A PHOENIX FROM THE ASHES? NEEDS SET ALIGHT, IS WHAT I SAY...

I'd like to say something positive about The PHOENIX, I

really would, but the words just won't come.  I noticed the other

day that it's now on sale in WHS and browsed through an issue,

but aside from a few nicely illustrated pages, I was singularly unim-

pressed.  One particular artist's style dominated the issue, making it

look like an amateur publication for infants by infants, and even

the lettering on the few good pages is, in the main, not up to

snuff, with some very dodgy balloon shapes.

Wait a minute, you cry - kids love it and it's now been around

for over 200 issues, so it must be doing something right.  All I can

say is that when people are starving, I guess they'll eat just about any-

thing and the same goes for what they read.  Kids are hardly spoilt for

choice when it comes to weekly comic strip reading material, so the

mag no doubt fills a void to certain extent, but I can't help but feel

that, on the evidence of the issue I looked at, today's kids are

being short-changed for their £2.99.

Wouldn't I be better just shutting up if I don't like something,

instead of being negative?  I know that's what some people think,

but I've got a blog to fill and you never know - perhaps if someone

punctures the bubble of complacency (if not outright smugness) sur-

rounding the periodical, it may improve.  Believe me, in the opinion

of someone steeped in over half a century of comics reading and

collecting, it could certainly stand improving.  When I was a kid,

when it came to comics, my generation feasted on 'steak' - 

today's kids snack on 'Spam'.  If only they knew, eh?

So say what you like, but I'll take reprints of KEN REID's

and LEO BAXENDALE's magnificent art over someone like

    SAMIE JART's any day.  The decline continues, alas!    

Posted in: Cartoons