Woodrow Phoenix is a British comics artist, writer, editorial illustrator, graphic designer, font designer and author of children's books. Phoenix is best known for ''Rumble Strip'', published in 2008, a non-fiction look at the difficult social issues arising from society's dependence on the automobile, which was reviewed in the London ''

Times Time is the continued sequence of existence and events, and a fundamental quantity of measuring systems. Time or times may also refer to: Temporal measurement * Time in physics, defined by its measurement * Time standard, civil time speci ...

'' as "an utterly original work of genius". Among his other solo creations, are ''The Sumo Family'' and ''The Liberty Cat''. ''The Sumo Family'' debuted in ''

Escape Escape or Escaping may refer to: Computing * Escape character, in computing and telecommunication, a character which signifies that what follows takes an alternative interpretation ** Escape sequence, a series of characters used to trigger some so ...

'' magazine, and was serialised weekly in the ''Independent on Sunday'' newspaper in the UK, then monthly in both ''Manga Mania'' magazine, and German/Swiss ''Instant'' magazine. ''The Liberty Cat'' was published in Japan by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

in ''Morning'' magazine. Phoenix's critical essays on comics have appeared in catalogues for exhibitions at the ICA in London, and at the

University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...

. Books he has authored include a children's book titled ''Count Milkula: A Tale of Milk and Monsters!'' (); a cultural study ''Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World'' (), an in-depth look at Japanese toy designs from the post-war era to present times, and their effect on the imaginations and Western markets along with their impact on trends in design and pop culture; In 2011 Phoenix edited and directed the production of ''Nelson'' from an original idea by Rob Davis. ''Nelson'' was a groundbreaking "collective graphic novel," with 54 creators producing chapters of a single continuing story, a unique storytelling experiment that won huge critical acclaim. Published by

Blank Slate Books Blank Slate Books (BSB) is a publishing company based in the UK. It publishes primarily comic books, graphic novels and comic strip collections, with an emphasis on new work by British artists and translated work by European artists. The book ...

, it was ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' newspaper's Graphic Novel of The Month, November 2011. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' newspaper awarded it Best Graphic Novel of 2011, it was nominated for an

Eisner Award The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are prizes given for creative achievement in American comic books, sometimes referred to as the comics industry's equivalent of the Academy Awards. They are named in ...

and was voted Book of The Year in the

British Comic Awards The British Comic Awards (BCA) were a set of British awards for achievement in comic books. Winners were selected by a judging committee; the awards were given out on an annual basis from 2012 to 2016 for comics made by United Kingdom creators publ ...

2012. In 2012, for Blank Slate Books, Phoenix wrote and designed ''Felt Mistress: Creature Couture'' (), a book with similar design and pop-cultural concerns to ''Plastic Culture'', focused on the work of a creative duo from Wales, Louise Evans and Jonathan Edwards. In spring 2014 Phoenix completed a new graphic novel ''She Lives'', unusual for its surprising size and dramatic presentation: a 96-page handmade, handbound book that is one metre square. The book is hardcover with an austere black surface featuring embossed giant type. Each interior page is composed of images drawn by hand in India ink rather than printed, making the entire book a one-off piece of original comics art. In a further challenge to standard comics production, Phoenix intends not to print this work so that it can only be viewed in person wherever it is exhibited. This unique object was premiered at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

's ''Comics Unmasked'' exhibition from May to August 2014.

Biography

Phoenix grew up in

Brockley Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. History The name Brockley is derived from "Broca's woodland clearing", a wood where badgers are seen (' ...

south London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

, his parents Joe and

Sybil Phoenix The Reverend Sybil Theodora Phoenix, OBE (née Marshall; 21 June 1927) is a British community worker of Guyanese birth. She was the first black woman to be awarded the MBE, in 1973. Biography Sybil Theodora Marshall was born in Georgetown in Bri ...

