Swoon Now! The Phoenix

I tweeted about this last week but didn't get round to doing a proper post.  The Phoenix is a weekly, largely subscription-based comic that's been in production for a few weeks now.  I say largely subscription-based because it is available in some Waitrose stores and comic shops and (you may have guessed this) we now have the complete run of back issues in stock.  For the interested but desk-bound have look at the full-to-bursting website (see here), but here's a quick run down of some of what you'll find in a jam-packed issue:

Pirates of Pangaea by Daniel Hartwell & Neill Cameron is one of the flagship strips mixing dinosaurs and pirates in 1717.

Corpse Talk by Adam Murphy is a fantastic way of sneaking in a history lesson as it's about a talk show featuring famous dead people brought back to life for the show.

One of my favourites is the fabulous Jamie Smart's Bunny Vs Monkey.

Long Gone Don by The Etherington Brothers is a wonderful play on the Alice Wonderland story - instead of a dreaming, our protagonist may have died and instead of a rabbit hole we get a bowl of soup!

There's also a guide to creating your own comics, a regular contribution from the incomparable Chris Riddell, short strips and one-off stories and puzzle strips.  Perhaps its biggest achievement, aside from the variety is that, considering how picky kids can be, The Phoenix looks like and is, a comic for both boys and girls without putting off either - a tricky act to pull-off I'd guess.  Highly recommended.