I've been a fan of The Phoenix ever since it launched last year, and even wrote about it for ComicsAlliance's Best of the Year list. It's full of great stories geared at readers of all ages, and one huge problem: It was only available in the UK.

Today, though, The Phoenix finally crossed the Atlantic with a worldwide digital version available through the iTunes newsstand, which means that it's finally available over here in the States. And even better, it's ridiculously cheap.The price for each issue is the standard $2.99 if you're into going week by week, and there's a free trial issue with samples of all of the feature comics available if you're curious. The launch of the digital Phoenix, however, includes the option to snag a six-month subscription for $13.99 (or £9.99 if you're buying in its native land), It's a weekly comic, so that ends up being a pretty amazing price for 24 issues, especially when you consider the sheer amount of content that you're getting for that price:


Fourteen bucks for around 800 pages of comics is a pretty fair deal, especially since before now, the alternative for US readers involved having something shipped across an ocean every week. And it's well worth it.

The main attraction for me is Daniel Hartwell and Neill Cameron's Pirates of Pangaea, and the digital launch kicks off the second big story of pirates riding dinosaurs:


You might notice that glowing "Something Cool!" button down at the bottom of the screen, too. As it turns out, that's keyed to the first page of each feature, and brings up a quick recap of the story as it stands:


Pretty handy for anyone jumping on at the 53rd issue of a comic.

The only major drawback to the iPad version is that the printed Phoenix is a big ol' tabloid-sized comics magazine, so reading the digital version involves a significantly smaller page:


That said, it looks great on the screen, and you can zoom into individual panels a la Comixology's "Guided View."

There's a ton of great stuff in there at an amazingly low price, and if you're a fan of reading comics on the iPad, it's well worth checking out.

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