''Phoebe and Her Unicorn'' is a daily children's comic strip by American cartoonist

Dana Simpson Dana Claire Simpson is an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the comic '' Phoebe and her Unicorn'', as well as the long-running webcomic Ozy and Millie. Other works created by Simpson include the political commentary cartoon ''I D ...

. Originally called ''Heavenly Nostrils'', the strip debuted as a

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be c ...

on April 22, 2012, in

Universal Uclick Andrews McMeel Syndication (formerly Universal Uclick) is an American content syndicate which provides syndication in print, online and on mobile devices for a number of lifestyle and opinion columns, comic strips and cartoons and various other ...

GoComics GoComics is a website launched in 2005 by the digital entertainment provider Uclick. It was originally created as a distribution portal for comic strips on mobile phones, but in 2006, the site was redesigned and expanded to include online strips ...

website. It was later launched in more than 100 newspapers on March 30, 2015, under the current name.

Overview

The strip begins when 9-year-old Phoebe Howell skips a rock across a pond and accidentally hits a

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

in the face. Freed from the trap of gazing at her own reflection in the pond, a unicorn named Marigold Heavenly Nostrils gives Phoebe one wish, which she decides to use by making the unicorn her best friend. Marigold, like all unicorns in the series, is experienced in magic. Through various "spellcraft", she is able to perform such feats as divert or redirect rain and send

text messages Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile devices, desktops/ laptops, or another type of compatible comput ...

and broadcast a

Wi-Fi hotspot A hotspot is a physical location where people can obtain Internet access, typically using Wi-Fi technology, via a wireless local-area network (WLAN) using a router connected to an Internet service provider. Public hotspots may be created b ...

through her horn. However, her most frequently-used spell is "The Shield of Boringness", which causes humans to view her as nothing out of the ordinary and allows her to interact with them on a daily basis. Phoebe deals with childhood challenges both mundane and magical with Marigold, her friend Max, pen friend Sue, and even her arch frenemy Dakota in a quick-witted romp through a little girl's world.

Background

Following the end of her earlier ''Ozy and Millie'', Simpson provided illustrations for

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

s. She also submitted a new comic idea to

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential econo ...

's "Comic Strip Superstar" contest in 2009, entitled ''Girl'', which was selected the winner and received a publishing contract from

Andrews McMeel Universal Andrews McMeel Universal (AMU) is an American media corporation based in Kansas City, Missouri. It was founded in 1970 by Jim Andrews and John McMeel as Universal Press Syndicate and was renamed in 1997 to AMU to reflect the diversification th ...

. ''Girl'' centered around an unnamed girl with a vivid imagination who interacts with forest creatures. The strip's launch was delayed; according to Simpson, this was imposed by the syndicate due to its reluctance to launch two "

talking animal A talking animal or speaking animal is any non-human animal that can produce sounds or gestures resembling those of a human language. Several species or groups of animals have developed forms of communication which superficially resemble verbal ...

" strips at the same time, as well as its request for further edits. Simpson also noted she only had a limited number of ''Girl'' strips ready and needed more time to draw out more. During this time, Simpson had drawn one ''Girl'' strip that included a unicorn. Soon after drawing this strip, Simpson knew that the unicorn was a necessary character to make her comic work. ''Girl'' was retooled and reimagined as ''Heavenly Nostrils'', which is about a nine-year-old girl named Phoebe (essentially the same character from ''Girl'') who comes acrossMarigold Heavenly Nostrils while the latter is enraptured by her reflection in a pond; Phoebe accidentally hits her with a rock, breaking the spell and receives a granted wish as reward. ''Heavenly Nostrils'' was scheduled to debut on GoComics April 23, 2012, but debuted a day early on April 22, 2012. The strip entered into print syndication across 100 papers starting on March 30, 2015; the title of the strip was changed to ''Phoebe and her Unicorn'' for print syndication.

Influences

Simpson drew inspiration from her real life. Phoebe herself is loosely based on Simpson's own personality. Phoebe's best friend, Max, is based on Simpson's husband David. Dakota, a fellow schoolmate of Phoebe who initially teases her until she learns about the unicorn, was an amalgamation of several students that had given Simpson trouble when she was younger, but also incorporates elements of her younger sister Nicole. Phoebe's parents are based on Simpson's friends who have become parents themselves but "they're also still the same weird people they were before they had kids". Marigold is based partially on the unicorn character in the work ''

The Last Unicorn ''The Last Unicorn'' is a fantasy novel by American author Peter S. Beagle and published in 1968, by Viking Press in the U.S. and The Bodley Head in the U.K. It follows the tale of a unicorn, who believes she is the last of her kind in the wor ...

'' by Peter S. Beagle. Marigold's name was based the results of using Simpson's own name in an online unicorn name generator. The design of the unicorns draws inspiration from Medieval depictions, including the series of tapestries entitled ''

The Lady and the Unicorn ''The Lady and the Unicorn'' (french: La Dame à la licorne) is the modern title given to a series of six tapestries created in the style of ("thousand flowers") and woven in Flanders from wool and silk, from designs (" cartoons") drawn in Par ...

'' and ''

The Hunt of the Unicorn ''The Hunt of the Unicorn'' or the ''Unicorn Tapestries'' (french: La Chasse à la licorne) is a series of seven tapestries made in the South Netherlands around 1495–1505, and now in The Cloisters in New York. They were possibly designed in ...

''. Marigold is drawn with

cloven hooves A cloven hoof, cleft hoof, divided hoof or split hoof is a hoof split into two toes. This is found on members of the mammalian order Artiodactyla. Examples of mammals that possess this type of hoof are cattle, deer, pigs, antelopes, gazelles, ...

and a swan-shaped body. The latter set of tapestries was referenced in the opening sequence of ''

''. Simpson has stated that the book was one of the inspirations for her comic strip. The strip has been favorably compared to ''

Calvin & Hobbes ''Calvin and Hobbes'' is a daily American comic strip created by cartoonist Bill Watterson that was Print syndication, syndicated from November 18, 1985, to December 31, 1995. Commonly cited as "the last great newspaper comic", ''Calvin and Hobb ...

'' with a feminine slant; in contrast to ''Calvin & Hobbes'', where the character of Hobbes is only a stuffed tiger doll that Calvin imagines is alive, Marigold the unicorn has to use magic to appear as unremarkable.

Publications

In addition, translations of the comic are published in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Other media

Scrapped television series adaptation

''Phoebe and Her Unicorn'' has been optioned for a possible animated television and/or movie series adaptation twice, first by

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed th ...

in 2017 and later by

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

in 2020. Neither project ever materialized. On December 28, 2022, Dana Simpson announced that Nickelodeon was no longer pursuing the project, as the executives who had greenlit the project had been replaced by new ones who felt it would not attract a male audience.

Awards

Washington State Book Award The Washington State Book Awards is a literary awards program presented annually in recognition of notable books written by Washington authors in the previous year. The program was established in 1967 as the Governor's Writers Awards. Each year, ...

, Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award, 2015: Books for middle readers (ages 9 to 12) for ''Phoebe and Her Unicorn: A Heavenly Nostrils Chronicle'' * PNBA Book Award, 2016 for ''Unicorn on a Roll''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoebe and Her Unicorn American comic strips Fantasy comics Child characters in comics Female characters in comics 2012 webcomic debuts Fiction about unicorns Comics adapted into television series Comics characters introduced in 2012 Comic strips started in the 2010s