Category: Activity Book

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DC Finest: The Flash – The Fastest Man Dead


By Robert Kanigher, Mike Friedrich, Steve Skeates, Dennis O’Neill, Bob Haney, Len Wein, Cary Bates, Gil Kane, Irv Novick, Don Heck, Dick Dillin, Bob Brown, Murphy Anderson, Dick Giordano, Joe Giella, Nick Cardy, Frank McLaughlin, Tex Blaisdell, Carmine Infantino, Neal Adams, Jack Adler, Tatjana Wood, John Costanza & various (DC Comics)

ISBN: 978-1-77952-836-0 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Here’s another compelling DC Finest edition: chronologically curated paperback archives (generally around 600 pages) highlighting past glories. Whilst primarily concentrating on the superhero pantheon, there are genre selections including horror, sci fi, western and war books, but sadly none yet available digitally. However, we live in hope…

The Silver Age of US comics is formally and forever tied to Showcase #4 and the rebirth of The Flash. That epochal issue was released in the late summer of 1956 and from it stems all today’s print, animation, games, collector cards, cosplay and TV/movie wonderment. No matter which way you look at it, the renaissance began with The Flash, but it’s an unjust yet true fact that being first is not enough: it also helps to be best and people have to notice. MLJ’s The Shield beat Captain America to the news-stands by over a year yet the former is all but forgotten today. I mention that here as it pertains to this collection, which sees the advent of original Shield co-creator Irv Novick (Bob Phantom; Hangman; Steel Sterling; Silent Knight; Robin Hood, all DC war books, Captain Storm; Sea Devils; Batman, The Joker; Lois Lane; Tomahawk and more) as the Scarlet Speedster’s regular illustrator; a run (oh. Ha-Ha.) spanning Flash #200-270 and close to a full 10-year stretch with him only absent for #205, 213-214 & 264…

For the early trendsetting sagas and situations you should catch DC Finest: The Flash – The Human Thunderbolt and take as read that here the (second) Flash is Barry Allen, a police forensic scientist simultaneously struck by lightning and bathed in exploding chemicals from his lab. Supercharged by the accident, Barry (a lifelong fan of comic books) took his superhero identity from his favourite childhood reading – and eventually his acknowledged alternately Earth predecessor. Once upon a time there was a “fictional” scientist named Jay Garrick who was exposed to the mutagenic fumes of Hard Water and promptly became the “fastest man alive”…

Wearing a sleek, streamlined, tricked-out bodysuit (courtesy of  Carmine Infantino – a major talent approaching his artistic and creative peak), Barry was point man for the spectacular revival of a genre and an entire industry. He also became a renowned intergalactic champion, wholesome family man and paternalistic elder statesman of the superhero set after marrying his longtime fiancée Iris West…

With Infantino safely elevated to DC’s current publisher, this splendidly tempting full colour paperback of Seventies hits displays the glorious work of the last replacement illustrators before the Flash landed in Novick’s hands, just as changing tastes rejected the previously paramount, rationalistic science fiction worlds touched by the Vizier of Velocity. Now high speed action involved issues of social relevance and themes of supernatural horror and makes for some weird moments as this copious compendium covers The Flash #197-229 (May 1970 – October 1974) plus guest shots in World’s Finest Comics #198-199 (November & December 1970) and The Brave and the Bold #99 (December 1971/January 1972).

Gil Kane & Vince Colletta capture all the fun and thrills of Mike Friedrich’s ‘Four-Star Super-Hero’ in the opening yarn of Flash #197 as a sharp cop spots a private communication tic only shared with his lab partner Barry Allen. Attempts to save a secret identity and convince Charlie Conwell otherwise are further hampered by blizzard conditions in Central City, canny crooks with jetpacks and skis, a flu epidemic and Barry’s dedication to Amateur Dramatics, which see him take time out to play every part in the local presentation of Hamlet. All’s well that ends well and after that show goes on, it’s back to cosmic basics with Robert Kanigher’s ‘To the Nth Degree’ showing the Crimson Comet catapulted across the universe to save fire-beings on an exploding planet, courtesy of another wild invention of his father-in-law Professor Ira West…

Kanigher, Kane & Colletta open #198 where ‘No Sad Songs for a Scarlet Speedster!’ has three orphan kids aid a gun-shot and temporarily brain-damaged Flash regain his lost mojo before neophyte superhero Zatanna guests in ‘Call it …Magic’ (by Friedrich, Don Heck & Colletta) and requires swift rescue after being abducted across arcane dimensions by macabre body-snatcher Xarkon…

Kanigher, Kane & Colletta’s ‘Flash? Death Calling!’ in #199 focuses on the ordeals of scientist Dr Hollister who dons the scarlet skin-tights to punish himself after apparently accidentally killing the hero. However that guilt also saves the day and resurrect the speedster – just in time for Flash to meet superspy Colonel K (of US-IN-T Agency) and stop a Chinese energy missile smashing into ‘The Explosive Heart of America!’ (Kanigher, Kane & Colletta)

Novick and inker Murphy Anderson join Kanigher for anniversary celebration ‘Count 200 – and Die!’ as the Monarch of Motion succumbs to mind manipulation and is manoeuvred by sinister siren Dr. Lu into  assassinating the US President. Thankfully our hero (Flash of course, not PotUS!) is faster than his own fired gunshot and is back in all-American action for #201, enduring Kanigher, Novick & Anderson’s ‘Million-Dollar Dream!’ and applying tough love to wheelchair bound sports star Pablo Hernandez. The treatment restores the player but that’s only fair as the hero was responsible for initially crippling the kid…

Many issues offered second stories at this time, and the policy of guest shots for other Flash-family favourites was solidly in place. Here Kanigher, Novick & Anderson take us to Earth Two and swift encore for an old villain as Jay Garrick produces – eventually – the ‘Finale for a Fiddler!’

Although costumed hero capers were waning in general appeal, Flash was still hugely popular. Thus when World’s Finest Comics began a run of Superman team-ups with #198, the Red Runner was the clear first choice and allowed editors to return to a thorny topic which had bedevilled fans for years.

The comic book experience is littered with eternal, unanswerable questions. The most common and most passionately asked always begin “who would win if” or “who’s strongest/smartest/fastest…” Here, crafted by Denny O’Neil, Dick Dillin & Joe Giella, ‘Race to Save the Universe!’ and concluding instalment ‘Race to Save Time’ (WFC #198-199) upped the stakes on two previous competitions as our high-speed heroes are conscripted by the Guardians of the Universe to circumnavigate the entire cosmos at their greatest velocities to reverse the rampage of the mysterious Anachronids: faster-than-light creatures whose pell-mell course throughout galaxies is actually unwinding time itself and unravelling the fabric of creation. Little does anybody suspect that Superman’s oldest enemies were behind the entire appalling scheme, but the battle was swiftly won and reality saved in the end…

It was a far more grounded but no less chilling situation in Flash #202 where Kanigher, Novick & Anderson despatch reporter Iris Allen to Hollywood where she is kidnapped by murderous cultist creeps ‘The Satan Circle’ and her frantic husband confronts the unknown and the worst aspects of human nature to save her. Kid Flash then endures his own eldritch overload as ‘The Accusation!’ (by Steve Skeates, Dillin & Anderson) finds college-age comet Wally West tormented by visons of impending death that come appallingly true…

With Kanigher, Novick & Anderson at the helm #203 augured a huge change in the cosy domestic set-up as ‘The Flash’s Wife is a Two-Timer!’ reveals that Iris is actually a foundling sent through time to escape atomic armageddon and only the adopted child of scatterbrained super-genius Ira West. When the process reverses itself and she is dragged back to the future – Central City 2970 AD – The Flash follows and is caught up in a war that has been all but won by oppressive East-bloc tyrant Sirik the Supreme. Of course his intervention is enough to reset the scales before he returns baffled bride Iris Russell (née West)-Allen to her immigrant time period.

Once there though, repercussions of the revelation continue as a recovered 30th century keepsake turns her into an uncontrollable, secret-exposing blabbermouth in #204’s ‘The Great Secret Identity Exposé!’ with the Justice League understandably irate that Flash talks in his sleep and his wife knows all their civilian identities…

Back up tale ‘The Mind-Trap’ (Skeates, Dillin & Anderson) then sees Kid Flash chasing a body-stealing Egyptian pharaoh’s ghost to end the issue on a lighter note…

The Flash #205 was another hugely popular reprint collection of the era, sporting a cover by Dick Giordano (and included here) before it was back to spooky business in #206 for Kanigher, Novick & Anderson’s ‘24 Hours of Immortality!’ as haughty alien superbeings resurrect a recently killed surgeon and young mother to attend to unfinished business, but for the most mean-spirited motives – until Flash intervenes with a lesson all could benefit from.

With the supernatural now fully unleashed at DC, Flash #207 led with Friedrich, Novick & Anderson’s ‘The Evil Sound of Music!’, as former mystic hero Sargon the Sorcerer exploits his own family and rock ‘n’ roll-loving kids to restore his lost powers, before confronting the Scarlet Speedster, his own inner demons and rapacious external devils on the path back to the light. Grounding that journey to hell, Kid Flash then faces ‘The Phantom of the Cafeteria!’ ending the depredations of a superfast, hyper-hungry alien in a quick but satisfying yarn from Skeates, Dillin & Giordano.

