In Review: The Phoenix Issue 1

It feels like a long time since the last issue of The DFC appeared - although The DFC Library books have been reminding us what that title was like and, with the Etherington Brother's Baggage, what it might have continued to be given the chance.

So when The Phoenix was first mooted last year, there was some discussion about how this second title from David Fickling Comics Ltd was going to have to change to survive longer than its predecessor. The biggest change that was considered to be needed was it being available over the counter rather than just by subscription and, with their Waitrose deal, The Phoenix has managed that.

As for the comic itself, £2.99 gets the reader 32 pages of semi-gloss colour, which is a big improvement on the matt colour of The DFC. The dinosaur on the front cover leads into Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron's The Pirates Of Pangaea. When the first Phoenix image of this was released I e-mailed it around the rest of the downthetubes team saying that if it was available as a book on Amazon I would have bought it there and then based on that one image. Eight pages in, four in issue Zero and another four here, and I stand by that initial assessment - I like both the idea and the execution and I can completely understand why editor Ben Sharpe ran it as the cover and first story in this issue.

Next up are two pages of Jamie Smart's Bunny Vs Monkey which sets up the humorous strip's basic concept and, like Pangaea, continues directly on from the pages in Issue Zero. As the two protagonists didn't meet in Issue Zero this is one strip that seemed a little strange there, but the fateful meeting has now occurred and I can now see how it is going to play out. With Jamie's delightful chibi-style animal characters, this is one strip that I expect will grow on me.

Via two pages of text from the Ash Mistry book due to be published by Harper Collins in March, the next comic strip is the Etherington Brothers' Long Gone Don. The brothers' love of the manic is in full flow here with the main character dying on the first page before being transported to what could only be described as an Etherington version of Alice's Wonderland. Issue Zero didn't give much away about Long Gone Don and it has to be said that you aren't going to be much the wiser after these three pages but, with a hat wearing talking crow and Lorenzo's trademark detailed art, I fully expect this one to become a firm favourite.

Neill Cameron gets another page and a bit to get the readers to interact with the comic in How To Make Awesome Comics before the first two pages of Kate Brown's The Lost Boy. There isn't much to the story in these two pages, an apparently ship-wrecked boy wakes up on a sun bleached beach, finds a piece of a map and follows footprints up the shore. Yet Kate's style is so distinctive in the way she plays with the elements that make up her pages, as it was in The Spider Moon, that it makes these two pages interesting to look at despite the initial lack of action.

Garen Ewing's ligne claire style is much more traditional in the four page complete story by Ben Haggarty of The Golden Feather in which a middle-eastern boy and his grandfather, appropriately, watch the death and rebirth of a real Phoenix.

This is followed by Adam Murphy's Corpse Talk in which Adam talks to the reanimated corpses of famous people, in this instance scientist Nikola Tesla. Corpse Talk really sounds like a bad idea, zombies for kids mixed with history, however when I asked my 10 year old nephew which was his favourite strip in Issue Zero, it was Corpse Talk - and I have to agree with him. It may sound like a strange idea but, remarkably, it works really well.

The final strip in Issue 1 is James Turner's 2 page Star Cat, the beginning of a longer adventure, which does its job of raising a smile. If James' DFC strip Super Animal Adventure Squad was The Avengers for the Fineas and Ferb generation, then Star Cat is their Star Trek.

The whole comic is packaged up with editorial characters, a couple of humorous shorts, Patrice Aggs' centrespread of a school open day that is just about to go wrong, Lorenzo Etherington's tortuous Von Doogan prize puzzle and a superb Chris Riddel image of a cat restaurant.

So is there a drawback? As with The DFC, getting children and their parents to realise The Phoenix is available is going to be the issue. While the Waitrose deal is heartening to hear, there are only eight Waitrose stores between Yorkshire and John O'Groats, which at least is eight more than Northern Ireland has. For a vast swathe of the United Kingdom, "available at Waitrose" equates to "subscription only". If you have a local Waitrose then consider yourself lucky that you can simply walk in and buy a copy.

The Phoenix Issue 1 is an impressive start for the new title and, based on the contents of this week's issue, it deserves to do well. Time, and hopefully a wider distribution deal, will tell.

• There are more details about The Phoenix comic at their official website where a digital version of Issue Zero is available to read. The various Phoenix subscription options are also available here.


• The Phoenix is available at Waitrose supermarkets. Your nearest Waitrose can be found using the Waitrose Branch Finder.

• The Oxford Mail ran a short article on the release of Issue 1 which includes a picture of The Phoenix team.

The Phoenix Issue Zero Via Waitrose

The first issue of the new Phoenix comic is due to come out on at the start of January 2012 however Waitrose supermarket customers are being given the change to get a sneak preview with a printed copy of the Phoenix Issue Zero.

The current issue of Waitrose's free weekly Waitrose Weekend publication has The Phoenix featured on its front cover and a four page centrespread pull-out all about the new comic. In addition there is a printed code in the pull-out that, when put into the appropriate page of The Phoenix website, allows readers to get a free copy of the preview issue zero.