having migrated to the UK from

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

in about 1958. He studied typography at university, and in the 1990s was a

letterer A letterer is a member of a team of comic book creators responsible for drawing the comic book's text. The letterer's use of typefaces, calligraphy, letter size, and layout all contribute to the impact of the comic. The letterer crafts the comi ...

for most of the UK's comics publishers, including ''

'',

Fleetway Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

, Dark Horse UK, ''Toxic'', and Acme Press. He also lettered graphic novels for Gollancz and Methuen. He self-published several comics during this time as part of the

Fast Fiction ''Fast Fiction'' was a market stall, magazine, mail order distributor and news sheet that played a key role in the history of British small press comics. It existed in its various forms from 1981 through to 1990 under the stewardship of Paul Grave ...

collective begun by

Paul Gravett Paul Gravett is a London-based journalist, curator, writer, and broadcaster who has worked in comics publishing since 1981. He is the founder of ''Escape Magazine'', and for many years wrote a monthly article on comics appearing in the UK magaz ...

, before working as a professional artist and writer for UK and US comics companies. Phoenix's first collaboration was with

Glenn Dakin Glenn Dakin (born 1960) is a British cartoonist and author of children's books. He is the author of the ''Candle Man'' book series, and he contributed to a number of British comics magazines including ''Escape'' and ''Deadline'', and was part of ...

on ''Sinister Romance'', a humour title they jointly wrote, drew, and edited. Four issues were published by

Harrier Comics Harrier Comics (officially known as Harrier Publishing) was a British comic book publisher active in the mid-to-late 1980s. Harrier was notable for putting out black-and-white comics in a mold more similar to American comics than to typical Brit ...

' New Wave imprint. Phoenix has since collaborated as artist and/or writer with

Andi Watson Andrew Watson (born 1969) is a British cartoonist and illustrator best known for the graphic novels ''Breakfast After Noon'', ''Slow News Day'' and his series ''Skeleton Key'' and ''Love Fights'', published by Oni Press and Slave Labor Graphics ...

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series '' Mage'' and '' Grendel''. Career Matt Wagner's first published comic book work was '' Comico Primer'' #2 (1982), which w ...

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including '' Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', '' The Ballad of Halo Jones'', ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman:'' ''The Killing Joke'', and '' From He ...

, Chris Reynolds,

Chris Webster Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), N ...

Eddie Campbell Eddie Campbell (born 10 August 1955) is a British comics artist and cartoonist who now lives in Chicago. Probably best known as the illustrator and publisher of ''From Hell'' (written by Alan Moore), Campbell is also the creator of the semi-au ...

Rian Hughes Rian Hughes is a British graphic designer, illustrator, type designer, comics artist and novelist. Overviews Hughes has written and drawn comics for '' 2000 AD'', Vertigo CMYK and Batman: Black and White, and designed for DC Comics and Marv ...

Gordon Rennie Gordon Rennie is a Scottish comics writer, responsible for ''White Trash: Moronic Inferno'', as well as several comic strips for '' 2000 AD'' and novels for ''Warhammer Fantasy''. In May 2008, he announced he was leaving comics to concentrate f ...

Warren Ellis Warren Girard Ellis (born 16 February 1968) is a British comic book writer, novelist, and screenwriter. He is best known as the co-creator of several original comics series, including ''Transmetropolitan'' (1997–2002), ''Global Frequency'' ( ...

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narrative A narrative, story, or tale is any account of a series of related events or experiences, w ...

, Paul Grist,

Evan Dorkin Evan Dorkin (born April 20, 1965) is an American comics artist and cartoonist. His best known works are the comic books ''Milk and Cheese'' and ''Dork''. His comics often poke fun at fandom, even while making it clear that Dorkin is a fan himsel ...

Oscar Zarate Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

, José Muñoz, Carl Flint,

Ian Carney Ian Carney is a British comics animation writer. Born in Liverpool, Merseyside on 21 August 1962, Carney began writing comics in the 80s for Fleetway Editions in the UK and First Comics and Dark Horse Comics in the US. He is probably best kno ...