In #208, Kanigher, Novick & Anderson exposed ‘A Kind of Miracle in Central City’ as wayward kids exploited by drug pushers are saved by prayer, the timely intervention of nuns and invisible superspeed before Flash #209 debuted new regular writer Cary Bates. He would run with the Vizier of Velocity for the rest of the series, only missing #213-214, 217, 293, 306 and 313 between 1970 through 1985.

Fresh from the starting blocks, Bates, Novick & Giordano took the speedster into higher, weirder realms ‘Beyond the Speed of Life!’ where Flash and reality shielding Sentinel stopped existence from being devoured. Meanwhile, on mundane Earth old Rogues Trickster, Captain Boomerang and Gorilla Grodd squabbled over bragging rights for who had finally killed the hero. At the back, Kid Flash saved a student troubled by gangsters in ‘Coincidence Can Kill!’ courtesy of Skeates, Dillin, Giordano.

A visit to 2971 came with #210 as Bates, Novick & Giordano expanded the Earth East-Earth West “warm” war in ‘An Earth Divided!’ with Flash seeking to save man-made President Abraham Lincoln (II) from belligerent occidental tyrant Bekor. Science fiction surrendered to spooky tales next as Flash teamed up with Batman in Brave and the Bold #99. Here Bob Haney, Bob Brown, & Nick Cardy revealed how an attempt to resurrect Bruce Wayne’s parents opened the door to the Dark Knight’s possession by an unquiet spirit. ‘The Man Who Murdered the Past!’ almost ensured an invasion of angry ghosts until superspeed and smart thinking saved the day…

Comics were always about popular trends, and in Flash #211 Bates, Novick & Giordano contrived alien invaders who used the fad of rolling derby to fuel the destruction of Earth via constantly ‘Flashing Wheels!’ However, Kid Flash was on far more stable ground as he exposed corrupt officials covering up toxic dumping in ‘Is This Poison Legal?’ by Skeates, Dillin & Giordano. Equally bold and topical the next issue saw ‘The Flash in Cartoon Land!’ with Novick & Giordano depicting how manic 64th century magician Abra Kadabra trapped the hero and a little lad Barry Allen was babysitting in a graphic madhouse where scientific rules did not apply.

The next two issues – #213 & 214 – were reprint specials represented here with the original covers by Neal Adams & Cardy before #215 saw Bates, Novick, Frank McLoughlin & Giordano detail the ‘Death of an Immortal!’ The eons are catching up with undying villain Vandal Savage who attempts to trick Barry Allen and Jay Garrick into remedying the crisis for him. However their mission is intercepted by chronal cop Tempus and the end is not what Savage anticipated…

For Bates at least, Flash was all about his signature Rogues Gallery and in #216 the writer revealed the shocking truth about multiple personality villain Al Desmond/Dr. Alchemy/Mr. Element. Seemingly cured and reformed, Desmond was afflicted by ‘The Curse of the Dragon’s Eye!’ (Novick, Frank McLoughlin & Giordano), astrally connected to an unstable star in the constellation Draco and vacillating between manic and passive, and Good and Evil as it built to cataclysmic detonation. Now that time had come and Flash had to save his friend and hopefully prevent him destroying Earth when his patron star died. Its counterbalanced by Skeates & Dillin’s Kid Flash fable ‘2D?’ as Kid Flash goes after extradimensional slavers abducting workers who stare at certain paintings for too long…

Hard times for superheroes saw Green Lantern take up residence in the anterior pages of The Flash from #217 and shorter tales began with a fill-in from Len Wein for Novick & McLoughlin. ‘The Flash Times Five is Fatal!’ saw the hero attacked by a rogue AI built by Ira West. It preferred sabotage, reality warping and murder to rescinding its categoric statement that no one as fast as the Scarlet Speedster could possibly exist…

Bates and the Pied Piper returned in #218 as a cunning sonic ambush was foiled by speed vibrations generating ‘The Flash of 1,000 Faces!’ whilst in #219 (with Joe Giella inking) ‘The Million Dollar Deathtrap’ saw the hero targeted by wagering rivals Mirror Master and The Top and only triumphing after applying the proven principle of “divide and conquer”…

Flash literally and grotesquely joined protégé Kid Flash in #220 as The Turtle (Barry’s very first super-foe) returned to alter Earth’s internal vibrations and cure ‘The Slowest Man on Earth’ of his unique condition no matter the cost to everyone else. Thankfully two heads proved better than one in this instance and the shaking shakedown was averted.

Co-scripter John Warner joined Bates, Novick & McLoughlin for #221’s ‘Time-Schedule For Disaster!’ as techno-bandit Cipher attempts – and ultimately fails – to harvest Flash’s speed vibrations to power his weapons before #222’s ‘The Heart That Attacked the World!’ (Novick, McLoughlin & Giordano) offers a full-length team up with Green Lantern as Weather Wizard and Sinestro join forces to end their enemies. Sadly, born betrayer Sinestro secretly linked the Speedster’s racing heartbeat to the continued existence of Earth…

In #223, Bates, Novick & Giordano ‘Make Way for the Speed-Demons!’ as another old enemy rigs races between Flash and three mechanical racers of land sea and air, with the expressed intention of humiliating the speedster whilst hiding his true intentions, before #224 introduces ‘The Fastest Man Dead!’ after Barry’s friend and mentor Charlie Conwell is murdered. That doesn’t stop the veteran helping Flash close the last case on his docket and save his pal Barry one last time…

Another Scarlet-Emerald team-up sees Flash again battle Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash before discovering  ‘Green Lantern, Master Criminal of the 25th Century!’ (#225, Bates, Novick & Giordano) is the villain’s unwilling slave. Of course, it all plays out successfully in time, after which Captain Cold and Heatwave embroil Barry Allen in their psycho-drama rivalry, thereby inadvertently subjecting Flash to ‘The Hot-Cold War in Central City!’ (inked by Giordano & McLoughlin). Immediately afterwards (with McLoughlin inking) #227 reveals ‘Flash – This is Your Death!’ as Captain Boomerang ( and his dad!) rerun past fast & furious clashes whilst seeking to end the hero’s career and existence forever, before Tex Blaisdell inks #228’s ‘The Day I saved the Life of the Flash!’ Here Bates injects himself into the story as a comic book writer from Earth-Prime accidentally slips across dimensional divides; arriving on Earth-One in time to aid the “fictional” speedster he scripts in a deadly duel with the Trickster…

This compendium closes with the pertinent original material from 100-Page Spectacular Flash #229 which led with a Golden Age Flash team up as ‘The Rag Doll Runs Wild!’ Here Bates, Novick, Giordano & McLoughlin detail how a seeming resurgent rampage by a 1940s thieving contortionist is merely a mask for a far more sinister scheme perpetrated by a hidden vengeful mastermind. Closing proceedings are two teaser treats from that giant compendium: specifically a ‘Flash Puzzle’ by Bob Rozakis, Infantino & Anderson and an unattributed ‘Flash Trivia Quiz and Answers’…

With covers by Kane, Infantino, Anderson, Neal Adams, Colletta Giordano, Jack Adler, Cardy and Tatjana Wood, this splendid selection is a must-read item for anybody in love with the world of words-in-pictures and fast-paced fantasy fables. Ready. Steady, Go get it!
© 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 2026 DC Comics. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1906 was the birth date of cartoonist Dale Messick (Brenda Starr, Reporter) followed ten years later by comic book/ad exec Irv Novick, and author Peter O’Donnell (Modesty Blaise, James Bond, Romeo Jones) in 1920. In 1954 Jamie Delano (Captain Britain, Doctor Who, Hellblazer, Animal Man) joined the party as did Matt Kindt (Poppy and the Lost Lagoon, Dept. H, MIND MGMT, BRZRKR) in 1973.

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Pandora in Puzzlevale: (volume 2) Call of the Crow


By Paul Duffield, Poqu, Siobhan McKenna & various (DFB/Phoenix)

ISBN: 978-1-78845-3769 (TPB)

These days, kids are more likely to find their formative strip narrative experiences online or in specially tailored graphic novels than the anthological, pick ‘n’ mix of pictorial periodicals that defined my long-dead youth. Such was not always the case, but at least comics like The Phoenix are still plugging away, blending the best of the old days with modern appurtenances of all types, just like this splendid sequel saga, culled from the sagacious periodical’s pages.

Pandora in Puzzlevale: The Secret Town debuted a comic strip mystery that progressed as our plucky protagonist solved assorted tests and conundra to recover the parents who had vanished from her side as they all enjoyed a little road trip.

It began as the aspiring crimebuster and Detective Crow C fan was dragged from her comic long enough to realise the tedious drive to their holiday home had been paused. Although the route to the much-anticipated “secrets-themed” village seemed straightforward, the road was long, winding and confusing. When heavy mists descended and the satnav packed in, Mum & Dad pulled up at a petrol station for directions. Engrossed in reading, Pandora eventually looked up to discover she was all alone. Her parents were gone…

Her catalogue of confusion and casebook of ratiocinative deduction filled up quickly as she was drawn into a schema apparently designed to test her physical and mental abilities. That meant taking up precarious residence in a strange hamlet with all odd cons: somewhere everyone had a secret that they wouldn’t share unless Pandora played their games…

In case you’re still wondering, this book – like its predecessor – is all about active participation. By accessing these pages and selecting an action at a critical moment in each episode, you/Pandora are directed to another page to experience the ramifications of that choice. The final objective is still to find the folks uncover the nested truths of the village… and escape Puzzlevale… but it’s you who will be doing the work.

