The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

The Phoenix Issue Zero

(Phoenix Issue Zero – Cover by Matt Baxter)

So, here’s the preview issue for the “weekly story comic“, released a couple of weeks ago, available on redeeming a code found in the Waitrose Weekend magazine. (The Etheringtons gave that code away here – PHOENIX1). The comic starts properly on January 7th next year.

Okay, lets get this over with ……… If you name it the Phoenix, if you have a very familiar editorial team, a very familiar style, a very familiar set of writers and artists, and a very familiar subscription based model of sales…. then I think I’m more than justified in opening this review of The Phoenix Issue Zero looking back to The DFC.

In practically every way it’s a carbon copy of, and the ideological successor to the DFC Comic. From the rebirth implied by the title, the roster of ex-DFC artists inside and coming up, the style, the feel, the ideology, the demographic, the no ads, the lack of shiny plastic tat selotaped to the front cover – everything reminds you of the DFC.

This isn’t a bad thing. It’s a quality publication, it feels good, and it certainly looks good. And now we’ve got those immediate familiarities out of the way, lets go forward shall we?

The Phoenix feels tighter, more focused than The DFC did. The strips feel more cohesive, with less range than before. That’s something that I miss perhaps – no out and out scary stuff like Mezolith, no very young stuff. But it may be that losing the extremes and focusing on the narrower range of strips is what makes The Phoenix succeed in the long run? Time, and sales, will tell.

But enough for now on that, let’s start with the cover – clean and bright, no plastic tat, big, effective design, nicely done logo. The Phoenix has started well, and looking at the shots of future issues, they’re keeping the simple, clean design constant.

The Phoenix also makes a deliberate attempt to talk directly to its audience, with the fictional editorial team on the issue zero cover cropping up again and again, and that all helps set the tone of the comic, and one that should work.

Okay, that’s the cover, the design, the ethos, the editorial team. Probably need to look at the comics inside…..

And in just a few words, you can describe them as consistently, predictably, very good. I say predictable merely because at this point, many of us will be aware of the names involved: Daniel Hartwell & Neill Cameron (The Pirates Of Pangaea, How To Make Awesome Comics), James Turner (Star Cat), Patrice Aggs (What Will Happen Next?), The Etherington Brothers (Long Gone Don, Ben Haggarty & John Welding (The Apprentice), Adam Murphy (Corpse Talk), Jamie Smart (Bunny Vs Monkey), Chris Riddell (Elsewhere). And that’s just the preview freebie issue. Future artists involved in future issues include Gary Northfield, Simone Lia, Kate Brown, Garen Ewing, Dave Shelton, Paul Duffield, Rob Deas and many more.

Yes, a host of very familiar names. And predictably, all rather good.

Yes, it’s only the preview, and a lot of the strips here are deliberately not actually starting, saving their true beginning for issue 1. It makes reading them a weird thing, but there’s certainly enough promise in a lot of them to make me think the future for The Phoenix, at least in terms of content, is bright…..

The Pirates Of Pangaea by Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron.

Honestly? The most disappointing strip here, and a shame as it’s the lead-off strip. But I think, I hope, that it’s suffered because Hartwell had to write for the prequel, couldn’t give anything big away yet, couldn’t utilise the exciting concept (Pirates! Dinosaurs! Lost Prehistoric Islands! That should work, yes?) to its fullest extent. One to see how it develops in the comic when it properly starts I think.

Neill Cameron’s artwork looks lovely though, as we follow Miss Sophie onboard ship, headed for Pangaea, off to live with her uncle; Governor Silas. Three pages of promise all leading to a partial payoff on the final page – dinosaur island ahead, and the hope, in that final panel, that Miss Sophie may be a little more of the action heroine than we first thought.

I’m hoping, really, really hoping this turns into something good, something thrilling, something more like The Boss.

Star Cat by James Turner.

Right, this is much simpler. You’ve all recently read Super Animal Adventure Squad yes? You know how good and funny it was, yes? If not, go here and see what one of our Year 4 pupils thought about SAAS.

