Phoenix #109

I haven't posted a Phoenix preview for a while so let's do so with the latest issue - #109. The cover is spectacular and unlike anything seen on the Phoenix beofre, with Looshkin having apparently drawn everything besides himself, including the straplines and logo! Great stuff that actually comes from the pen of Jamie Smart.

Inside it feels as though Jamie Smart and Adam Murphy have taken over over the comic, illustrating 13 pages between them. In fact only one strip inside is drawn by a different artist, and that strip is Sky Drifters by Zak Simmonds-Hurn. It's not that Jamie and Adam are bad artists (they're brilliant) but it would be nice to have a bit more variety.

Fortunately we are also treated to a game on the centre spread which was produced by Kate Brown.

Phoenix #109 is out now at the usual price of £2.99.

Mega! - New Magazine Launched Next Month

As reported by John Freeman over on Down The Tubes, a new magazine is launching on the 6th of February and goes by the name of Mega!. Going by the above cover, the magazine looks very similar to Toxic, using both T.V. celebrities and cartoons to fill up its pages, alongside some new Jamie Smart comic strips. 

The only negative so far is the awful cover. At first glance you can't tell which word is the title, as it appears the same size as every other bit of text and is crammed into one corner, so that as much as possible can fit on the cover. Hopefully this will be sorted out when the comic is actually published, as the cover is the main selling point and should look nice and tidy!

Mega! is published by Immediate Media and will come out monthly for £2.99 - the same price as The Phoenix!

The First Christmas Phoenix

Issue 51 of The Phoenix is a special one because it is the title's very first Christmas issue! Like this years Christmas Beano, the logo could do with some snow (but at least it's wearing a Santa hat!), and the comic is filled with heaps of Christmassy goodness, including a four page Bunny Vs. Monkey, the title's most popular characters (according to a recent poll) by the fantastic Jamie Smart!

There are other highlights too, such as a festive Gary's Garden (by Gary Northfield, of course), part two of Cogg and Sprokit by Jamie Littler, and a fantastic centre spread giving us a rare inside look at Santa's Grotto, by the brilliant Chris Riddell!

All this and more is bundled up in a fantastic package, yours for just £2.99! But be quick - The Phoenix sells out fast!

New and Reviews!

Several things to cover today on just one blog post! 

The Phoenix

First up, why should you buy the latest Phoenix comic? 

The answer - just look at that Jamie Smart cover - amazing! (Intrestingly, this is also the first Phoenix cover to feature a comic strip, which is just another reason as to why you should grab a copy!)

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More Phoenix!

Also Phoenix related, editor David Fickling talks about the title and that children are still intrested in reading comics! You can read the article at The Telegraph's website here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/9720917/Why-comics-arent-dead.html

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The Last Dandy!

The last copy of The Dandy is proving incredibly hard to find, with stores selling out within minutes after opening (if only sales had always been like this)! Fortunately you won't have to resort to eBay where copies are, on average, £10 each, as a Scottish newsagent has set up a website where you can buy one for just £3.99 a copy plus postage!

http://www.lasteverdandy.com

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Laika

Does the name Laika sound familiar to you? It should, as it belonged to the first ever dog, and living animal, in space!

I recently bought the graphic novel Laika from Amazon, which was written and drawn by Nick Abadzis at the end of 2007. It's a great read and gets very emotional, the book is a genuine masterpiece.

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Aces Weekly

Volume 2 of Aces Weekly has just been released, featuring some excellent new strips by some incredibly talented creators. If you haven't yet subscribed, be sure of visiting the website by clicking on the Aces Weekly logo on the right hand side of this page!

Also, Aces Weekly has a regulary updated blog which includes news and images about the comic and its creators. You can visit the blog here:

http://acesweeklyblog.com

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The Amazing Mr X Ready to Order

The Amazing Mr X was recently the spotlight of a competition and the entries have been collected into a book, ready to order by emailing: 

universecomic@gmail.com 

(I'm not sure of the price as I haven't ordered a copy yet.)

A first look at The Digital Dandy!

Just hours ago issue zero of the digital Dandy was launched, and newspapers all over the world reported it, with a search on Google News revealing about 85 articles! Despite all that coverage, I'll show you what's inside anyway!

First up, as seen at the top of the post, Jamie Smart takes gives a new look to a classic strip - The Numskulls. Instead of The Beano's version where the main character is called 'Edd', The Dandy has given the spotlight to a young lad named 'Alex'!