In-world, seemingly helpful people are plentiful in the mist-shrouded village – like fortune tellers, tea shop staff, rambling bystanders and potential witness/gossip Granny Garnett and enigmatic rhymer Rita Idyll, but most welcoming and useful is a were-wolfly hotel clerk. Max/Monster Max is positively friendly but in truth everyone’s motives and accounts are unverifiable and not to be trusted, so Pandora is ultimately left to fend for herself.

At least in this very strange and mutable place, she increasingly has Magically Real Detective Crow by her side and steering her path, and relative stability in a room at local hotel The Veil. Pandora’s methodology includes clue finding, location identification, map-making, maze-defeating, symbol deciphering, wordsearch weaving, witness statement verifying, code-breaking, rune reading, message translating, riddle-solving, character assessing, crossword completing, key & lock retrieving, object unearthing, back-story compiling and comparison testing as well as frequent odd behaviour explanation, with facts meticulously forming a working hypothesis and dictating her plan of action: all jotted down in her trusty, ever-present notebook. She needs all that and more, this time…

After a moody recap, the next morning sees Pandora and her crow companion reviewing the case and wishing the ever-encroaching mists would let up, before a querulous, decision-loaded morning learning the hotelier’s secrets from Max’s sister ensues. This belatedly occurs in The Grand Gardens of Blatherwick Manor. However, getting to the silent sibling means foiling snooty question master/butler Reeves, and steadfast truth obstacle/fount of knowledge Lord Blatherwick…

As unceasing enigmas unfold. Pandora and former fictional detective Crow Boy join new ally (or is she?) Aunty Amethyst in overcoming intellectual and physical challenges, but there are so many! She still hasn’t solved the old ones, like why do the buildings shift, and why do so many wear masks and all-concealing costumes? It isn’t long before she decides “when in Rome…”

Pandora’s quest is divided into 25 sequential ‘Mysteries’ undertaken across four chapters – ‘Trapped in Puzzlevale’, ‘A Family Secret’, ‘Bridging the Divide, and ‘To Raven City’ – each with its own set of tests and challenges contributing to a Big Picture solution, but even after Pandora completes them, she’s left with more to solve and another weird path to follow…

Now with an abrupt hard-earned elevation to official status, magical transformation and the end in clear sight, how can this be anything but To Be Continued…

Pandora in Puzzlevale: Call of the Crow is the second in a serialised sleuth-fest offering a dazzling display of cartoon virtuosity and brain-busting challenges co-composed by writer/art director Paul Duffield, graphic staging scenarist Poqu & illustrator Siobhan McKenna. Their compelling blend of Story! Games! & Action! offers beguiling mystery to be unravelled in the manner of multiple-choice decisions and all there in the irresistible shape of entertaining pictures. How much cooler can a book get?

Well, quite a lot actually, since this tome devotes posterior pages to related activities and features offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club. Here are tips by Duffield & McKenna on ‘Drawing Crow Boy’, ‘Building blocks’ to ‘Final details’ as well as how to craft puzzles, whilst Poqu shares constructing ‘Secret woodland’, before we conclude with a full list of solutions, clues and hints in closing glimpses at ‘The Final Mystery’ and ‘Pandora’s Notes’…

Bring paper, pencils and your intellectual A-game, and have the time of your life…
Text and illustrations © The Phoenix Comic, 2026. All rights reserved.

Today in 1893 Josette Frank was born. Go look her up now. She earned it. In 1901 Carl Barks was born. Absolutely him too.

If you’re not all worthied out, Hy Eisman (who walked in giants’ footsteps on Popeye and Katzenjammer Kids) arrived in 1927 as did writer/entrepreneur/ publisher/agent Mike Friedrich in 1947.

We lost attorney, psychologist and Wonder Woman co-creator Elizabeth Holloway Marston today in 1993 – so look her up too – as well as Dick Giordano who died in 2010. Italian spaghetti westerner Leone Cimpellin AKA “Ghilbert” (Red Carson, Casey Ruggles, Jonny Logan) bit his last bullet in 2017.

In 1982 Eagle relaunched in Britain. It was pretty good, had lots of cool contributors, but just wasn’t the same…

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Stuff about Sex for Guys Who Are Not Like, Total Idiots


By David Mellon (Top Shelf Productions)
No ISBN ASIN: B01BMV519A (pamphlet)

Utterly unavailable – and how like most men today is THAT? – here’s a tiny treat that’s educational and well worth tracking down. You might even agitate for its revival and expansion and return…

Whilst not actually a graphic novel, I couldn’t resist adding this outrageous little comic book essay to my St. Valentines Day celebrations, and wholeheartedly recommend it to any oldster who likes a gentle, knowing laugh or any young man in need of an understanding non-judgemental pep talk before setting out to find a mate… either for a night, a little while or a lifetime.

In the manner of a relatively non-judgemental older sibling, David Mellon (The Boogieman, Silent) expresses, frankly and in the most simple of terms, how to start having sex. He covers the onset of adult relationships; dispelling myths, addressing if not positively coddling neuroses and especially bestowing actual useful advice (yes, really! Wash often and wear clean clothes!) to help nervous neophytes meet women (or consensual alternatives) and not nauseate them.

Beautifully rendered in accessible monochrome cartoons, Mellon takes us through the initial obstacle of ‘Shame!’, arguing that ‘It’s the Same for Everybody’ and claiming ‘Everybody Wants to Drop that Mask!’…

Nothing is held back as the author sensibly deals with ‘Personal Hygiene’ and tackles issues such as ‘Premature Ejaculation’ and ‘Masturbation’, the pros and cons of ‘Virginity’ and even asks the big question…‘What’s Love Got to Do With It?’

Even the great imponderables get a look in as we examine ‘Normal’ and discuss ‘What Women Want’…

Smart, sensible, unflinching but never harsh or mean, Mellon’s mature approach to an age-old traumatic experience and rite of passage should be mandatory reading in schools (but won’t be because of all the naked men and women he’s drawn here) as a serious and earnest contrition to sex education.
Stuff about Sex™ & © 2012 David Mellon. All rights reserved.

Today in 1865 Henry creator Carl Thomas Anderson was born, and so was civil rights champion/political cartoonist Oliver Harrington in 1912, followed four years later by writer/editor/MLJ and Archie Comics co-founder John Goldwater. In 1967 the world became a better place with the birth of New Zealand’s greatest comic export Roger Langridge.

In 1962 we lost Korky the Cat creator James Crighton, the world bid adieu to comics star turned Hanna-Barbera animator Alex Lovyin 1992 and in 2007 Germany said farewell to artist/animator Willy Moese.

In 1904, Jimmy Swinnerton’s strip Little Jimmy debuted while UK comics changed forever in 1976 when Fleetway’s astoundingly controversial weekly Action launched.

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Toby and the Pixies volume 4 How to Be Cool!


By James Turner & Andreas Schuster, with Emily Kimball & Leanne Daphne (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-788453-77-6 (TPB)

Way back in January 2012, Oxford-based David Fickling Books made a rather radical move by launching a traditional anthology comics weekly aimed at under-12s. It revelled in reviving the good old days of picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content.

To this day each issue features humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. The Phoenix has successfully established itself as a potent source of children’s entertainment because, like Beano and Dandy, it is equally at home to boys and girls, and HAS mastered the magical trick of mixing amazingly action-packed adventure series with hilarious humour strip serials such as this one. Most of the strips have also become graphic collections; just like this one…

Crafted by James Turner (Star Cat, Super Animal Adventure Squad, Mameshiba, The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve) and Canadian cartoonist/designer/animator Andreas Schuster (KLARA AND ANTON in PRIMAX Magazine), Toby and the Pixies began in January 2020 as I Hate Pixies and, once out of the compost bag of creative wonders, just wouldn’t stop. Those first forays were remastered and released as Toby and the Pixies: Worst King Ever! and follow-up fester forays Best Frenemies & Pixie Pandemonium!, charting the course of a nerdy boy at a nice school… until it all goes wrong…

Unappreciated, anxious 12-year-old Toby Cauldwell was resigned to and content with his meagre, second-rate friends, dedicated personal bullies, negative charisma levels and functional classroom invisibility at Suburbiton High School, but began rapidly shedding his appallingly uncool reputation the day after his electric-toaster-obsessed Dad ordered him to sort out their unruly, out-of-control back garden…

That’s when Toby discovered that wild, jungle-like urban wilderness was – unbeknownst to any mortal – the camouflaging screen for a fabulous fey realm. The ethereal, moist and rather mucky enclave had endured unseen in the green shambles of the Cauldwell backyard for countless ages. Now, thanks to an inept and inadvertent act of emancipation triggered by Toby kicking an unfortunately placed plaster garden gnome, the status quo forever altered. A tool of fate, the reluctant lad was instantly elevated to the position of supreme overlord, by dint of accidently yet totally obliterating the sitting tyrant. It was only for a hidden kingdom of magical morons, but they were really happy to be shot of their previous mad, mean, magical master…

As interpreted by the former King’s advisors – Royal Druid Mouldwarp, wise(ish) Lore Keeper/Potion Master Gatherwool and Toadflax (she eats stuff) – deliberately or otherwise, despatching King Thornpickle made Toby new absolute monarch. Pixie law also stated said ruler could do anything they wanted… a prospect so laden with responsibility that it made Toby weep with terror…

Just coming to terms with MAGIC actually existing, and that the ever-present freaky, anarchic imps can do it whilst still being absolute idiots and morons was awful enough, without also still having to survive school’s normal horrors. Thankfully, as the little odds and sods increasingly impinged and impacted on Toby’s life, education and prospects, they also turned school upside on a daily basis, and Toby’s fellow outcast Mo soon discovered the shocking secret of their existence. And he thought it was BRILLIANT!