, Jake Carney, Zach Howard, Annie Caulfield, and

Steve May Stephen Timothy 'Steve' May (born 29 November 1971) is a former politician from Arizona, where he served in the Arizona House of Representatives. He was openly gay when he ran for and served in the legislature. He was nevertheless recalled to acti ...

. With co-writer Ian Carney, Phoenix created an anthology comic called '' SugarBuzz'', published by

Slave Labor Graphics Slave Labor Graphics (SLG) is an independent American comic book publisher, well known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics. Creators associated with SLG over the years include Evan Dorkin, Roman Dirge, Sarah Dyer, Woodrow Phoenix, Jhon ...

, featuring a cast of more than 50 characters. The most popular was

Pants Ant Pants Ant is a fictional character created by Woodrow Phoenix and Ian Carney. Pants Ant first appeared in 1998 in the second issue of ''SugarBuzz!'' by Carney and Phoenix, and was eventually featured in his own book, a One shot (comic), one shot s ...

, who was featured in an animated cartoon for

The Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, C ...

; and the '' Where's It At, Sugar Kat?'' series, which was also optioned for film and TV projects by

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...

inc. Phoenix was one of the first Western comics creators to appear in

's weekly

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

anthology ''Comics Morning'' magazine in Japan, producing a mystery detective strip called ''The Liberty Cat''. His work has also appeared in numerous anthologies and book collections including ''Grendel: Black White and Red'' (with writer

), ''The Big Book of Death'' and ''The Big Book of Weirdos'', ''It's Dark in London'' edited by Oscar Zarate, ''The Brighton Book'' and ''Alan Moore: Portrait of an Extraordinary Gentleman''. Phoenix shares a studio in London known as Detonator with two comics writer/artists, Ed "ILYA" Hillyer and JAKe.

Art style

Phoenix's work is graphic and playful, while noted for its high degree of formal experimentation. He draws in very different styles, which make his comics appear to be the work of three or four completely different creators. The vividly coloured angular graphics of ''The Sumo Family'' are completely unlike the grainy impressionist mood of ''The Liberty Cat''. The elegant line of ''Sherlock Holmes and The Vanishing Villain'' is a differing style again that bears no relation to the many ''SugarBuzz!'' comics that followed. His book ''Rumble Strip'' is his most radical departure from previous directions that even dispenses with characters, leaving only backgrounds.

Bibliography

Comics (selected)

*''The Sumo Family'' weekly comic strip in ''The Independent on Sunday'', 1990 *''The Sumo Family'' one-page color comic strip in ''Manga Mania'' magazine, 1991–93 *''The Liberty Cat'' four episodes for ''Comics Morning'' magazine, Kodansha Japan, 1993–94 *''Sherlock Holmes in the Curious Case of the Vanishing Villain'' (

Atomeka Press Atomeka Press is a British publisher of comic books set up in 1988 by Dave Elliott and Garry Leach. Atomeka ceased publishing in 1997, was briefly revived from 2002 to 2005 and revived again in 2013. History Atomeka was established as a compan ...

, Tundra Press 1993), with Gordon Rennie, writer *'' Lazarus Churchyard'' No. 2 ( Tundra Press 1992), "Goodnight Ladies" pin-ups by D'Israeli, Phil Winslade, Steve Pugh, Woodrow Phoenix, Duncan Fegredo, Garry Marshall and Gary Erskine. *'' Sonic the Hedgehog'' in ''Sonic the Comic'' No. 2 and No. 5 (Fleetway Editions, 1993); writer:

Mark Millar Mark Millar (; born 24 December 1969) is a Scottish comic book writer and television producer who first came to prominence with a run on the superhero series '' The Authority'', published by DC Comics' Wildstorm imprint. Millar has written ex ...

artist: Woodrow Phoenix *''

Ecco the Dolphin ''Ecco the Dolphin'' is a series of action-adventure video games developed by Appaloosa Interactive (previously known as Novotrade International) and published by Sega. They were originally developed for the Mega Drive/Genesis and Dreamcast video ...

