{"id":13822,"date":"2015-07-16T08:00:47","date_gmt":"2015-07-16T08:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/?p=13822"},"modified":"2015-07-13T15:46:42","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T15:46:42","slug":"the-phoenix-presents-bunny-vs-monkey-book-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/2015\/07\/16\/the-phoenix-presents-bunny-vs-monkey-book-two\/","title":{"rendered":"The Phoenix Presents\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Bunny vs. Monkey Book Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nBy Jamie Smart<\/strong> (David Fickling Books)
\nISBN: 978-1-910200-47-6<\/p>\n

In January 2012 Oxford-based family publisher David Fickling Books<\/em> launched a weekly comics anthology for girls and boys which revelled in reviving the grand old days of British picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content.<\/p>\n

Each issue offers humour, adventure, quizzes, puzzles and educational material: a joyous parade of cartoon fun and fantasy. Since its premiere, The Phoenix<\/strong> has gone from strength to strength, winning praise from the Great and the Good, child literacy experts and the only people who really count – the totally engaged kids and parents who read it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Inevitably the publishers have branched out into a wonderful line of superbly engaging graphic novel compilations, the latest of which is a second engagement in the dread conflict gripping a once-chummy woodland waif and interloping, grandeur-obsessive simian…<\/p>\n

Concocted with gleefully gentle mania by Jamie Smart (Fish Head Steve!<\/strong>), Bunny vs. Monkey<\/em> has been a fixture in The Phoenix<\/strong> from the first issue: a madcap duel of animal arch-enemies set amidst an idyllic arcadia which is a more-or-less ordinary English Wood.<\/p>\n

With precious little unnecessary build-up The Phoenix Presents\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Bunny vs. Monkey volume 2 <\/strong>continues where its predecessor left off, detailing the ongoing war of wits and wonder-weapons spread over a year in the country. The obnoxious anthropoid intruder was originally the subject of a disastrous space shot. Having crash-landed in Crinkle Woods – a scant few miles from his lift-off site – he now believes himself the rightful owner of a strange new world, whereas sensible, genteel, contemplative Bunny considers the idiot ape a obnoxious, noise-loving, chaos-creating troublemaker\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

With battle reports spanning July to December<\/strong> hostilities recommence as Monkey and his devious ally Skunky<\/em> (a brilliant inventor with a bombastic line in animal-inspired atrocity weapons and a secret agenda of his own) fail to make proper use of ‘The Wish Cannon!’<\/em> The reality-warping gun could change the world but also makes really good cakes\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

A much better terror-tool is colossally ravening robot ‘Octo-blivion!’<\/em> which ruins Bunny’s boating afternoon, but sadly the tentacled doom-toy becomes an irresistible object of amorous intent for irrepressible cyber crocodile Metal Steve<\/em> before it can complete its nefarious machinations\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

A hot day inspires Monkey to demand bonkers boffin Skunky whip up some volcanoes but their ‘Journey to the Centre of the Eurg-th!’<\/em> only uncovers chilly regions and crazily cool creatures before the scene shifts to those not-so-smart but astonishingly innocent bystanders Pig<\/em> and Weenie Squirrel<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When their afternoon playing with crayons results in a lovely drawing of a crown, soon everybody is bowing down and obeying ‘King Pig’<\/em> after which surly radical environmentalist and possessor of a big, bushy tail and French accent ‘Fantastique Le Fox!’<\/em> finds time to share his incredible origin stories with the dumbfounded woodland denizens. Yes that’s right: stories, Plural\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Hyperkinetic carnage is the order of the day when a cute little dickens turns up in spiffy running-toy ‘Hamsterball 3000!’<\/em>, providing Skunky with the perfect power source for his latest devastating mechanical marauder: the horrendous Hamster Mobile<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Puns, peril and a stinging hidden moral inform proceedings when all the animals celebrate ‘Bee-Day!’<\/em> whilst a happily brain-battered, bewildered former stuntman turns into a tormented super-genius when he accidentally falls under the influence of Skunky’s Smarty Helmet in ‘Action Beever2<\/sup>‘<\/em>. Happily for everyone, before it wears off the increased cognition – in conjunction with a handy lemon puff – demolish an unleashed Doomsday Device which might just have ended everything\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