In the short term it actually made things worse but now, apart from constant teasing and perpetual whining pleas to visit the magic kingdom, there is a fellow human King Toby can moan at. Two, actually, as snarky bully Steph also soon discovered the secret and has since proved to not be quite as awful as she might be…

That’s good because knowledge is a dangerous, trouble-causing thing, particularly as the Pixies are now everywhere and Toby’s succession triggered many problems: especially when magic-slime wielding Princess Sugarsnap – daughter of Thornpickle and rightful heir to a job Toby really, really doesn’t want – started a war to take back the throne Toby absolutely doesn’t want…

This fourth folio of foolishly foetid foofaraw opens with a fresh chance to get reacquainted with musty regulars Toby, Mo, Steph, Sugarsnap, Toadflax, Gatherwool & Mouldwarp in a comprehensive triple page intro. Then it’s back to school and off the deep end (or is it?) in ‘Chapter 1: T Train’ as Toby – under the Advisors’ suggestions and fed up with his old nickname (“Trousers”) – decides to reboot his image. Sadly, using magic to remove everyone’s memories of old Toby to make room for supercool “T-Train” is a complete disaster… as usual.

‘Chapter 2: Pet Project’ sees the rickety ruler granted extra responsibility – looking after the class goldfish – before disaster immediately strikes when it dies. No appreciable use (as usual!) the pixies take away the wrong message from Toby’s humiliating tragedy and over-explore the fascinating human notion of “pets” by concentrating on “can anybody be one…?”

Pixies are willing, compliant slaves to their King, so only chaos can result from Steph finally making overburdened Mouldwarp understand the concepts of consent and refusal in ‘Chapter 3: The More You “No”’. Rebellion can be an ugly thing to witness…

Social horror blends with the squishy icky kind in ‘Chapter 4: Spot On’ when Toby allows his advisors to “treat” the unsightly blemish on his forehead. Soon, the unsightly pimple is not only bigger than his original head, but far smarter and more erudite, too. Of course, it cannot last…

The young king hates grooming and his much-deferred barber appointments finally come home to roost in ‘Chapter 5: Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow’, paying dank, dandruffy dividends after the Advisors’ first suggestion (hungry goat) is superseded by manic tonsorial magic and grows well beyond anyone’s control. Sadly, that catastrophe is rapidly eclipsed in ‘Chapter 6: Penguin Peril’ when an impending appearance on TV show “That’s Sciency” becomes just the latest way his Advisors cannot help. Here an ecology project involving papier mache penguins and global climate crises suddenly becomes a disaster of cosmic proportions when the pixies soup it up. Now, only devious Princess Sugarsnap seems able to assist… and only for a most outrageous price…

In ‘Chapter 7: Lore Unto Themselves’ a dose of school library cleaning results in the fetid fey folk experiencing sugar-stoked culture shock after seeing in something called “a book” what proper Pixies are…

After realising the King is constantly being saved by his loyal Champion Mo, Sugarsnap bounces back with her most wicked plan yet in ‘Chapter 8: Getting the Hump’. To succeed, all she has to do is break up their friendship, and what better way than by exploiting their shared passion for video games? And THAT is best accomplished by entering the game itself via magic, yes? Well, no, actually…

Writing is hard even if you have great ideas like scholastic King Toby, but if you let your Advisors remove the Self Doubt Critter in your head via a Magical Brain Beret, all manner of plots, schemes and characters are able to unstoppably manifest. Thus, in ‘Chapter 9: Critical Thinking’ as Toby generates a torrent of unwanted essay pages, his freedom of thought increasingly and dangerously impacts on his actions. The solution is to put the SDC back in the king’s head, but it’s perfectly happy squatting in Mouldwarp’s bonce and not keen on being evicted, so it’s a happy thing that when it goes on a rampage Toby has few ideas…

When Toadflax discovers advertising and psychology it soon spawns sheer anarchic trouble in ‘Chapter 10: Choco Crisis’ as the Advisors’ addiction to sugar leads them to magically manifest idols and monsters only a hasty human ad campaign can counter…

Echoes of that encounter reverberate as Christmas rolls around again and ‘Chapter 11: Advent Adventure’ finds Mo, Steph and Toby confronting the Pixies’ newfound love of doors that open onto presents and the ultimate terror that leads to…

The storytelling terminates with one more trial as Sugarsnap returns with her ultimate gambit: suing Toby for the Kingdom of Pixies. However, nobody can win when the law is such an ass that it allows Gatherwool to be judge and book-eating Toadflax and Mouldwarp to be defence counsel. As chaos mounts in ‘Chapter 12: Court Out’, Toby has never been more happy to have Stepha and Mo acting as his behind the scenes advocates…

Ordinary school interactions can be a nightmare, but with the reading done for now, keen types can learn useful stuff from pages of related activities grouped under the banner of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils and you to a selection of items from the compact online course detailing all aspects of comic strip creation supervised by Andreas Schuster.

Here that includes ‘Let’s Draw a Pixie! Castle’; ‘Pixie Magic!’; ‘Character class: Ducks!’; ‘Duckification!’ and ‘By the Power of Art, COMBINE!’ backed up by an extensive peek at other Fickling books and treats plus a plug for the Phoenix Comics Club website complete with instant access via a QR code.

Toby and the Pixies is a fabulous fabrication of festery fun and nonsense no lover of laughs and lunacy should deprive themselves and which all kids will gleefully consume. What are we all waiting for?
Text and illustrations © The Phoenix Comic 2026. All rights reserved.

Toby and the Pixies: volume 4: How to Be Cool! is published on 12th February 2026 and available for preorder now.

Today in 1898 the previous Frank Miller (who produced aviation strip Barney Baxter in the Air) was born, as was eternal letterer Irv Watanabe in 1919. In 1957 Leonard Starr’s Mary Perkins on Stage opened, but strips lost to us on this day include DC’s The World’s Greatest Superheroes in 1985 and Secret Agent X-9 in 1996.

Crucially and painfully, in 1987 Diabolik co-creator Angela Giussani died, as did the uniquely irreplaceable Steve Gerber in 2008.

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Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan: The Jesse Marsh Years Volume Nine


By Gaylord DuBois & Jesse Marsh (Dark Horse Books)
ISBN: 978-1-59582-649-7 (HB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times.

Win’s Christmas Gift Recommendation: Primal fantasy Adventure… 8/10

I don’t know an awful lot about Jesse Marsh, other than that he was born on 27th July 1907 and died far too young: on April 28th 1966 from diabetic complications at the height of a TV Tarzan revival he was in large part responsible for. What I do know, however, is that to my unformed, pre-fanboy, kid’s mentality, his drawings were somehow better than most of the other artists and that every other kid who read comics in my school disagreed with me.

There’s a phrase we used at 2000 AD that summed it up: “Artist’s artist”, which usually meant someone whose fan-mail divided equally into fanatical raves and bile-filled hate-mail. It seems there are some makers of comic strips that many readers simply don’t get.

It isn’t about the basic principles or artistic quality or even anything tangible – although you’ll hear some cracking justifications: “I don’t like his feet” (presumably the way he draws them) and “it just creeps me out” being my two favourites. Never forget in the 1980s DC were told by the Comics Code Authority that Kevin O’Neill’s entire style and manner of Drawing was unacceptable to American readers!

I got Jesse Marsh. He was another Disney animator (beginning in 1939) who moved sideways – in 1945 – to become a full-time narrative illustrator for the studio’s comic book licensee Whitman Publishing. Marsh never looked back and became the go-to guy for other ERB adaptations such as John Carter of Mars.

Situated on the West Coast, Western’s Dell/Gold Key imprints rivalled DC and Marvel at the height of their powers, and the licensee famously never capitulated to the wave of anti-comics hysteria that resulted in the crippling self-censorship of the 1950s. No Dell Comics ever displayed a Comics Code Authority symbol on the cover – they never needed to…

Marsh jobbed around adapted movie properties – mostly westerns like Gene Autry – until 1948 when Dell introduced the first all-new Tarzan comic book. The newspaper strip had run since 1929 and all previous funnybook releases had featured expurgated and modified reprints of those adventures. That all changed with Dell Four Color Comic #134 (February 1947) which featured a lengthy, captivating tale of the Ape-Man scripted by Robert P. Thompson, who also wrote both the Tarzan radio show and the aforementioned syndicated strip (as you can see in Tarzan and the Adventurers).

