- The DFC
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The DFC 
Cover of the first issue of The DFCPublication information Publisher David Fickling Books Schedule Weekly Format Comics anthology Publication date May 2008 to March 2009 The DFC was a weekly British children's anthology comic, published by David Fickling Books (an imprint of Random House). The first issue was published at the end of May 2008. The title stood for David Fickling Comic.It is set to restart under the name of The Phoenix on 7th January 2012
Unlike the vast majority of comics in the current market, The DFC was funded entirely by subscriptions, without any commercial advertising. It was fully coloured on all 36 pages.
Contents
Publication history
David Fickling announced the comic two and a half years before the launch and at the time was quoted as saying, "I'm not really interested in reviving comics, I'm much more interested in restoring them to where they should be."[1]
Some stories were previewed in, and formed the main part of, The Guardian Comic.[2] The comic, part of the Saturday Guardian's 'family' section, premiered strips on a rotating basis that were later featured in the DFC itself.
It folded with issue 43, when Random House withdrew financial backing.[citation needed]
At the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, David Fickling Books announced they would be releasing the collected editions of Spider Moon, Good Dog, Bad Dog and Mezolith in spring 2010.[3] Follow-up titles in winter 2010 will be Mo-Bot High, Monkey Nuts and Vern and Lettuce. If the series continues, the 2011 list has now been announced as starting with Baggage by the Etherington brothers. This is original content as distinct from the other books which are all reprints.
Creators
The DFC drew its creators from across the British comics field, from mainstream to small press to webcomics to manga, as well as people from outside the field, including authors, concept artists and illustrators.
The big name in the initial line-up was novelist Phillip Pullman.[4] Pullman's story, The Adventures of John Blake,[5] was illustrated by John Aggs,[6] who won the UK and Ireland Rising Stars of Manga and writes and draws another DFC strip, Robot Girl and another with his mother, Patricia.
Other creators included Nick Abadzis who has worked at Marvel, DC and 2000 AD and recently won awards for his graphic novel Laika. International comics writer Tony Lee, best known for his Doctor Who comics for IDW teamed up with Hope Falls and The Gloom collaborator Dan Boultwood to create the weekly strip The Prince Of Baghdad. Another graphic novelist was Simone Lia, known for her previous project Fluffy. With them were writers and artists who are known from the small press to webcomic arena, like Garen Ewing and Neill Cameron. From outside the comics field there were Ben Haggarty (an oral storyteller), Adam Brockbank (concept artist), Paul Stewart (children's author), Dave Morris (game designer) and Chris Riddell (illustrator).[1]
Titles
Strips appearing in the DFC included:
- The Adventures of John Blake (by Phillip Pullman and John Aggs)
- Mezolith (by Ben Haggarty and Adam Brockbank)
- Mirabili[7] (by Dave Morris and Leo Hartas)
- Super Animal Adventure Squad (by James Turner)
- The Boss (by John Aggs[8] and Patricia Aggs[9])
- Monkey Nuts (by The Etherington Brothers[10])
- Vern & Lettuce (by Sarah McIntyre)[11]
- The Spider Moon (by Kate Brown)[12]
- Mo-Bot High (by Neill Cameron)
- Good Dog, Bad Dog (by Dave Shelton)[13]
- Robot Girl (by John Aggs)
- That's a Horse of a Different Colour(by Woodrow Phoenix)
- Sausage and Carrots (by Simone Lia)
- Crab Lane Crew(by Jim Medway)[14]
- Violet (by Emma Vieceli)
- Little Cutie (by Gary Northfield)
- Bodkin and the Bear (by Wilbur Dawbarn)
- The Prince Of Baghdad (by Tony Lee)
- Fish-head Steve(by Jamie Smart)
- Donny Digits(by Woodrow Phoenix)
- Frontier (by Jason Cobley and Andrew Wildman)
Strips that were announced (or those that ran initially in The Guardian, and were scheduled to appear in the DFC) include:
- Charlie Jefferson and the Tomb of Nazaleod (by Garen Ewing)
- Cora's Breakfast (by Nick Abadzis)
- The Ridiculous Adventures of Toxic Toad and Sheep Dip
- Dead Pets' Society (by Faz Choudhury)
Availability
Since the announcement by Random House that the DFC was to close, subscriptions are no longer available. The DFC was available from Amazon.co.uk, as a month's subscription.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Interview with David Fickling, saviour of the great British comic, The Times, May 10, 2008
- ^ Guardian Comic
- ^ The DFC Library at Frankfurt, Book Trade Announcements, October 16, 2009
- ^ Philip Pullman writes comic strip, The Times, May 11, 2008
- ^ Deep stuff, The Guardian, May 24, 2008
- ^ John Aggs' site
- ^ The Mirabilis Year of Wonders website
- ^ John Aggs' site
- ^ Patricia Aggs' site
- ^ The Etherington Brothers' site
- ^ Sarah McIntyre's site
- ^ Kate Brown's site
- ^ Dave Shelton's site)
- ^ Jim Medway's site
External links
Categories:- 2008 comic debuts
- British comics titles
- Comics anthologies
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