Comics UK

The Phoenix has reached it's 100th issue.The anthology comic has become the first independent kids' comic to reach the landmark in 40 years.I must say i'm amazed as i never thought it would last this long i think the last one i bought was issue 68 or something,i will have to try & get the rest sooner or later but is is good to see a weekly doing so well,just imagine how it would sell if it was available in whs & newsagents instead of waitrose & a few select book shops.
Also Time has published its top ten comics and graphic novels list for 2013.
Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky's Sex Criminals topped the list, followed by the UK kids anthology The Phoenix.Time picked out Adam Murphy's Corpse Talk as the best feature in the magazine.

big bad bri wrote:The Phoenix has reached it's 100th issue.The anthology comic has become the first independent kids' comic to reach the landmark in 40 years.

I keep hearing that from various sources but I'm still unsure a) what defines The Phoenix as being an independent comic, and b) what was the previous indie comic of 40 years ago that exceeded 100 issues?

I suppose that it is not published by DCT or IPC/Fleetway or whatever they are calling them selves now .& being published by a smaller company & not widely available to buy makes the Phoenix independent,but im just writing what i have heard it called as well

Maybe they mean "independent" as in something that's not a tie-in with another form of media (Sonic the Comic exceeded 100 issues, but was based on a videogame, for instance).

No. Nutty comic (1980-1985) easily made it past 100 issues - it managed more than double that number. So it can't just mean non-licensed.

Wikipedia's article for "1971 in comics" mentions Tammy as an independent comic launched that year. It easily made it past 100 issues (689 in total), but was an IPC title - if it counts as independent, then as far as I'm concerned, so does Nutty, which currently isn't listed on Wikipedia's "1980 in comics" page (I suppose that needs remedying).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_in_c ... ent_titles

Like Bri said, it just means independent in that The Phoenix isn't owned by one of the major publishers such as DC Thomson, Egmont, Titan, or Panini. But I'd still like to know which 'independent' comic exceeded 100 issues 40 years ago, assuming that bit wasn't just hype.

Lew Stringer wrote:Like Bri said, it just means independent in that The Phoenix isn't owned by one of the major publishers such as DC Thomson, Egmont, Titan, or Panini. But I'd still like to know which 'independent' comic exceeded 100 issues 40 years ago, assuming that bit wasn't just hype.

It is probably hype or lies Lew as i read that bit on digital spy who are well known for making stuff up on slow news days unless they are talking about The walking dead comic in the past 40 years just grasping at straws there.

big bad bri wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote:Like Bri said, it just means independent in that The Phoenix isn't owned by one of the major publishers such as DC Thomson, Egmont, Titan, or Panini. But I'd still like to know which 'independent' comic exceeded 100 issues 40 years ago, assuming that bit wasn't just hype.

It is probably hype or lies Lew as i read that bit on digital spy who are well known for making stuff up on slow news days unless they are talking about The walking dead comic in the past 40 years just grasping at straws there.

No, it specifically said a children's comic. Probably just hype to get press attention, thinking no one would check the facts. Which is sad if so because the very fact it's reached 100 issues is a great achievement in itself. No need for hyperbole.

Could they perhaps be talking about the Alan Class line of comics? I would call them independent and it must be about 40 years since some of them reached 100 issues.

chrisb wrote:Could they perhaps be talking about the Alan Class line of comics? I would call them independent and it must be about 40 years since some of them reached 100 issues.

Possibly. I wasn't thinking of reprints of American material. He even reprinted his own reprints at least twice so the numbering meant very little in the end.

Yeah, that's true Lew. The only other title I can think of is Countdown/TV Action from Polystyle but again that depends on whether you class Polystyle as independent.

chrisb wrote:Yeah, that's true Lew. The only other title I can think of is Countdown/TV Action from Polystyle but again that depends on whether you class Polystyle as independent.

I definitely wouldn't categorize Polystyle as independent any more than I would City Magazines or Top Sellers. Anyway, I think The Phoenix is just using a bit of hype for the benefit of the media, in the same way The DFC claimed to be the first new children's comic in 25 years.

As a one-man operation I guess Alan Class would qualify as independent - though he almost never featured new material, and I'm not sure if titles like Creepy Worlds counted as 'kid's comics'.

On the whole I agree with Lew that this claim is unlikely to have been thought through anyway!

Lew Stringer wrote: I think The Phoenix is just using a bit of hype for the benefit of the media, in the same way The DFC claimed to be the first new children's comic in 25 years.

The irony is, that, unlike in the other situation you mentioned, none of us can think of a "proper" independent comic that launched in the last 40 years - so if they had actually done some research, the claimed (and in this hypothetical case, true) milestone would have been even more impressive - without needing to resort to lies!

Hard Truths wrote:

Lew Stringer wrote: I think The Phoenix is just using a bit of hype for the benefit of the media, in the same way The DFC claimed to be the first new children's comic in 25 years.

The irony is, that, unlike in the other situation you mentioned, none of us can think of a "proper" independent comic that launched in the last 40 years - so if they had actually done some research, the claimed (and in this hypothetical case, true) milestone would have been even more impressive - without needing to resort to lies!

The only three independent comics I can think of are Deadline, Viz, and Electric Soup that managed a respectable run. Viz is still going today, but as it is firmly aimed at the lads market, there is little chance of that being considered as a kids comic.

I agree that the simple fact that The Phoenix is still a going concern is a great achievement for DFC and well done to him for having faith in his idea.