The comic was very much in the Burroughs tradition: John Clayton, Lord Greystoke and his friend Paul D’Arnot aid a young woman in rescuing her lost father from a hidden tribe ruled over by a monster. The engrossing yarn was made magical by the simple, underplayed magic of a heavy brush line and absolutely unmatched design sense. Marsh was unique in the way he positioned characters in space, using primitivist forms and hidden shapes to augment his backgrounds, and as the man was a fanatical researcher, his trees, rocks, and constructions were 100% accurate. His animals and natives, especially children and women, were all distinct and recognisable; not the blacked-up stock figures in grass skirts even the greatest artists so often resorted to.

He also knew when to draw big and draw small: the internal dynamism of his work is spellbinding. His Africa became mine, and of course the try-out comic book was an instant hit. Marsh and Thompson’s Tarzan returned with two tales in Dell Four Color Comic #161, cover-dated August 1947. This was a remarkable feat: Four Colour was a catch-all title showcasing in rotation literally hundreds of different licensed properties, often as many as ten separate issues per month. So rapid a return engagement meant pretty solid sales figures…

Bolstered by a healthy and extremely popular film franchise and those comics strips, within six months, bimonthly Tarzan #1 was released (January/February 1948). It was a swansong for Thompson, but another unforgettable classic for Marsh – and the first of an unbroken run that would last until 1965: over 150 consecutive issues. Moreover there were also spin-offs featuring other ERB character adaptations and gigantic specials like the Annual that opens this collected volume.

Prior to that, the collection – reprinting material from 1953 from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan #44-46 and monumental bonus book Tarzan’s Jungle Annual #2 – opens with Foreword ‘Looking for Jesse Marsh’: a heartfelt appreciation and appraisal of the secretive genius by publisher Dan Nadel, packed with information about the enigmatic master. Then, cover-dated August 1953 and on sale from 16th July, that colossal bonus book delivers a painted cover by Morris Gollub (not featuring then current big screen Tarzan Lex Barker) in advance of a beguiling trip to an Africa that never was…

A monochrome Jungle World frontispiece revels in an idyllic quiet moment for the Ape-Man and faithful pachyderm pal Tantor, before main event ‘Tarzan in the Valley of Towers’ transports the Jungle Lord and pilot/scientist Professor Alexander MacWhirtle to a distant unexplored region in aid of a girl who sent a plea for help in a tiny parachute woven from spider-webs…

As always this yarn (and everything else including puzzles) was written by Gaylord DuBois. Editor and prolific scripter (Lone Ranger, Lost in Space, Turok, Son of Stone, Brothers of the Spear and many more) he was Marsh’s creative collaborator for nearly 20 years.

Flying into the great desert, Tarzan and “Professor Mac” soon find Heather Day laid out as a sacrifice on a towering limestone altar, left for giant carnivorous bats by debased humans who have turned themselves into flying/gliding predators in their image. The battle to overthrow the petty tyrants of the sky takes them from the highest peaks to deepest subterranean depths, but inevitably Tarzan triumphs and returns Hearther to the outer world.

Back then, entertainment was full on and informative, so this Annual was packed with fact and activity features. First up, and still all Marsh in vision, is potted travelogue ‘Jungle Trails’ augmented by a simple method for ‘Making Maps’ and a clever rebus message from Tarzan to his ‘Jungle Village’. Then it’s back to action as ‘Tarzan and the Cannibals of Kando-Mor’ finds the Ape-Man and his Waziri friend Chief Muviro traversing the fearsome Great Swamp when the party is captured by man-eating men. Their escape brings the wanders fully into Burroughs’ rich fantasy-scape as they discover another isolated and embattled outpost of lost land Pal-Ul-Don (introduced in 8th novel Tarzan the Terrible) and befriend the buffalo-worshipping Gallugos. The event is quite timely as the ever-encroaching cannibals have almost completed their extended scheme to eliminate the cow-lovers…

Almost…

Illustrated sheet music provides long-distance lessons for ‘Dancing Feet’ to cavort at a ‘Moonlight Marriage’ ceremony, whilst ‘Happy Warrior’ shares the secrets of kite-making before ‘Boy Stands by a Friend’ offers another intimate peek at the formative years of Greystoke’s African family when Boy – later called Korak – and ape pal Zorok stow away on a riverboat and nearly end up as zoo exhibits. ‘Letters from Boy’ to the readers feature next, as ‘Jungle Hunt’ details how to make an inner tube popgun and water canteens, prior to an adventure with elephants as ‘The Troubles of Tantor’ seen the herd patriarch go to extraordinary lengths to rescue wayward calves captured by angry farmers.

Picture essays detail the secrets of MacWhirtle’s plane and the domain of dinosaurs in ‘Boys Air Adventure to the Valley of Monsters’ after which a touch of old-fashioned racial profiling describes native characteristics in ‘Jungle Tribes’ and ‘Jungle Woman’ before embracing romance as final story ‘Tarzan Trails the Brothers of the Barracuda’ sees the Ape-Man reunite shipwrecked and separated young lovers by hunting down the slave traders who have seized and sought to sell her…

Wrapping up with a load of lexicons, ‘Jungle Language: Swahili-English’ and ‘Jungle Language: Ape-English’ provides illustrated dictionaries that come in handy for the puzzle pages and crossword, before monochrome endpiece ‘Jungle World’ explores the violent existence of bugs and minibeasts.

Cover-dated May 1953, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan #44 sees the Jungle Lord enjoying a quiet ride over vast hidden Pal-Ul-Don on his giant eagle Argus when he saves a tiny shepherd from a vulture as big as the mighty raptor Tarzan rides. In ‘Tarzan and the Little Spearmen’ this good deed soon sours. Coro of Saparta is grateful and desperate and happy in turn as the benevolent giant and his equally immense pal Muviro hunt down the ferocious carrion feeders who find living little people more tasty than corpses. Sadly, the interaction sparks civil war between the farming fraternity and now-unemployed spearman clan who used to defend them, especially after Tarzan teaches them the high-tech marvel of archery…

Pathos and nostalgia hit hard in second saga ‘Tarzan and the Strange Balu’ as a she-ape finds a human baby and replaces her own dead newborn with him. Poor, grieving Kalahari will not surrender the infant, leaving the Ape-Man in a double bind: finding the child’s real family and saving the mother surrogate from heartbreak…

The task is made even harder but more gratifying when Tarzan discovers vile slavers have been transporting a white woman to market…

The issue ends with a stunning pinup of Argus and a GIANT-giant vulture and contemporary house ad before ERBT #45 (June 1953) opens with ‘Tarzan and the Haunted Plantations’ wherein the Ape-Man visits old friend Chief Buto and learns his warrior comrade is plagued by devils and ghosts. A little careful investigation then reveals the fields where his people hire out as croppers are coveted by a bandit with knowledge of unexploited resources beneath that fruitful dirt, and Razan devises a sneaky scheme…

‘Boy and the Shamba Raider’ again focuses on the exploits of Korak-to-come as the kid and his pal Dombie take executive action to trap rogue water buffalo raiding crops and attacking workers. They wouldn’t have had to if the adult warriors had listened to them in the first place…

Epic fantasy follows in ‘Tarzan Returns to Cathne’ when the Jungle Man and Waziri’s Pal-Ul-Don explorations bring them into conflict with sabretooth tigers attacking the war-lions of Queen Elaine of Cathne. The staunch friend and ally is a fugitive now as her husband King Jathon is gone and usurper Timon rules. The madman is unstoppable and seeks to conquer sister city Athne, but Tarzan has other ideas and the wits to implement them…

The issues closes with another house ad and ‘Tarzan’s World’ pinup of the Dangina (Cape Hunting Dog) before we segue into final entry Tarzan #46 .

Dated July 1953 it begins with ‘Tarzan Defends a City’ as the Ape-Man and not-dead Jathon (surprise!) trek back to Cathne with super-colossal war lion Goliath, only to find the citadel under siege by crocodile-riding Terribs from the Great Swamp. Things look bleak until the Gallugos – freshly fled from the cannibal Kando-Mors – arrive and turn the muddy tide. All they want in return is land to build their new city…

Back in regular Africa, ‘Boy Faces the Fangs of the Mamba’ after Matusi witchdoctor Ungali – having failed to kill Tarzan – frames his annoying spawn Boy for theft and orchestrates a lethal trial by snake. Sadly for the villain, Ape-Man arrives just in time…

This titanic tome terminates with whimsical mystery ‘Tarzan and the Treasure of the Apes’ as brutal unscrupulous white hunters discover the great apes dubbed “mangani” are all bedecked in priceless jewels. Ruthlessly stalking the vain bedazzled beasts the safari killers even manage to wound Tarzan, before he convinces the apes to surrender their “pretty stones” in favour of something better: something edible.

The Jungle King then delivers a unique judgement that might not look like justice but truly is nothing but…

Although these are tales from a far-off, simpler time they have lost none of their passion, inclusivity and charm, whilst the artistic virtuosity of Jesse Marsh looks better than ever. Perhaps this time a few more people will “get” him…
Edgar Rice Burroughs® Tarzan®: The Jesse Marsh Years volume 9 © 1953, 2011, Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. Tarzan ® Edgar Rice Burroughs Inc. All rights reserved.

In 1952 Jack of all comics trades Keith Giffen was born. We haven’t reviewed Ambush Bug, Legion of Super-Heroes or his Doom Patrol yet, so why not recall gleeful glory days with Justice League International volume 1?

In 1978 screen writer and comics luminary Robert Kirkman was born. You probably know him best for Walking Dead volume 1: Days Gone Bye.