Then simply read Star Cat. It’s essentially the same basic concept, again with the team of idiots getting mission instructions – just in space, inside a giant cat-shaped spaceship. James Turner’s characters, his stories, his artwork; perfect for the age range The Phoenix is going for.

Neill Cameron’s How To Make Awesome Comics

Part of the change with The Phoenix seems to be a greater concentration on engaging with their readers – more competitions, more contact, different features to talk directly to the reader, something notably lacking with The DFC.

And Cameron’s How To Make Awesome Comics is the best of these; genuinely silly, funny, AND practical. Hopefully a regular thing.

Long Gone Don by The Etherington Brothers

Not really anything more than a double page ad for the strip starting in the first issue. But in the ad there’s a sense of typically huge, manic action the Etheringtons always seem to deliver. They also seem to have cornerned the market in chase / quest storylines as well, but the last time they did it, with the recent Baggage, it worked really well and this looks like it may have potential as well.

Don Skelton’s 10, and having a really, really bad time – home and family vanished, hair turned white as a sheet, everyone chasing him, lost in a strange world, only friend a talking crow called Castanet. No clue though why he’s holding a ballot box though.

Corpse Talk by Adam Murphy

You want a little bit of weird? How about a sort of, kind of, fact based strip involving the author talking to the corpses of famous people. Yep, weird.

Fun and funny though. And a nicely worked mix of reportage and comedy, the sort of fun non-fiction you see a lot of now with Horrible Histories and the like. This time Amelia Earhart, next time Nikola Tesla.

Bunny vs Monkey by Jamie Smart

Biggest, boldest, brightest and silliest of the strips on show here, with the very familiar look of Smart’s work for children. And even though it’s not really doing what it says in the title – this is pretty much all Bunny, no Monkey – Bunny alone is still damn funny, silly for the kids, slightly knowing for the older kids, which means it should be a hit with both.

Other regulars include Patrice Aggs’ What Will Happen Next, with echoes of the Where’s Wally idea, much loved by our kids, really nicely done by Aggs – lots to see, lots to look for, should go down really well. Each issue promises a prose story as well in the Tale Feathers feature; either an exclusive short story or an extract from a new book. Again, as with all these extras, it serves a purpose, to break up the pattern of the comic, give children a mix of styles and content. And at the very end, there’s Elsewhere by Chris Riddell, a single panel, but beautifully done.

The Apprentice by Ben Haggarty and John Welding

This is the first of the Phoenix Feature Specials, the one-off strips included in each issue. And it’s a beauty, Ben Haggarty’s storytelling skills are well known, and John Welding is a big favourite here at the blog, perfectly suited for the darkest tale in the comic; of wizards, apprentices, temptation, demons, and all done so well.

This one sits slightly uncomfortably amongst the rest though, and as beautiful as The Apprentice may be, I can’t see it going over well with the readership The Phoenix is aiming for. Or perhaps, just perhaps, with strips such as this and the madcap silly of Jamie Smart et al, the comic is throwing a line to those of us slightly older than the demographic?

So, overall, a very good read. An impressive lineup of artists, good strips, lots of potential. And all wrapped up in a great bit of design. It looks and feels like it should be a hit.

But even after all that enjoyment…. will it be enough? That last line could so easily, did so easily describe The DFC; a great comic, full of good artists, lots of fun stories, excellent design and production values. And it failed.

For The Phoenix to succeed it’s going to have to do more than The DFC managed. It needs to be more than good, it needs to be marketable. So far, the team behind the comic have done a lot right. It’s easy to scoff at the deal with Waitrose (and I did), but from my understanding of it, Waitrose offered The Phoenix a good deal, allowing them to get the comic on the news-stands with less risk of the sale or return threat that could easily wipe out the comic within the year. Hopefully, the Waitrose deal will allow them to expand past the subscription only model elsewhere.

But all that is in the future. Right now, the people at The Phoenix have done their job, and made a preview issue they can be proud of, that you can be impressed with, and hopefully that every child you know will want to see more of.

Issue 1 comes out January 7th. I’m not sure at the moment, but you might be able to get it at Waitrose. But to make certain, to get it at a good price, to guarantee the future success and continued existence of the comic – go to The Phoenix website and subscribe: