The Dragon Game

Although I’ve only been subscribing to The Phoenix for a couple of months, I’d class myself as quite a fan. I’m also quite a big fan of board games, and have been for many years, so of course when it was announced that there would be a complete board game published in the comic, it was met with some excited anticipation on my part. If the Von Doogan puzzles were anything to go by, then this was going to be quite a treat.

It’s really well thought out, with a good strong theme linking it to a comic idea with knights searching for a key to gain access to the dragon. The board is fairly small, which can be quite a good thing, as it indicates that it’s not going to be just a track game with a starting point, a finishing point and a few pitfalls along the way, like snakes and ladders. I have to say I’m not really too keen on that type of game because they rely solely on luck rather than any skill or calculated risk taking. Unfortunately, even though players are given the choice of which direction they move in – clockwise or anticlockwise – that is essentially what you have here. From a specified starting point, the players move to a space containing a key, then take that key to the door to win. Of course the other players are attempting the same, so are all trying to reach the key, regardless of where it is. If you land on a player carrying the key, you battle to see who keeps it. This offers some promise, although it’s simply decided on the throw of a die between the two players involved who gets to continue with the key.

The game me and my eldest son played for reviewing purposes lasted a fairly short 20 minutes, and during that time, we both managed to land on quite a few squares that made us miss turns, either missing our own turn, or casting a spell to freeze the opponents turn. The game still played through quickly because there were times when we both missed turns at the same time. I landed on the key on my second turn, and Ryan landed on the tub of butter square “That’s very random” he commented, as it had no effect on play whatsoever. There are other squares on the board which have the same non-effect on play.

I managed to lose the key in the dark, and Ryan landed on the strange force square so was able to collect it. His next move caused some confusion – overshooting the dragon door by one, he landed on the square sending him back to his starting square. I read this as the one where he started his move from, but he moved his piece to the shield space where he started the game. We accepted that option, although it is unclear which is correct. Somehow Ryan ended up landing on the troll square, and as a result had his movement restricted, although cleverly opted to use his single space to reach the magic mirror,taking him nearer to the exit, still holding the key. By a stroke of luck my own piece landed on Ryans, I won the key from him and on my next turn it was all over.

In summary, it’s an OK game, and play’s easily enough, which may appeal to younger children, but relies too heavily on the luck of the dice alone to make it a game with long lasting appeal. This appears to be the first in a series of medieval themed games, so I look forward to some other variants to encourage playing board games which are far more sociable than their electronic counterparts.

The Phoenix Comic Review pt 2

I've been having something of a dilemma committing this review to paper. You see the Phoenix Comic is unlike any other comic on the marketplace, as far as I can tell. It's not like reviewing a Simpsons comic, where the stories are all in one style revolving around a familiar group of characters. It's not even like reviewing traditional comics like The Beano or The Dandy, because there does not appear to be any particular 'house style' – By which I mean a particular way in which the illustrations are presented, or the type of humour.

With every turn of the page in the Phoenix, you are presented with something very new,and very different. From a serious adventure story like Pirates Of Pangea, you turn straight over to the madcap world of slapstick humour in Bunny vs Monkey. You might then be treated to the continuing funny adventures of Long Gone Don, find out the latest goings on in Gary's Garden, or even find out what weird affect Cora's alien breakfast has on her. I say 'Might' because there is no guarantee that a story you expect to find will be in the pages the next week, unless it's a multi-parter of course. That is another of the wonderful things about the Phoenix, you just don't know what will be inside it until you open it. It's also the thing that makes writing write a fair review so hard . You can't just pick up a single copy, read it and expect to write a balanced opinion. In fact to truly do it justice you would need to write a full review on each artist, and each separate story over several issues. So for the moment, I will have to do the best I can by skimming across it with some generalisations.