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Chas Addams™ Half-Baked Cookbook: Culinary Cartoons for the Humorously Famished


By Charles Addams (Simon & Schuster)
ISBN: ?978-0-7432-6775-5 (PB) eISBN: 978-1-439-10386-9

This boos includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times. It also uses Discriminatory Content included for comedic and satirical effect.

Cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams (1912-1988) was a distant descendant of two American Presidents (John Adams & John Quincy Adams). He compounded that hereditary infamy by perpetually making his real life as extraordinary as his dark, mordantly funny drawings.

Born into a successful family in Westfield, New Jersey, the precocious, prankish, constantly drawing child was educated at the town High School, Colgate University, the University of Pennsylvania, and New York City’s Grand Central School of Art, and apparently spent the entire time producing cartoons and illustrations for a raft of institutional publications.

In 1932 he became a designer for True Detective magazine – “retouching photos of corpses” – and soon after started selling drawings to The New Yorker. In 1937, at the peak of popular fascination in cinematic and literary horror stories, he began a ghoulish if not outright macabre sequence of family portraits that ultimately became his signature creation. However, during WWII, he toned down the terror and served with the US Signal Corps Photographic Center, devising animated training films for the military.

Whether Addams artfully manufactured his biography to enhance his value to feature writers or was genuinely a warped and wickedly wacky individual is irrelevant, although it makes for great reading – especially the stuff about his wives – and, as always, the internet is eager to be your informative friend…

What is important is that in all the years he drew and painted those creepily sardonic, gruesome gags and illustrations for The New Yorker, Colliers, TV Guide and so many others, he managed to beguile and enthral his audience with a devilish mind and a soft, gentle approach that made him a household name long before television turned his characters into a hit and generated a juvenile craze for monsters and grotesques that lasts to this day. That eminence was only magnified once the big screen iterations debuted. And now we have streaming fun too. He would have loved the sheer terrifying inescapability of it all…

As he worked on unto death, Addams got even wackier: marrying his third wife in a pet cemetery, spending a fortune collecting weapons and torture devices – “for reference” – and inventing… recipes…

In a legendary career dedicated to being odd, the sudden swerve into crafting and compiling an actual cookbook garnished with macabre cartoon japery is a fabulous affirmation of all the unharnessed unpredictability man stood for, and one which constantly delivers treat after tasty treat…

The compendium commences with introduction ‘Café Styx’ from culinary author Allen S. Weiss, after which a bundle of gags – many starring Addams Family stalwarts – brings us to the secrets of making mouthwatering ‘Mushrooms Fester’. Always be sure when cooking this where you sourced your fungi from – and what you need them to do…

The pattern repeats throughout in chapters divided into ‘Platters’: soundly sinister laughs and gruesomely gustatory giggles peppered with rather tasty recipes. You can see for yourself the quality of the cartooning here so I’ll be brief for a change and simply menu the other olfactory and tongue-tangling taste-bombs included.

The next is utterly self-explanatory ‘Macaroni and Oysters’, ending the first course prior to commencing the ‘Second Platter’ – specifically ‘Black Puddings’ (Yanks call them “blood puddings” and they’re not wrong) and ‘Transparent Pie’ with ‘Boiled Salad of Fiddleheads’ (that’s newly sprouted ferns)…

Pausing for a delicious ‘Intermezzo’ of home-made (for who could sell them?) ‘Dandelion Beer’ and ‘Influenza Punch’ accompanied by ‘Stewed Pigeons’, ‘Potted Woodland Squirrel’ & ‘Fried Locusts’ sagaciously catered to with helpful ‘Hints for the Ill’, we eventually come to what all gastrophiles, gastronomes (and gastrophobes!) have been waiting for: the triumphant ‘Third Platter’ and subsequent ‘Digestifs’…

Here the drawings are in their prime and perfectly piquant whilst consumers are advised on how to tackle ‘Hearts Stuffed for Valentine’s Day’ (with a most special Stuffing mix); ‘Ostrich Eggs’ and ‘Reindeer Rice Curry’. Of course, as with all comedy, acquiescence and acceptance in adversity might mean modern kitchen scullions might need to replace the odd ingredient for all these GENUINE early American recipes collected by Chas and Tee Addams over decades, but what really matters is that gradually older collections of the Addams oeuvre are being unearthed and this one’s truly scrumptious; or perhaps just an acquired taste…

For clarity and pure knowledge this volume closes with a full biography of the auteur and full list of ‘Credits’ for the recipes included.

Should you not be as familiar with his actual cartoons as with the big and small screen legacy Addams unleashed, you really owe it to yourself to see the uncensored brilliance of one of America’s greatest humourists. It’s very appetising and dead funny…

© 2005 by Tee and Charles Addams Foundation. All rights reserved.

Today was a biggie for Comics. In 1764, grand master and originator of mean drawing William Hogarth died. In 1931 Stan’s brother (the one who could write AND Draw) Larry Lieber was born. Among his many unsung triumphs was Rawhide Kid, co creating Iron Man and writing most of the stories in Mighty Marvel Masterworks: The Mighty Thor volume 1: The Vengeance of Loki.

In 1941 Belgian Bob De Groot was born. You really should read one of his many light adventure gems such as Clifton volume 5: Jade.

In 1970, two US strips launched today one was Mel Lazarus’ venerable Momma, and the other was by Gary Trudeau. Go see and worship some more with the fabulous Yuge! – 30 Years of Doonesbury on Trump.

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You Are Maggie Thatcher: A Dole-Playing Game


By Pat Mills & Hunt Emerson (Titan Books)
ISBN: 978-1-85286-011-0 (TPB)

This book includes Discriminatory Content produced in less enlightened times, and for comedic and satirical effect.

With the recent anniversary hagiographic whitewashing of “the Greatest Prime Minister we’ve ever had”, fond reminiscences of those truly grim times and policies by the still-privileged and renewed assaults on the poor and unwelcome in Britain, why don’t we proles also indulge in bit of comforting nostalgia for the good old days?

The most successful comic strips depend more on the right villain than any hero or combination of protagonists, so this quirky oddment was better placed than most for success. Created by British comics legends Pat Mills & Hunt Emerson at a time when our industry was at its most politically active, this strident, polemical satire put the proletarian boot in on the appalling tactics and philosophies of the third term Thatcher government with savagely hilarious art and stunningly biting writing.

Illo 1 here please


The concept is simple now but groundbreaking in 1987. The reader is to be Prime Minister Maggie who, by reading sections of the book and selecting a choice of action at the end of each chapter is directed to another page to experience the ramifications of that decision. The objective is to win another election (ah the wonderful irony!) and the method is to make only vote-winning decisions – hence the multiple-choice page-endings. The intention is not to win the game, obviously. What kind of monster are you?!

This powerful piece of graphic propaganda may have dated on some levels but the home truths are still as pertinent. Even as Maggie and her demented pack of lap-dogs wriggled and squirmed on Mills & Emerson’s pen-points, their legacy of personal gain was supplanting both personal and communal responsibility to become the new norm. More than ever, today’s Britain is their fault and this still readily available book reminds us of a struggle too few joined and a fight we should have won, but didn’t.

It’s still really, really funny too.
Text and concept © 1987 Pat Mills. Illustrations © 1987 Hunt Emerson. All Rights Reserved.

Today in 1969 anarchic weekly British treasure trove Whizzer and Chips began its three-decade rampage of fun. You could get a flavour of it all (mostly toffees, liniment, perished rubber and sweaty feet) by seeing Whizzer and Chips Annual 1979.

In 1973 cartoonist Walt Kelly finally had enough of our petulant crap and passed over. You can pay your respects at Pogo – The Complete Syndicated Comic Strips volume 3: Evidence to the Contrary. 

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Toby and the Pixies: volume 3: Pixie Pandemonium!


By James Turner & Andreas Schuster (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-355-4 (TPB)

Way back in January 2012, Oxford-based David Fickling Books made a rather radical move by launching a traditional anthology comics weekly aimed at under-12s. It revelled in reviving the good old days of picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content.

To this day each issue features humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. The Phoenix has successfully established itself as a potent source of children’s entertainment because, like Beano and Dandy, it is equally at home to boys and girls, and HAS mastered the magical trick of mixing amazingly action-packed adventure series with hilarious humour strip serials such as this one. Most of the strips have also become graphic collections; just like this one…

Crafted by the exceedingly clever James Turner (Star Cat, Super Animal Adventure Squad, Mameshiba, The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve) and Canadian cartoonist/designer/animator Andreas Schuster (KLARA AND ANTON in PRIMAX Magazine), Toby and the Pixies began in January 2020 as I Hate Pixies and, once out of the compost bag of creative wonders, just wouldn’t stop. Those first forays were remastered and released as Toby and the Pixies: Worst King Ever! and follow-up fun folio Best Frenemies charting the course of a nerdy boy at a nice school – until it all goes wrong…

Unappreciated, anxious 12-year-old Toby Cauldwell was resigned to and content with his meagre, second-rate friends, dedicated personal bullies, negative charisma levels and functional classroom invisibility at Suburbiton High School, but began rapidly shedding his appallingly uncool reputation the day after his electric-toaster-obsessed Dad ordered him to sort out their unruly, out-of-control back garden…

That’s when Toby discovered that wild, jungle-like urban wilderness was – unbeknownst to any mortal – the camouflaging screen for a fabulous fey realm. The ethereal, moist and rather mucky enclave had endured unseen in the green shambles of the Cauldwell backyard for countless ages. Now – thanks to an inept and inadvertent act of emancipation triggered by Toby kicking an unfortunately placed plaster garden gnome – the status quo forever altered. A tool of fate, the reluctant lad was instantly elevated to the position of supreme overlord, by dint of accidently yet totally obliterating the sitting tyrant. It was only for a hidden kingdom of magical morons, but they were really happy to be shot of their previous mad, mean, magical master….