Emphasising the University of Illinois' findings that comics are as good as books at helping children to read, the Waitrose Weekend describes Phoenix as "published weekly at £2.99, the 32-page comic has at least seven story strips in every issue, plus a puzzle competition and a non-fiction strip on a new topic each week." Phoenix editor Ben Sharpe is quoted as saying, "We're making The Phoenix for all 8- to 11-year-olds; boys and girls. But really it's for everyone. Children will have their favourite strips, but so will kids in their 30s, 40s, 50s and beyond!"

The pull-out also introduces readers to the Phoenix characters of Monkey from Jamie Smart's Bunny and Monkey, Sophie Delcourt from Daniel Hartwell & Neill Cameron's Pirates Of Pangea, Castanet from the Etherington brothers Long Gone Don and Kate Brown's amnesiac child in The Lost Boy.

It also gives details of various subscription options for The Phoenix ranging from a full year down to a five issue taster. These are also available on the subscriptions page of the The Phoenix website.

There are more details about The Phoenix on the comic's website.

The Phoenix Issue Zero is available by entering the Waitrose code and your details into the Waitrose page.

In Review: Baggage

The DFC Library returns with the first of its third tranche of titles, and the first one that wasn't in the weekly DFC - Baggage by writer Robin Etherington and artist Lorenzo Etherington.

Randall is the lackadaisical, and somewhat disaster-prone, lost property officer for the tram service of Triptych City. After his latest disaster with a rhino, his boss, the perennially grumpy Bronco Lutz, offers him a last chance to keep his job by finding the owner of the oldest piece of lost property in the company's enormous warehouse.

Just about surviving the collapse of the enormous pile of lost luggage, Randall takes the small, old and apparently very well travelled suitcase on a quest around the city in his desperate attempts to find its owner. Using the clues on the suitcase in the form of travel stickers, Randal search becomes more and more frantic as it goes along.

Along the way he picks up his good hearted friend Taw, the sensible Mica and the nerdy collector Kong as his quest staggers from one calamity to another and the companions end up being chased by an ever growing mob of disgruntled people. Will they find the owner of the suitcase before the day ends or will the mob get to them first?

One word best fits the Etherington Brothers work, be it the writing or the art, and that is 'manic'. Robin's writing is so off the wall that the plot is never going to be predictable or even, for that matter, straightforward. But that is to the book's benefit as what could have been a simple quest storyline swerves constantly between increasingly bizarre situations. Lorenzo's artwork is beautiful, dynamic when it needs to be and intensely detailed in the quieter sections as the mainly feline characters work their way around the city.

The Etherington's previous DFC Library title, Monkey Nuts, worked well in the weekly comic but suffered somewhat as a book due to the constant action required of a short weekly humour strip which made it something of an exhausting read. Baggage gets over this problem as the action is not as intensely constant, although Monkey Nuts fans will enjoy spotting the in-jokes in Baggage that hark back to the previous title.

Baggage is a visual delight that works just as well for adults as it does for children. With Christmas coming up this is one book that could just as easily be on your own 'wants' list as well as being on the list of presents to be given out to others.


• There are more details of Baggage on the David Fickling Books website and the Etherington Brothers blog.

Bristol Expo Line Up continues to grow as weekend nears

An exclusive Watchmen print by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins will be on sale
at the Bristol International Comic Expo

A quick reminder - as if you needed one - that the Bristol International Comic and Small Press Expo takes place this weekend (14 -15th May 2011) at the Ramada City Inn & the Mercure Holland House Hotels.

Guest of Honour for the weekend in Rick Veitch, who will be joined by a host of other comic creators, including Sydney Jordan and Martin Asbury, along with publishers large and small.

There's a host of EXpo EXclusives that will be available to visitors, including the free STRIP Magazine Issue Zero and the chance to buy limited edition Watchmen and Razorjack prints.

Up for grabs will be...

• A very special free ashcan edition of the forthcoming UK Anthology, Nelson from Blank Slate Books featuring the work of 50 top creators at work on one single narrative (see news story).

• A special Watchmen print by Dave Gibbons and John Higgins, on sale for £15 and limited to just 75 pieces, marking the 25th birthday of the ground-breaking comic by Alan Moore: proceeds will go to the Draw The World Together Charity.(Pre-order on comicexpo@hotmail.co.uk).

The original artwork has been kindly donated by Dave Gibbons and will be auctioned for the Draw the World Together Charity. This is by sealed bids only and bidding forms will only be available from the Info Desk at the Ramada.

• John Higgins is offering a limited edition Foruli print at the event - limited to just 50 pieces - from his stand at the Ramada. (Pre-order email comicexpo@hotmail.co.uk). That's part of the 'Razorjack Attack' launch, which includes the release of Double Crossing from Com.X, the first novel by Michael Carroll.

• The Etherington Brothers - Bristol Expo regulars - will have30 copies of the 140 page limited edition sketch book El Sketchbook Lorenzo volume F.I.V.E. on sale at the Mercure. The book will be a limited run of only 60 copies in total, with the other 30 going on sale online after the show, but Bristol Expo is the only show they'll be available at, ever!

