i write, lika a movie. Something that was completely new was the bubbles. It wasn't enough to write that there should be bouble in the picture, you had to describe what kind of bouble it should be.

How much contact did you have with Hasse Lindahl during the work with your phantom story?
No contact at all. Today is the first time I meet him. He did a great work. It became very phantom like and not so much of a book as I was afraid it could be.

How much time do you need to write a Phantom story?
I needed a mounth of thinking and writing. It was more than I expected. A book takes about 800 hours to write.

Who is youre favorite character in the Phantom?
The Phantom is my favorite, he is my childhood hero. Me and my brother got a bag of magazines when we where kids and read them so the fell apart. It was really exiting stories.

What is the hardest part of the writing?
To actually have time to write and to keep the consentration. Peolpe who want to sell things are calling all the time and that is disturbing. I see everything I write as a film and then you are not on location in the story any more. It can take about half an houre to come back.

From where do you get your inspiration?
As a nurse I have been thinking of the problem with penicillin and resistance bacteriums for a long time. How the penicillin was invented was a good idea for a phantom story.

What do you think is good and bad with the Phantom?
The exitment and the thrill is good. The Phantom is a great school in effective exitement, like detective stories. The phantom as a father is not so good. The Phantom changing nappies in his babygro is a rather strange picture.

Do you want to change anything in the "phantom world"?
No, it's good as it is. I'm following the rules.

Is there any comic creators that you admire?
Not realy any comic creators but I have read a lot of Phantom and MAD.

How do you think internet and other new technology will affect on the comic industrie?
I have no idea. If everything is on the Internet, no one can make a living of it. But if things can be distributed easily it's probably good for new creators.