08 Jun 2026
A Marshalswick bar and barbershop has taken an innovative approach to marketing – telling its story in the form of a serialised comic strip.
Paul Murray opened Phoenix Barber Co at The Quadrant in 2012, having started work at its predecessor TW Watts in 1996.
Since 2020 the shop has been selling beers to make up for the lack of pubs in the area, expanding from a makeshift pop-up bar to the well-stocked shelves and draught lager pumps you can experience today.
But recently owner Paul decided to add another string to his already impressive bow – that of comic strip creator.
Using assorted old photographs and more than a bit of AI, he has started charting Phoenix’s history in twice-weekly instalments, posting them on Facebook to reach a wider audience.
He explained why he has decide to tell the story of the company in comic strip form?
“The story of Phoenix Barber Co. hasn’t been straightforward by any means. We’ve had to continually change and adapt as different situations have arisen over the years, and there’s quite a story to it.
“Someone showed me a comic strip they’d produced using AI, and it got me thinking: I wonder if I could tell our story this way? There’s probably no such thing as a completely original idea anymore, but I recognised straight away that this was a really engaging format for telling the history of the shop.
“It also lets us mix nostalgia, humour, and real events in a way that feels approachable.”
He admits to being a massive fan of the format when he was younger: “I absolutely loved comics as a kid. The ones that immediately spring to mind are The Beano, The Dandy, Whizzer and Chips and Cor!!.
“That was my Saturday treat. My grandparents lived on Walton Street, and there was a newsagent on the corner where you could buy older copies cheaply.
“I got 30p pocket money, which meant I could buy two comics for 20p – even if they were slightly out of date, I didn’t care – and still have 10p left for a pretty impressive bag of sweets. Those comics definitely stayed with me.”
Paul says the hardest part of scripting the strip has been deciding which bits of the story to include and when to tell them.
“I’ve massively simplified a lot of events because otherwise the story would become far too complicated. The aim is really to capture the flavour of how the business evolved over time rather than produce a completely factual documentary.
“Even though I’m using AI tools, it still takes a surprisingly long time to put each issue together. Probably a disproportionately long time compared to any practical benefit we’ll ever get from it. But I genuinely enjoy doing it as a creative side project.”
There’s a strong period accuracy achieved by the use of old photographs, including pictures of long lost local landmarks like The Baton pub.
“One thing this project has made me realise is how much I wish I’d taken more photos over the years. At the time, ordinary moments never seem important, but later on they become incredibly valuable.
“I especially wish we had more photographs from when the shop belonged to Terry, and even more so from before the business relocated from London Road, where it originally opened in 1910.”
Eighteen instalments have been mapped out so far, and the 10th episode was published recently, but Paul is now considering special editions and side projects: “I’m also interested in going further back into the history at some point, and possibly even expanding the format to feature other businesses on the sunny side of The Quadrant.”
With his burgeoning career as a comic book creator showing no signs of stalling any time soon, what has the reaction from his customers been?
“Lots of people tell us they’re looking forward to the next issue, and we’ve even had customers come in for the first time because they saw the comic online and thought, ‘I’ve got to check this place out’.
“That’s been a really nice side effect of what is essentially a slightly silly project I started for my own amusement.
“We’re not reaching massive audiences because social media algorithms rely heavily on people sharing, commenting and interacting. But what we are seeing is that several hundred people are genuinely sitting down and reading each issue all the way through.
“What’s also interesting is that every time we release a new issue, the earlier ones start getting more views again as people discover the series and scroll back to catch up.
“Overall, it’s just been a fun thing to do. The main reason I started doing it was really to amuse myself – and if other people enjoy it too, then that’s brilliant.”
