Issue one of The Phoenix arrived bang on schedule this morning, thumping onto my doormat, and very welcome it was too.
It's an impressive debut issue (or second issue if we count Issue Zero as the premiere) with 32 full colour pages packed with brand new material from some of the finest UK creators. Neil Cameron's eye-catching cover opens the proceedings, giving us a taster of the lead strip he illustrates, The Pirates of Pangaea written by Daniel Hartwell.
There's a good mix of styles in the comic, with no formula house style dominant. Jamie Smart has two pages, with his Bunny vs Monkey strip, and it lives up to his usual daftness. As Mister T might say, I pity the poor fools who don't "get" Jamie's work.
There's an aspect of The Phoenix that feels a bit like being at a posh kids' party in the 1950s, where people use phrases like "oodles" and "rip-roaring". It's not really dominant or problematic, but it's there. Perhaps it's why I felt the one scene of 'gross humour' in the comic clashed with the polite tone of the rest of The Phoenix. (Although showing a character covered in someone else's vomit would even be extreme in Toxic.) That's only a minor criticism and besides, what's a posh kids' party without someone throwing up?
There's a theme to many of the strips which is about characters finding themselves in unfamiliar surroundings, usually in a fantasy setting. This of course has been a successful plot device in classic children's books for decades (The Wizard of Oz, the Narnia books, etc.) and makes for a very welcome change from the usual suburban setting of children's comics. It also adds an unpredictable dreamlike quality to the stories, seen best in issue 1 with The Etherington Brothers' Long Gone Don.
It's good to see a comic that enjoys being a comic, and The Phoenix contains a regular feature called How to make Awesome comics, again by Neil Cameron. This is a great way to educate kids on the creation of comics in a fun way, and hopefully inspire in them the same respect and understanding of the form that many European kids have.
The complete story this issue is The Golden Feather, a telling of the myth of the phoenix, by Ben Haggarty and Garen Ewing. Top class stuff.
There's a nicely drawn half page illustration rounding off the issue by Chris Riddell entitled Supper at the Cat Restaurant. It's the kind of thing that could have appeared in comics of the 19th Century and is drawn with the illustrative skill of that era but with a modern twist. Excellent work.
All in all, The Phoenix No.1 deserves to be a huge success. It's intelligent, well crafted, entertaining, has its own style and, if today's kids can tear themselves away from their X-Boxes and mobile phones, I'm sure they'll find it to be great escapist fun.
At present, The Phoenix is only available to buy at Waitrose stores (and London's Tales on Moon Lane bookshop) or by subscription. Hopefully more retail outlets will follow but at present, if you're nowhere near a Waitrose, I'd encourage anyone to subscribe. (Depending on what option you choose, subscriptions range from as little as £10 for 5 issues to £99 for a year.)
https://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/subscribe/
Don't forget that there's a free 8 page preview of The Phoenix in today's edition of The Times!
Britain's brand new, all-new children's weekly comic The Phoenix is scheduled to be delivered to subscribers tomorrow. It will also be available in all Waitrose stores and in the children's bookshop Tales on Moon Lane in London. Hopefully more retailers will begin stocking it soon. (My nearest Waitrose is miles away so I'm glad I subscribed!)
Tomorrow's edition of The Times (Saturday 7th Jan.) will have an 8 page pull-out promoting the new comic and the BBC are filming an item today for broadcast soon.
A review of issue 1 will appear on this blog shortly. Meanwhile, if you haven't subscribed already, now's your chance! https://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/
Acting on information received direct from Commando HQ....
Commando 4459: Invasion Watch
In the early days of the Second World War, men too young, too old or too infirm for the regular services flocked to join Britain’s Home Guard to “do their bit.” Because of this, the units were dismissed as a bit of a joke in some quarters.
If those nay-sayers had listened to the conversation in one Home Guard headquarters on a night in 1940, though, they might have changed their minds. For as the men there shared their stories it became very clear that they had fought, and would fight again. And fight like the demons they were.
Invaders beware!
Script: Mac MacDonald
Art: Carlos Pino
Cover: Carlos Pino
Commando 4460: Warriors!
Fighting men come in all shapes and sizes. They wear different uniforms and follow different flags. But the best of them share one quality. And that one quality marks them out from everyone else as men to be feared and respected in equal measure.
That’s the quality that marks them out as…
Warriors!
Script: Mac MacDonald
Art: Keith Page
Cover: Keith Page
Commando 4461: Upside Down Ace
Alan Burnett and Colin Harvey flew as the crew of a Boulton Paul Defiant night fighter. They shared the same room and spent almost every second of every day with each other…yet the very air around them seemed to vibrate with the fierce hate they had for each other.
But, despite their bickering and brawling, they had the highest score of kills in the Group. How they kept it up was their own special secret…
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
The Boulton Paul Defiant was one of many planes which didn’t quite live up to their designers’ hopes. But you’d never guess that from Ian Kennedy’s dynamic cover where, as only he can, he turns the world on its head to create another perfect composition.