As interpreted by the former King’s advisors – Royal Druid Mouldwarp, wise(ish) Lore Keeper/Potion Master Gatherwool and Toadflax (she eats stuff) – deliberate or otherwise, despatching King Thornpickle made Toby new absolute monarch. Pixie law also stated said ruler could do anything they wanted… a prospect so laden with responsibility that it made Toby weep with terror…

Just coming to terms with MAGIC actually existing, and that the ever-present freaky, anarchic imps can do it whilst still being absolute idiots and morons was awful enough, without also still having to survive school’s normal horrors. Thankfully, as the little odds and sods increasingly impinged and impacted on Toby’s life, education and prospects, they also turned school upside on a daily basis, and Toby’s fellow outcast Mo soon discovered the shocking secret of their existence. And he thought it was BRILLIANT!

In the short term, it actually made things worse but now, apart from constant teasing and perpetual whining pleas to visit the magic kingdom, there is a fellow human King Toby can moan at. Two actually, as snarky bully Steph also soon discovered the secret and has since proved to not be quite as awful as she might be…

That’s good because knowledge is a dangerous, trouble-causing thing, particularly as the Pixies are now everywhere and Toby’s succession triggered many problems: especially when magic-slime wielding Princess Sugarsnap – daughter of Thornpickle and rightful heir to a job Toby really, really doesn’t want – started a war to take back the throne Toby absolutely doesn’t want…

This third fondly foetid foofaraw opens with a chance to get reacquainted with key regulars Toby, Mo, Steph, Toadflax, Gatherwool & Mouldwarp in a comprehensive double page intro. Then it’s back to school and off the deep end (or is it?) in ‘Chapter 1: Off Sick’ as Toby is confined to bed with a cold. Typically, his loyal subjects think magic is the answer, but they couldn’t be more wrong… or destructive…

‘Chapter 2: On Holiday’ finds Mr. Cauldwell attending a seaside toaster convention and “thoughtfully” leaving his son and Mo on the beach all day. The King thought he was going to have a pixie-free rest but his Royal Champion (that’s Mo. Keep up!) has kindly brought the Advisors along. They’ve never seen the sea before but think there must be sea pixies they can declare war on if they find them. That ends in frustration but they do discover the narcotic rush power of limitless sugar as delivered by candyfloss…

A systemic examination of each Advisor begins with ‘Chapter 3: Toadflax Day’ as the luckless little omnivore tries to celebrate her birthday in peace and with a minimum of injury, but still falls victim to cruel prankish fate, after which ‘Chapter 4: The Dentist’ finds Toby trapped in the dreaded gob-surgery with his extremely curious courtiers aware of his anxiety but not sure how magic can help. It doesn’t stop them trying though, with terrifying results…

‘Chapter 5: Mouldwarp’s Day’ unearths the pocket Druid’s secret desire to be a mighty – and adored – hero of the Realm, but his dreams are crushed in Gatherwool’s agenda to celebrate King Toby’s 100th visit to the Kingdom and gift the human with the nation’s most dangerous and deadly arcane artefacts. What could possibly go wrong?

Of course, it’s not just royal duties that stress Toby out. Ordinary school interactions are also a nightmare, which is why, after saying something really stupid he truly wished he hadn’t, the junior Cauldwell accepts the use of a pixie enchantment to erase that embarrassing moment. ‘Chapter 6: Time Cape’ only serves to remind him that no matter how bad a situation seems, it can always be amplified to near-cosmic armageddon by a little mucky mud magic…

In ‘Chapter 7: Bixenjammer’ Toby, despite all his past experiences, allows the Advisors to distract him from his homework with tales of the pixies’ ultimate nemesis. Happily his subsequent search for it turns up nothing, after which ‘Chapter 8: Talking to Vegetables’ sees the King foolishly accept the power to communicate with beasts only to find Gatherwool has confused the Fruit of Animal Communication with the equivalent Vegetable version. Barracked and besieged by the contents of fridge and fruit bowl, it takes mere moments to spark a retaliatory war with outraged groceries and only sheer luck saves Toby and the rest of meat world…

‘Chapter 9: Gatherwool’s Day’ reveals the depths of the Lore Keeping Potion Master’s devotion as he undertakes enlarging his beloved monarch to colossal proportions, despite every effort of everyone else to convince him he should check or at least ask first, before Romance fills the air in ‘Chapter 10: Crushed’ after Toby becomes besotted by French foreign exchange student Josephine. The milestone occurs just as the pixies are undertaking similar outreach by inviting demonic Boggart exchange student Grax’norx’ng’kk to observe their way of life. Everyone loves Love and is eager to help, but Toby – and Toadflax – really should have refused all offers to help…

‘Chapter 11: Logically Speaking’ finds Mo and his liege lord asked to advise on a trade logistics problem involving transport of grain, chickens and foxes – with predictably disastrous results – and then joining the school newspaper staff. When the pixies are introduced to the concept of journalism, ‘Chapter 12: No News’ proves their version, utilising a Magic Parchment of Truth to alter reality to match what’s been written, is far more tempting and satisfactory. Thankfully, Steph keeps her wits as Toby succumbs to his unleashed dark side and the status quo is restored before the universe ends…

Somehow, unconfident Toby lands a major part in a school theatrical production, and foolishly accepts aid from Gatherwool to calm his stage fright in ‘Chapter 13: Play Time’. Of course the resultant chaos only adds to the performance but ‘Chapter 14: It’s Snow Joke’ has far more serious repercussions after the Advisors animate the snowmen built by gleeful innocent kids – and Toby & Mo. Apparently, even happy chilly manmade ice folk can dream of world conquest…

The story portion pauses on an early seasonal saga as the pixies share their own Christmas traditions in ‘Chapter 15: A Blimpmas Carol’ whilst test-traumatised Toby humbugs all and sundry in his nervous flurry of revision. When Mo introduces the Advisors to a certain classic book, the stage is set for some life- and attitude-changing ghost action and time travel, but these are the pixies in the pilot seat and you know it won’t go as planned…

Wrapping up the fungal fun and mucky madness is a bunch of pages of related activities: a swathe of features offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils and you to a compact online course in all aspects of comic strip creation supervised by Andreas Schuster who helms an activity section that includes ‘Let’s Draw a Pixie!’, ‘A Square Pixie!’ ‘A Circle Pixie!’ ‘An Oval Pixie!’ ‘Expressions!’ ‘Noses!’ ‘Glasses!’ ‘Hair!’ Ideas for Hats!’ ‘Yoghurt Pots!’ ‘A Broken Cup!’ ‘Foam Darts!’ ‘Leaves!’ ‘Pinecones!’ ‘Raccoons!’ ‘Snow Pixies!’ ‘Desert Pixies!’ and ‘Jungle Pixies!’ which ends on an extensive plug for the Phoenix Comics Club website complete with instant access via a QR code.

Toby and the Pixies is a joyous concatenation of nonsense no lover of laughs and lunacy should deprive themselves of and a feast of yuckky yoks all kids will gleefully consume. What are we all waiting for?
Text and illustrations © The Phoenix Comic 2025. All rights reserved.

Toby and the Pixies: volume 3: Pixie Pandemonium! is published on 11th September 2025 and available for preorder now.

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Star Cat – Unicorns in Space


By James Turner & Yasmin Sheikh (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-356-1 (TPB)

Never forget: all the best cats are ginger, and especially so if space is their back yard and litter box…

Way back in January 2012, Oxford-based David Fickling Books made a rather radical move by launching a traditional anthology comics weekly aimed at under-12s. It revelled in reviving the good old days of picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content.

Each issue still features humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material in a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. Since then The Phoenix has established itself a potent source of children’s entertainment as, like The Beano and The Dandy, it is equally at home to boys and girls, and has mastered the magical trick of mixing amazingly action-packed adventure series with hilarious humour strip serials such as this one.

One of the wildest rides of the early days was Space Cat by James Turner (Super Animal Adventure Squad, Mameshiba, The Unfeasible Adventures of Beaver and Steve). His yarns entertained us for ages before, eventually Yasmin Sheikh (Luna the Vampire) joined in – a hopefully unendingly collaboration to amuse us all for years to come…

Like an animalistic Red Dwarf, the premise is timeless and instantly engaging, detailing far-out endeavours of spacefaring nincompoops in classic mock-heroic manner. There’s so very far-from-dauntless and possibly neurotic Captain Spaceington; extremely dim and utterly unschooled amoeboid Science Officer Plixx; inarticulate, barely housebroken feral beastie The Pilot and disdainfully arrogant Robot One, who quite erroneously believes itself at the forefront of the cosmos’ smartest thinkers. The colossal, void-busting vessel the Captain and his substandard crew traverse the universe in looks like a gigantic ginger tom, and that’s because that’s what it is: half cat, half spaceship. What more do you need to know?

