Woodrow Phoenix

Woodrow Phoenix is a British cartoonist, illustrator, designer, and author whose work spans comics, children’s books, and cultural criticism. He is best known for *Rumble Strip* (2008), a nonfiction graphic novel examining society’s fraught relationship with cars, which earned praise for its originality. Born in the United Kingdom, Phoenix began his comics career in the early 1990s, contributing to titles such as *Sugar Buzz*, *Kingdom of the Wicked*, and *Grendel: Black, White, and Red*. His solo creations include *The Sumo Family*, which first appeared in *Escape* magazine and was later serialized in the *Independent on Sunday*, *Manga Mania*, and Germany’s *Instant* magazine, and *The Liberty Cat*, published in Japan by Kodansha’s *Morning* magazine. Phoenix also wrote the children’s book *Count Milkula: A Tale of Milk and Monsters!* and the cultural study *Plastic Culture: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World*. In 2011, he edited and directed *Nelson*, a collective graphic novel featuring 54 creators, which was named *The Guardian*’s Graphic Novel of the Month, *The Times*’ Best Graphic Novel of 2011, and won Book of the Year at the British Comic Awards, as well as an Eisner nomination. Later work includes *She Lives* (2014), a handmade, one-meter-square book drawn in India ink. Phoenix’s critical essays have appeared in exhibition catalogues for the ICA London and the University of Sussex.