Hexagon Comics: PHENIX (volume 1)

7x10 squarebound trade paperback, 

248 pages 

b&w

ISBN-13: 978-1-932983-63-0. 

US$20.95

https://www.hexagoncomics.com/shop-phenix-1.html

 by Luciano Bernasconi, Jean-Marc Lofficier & Juan Roncagliolo Berger, cover by Anthony Dugenest.

Contents:
- Foreword by Gerry Conway
- Introduction by Lofficier
- The Origins of Phenix by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Luciano Bernasconi
- Classic Phenix #1 by Luciano Bernasconi
- The Red Box by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Fernando Pasarim
- Phenix in Paris: Prologue by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Stéphane Louis
- Phenix in Paris Interlude + #1-#8 by Jean-Marc Lofficier & Juan Roncagliolo Berger
- Bonus pages: Preview of Phenix in Strangers 2.1 by Alfredo Macall

When she was in college, Patricia Hope, the daughter of a Chicago billionaire, was raped by a mysterious assailant. She slipped into a coma that lasted nine months, and emerged miraculously transformed with a body and mind optimized to superhuman levels...

Artist Luciano Bernasconi began the saga of the popular black-clad, bike-riding heroine in 1978. This volume includes her origins, and the celebrated "Phenix in Paris" story arc by J.-M. Lofficier and Juan Roncagliolo Berger, as well as stories drawn by Fernando Pasarin and Stephane Louis. Foreword by Gerry Conway.

Source Material: Classic Phenix #1, New Phenix #1-8; HS1 Phenix Origins; Phenix back-up (one-shot)

I originally reviewed this when it came out as a paperback edition and I thought a lot was lost in the compact edition. Looking through it again today I have no idea what I was talking about! Yes, it was in paperback format (20 x 12 cms) but the art and text was clear and I started reading it before realising I had just received the new edition in larger format! I think it shows how an opinion can change!

The paperback had a bonus back up -of a previous Phenix in Paris story but the new edition has a Preview of Phenix in Strangers 2.1 by Alfredo Macall. The larger format does look better because -obviously- it's easier for an old fart like me to take in and look at each page anew and I am presuming in the format it was originally published in. From Bernasconi, Louis and Berger the art is good -lovely black and white work that is a treat. The stories keep you reading and as evidenced by the fact that I was comparing both formats and totally forgot and was hooked into a story (in the smaller format!).

Aged comic reviewers are human, too!

I like the production and contents. Do I prefer the paperback or new format cover? Both are great but I think the new version fits the book. Overall a good read and recommended.