'' in ''Sonic the Comic'' #13–18 (Fleetway Editions, 1993); writer & letterer: Woodrow Phoenix (letterer on #13–15 only) Artists: Chris Webster and Steve White *'' ToeJam and Earl'' in ''Max Overload'' No. 1, #2 and No. 3 (Dark Horse UK, 1994); writer: Annie Caulfield artist: Woodrow Phoenix *''Eager Beaver'' (Missive Device) with Ian Carney (Slab-O-Concrete Publications, 1999), *''Sugar Buzz!'' with Ian Carney, 9 issues (SLG Publishing, 1998–) *''Sugar Buzz: Live at Budokan!'' (Slab-O-Concrete, 1999), *''The Skeleton Key/Sugar Kat special'' (SLG Publishing, 2000), with Andi Watson, Ian Carney *''The Pants Ant Trouser Hour'' (SLG Publishing, 2001) *''Kitsune Tales'' (SLG Publishing, 2003), with Andi Watson, artist *''Where's it at Sugar Kat: The Thin Of the Land'' (SLG Publishing, 2003), *''SugarBuzz! Your ticket to happiness'' (SLG Publishing, 2004), *''That's a Horse of a Different Colour'' (The DFC, ongoing weekly, 2008–) *''Donny Digits'' (''The Guardian''/The DFC, 2008) *''She Lives'' (Artists' book, edition of one, 2014)

Animation

* ''Pants Ant'' (2004 pilot for Cartoon Network, unaired) * ''Net Worth'' (2001), The Prudential * ''Vicious Mouse'' (1999), MTV Asia

Children's books

* ''Count Milkula'' (Mogzilla, 2006), * ''Is That your Dog?'' (Mammoth, 2001), * ''Baz the Biz'' (Mammoth, 1999),

Other books

* ''Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World'' (

Kodansha International is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' and ...

, 2006), * ''Rumble Strip: If You Want to Get Away with Murder, Buy a Car'' (

Myriad Editions Myriad Editions is an independent UK publishing house based in Brighton and Hove, specialising in topical atlases, graphic non-fiction and original fiction, whose output also encompasses graphic novels that span a variety of genres, including me ...

, 2008) * ''Felt Mistress: Creature Couture'' (Blank Slate Books, 2012),

Anthologies

* "You are Here" in ''It's Dark in London'' (

Serpent's Tail Serpent's Tail is London-based independent publishing firm founded in 1986 by Pete Ayrton. It specialises in publishing work in translation, particularly European crime fiction. In January 2007, it was bought by a British publisher Profile Book ...

, 1997), * "Devil's Witness" in ''

Grendel Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem '' Beowulf'' (700–1000). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with his mother and the dragon), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. Grendel is feared by a ...

: Black, White, and Red'' #4 (Dark Horse, February 1999) * ''The Slab-O-Concrete Inactivity Book'' with

Craig Conlan Craig Conlan is a Scottish comics writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, sh ...

, co-editor (Slab-O-Concrete Publications 2000), * "End of the Line" in ''The Brighton Book'' (Myriad Editions, 2005), * "Nelson" as editor/contributor (Blank Slate Books, 2011)

Notes

* Holloway, Lisa (2008), in conversation with Woodrow Phoenix at Castor & Pollux Gallery, Brighton, UK (6 December 2008) * Stangroom, Howard (2003), "Howard Stangroom interviews Woodrow Phoenix", ''Comics Forum Magazine'', No. 25, pp. 31–43 * Withrow, Steven (2003), ''Toon Art: The Graphic Art of Digital Cartooning'', pp. 146–47 (Watson-Guptill Publications ) * Clarke, Theo (1988), "And then nothing happened", ''

The Comics Journal ''The Comics Journal'', often abbreviated ''TCJ'', is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels. Known for its lengthy interviews with comic creators, pointed editorials and scathing r ...

'', No. 122, pp. 107–124

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix, Woodrow British comics artists British comics writers British children's writers Black British artists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) English people of Guyanese descent