Inside, John Ridgway — in only his second Commando outing —delivers an ideal complement to the cover, his crisp, accurate linework being perfect for aircraft illustration. Being a trained draughtsman is quite an asset.
The script, by Brunt, gives them him full rein to tell the Defiant’s story while at the same time touching on some of the super-secret “boffins’ war” that went on behind the action in the Second World War.
Upside Down Ace, originally Commando No 572 (August 1971), re-issued as No 1604 (May 1982)
Script: Brunt
Art: John Ridgway
Cover: Ian Kennedy
Commando No 4462: Death Of A Wimpey
They found an abandoned plane in the desert, sand almost covering it. The paint was hanging off in shreds, the engines had seen better days and the fuselage was riddled with bullet holes. But it was still a Vickers Wellington bomber…one of the tough, famous Wimpeys. And it could fly — just.
So the men who found it, three army deserters and a no-good R.A.F. pilot, began to make plans to get back into the war — flying their own private bomber!
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
At the end of October last year at the Dundee Comics Day, two men were honoured for their outstanding contribution to the comics artform. Though they are not related, they share the same surname and, as you can see from this book, they have both worked for Commando.
I’m talking, of course, about the two Kennedys, Cam and Ian who together have produced the art for this tale. Ian’s cover wonderfully captures a stricken Wellington bomber trying desperately to land, while the characterisation and movement Cam brings to the inside art is outstanding.
…And let’s not forget scriptwriter Ken Gentry without whose contribution this classic Commando story the two Kennedys would never have had the chance to showcase their talents so well.
By the way, I got to present the awards — how cool is that?
Death of A Wimpey, originally Commando No 469 (April 1970), re-issued as No 1335 (July 1979)
Script: Ken Gentry
Art: Cam Kennedy
Cover: Ian Kennedy
http://www.commandocomics.com
On March 20th the Royal Mail are to issue a set of commemorative stamps on the theme of British comics. Very nice looking designs too, each featuring a different cover with a head shot of a character related to that comic in the foreground.
The comics featured are: The Dandy (with Desperate Dan), The Beano (Dennis the Menace), Eagle (Dan Dare), Topper (Beryl the Peril), Tiger (Roy of the Rovers), Bunty (The Four Marys), Buster (Hugh McNeill version of Buster), Valiant (The Steel Claw), Twinkle (Twinkle), and 2000AD (Judge Dredd).
The First Day Covers are produced by Bradbury and feature a Girls and Boys set at £20 each. Curiously, Valiant and 2000AD are in the girls' set, although it doesn't seem that they've chosen the comics to be gender specific. Besides, some women do read 2000AD!
What's more puzzling is the commemorative strapline '75 Years of British Comics'. I'm assuming the Royal Mail and Bradbury know that British comics have been around a lot longer than that (over 120 years) and it just means they've selected comics from the last 75 years.
The main thing is that UK comics are being celebrated and that the stamps will hopefully get the public thinking about comics and perhaps even encourage some to seek out current issues of Dandy, Beano and 2000AD.
For more details on how to order these highly collectible items see this website:
http://www.bfdc.co.uk/2012/comics/resources/stamps/6163.html
Thanks to 'stevezodiac' on Comics UK for bringing this news to my attention.
The New Year editions of The Dandy and The Beano were out earlier in some areas than scheduled. Tomorrow (January 4th) was the planned publication date but I bought copies from my corner shop on New Year's Eve.
This year is an important one for The Dandy, with it reaching its 75th anniversary at the end of 2012. (The Beano will celebrate its own 75th seven months later in 2013.) Both titles are the longest running comics in British comic history. Although a few older collectors may yearn for the comics to return to the style of their childhoods, it's the evolution of the comics that have kept them fresh for new generations to enjoy. Yes, sales have still fallen over the years. They've been falling for the past 60 years at least as they try to compete with the other distractions children have. If some of the more relentless critics really believe a retro-looking comic would appeal to today's children perhaps they could spend their time producing one, getting it on the shelves, outselling current comics, and proving their point constructively.
This week's Dandy and Beano are significant for two reasons. The Dandy No.3566 is the first issue since the revamp without a Harry Hill strip as the series ended in the Christmas edition. Sadly it's lacking any Nigel Parkinson strips whatsoever, but I hope that will be rectified soon as his work is truly one of the comic's strengths.
There's still a lot to enjoy though, including Wayne Thomson's eye-catching Bananaman cover and the return of a classic favourite guest starring in a very funny Mr.Meecher strip.
Over in The Beano, there's a stack of great material including work from Laura Howell, Hunt Emerson, Barrie Appleby, Nigel Parkinson, and a classic Billy Whizz reprint from the 1960s. There's also a special Super School strip that I drew as Bananagirl sets off to herald the arrival (next week) of... Bananaman! What? Will the character now be appearing in both comics? New strips in The Dandy and the classic style in The Beano? Stick with 'em and find out.