• Rogue Trooper, the world's greatest Genetic Infantryman, celebrates his 30th birthday at Expo thanks to John McCrea, who is producing a Signed & Numbered
Limited Edition Print which will also feature another legend from 2000AD.

• Markosia will be launching Slaughterman’s Creed by Cy Dethan and Stephen Downey, Quarantined by Michael Moreci and Monty Borror and they'll have copies of their Royal Wedding comics by Rich Johnston, Gary Erskine and Mike Collins for sale.

• SelfMadeHero will be exhibiting at Bristol with a range of new and signed copies of it's latest graphic novels and graphic novel biographies. They'll also be celebrating the launch of the first volume of their The Lovecraft Anthology with a special Lovecraft panel featuring SelfMadeHero creators and a signing featuring as many creators as we can lay our hands on.

They'll have creators sketching and signing at their tables throughout the weekend, so pop by and say hello.

Creators Rob Deas and Ian Edginton will also be on hand to talk about their new graphic adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.

• Print Media Productions will announce the launch date of Strip Magazine, a new monthly comic magazine for the UK, part of a range of comics projects. STRIP MAGAZINE Issue Zero will be given
away free to Expo visitors, featuring background on key strips in the new comic magazine such as Black Ops Extreme by John Freeman and PJ Holden, Warpaint by Phil Hester and John McCrea, Age of Heroes by James Hudnall and John Ridgway, Savant by Jim Alexander and Ferrer and Carlos Vila - plus some highlights of Print Media Productions graphic album range.

There's also a special competition in the sampler which will offer comic creators the chance to have their work in the title when it launches later in 2011.

Confirmed guests include: Henry Flint; Lee O'Connor; Dom Reardon; Simon Bisley; Paul Cornell; Stephen Baskerville; Laurence Campbell; Alan Davis; Dave Gibbons; John Higgins; Charles Adlard; Mark Buckingham; Richard Starkings; Sally Hurst; Lee Garbett; Ian Churchill; Gary Erskine; Rob Williams; Si Spencer; Neil Edwards; Ian Edginton; D’israeli; David Hine; Shaky Kane; Neil Roberts; Dylan Teague; Phil Winslade; Al Davison; Mike Collins; Gary Spencer Millidge; Andrew Wildman; Jasper Bark; Dylan Teague; Roger Gibson; Vince Danks; Martin Fisher; Simon Williams Rob Davis; Simon Gane; Neil Edwards; Sean Phillips; Michael Carroll; Patrick Goddard; Gordon Rennie; Emma Beeby; Paul Ridgon; Lew Stringer; Mike Molcher; Laura Howell; Jim Campbell; Kev Hopgood; John A. Short; Luca Erbetta; Graham Bleathman; Webley Wildfoot; Boo Cook; Bob Wayne; Tim Pilcher; Dave Lota; GM Jordan; Bryan Talbot; John Watson; Colin McNeil; Andi Ewington; Cosmo White; Jock; Tony Lee; Dan Boultwood; Serge Pelle; John M. Burns; Syd Jordan; Cy Dethan; Stephen Downey; Vicky Stonebridge; Nic Wilkinson; Ben Oliver; Dan Lockwood; Inj Culbard; James Hodgkins; Mike Bowden; Rob Deas; Jimmy Broxton; David Roach; Kat Nicholson; Jason Cardy; Al Ewing; Tom Eglington; Dean Beattie; Dave Shelton; and Adrian Salmon

Exhibitors include Com.X. Forbidden Planet London, Incognito Comics, Panini Comics, Self Made Hero, Reed Comics, Markosia, PsiCollectables, Genki Gear, The Comic Man, Astral Gypsy and Tripwire (who recently launched their digital edition).
• For more information on Exhibitors click HERE

• Pre-sales for Expo Tickets are now closed, but organisers tell us that if you want to avoid large queues then tickets will be available at 09.30 from the Ticket Desk in the downstairs foyer of the Ramada on Saturday and 10.00 on the Sunday.

Please note that the event does not open until 10.00 on Saturday and 10.30 on Sunday.

Etherington Brothers join The Dandy - with dragons

Here's the first official artwork from the Etherington Brothers brand new series, YORE!, which will be making its early 2011 debut very, very soon in The Dandy.

This is just the latest of several strips the Etheringtons, creators of Malcolm Magic, Tusk, MOON and Baggage have brought to British comics fans, which include Monkey Nuts, recently released as a collection by Random House, and the web comic Lore of the Things.

"We don't want to give too much away (hence the completely non-explanatory pic choice!)," say the boys, "but we can reveal that there will be action, adventure, laughs, lots of complaining about stuff, gratuitous cartoon violence by the bone-filled bucketload, er, and a pig."

So remember folks, when you're sitting there at home on Christmas Eve feeling jaded because there's nothing on the TV but a rerun of Dr No or Jamie Oliver cooking something ... just remember ... Santa really does exist ... and he'll be bringing you a special gift every single week of the year in technicolour quest-o-vision!