The Phoenix (comics)

The Phoenix is a British weekly story comic for children aged 6–12, published by David Fickling Comics Ltd.[1] The comic was launched on 7 January 2012 with a preview issue which was released in late 2011.[2] The comic is often considered a successor to The DFC:[2] both are published by the same people and many of The Phoenix's creators had worked on The DFC.

The Phoenix
Issue 1 cover art featuring "Pirates of Pangaea" by Neill Cameron, 7 January 2012
Publication information
PublisherDavid Fickling Comics Ltd
ScheduleWeekly
FormatWeekly Story Comic
Publication date7 January 2012 - present
No. of issues400+

Content of the comic

Unlike other British children's comics, such as The Beano and The Dandy, the comic does not exclusively feature humour strips. It also features serialise adventure stories such as "The Lost Boy" and "Pirates of Pangaea", as well as humour strips such as "Star Cat", "Evil Emperor Penguin", "Looshkin" and "Bunny vs Monkey". The comic has also featured text stories (such as extracts from books like "Charlie Small" and "Julius Zebra") and puzzles (which are also present in both the modern Beano and Dandy). This makes the comic more similar to the older Beano and Dandy than the modern ones as they once had a mixture of adventure and humour strips as well as text stories. There is also a non-fiction strip called "Corpse Talk" where the creator Adam Murphy digs up a famous dead person and interviews them about their life.

Strips

Like a number of comics (2000AD has Tharg the Mighty and Sparky had the Sparky People), The Phoenix features a fictional editorial team, a group of cartoon animals led by feline editor-in-chief Tabitha Inkspot. The main news reporters that are Bruno Barker, Ellie Waggins, Scoop Yapski and Iris Hasselblad, who have a big news page where they report on new comics and other information of note. The other strips include:

  • Bunny Vs Monkey - A strip about the adventures of anthropomorphic woodland animals, centred around a long-suffering bunny and a mischievous monkey.
  • Tamsin And The Days - A recurring strip starring Tamsin, an unknowingly magical girl who is the last pellar, a chosen one to save the world from darkness.
  • Troy Trailblazer (Now Trailblazers) - A recurring sci-fi adventure comic strip starring a team of space heroes led by Troy, their cocky but brave captain.
  • 'Gary's Ga - A strip about a garden and the whimsical animals and plants in it.
  • Star Cat - A sci-fi strip about a spaceship crew who live inside an interstellar cat.
  • Corpse Talk - A spoof talk show comic by Adam Murphy looking at influential historical people such as Einstein, Boudicca, etc. by digging up their skeletons.
  • Evil Emperor Penguin - A comic about a penguin and his plans for world domination.
  • Mega Robo Bros - A comic by Neill Cameron about two robot brothers on a distant future Earth.
  • Squid Squad - An underwater adventure strip featuring a team of 3 squids protecting the ocean.
  • Squid Bits - A simple strip of unrelated short cartoons.
  • Looshkin - The adventures of "the maddest cat in the world. Contains characters from the writer's ten issue series.
  • POW! - A purely illustrative comic with no text. Follows the adventures of POW!, a space gladiator and his adventures.
  • Dirk Lloyd - A comic strip adapted from the Dark Lord series. A Dark Lord is transformed into a 13-year-old boy and we follow his adventures as he tries to turn himself back.
  • Von Doogan - The Dangerous Adventures of Von Doogan by the Etherington Bros. is the puzzle usually on the back or middle page of The Phoenix. Children are encouraged to send in the answers to receive a Von Doogan prize and to be named winner in the next issue.

References
  1. "BBC News - The Phoenix comic rises from recession flames". Bbc.co.uk. 2011-12-26. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
  2. "Phoenix comic to launch with Waitrose". The Bookseller. Retrieved 2012-02-10.
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