From September onwards the stories drop to two pages a pop and ‘Gone with the Wind!’<\/em> finds Pig and Weenie making trouble with their windsurfing cart after which ‘I, Robot Crocodile!’ <\/em>sees Metal Steve on a destructive rampage until Bunny and Monkey team up to show the steel berserker the simple joys of dance\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

‘There’s a Moose Loose!’<\/em> has Skunky back on bad form and trying to fool his enemies with a vast Trojan Elk before Monkey spoils everyone’s September by going big after being introduced to a sweet childhood game in ‘Conkers Bonkers!’<\/em> and – with the Beaver bedridden \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the perfidious pair of animal evildoers employ the rather dim ‘Action Pig!’<\/em> to test pilot their devilish Dragonfly 5000. Such a bad idea\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Tidy-minded Bunny has no hope of sweeping up all autumn’s golden detritus in ‘Leaf it Alone!’<\/em> once friends and enemies start helping and an extended sub-plot opens in ‘Duck Race!’ <\/em>as impetuous Monkey pries into Skunky’s most deadly and diabolical secret behind a locked door. In a frantic attempt to deflect attention, the smelly scientist then unleashes the colossal Lord Quack-Quack!<\/p>\n

The saga sequels in a surprisingly downbeat follow-up as Bunny, Pig and Weenie dare the fiend’s lair to check out ‘Door B’<\/em> before scheduled insanity resumes as ‘Hypno-Monkey!’<\/em> finds the hirsute horror misusing a memory ray and briefly assuming godlike power\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Who doesn’t like igniting marshmallows and telling scary stories around a campfire? Not Bunny, Pig and Weenie after hearing the tale of ‘Monster Pants!’<\/em> after which the local idiots decide to join Monkey’s gang in ‘Bad Influence!’<\/em><\/p>\n

The monkey is no role model – except perhaps for painful ineptitude – as seen in ‘Lost in the Snow!’<\/em> but the winter fun expands to encompass everyone when Skunky’s ‘Chemical X!’<\/em> unleashes a cold tidal wave of blancmange leading to seasonal silliness as ‘The Small Matter of the End of the World!’<\/em> reveals time-travelling madness as the true story of the demise of the Doomsday Device is finally exposed in an extra-length yarn.<\/p>\n

Everything changes when ‘Merry Christmas Mr. Monkey!’ <\/em>sees peace and goodwill grip the woods – or perhaps it’s just that the simian seditionist has gone missing? When the innocent inhabitants go looking for Monkey they find him far beyond the forest associating with strange two-legged beings, singing carols and swiping mince pies, but nobody realises just how dangerous the ‘Hyooomanz!’<\/em> can be as the year ends with plans found proclaiming the demolition of Crinkle Wood and the coming of a new motorway\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

To Be Continued\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n

Endlessly inventive, sublimely funny and outrageously addictive, Bunny vs. Monkey<\/strong> is the kind of comic parents beg kids to read to them. Don’t miss out on the next big thing.
\nText and illustrations \u00c2\u00a9 Jamie Smart 2015. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jamie Smart (David Fickling Books) ISBN: 978-1-910200-47-6 In January 2012 Oxford-based family publisher David Fickling Books launched a weekly comics anthology for girls and boys which revelled in reviving the grand old days of British picture-story entertainment intent whilst embracing the full force of modernity in style and content. Each issue offers humour, adventure, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “The Phoenix Presents\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Bunny vs. Monkey Book Two”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[42,102,125,97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-best-of-british","category-fantasy","category-humour","category-kids-all-ages"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4AFj-3AW","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}