One of the things that really struck me, apart from the diversity, was the quality of paper and printing. This is a comic which is made to keep ,collect and enjoy again and again, rather than just read and discard. In many ways it reminds me of an old fantasy comic / magazine I used to buy called Heavy Metal, although that was for a much older audience. I love the fact that each story is fully credited to the artists involved, which is something I've felt strongly about for a long time. After all you wouldn't expect to see any other form of art displayed without credit, so why should comic artists be treated with any less respect. Can you imagine seeing Charlie & The Chocolate credit to Puffin Books instead of Roald Dahl, or 'I Can't Get No Satisfaction' credited to Decca Records instead of The Rolling Stones? So why do we just accept that certain well known characters are the creation of their home comic? Artists shouldn't have to hide their signature somewhere in their cartoons in the hope that somebody spots them. (Sorry, stop ranting now!)

 Like I said, you cannot pass judgement on the Phoenix based on a single copy, you really need to have at least three or four so that you can appreciate some of the serialised stories which take time to build.

So what are you likely to find in the Phoenix? - This is where I can be a little more specific on each artist and story. First we have Pirates Of Pangea by Daniel Hartwell and illustrated by Neil Cameron, it's a real swashbuckling adventure story, beautifully drawn with a subtle, almost subdued pallet. You may think it an odd choice to be the lead story in a comic, because it is not funny and nor is it supposed to be. It's pure adventure more like you would expect in a graphic novel, but that is what makes the Phoenix so fresh. As soon as you finish Pirates, your eyes are assaulted by the biggest contrast in styles you could imagine. Jamie Smart's Bunny Vs Monkey. It is a brilliant editorial choice to make that massive contrast so quickly, because straight away you know to expect the unexpected. Bunny Vs Monkey is not serialised, each story is a complete tale in the zany lives of the title characters and their friends. It's drawn with bold lines and gaudy colours,and is just lovely, ridiculous stories. Comic artistry at it's best. Adam Murphy's 'Corpse Talk' is much darker, both in its subject and in it's presentation. It brings to 'almost' life, characters from history and tells their story in a way that is both informative and funny, and that's no easy task. Another darkly presented story was Scaredy Cat by Morag Lewis and Paul Duffield which is once again a very different style, fairly blocky colours with minimal outlining and a much more dynamic positioning of the picture frames printed right to the edge of the page. Then there is Laura Ellen Anderson's wonderfully evil yet slightly inept Evil Emperor Penguin which is beautifully drawn and funny to boot.

Long Gone Don is a brilliantly funny story by the Etherington Brothers, which is intricately drawn, and quite reminiscent of the classic Asterix stories, at least visually. Cora's Breakfast by Nick Abadzis, is the story of a girl who eats some strange cereal that fell from a space ship and as a result has to contend with some quite bizarre and amusing side effects... The list goes on. Obvioulsy these are not all in a single comic. These examples come from 8 seperate issues. Each with 30 pages featuring half a dozen or thereabouts different stories.

It's very difficult to pick out any personal favourite, because all of the above would be high on the list, but at a pinch I'd have to say at the moment my favourites are Garys Garden by Gary Northfield, for it's lovely loose sketched style and pastel watercolour pallet, and because his stories range from pleasant feelgood smilers, through to weird tales which are incredbly funny, almost as diverse as the comic itself. James Turners Star Cat is another firm family favorite, the almost childlike drawing doesn't quite prepare you for it's very funny, deep and intelligent humour.

As if all that wasn't enough, the tail piece of the comic is another creation of Lorenzo Etherington. The Dangerous Adventures of Von Doogan, has to be, without doubt, the best puzzle page I have ever seen in a comic, or magazine for that matter. A full page of just one puzzle which is part comic story, part brain teaser. It's a brain teaser that requires real work to solve though, it's not something you can just see the answer. Depending on the type of puzzle, it will demand map reading skills, code-breaking, logic or a host of other skills. It really brings parents and children together trying to solve them as a team.

If I have any negative comments about the Phoenix at all it's only that it's over all too quickly, and maybe that is also because every element of it is so different that you can't get bored of any of it. It is 30 pages long, which is perhaps slightly shorter than other comics, but bear in mind that there is no advertising, apart from it's own page for back issues. But when your only complaint about a publication is that it leaves you wanting more....is that really a complaint? Not really.

As you can see, I've only been able to give a brief mention to a few of the artists who work on The Phoenix, and it is nowhere near enough. If you have children, and want to encourage them to read, and be creative, then buying them the Phoenix is a step in the right direction