Phoenix (VIZ Media)

Ongoing Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is connected from chapter to chapter and must be read in chronological order for it to be understood properly.
Chapter Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is self-contained to a single chapter. There may be an overarching plot, but the stories can generally be read in any order and be understood
Book: an all-in-one self contained story published as a one-off.
Supplement: an an all-in-one self contained story published as a stand-alone supplement to a regular weekly/monthly periodical.
Short Story: an all-in-one, self contained story that was published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical
Anthology: a collection of all-in-one, self contained stories that were published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical but are generally grouped together.

Phoenix (VIZ Media)

English Title: Phoenix
Japanese Title: 火の鳥
Publication Date: 2003-2008
Publisher: VIZ
No. of Volumes: 12
In Print?: ✘
Digital?: ✔

What you should know

Considered by many the peak of Osamu Tezuka’s artistic achievement and called his “life’s work” by the author, Phoenix is made up of twelve complex stories linked by the presence of the mythical bird, an immortal guardian of the universal life force. Read in order, the separate stories jump across time, alternating between a distant future and a distant past, converging on the present, with characters from one story being reincarnated in another.

The first Phoenix volume VIZ released was actually an un-numbered Volume 2: Future, and was published in May 2002 as a large stand-alone paperback simply called Phoenix: a Tale of the Future. In March 2003 they began issuing new, smaller, more “manga-sized” editions, and started over – this time with a Volume 1: Dawn. Published between 2003-2007, this 12-volume collection is complete and includes a re-issue of Volume 2: Future in the same format.

Volume 12, published as Phoenix: Early Works contains stories serialized from 1954 to 1957. This volume follows the tumultuous love affair of a sweet-voiced slave girl named Daia and the Egyptian Crown Prince through the ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman eras… with a little help from the Phoenix and her adorable offspring. The stories collected here showcase an earlier phase of Tezuka’s art and storytelling–and expose a more youthful, sweet side of the master creator. They also illustrate the link between early manga and American comics and cartoons, and reveal Tezuka’s deep fascination with Walt Disney. These short pieces were originally geared toward a younger audience than the Phoenix sagas which began in the 1960s.