Looking at the above frame, you may be wondering why the green arrows are there. That's because the strips are now animated, and you press the arrow to go to the next (or previous) frame. Each frame has something that moves, and speech bubbles pop up in the order they would be said.

Moving on, some strips, such as Bananaman and Desperate Dan continue, but there are also some new strips in there, such as Wayne Thompson's Retro Active, bringing back classic superheroes from The Dandy, such as Mr X - which answers the title of a recent post - 'Is The Amazing Mr X Returning?". 

There are also two new mini strips, the first is Hammie the Hopping Mad Hamster and the second is Bad Hair Day.

That won't be everything in the Digital Dandy, these are just a few small samples, as Andy Fanton and Will Dawbarn have confirmed that they will be also drawing for the comic.

Numbered as "Issue Zero",  I hope The Dandy won't be restarting its issue number count, as it was over 3000 which is something D.C Thomson should be very proud of and continue in digital form.

There is more than just a comic on the website though, such as 'The Dandy News', which is joke news, a shop (which actually links to the D.C Thomson website at the moment) and games, such as the Bananaman game above, which was very hard to take a screenshot of whitout falling off the roof or running into a chimney (if anybody is wondering, to jump you click on the screen, and that's the only control you need)!

You can read the digital Dandy here:

www.dandy.com

This Week's Phoenix - No. 45

The latest Phoenix features one of the most exciting Zara's Crown strips to date, with tense excitment in every panel and a thrilling cliffhanger at the end! I won't reveal too much, but here is just one panel: 

Excellent storytelling by John and Patrice Aggs!

Jamie Smart's popular Bunny Vs. Monkey comes back in the second part of a daring adventure - what lies behind "Door B"...? The centre spread of this week's issue is also taken up with an excellent Bunny Vs. Monkey poster!

Over the page in Corpse Talk Adam Murphy introduces us to William the Conqueror talking about one of histories most famous battles - the 1066 Battle of Hastings!

  

Further on in the comic Gary Northfield returns with another excellent Gary's Garden, all about the battle between two spiders and a spot of lunch!

All this and much, much more is packed into the latest issue of The Phoenix, on sale now from various stores for just £2.99!

Review: The Halloween Phoenix

This weeks Phoenix issue is important for two reasons. One, it is the titles first Halloween issue, and two - the comic has now tied with The DFC's run. And with a guarenteed issue next week, The Phoenix is even more of a success! Hooray!

So, whats inside this important, fun-filled issue?

Bunny Vs Monkey is the first Halloween story (with the exception of the very short Planet of the Shapes on the Big News page), and this time Bunny, Pig and Weenie are all in the spookiest part of the woods, revealing their scariest stories! Written and drawn by the great Jamie Smart!

Neill Cameron's How to Draw Awesome Comics is all about drawing scary spookies this week! He teaches you the basics, a Vampire, Werewolf, Zombie and a Mummy, and then you can mix them up yourself! Templates for everything in this strip can be downladed from the website by clicking here - so you don't have to draw all over your comic!

Plus - there's an exciting Halloween puzzle! If you can spot all the pumpkins in the issue you can win some cracking prizes! So, what are you waiting for? Grab your copy now and get hunting!

Phoenix issue #43 is out now at all good stores for just £1.99! Happy Halloween! 

Help support the Dandy!

Ever since the revamp of The Dandy back in October last year many nasty comments from bored and mindless critics all over the world have been popping up on this thing we call the internet. I'm not here to rewrite what Desapeate Dan artist Jamie Smart wrote here - http://www.fumboo.com/blog/an-open-letter-to-the-internet/comment-page-1/#comment-5826 and here: http://www.fumboo.com/blog/criticisms/, or what Lew Stringer, artist of Postman Prat, wrote here: http://lewstringer.blogspot.com/2011/09/days-of-thrills-and-laughter.html, but it'll probably end up as pretty much the same message. As we all know the Dandy sales have dropped dramatically since last year, but personally (and I know I'm not alone here)I'm fed up of hearing: "...The Dandy will fold..." or "..It will merge with The Beano..." etc. because there is currently no evidence towards this and before that happens D.C. Thomson will probably do their best to save the much loved title anyway.

Another revamp perhaps?

