The Phoenix Presents four-book review: Gary's Garden, Space Cat, more

The Phoenix Presents series of graphic novels was launched earlier in the year and is rapidly expanding thanks to the huge wealth of content featured in The Phoenix comics anthology.

We have already given our seal of approval to the first volumes of Bunny vs Monkey, Von Doogan and Adam Murphy's Corpse Talk, and now have four more volumes to give the once over: Neill Cameron's How to Make Awesome Comics Vol 1, The Etherington Brothers' Long Gone Don Vol 1: The Monstrous Underworld, Gary Northfield's Gary's Garden Book 1 and James Turner's Star Cat Book 01.

Cameron has written at length on the topic of making comics accessible to kids, so we are pleased to say he is more than just talk. How to Make Awesome Comics offers a step-by-step guide to making your own comics, starting from the very basics and working through the chapters into increasing complexity.

There is a heavy dose of comedy to Cameron's book, and he makes this introduction into comics welcoming and invigorating rather than daunting and off-putting to young would-be cartoonists. It also offers more than a 'how to draw' guide, getting to the heart of generating ideas for your own awesome comics.

The sections are also colour-coded into a rainbow, a detail we can't help but love.

Hats have to come off to Long Gone Don, which has the audacity to kill off its starring character in less than glamorous circumstances on its opening page. Following some of the best children's stories, this has a touch of darkness to it, despite largely being a comedy series. The jokes and call-backs come hard and fast, and while they do not land in every single instance, there is a lot of heart and charm in this ongoing story about a boy lost in the underworld and his cowardly crow companion Castanet.

Lorenzo Etherington's artwork is fantastically rich in detail, which is easily skimmed over and worth slowing down to admire properly. Don does not feel quite as inquisitive about his new situation as we would be, but the Etheringtons leave plenty of intrigue to draw us back for more.

Hours could be lost just translating the simple, coded madness of the half-cat, half-starship's Pilot in Turner's Star Cat. The series consists of shorts stories detailing the madcap adventures of the ship and its hapless crew.

This strip feels very contemporary, with a spirit that could be compared to Adventure Time or Dungeon Fun - lively, wacky and strange. It draws on subtle (and not so subtle) influences including Dracula, Red Dwarf, It and the stories of HP Lovecraft, with a vibrant palette of primary and secondary colours that is delightful to behold.

If Star Cat feels very of the now, Gary's Garden has a timeless quality. The strip is another collection of short stories with a large cast of animals and insects you would expect to encounter in the average English garden. It plays on the traits (and our assumptions) of these creatures that we learn from a very young age.

Northfield's stories read a bit like Dick King Smith injected with a sharpened sense of the hilarious and absurd, from visual gags and recurring jokes to leaps of bizarre brilliance. At moments there is something almost zen-like about his storytelling, particularly in the adventures of Boris and Monroe.

The book also features a set of 'Top Chumps' cards to cut out (or download), with stats including 'grumpiness', 'ickiness' and 'legs'. We couldn't ask for more.

Many of the Phoenix Presents books are incredibly dense, and can present a daunting amount of words and pictures on a single page. This can make them demanding at times, but is probably more often than not a boon for harassed parents and voracious young readers.

What isn't in question is the quality of the books themselves - sturdy, high-quality prints - and the excellence and variety of The Phoenix's strips. We have no doubt that there are plenty of proud owners of small but growing Phoenix Presents libraries, and these four books will all make worthy additions to those bookshelves.

How to Make Awesome Comics Vol 1, Long Gone Don Vol 1: The Monstrous Underworld, Gary's Garden Book 1 and Star Cat Book 01 are all available from David Fickling Books now.

Hugh Armitage

Hugh Armitage is Movies Editor at Digital Spy.