After briefly reconnecting with the interstellar imbeciles via info spread ‘Welcome Aboard’, the ramshackle roving resumes in ‘Chapter 1: Deity Dishes’ as our stellar sentinels are tasked with testing a breakthrough in cosmic power production and storage. Omega Toroids are so potent and jam-packed with energy that they can’t be used in series or left together, but as the Captain and Plixx install a single unit in the Star Cat’s engine, overconfident know-it-all Robot One’s craving for donuts creates a mix-up of potentially devastating proportions after mistakenly stuffing his metal maw with all the remaining toroids and getting an inadvertent upgrade to all-conquering star-god status. Sadly, despite the boost, he’s still intrinsically him and becomes the cause of his own downfall while ravaging the Pixie planet…

Supervising chicken-on-a-mission The Space Mayor then despatches his top team (no, Spaceington & Co…) on an urgent mission to end a rubber chicken shortage on Clowntopia-8. So desperate is the crisis that, against all advice and common sense, they consider a short cut through the notorious Spooky Quadrant… and literally live to regret it after encountering all the horrors of the damned at sinister Space Castle Spaceferatu in ‘Chapter 2: Nothing to Fear Except Fear Itself’.

Just purely coincidentally, the creepy citadel in space that is reputed to hold the most unimaginably priceless treasure in the universe has no impact on the team making that diversion short cut. However, even with Robot-One’s “Moral Dilemma Mode” activated, they make the wrong decision and it proves as useless as all the rest of R-1’s upgrades in dealing with the terrifying and sneaky Space Vampyr…

Deplorably deranged, terrifying two-dimensional tyrant/archenemy Dark Rectangle reappears in ‘Chapter 3: Flat Out’, when his trusty hench-being Murky Hexagon begs Spaceington’s aid in curing his master’s dose of 3-D Flu. That noble deed demands the idiots invade the 2-D “Flati-verse” Dark Rectangle came from, and leads to odd adjustments, bizarre doings and a very nasty clash with the villain’s ghastly family…

After crashing on an unknown world, the Star Cat crew are accused of cultural sabotage and sundry misdemeanours in ‘Chapter 4: Rhyme Crime’ but soon get the hang of talking for better or verse… all except Robot-One of course…

That mini-armageddon is as nothing when measured against the chaos generated by the Massivitis germs that transform and utterly embiggen the boss of space in ‘Chapter 5: Mega Mayor’. Thankfully, self-identified chicken-biologist (and closet proctologist) Robot-One has a plan, but it does require golden wigs, giant automatons in drag, extremely invasive incursions by medically untrained volunteers and biscuits, Many, many biscuits…

That fantastic voyage successfully concluded, ‘Chapter 6: Crab to the Future’ details how all but The Pilot are flash frozen on the coldest planet in the galaxy and eventually defrosted in the far future. Ten thousand years of progress – and the occasionally case of time-meddling – have created an odd yet ideal utopia, but the Captain, Plixx and especially the annoying Robot soon fix that, prior to returning to their own lethally enthralling era…

Eventually, even the dimmest crewmember realizes the robot is getting more arrogant, nasty and dangerous, but that doesn’t stop the Space Mayor sending him and his comrades to the Lovely Sector to fetch a crystal flower from the most pure and good planet in the galaxy. ‘Chapter 7: Unicorns in Space!’ reveals how Unicornia initially takes the wild rovers to its collective hearts and bosoms, but it’s not long before the abhorrent android taints even this rainbow hued paradise…

As a result of the tragedy he triggered, Robot-One earnestly seeks to change and ‘Chapter 8: A Light Year in Your Shoes’ has the crew indulge in a spot of body-switching and mind transference that only causes more chaos. The Space Mayor gets accidentally involved in ‘Chapter 9: Change of Mind’ when the Chook in Charge pays a visit to the ginger starship just as Robot-One starts editing aspects of his digital personality and memory…

Closing – for now – on an even-more lowered tone, acronym layered ‘Chapter 10: Fair-Weather Friends’ finds the crew supervising the mayor’s new project – a Binary Universal Manipulator constructed for the Federation of Allied Republics and Territories. Uncannily, the freshly modulated, good-as-gold & nice-as-pie Robot-One is no help at all when Dark Rectangle sabotages the test and causes climactic calamities so all that good work must be undone to unleash the old personality if the obnoxious oblong is to be defeated…

Wrapping up the sidereal silliness are a bunch of pages of related activities: a swathe of features offered under the aegis of the Phoenix Comics Club. Bring paper, pencils and you to a compact online course in all aspects of comic strip creation supervised by James Turner & Yasmin Shiekh, expounding on how to draw the crew, absorb the basics of page-craft and learn professional terms. With features on lettering, layouts and composition, colouring, example panels/pages and even some page blanks to go wild in, plus an extensive plug for the Phoenix Comics Club website complete with instant access via a QR code. What are we all waiting for?

Text and illustrations © The Phoenix Comic 2025. All rights reserved.
Star Cat – Unicorns in Space will be published on August 14th 2025 and is available for pre-order now.

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Jamie Smart’s Max & Chaffy: What a Delicious Discovery!


By Jamie Smart, and coloured by Emily Kimbell (David Fickling Books)
ISBN: 978-1-78845-345-5 (PB)

Laced with cheerful welcoming charm by cartoonist, comics artist and novelist Jamie Smart, Max & Chaffy books for younger readers (five when this one comes out and augmented online by www.findchaffy.com) hark back to more traditional times and fare. Initially introduced in Welcome to Animal Island, little Max moved to a new home in a lighthouse and made many amazing friends like Orlando, Crumbs, Moose, Pedalo and especially a strange little creature called Chaffy.

The tiny fluffbundle has mismatched ears and was easily confused: constantly getting lost and needing Max and the reader’s help to be where it belongs. The reason for getting misplaced so much was and is a desire to locate other unique-unto-themselves Chaffys (as seen in follow-up fables The Great Cupcake Mystery!, Search for the Ice Chaffy! and Hunt for the Pirate’s Gold!): a desire magnified once the soon-to-be-inseparable pair joined the Official Chaffy Finding Club…

Unlike Smart’s multi award-winning comics offerings (Bunny vs. Monkey, Looshkin – the Adventures of the Maddest Cat in the World!!, Fish Head Steve!, Corporate Skull, Space Raoul, and many brilliant strips for The Beano, Dandy and others) or his illustrated kids novels like the Flember quartet, Max & Chaffy adventures are crafted for early readers, offering strong directed stories laced with interactive pages, with participation an integral part of the storytelling. The most engaging of these page games are recurring Search & Find tableaux – just like Where’s Wally? – cunningly combined with grouping/collecting moments as they search for new specimens of Chaffy, all offering flavours of Pokémon and echoes of Mr. Men whenever they find and befriend one.

Joyous, inclusive, accepting and particularly appetising, this outing sees our tiny tot stars initially doing something other than seeking new Chaffys – all with a list of identifying characteristics – a bit later, but opens with them soundly asleep in the Lighthouse… until a colossal explosion wakes them up in a hurry!

The detonation is at the bakery where Crumbles’ lives; caused by her latest recipe going awfully wrong. In fact, all the Chaffy’s efforts at cooking are misfiring, and have never really been right ever since she left baking school. Crumbles also really misses her old baking partner Sprinkles…

Max sincerely wants to help and is even more determined once he learns Sprinkles now lives on another island…

Resolved to reunite the cookery champions, Max asks grumpy Captain Foghorn to ferry them over, and when he reuses gets a lift in Orlando Pig’s new Hot Air Balloon. Scarily, it almost doesn’t make it, but eventually everyone alights safely on ‘Food Island’, eager for fun, tasty treats and possibly new Chaffies for Max’s book. Sadly, as Mayor Chomp Chomp explains, they have arrived in the middle of a culinary crisis. The Grand Food Festival has just begun, but in every specialised region, recipes are going wrong and all the new dishes devised are inedible!

Max naturally offers to investigate as he, Crumbles and Chaffy search for Sprinkles, and soon their trek takes them to ‘Pasta Hills!’ where very upset Pasta Pete explains how nothing has the right texture or taste anymore. This sends Chaffy into a finding frenzy that only ends when he finds an undiscovered Burger Chaffy adrift in the land of spaghettis, cheesy sauces and meatballs…

Gradually the pattern repeats across the island, with our explorers locating never-before-catalogued Chaffy pals in ‘Burger Valley!’, ‘Veggie Park!’, ‘Sushi Land’ and ‘Bakersville’, inspiring brand new taste and flavour combinations before ultimately reuniting and similarly reinvigorating the baking partnership of Sprinkles and Crumbles. Max can’t decide what’s best: wonderful new food or more Chaffies for his book. Actually, of course he can…

The fun is followed by a round of exotic fusion foods for all, and supplemented by more things to do, beginning with a bonus feature where Sprinkles asks readers to search for his misplaced ingredients (with answers kindly provided…)

Exuberant, enticing, eminently palatable and remarkably re-readable, this is another must-have treat of no kid of any age could possibly resist.

Text and illustrations © Fumboo Ltd. 2025. All rights reserved.
Max & Chaffy: What a Delicious Discovery! will be released on August 14th 2025 and is available for pre-order now.