But what they did was a very brave and bold move - removing all the free gifts, having 100% comic strips and making it come out weekly! Surely they deserve something for that? Oh, and Desperate Dan did NOT start being drawn by Jamie Smart at the revamp as many state - it happened four years ago! If readers hadn't liked it I doubt Thomson would have kept good ol' Jamie for that long! No, comics aren't like they were back in the 1960's, but these days they have to make themselves heard above the charm of iPods and video game explosions! Just walk into your local Tesco's today and if your lucky you'll probably find The Beano or The Dandy hidden somewhere behind a hoard of girls and baby comics. Visibility is another problem! It is often very hard to find comics in shops with crammed shelves (I've read that many WHSmith stores rarely have The Dandy and Beano). There was a useless author in a recent Sunday Times who made up facts and stole artists comments from their websites. Surely newspapers should be helping to support Britain's comics - not making up nasty comments. I'm going to stop moaning now, it wont help anything!

So, on a lighter note...

Over on The Dandy facebook page some artists and fans have been posting "Save The Dandy!" posters. I thought they were quite nice, so I've downloaded them to share with you here!

Steve Beckett

Steve Beckett

Wayne Thompson

Conan McPhee

Andy Fanton

Stu Munro

Wayne Thompson

Karl Dixon

Keep it up guys! I'm loving these an I hope you post many more!

So, help the Dandy (and the Beano) by buying a copy (or two) every Wednesday, reccommending to your friends and family and sharing your copies around to get others intrigued! Cheers!

Find Chaffy Now!

Jamie Smart's latest find Chaffy book is on sale NOW! Can YOU find the Chaffy's hidden in The War Of The Hot and Cold Plops? Or

inbetween The Living Cupcakes or The Space Penguins? Will you find them all in The Garden Of The Bipples? Well - Theres only one way to find out!

FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

Or you could just buy one from all

good bookstores (and a few bad ones) in the UK and hopefully abroad. You can also pick up a copy off Amazon.

www.findchaffy.com

Dandy #3530 is full 'o fun!

The latest Dandy is out now, with a free set of "snapping teeth"!And 44 pages... but snapping teeth! Unlike previous bumper issues this one has a 4 page Bananaman stroy (and it's even continued into next week), drawn by Wayne Thomson. Also, this issue has 4 brilliant new stories, Britian's not got talent, Knock-Knock, The space dogz and Bone-o!Good to see a little celebrity story again, Little Cheryl this time. Simon Cowell (who features in Jamie Smart's Arena of Awesome as well)wears his trousers up to his armpits, as usual drawn by Nigel.Justin Beaver is better this week, especially the second half. And Stu also put Korky in again! Yey! When I first saw the story advertised I thought it would go like this: Justin is singing, then pest control come along..... (I hope you read this Stu!)And for the first time in a while a step by step drawing guide in the Dandy, see below.George Vs. Dragon is back! Hooray! Replacing Boo after his 8 week run, George comes back from the Himalayas, with a beard! Once again, he hopes to slay that ice-cream eating dragon (see this issue)! Fanton's Grampire only appears once, however.Finally, as readers of this blog would know, I would not like this strip:Until box three, that is!

Next week's Dandy is also a 44 pager with two free gifts! Make sure you vote, you have until midnight on 16th. You can vote here!

It's Dandy day again!

Hooray! It's Dandy day! And issue #3526 (which DOESN'T have a flap) is out! Are those sheep in the background of the front cover drawn by Jamie Smart? They don't look like Nigel Parkinson's art but I could be wrong! It's week three in the strictly come laughing*, and the stories are (according to thingummyblob) feeling the pressure. To be honest, I'm a fan of Fanton's new take on Harry and his Hippo (originally drawn by Ken H. Harrison) and Daredevil Dad. Harry and his Hippo this week includes another classic character - Bully Beef and Chips! I'm not a huge fan of Phil's Finger or Tag Tastic Team. What about you? Go to www.dandy.com to cast your vote! Unfortunatly Mr Meecher the uncool teacher has no gone (Flop gear was supposed to go with it, but still appears in this issue). Which is a real shame to me as I really enjoyed it. It's been replaced by Farm-ula one, where animals race against each other in cars. I didn't see disaster Chef either...

As I said in my previous blog about the Dandy, the little celebrities are back, this week it's Chris Evans. I'm not going to reveal too much, but here's one box, drawn by Nigel Parkinson. As you can tell, Chris names as many shows as he can in his sentances!Andy Fanton has sneaked in another little thing into Boo this week (in my last but one blog, I mentioned that he sneaked in carrotty kid). This time it's the advertisment for George vs Dragon, disguised as a movie poster. Keep a look out for anything else he does.

*The Dandy promises it has not heard of a program called strictly come dancing.