For those of you who’ve missed the earlier volumes: Phoebe is a little girl who’s a bit like Bill Watterson’s Calvin — precocious, irreverent, slightly obnoxious (she’s a lot better in her dealings with boys than Calvin was with girls, though). Marigold Heavenly Nostrils is her best friend, a unicorn who uses a SHIELD OF BORINGNESS to prevent the grownups in Phoebe’s life from being especially interested in her.
These strips are brilliantly pitched to parents and kids alike, hitting the exact sweet spot where both can enjoy them on their own level. As with book two, Unicorn on a Roll, this volume expands the world around Phoebe with some ambitious, multi-part storylines that flesh out new characters (particularly the titular goblin!).
My favorite of these, though, was the sub-plot about Marigold’s sister, the wonderfully named Florence Unfortunate Nostrils, who comes for a visit. The publishers of the Marigold and Phoebe books were kind enough to let us reproduce that whole arc, in full, below.
As I mentioned above, creator Dana Simpson did my daughter and me the honor of writing the introduction to this volume, and we’ve joined an illustrious cadre of introducers: Peter “Last Unicorn” Beagle, who introduced the first collection, and My Little Pony creator Lauren Faust, who introduced book two.
Book three is everything you could want from this series: continuing depth and breadth, with continuing hilarity, sass, and sweetness.
Unicorn vs. Goblins: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure [Dana Simpson/Andrews McMeel]
Unicorn vs. Goblins: Another Phoebe and Her Unicorn Adventure [Dana Simpson/Andrews McMeel]