This November the annual Thought Bubble comic convention returns. With a new venue in Harrogate, to looks set to continue it’s role as the focal point of the UK comic convention calendar thanks to it’s fantastic mix of high profile comic creators from around the world  as well as the best of UK indie and small press.

• You can see a full list of guests here.

• And a run down of the events here.

However, for us here at Pipedream Comics the priority is indie comics and small press and the amazing selection of new book being released in time for Thought Bubble. So if you want to know where your indie comics cash should be going this November then be sure to check out our epic preview below (We’ll be updating it regularly so keep coming back for more!

Small Press Preview

• We loved Mat Greaves’s Chip McFitz series at last year’s show and so were delighted to hear he would be returning with a new third part of this hyper caffeinated private eye.

• The prolific Marc Jackson will have new series called SPOOKIDS launching. It’s a 4-issue mini series that is a mix of Peanuts/Calvin and Hobbes and Stranger Things – or a least that is how I pitched it to myself :)” he tells us. “With a lot of influence from 80s cartoon shows I grew up with, all wrapped up with my style of comics. It’s all ages, but probably pitched at 8/9+”

• Trujillo and L1MA creator Gustavo Vargas is set to bring us MANU, which he describes as “A Peruvian science fiction comic about monkeys, jaguars, cyborgs and a mystery”. Set in the Amazonian rainforest and the Peruvian highlands MANU looks set to take the outlandish and technicolour world of his first two comics and turn them up a notch for this new 44 page epic!

• After a successful Kickstarter earlier in the year, Josh Hick’s fantastic Glorious Wrestling Alliance Premium Edition will be making it’s convention debut, collecting together the first first 3 micro comics as well as 24 pages of never before seen new material!

• Tale of a Fractured Mind creator Roddy McCance will be debuting his latest book from Fracture Press, The Soul of the Sea. Described as “A folk horror book, written by myself with art from Donna A Black and letters from @ZakkSaam”

• Animator Mei Lian Hoe will be bringing her debut comic, the intriguingly title My Husband Is A Cultist to her first ever Thought Bubble

• Lucy Sullivan will be bringing her debut graphic novel BARKING which will be on the Unbound table. You can find more info here http://unbound.com/books/barking

• The fine folk from Madius Comics will be debuting not one but two fantastic new books. The Exchange and the follow up to one of our favourite books of last year The Incredible Bun #2

• Ben Haith-Bedford will be bringing his recently Kickstarted 100+ page collection Stormhaven Techs which features back up comics from After Life Inc’s Jon Lock and the enigmatic Hedwyn.

• The guys from Geek Syndicate will be bringing gritty crime drama Blood Cries Out to their table.

• Jed McPherson and the TPUB team will be bringing the collected trade edition of the fantastic Transmissions for the first time. You can read our glowing review of this excellent book here.

• Steven Ingram will have the latest issue of MurMur available in which he collects stand-alone short comics that tend towards an unusual/off-kilter vibe.  MurMur #3 contains three stories called Come Closer, Faceless and Tsunami and you find out more about Steven’s work at steveningram.art

• Simon Birks from Blue Fox comics will have a new shot entitled House Bound making it’s debut. With artwork from Griff Gristle’s Rory Donald it’s a dark one shot about a young girl and her relationship with her controlling mother and a curious neighbour.

• Nina Cosford will be releasing The Trans-Siberian Railway. Entirely funded by a kickstarter Nina describes it as “The book documents my recent travels across Russia, through Siberia and Mongolia all the way to Beijing – almost 5000 miles – by train! I will be signing and selling copies of this alongside my other work (giclee prints and other merch) at Though Bubble 2019.”

• Katherine Hemmings’ kickstarter sensation Being Ginger will also be making it’s debut “Being Ginger is a collection of over 50 short diary comics all about the troubles, funny moments, and awkward positions that gingers get put through.” All of the stories are true to life experiences from the writer’s life, or inspiration captured from fellow haired friends. This is her FIRST EVER full original, full on her own book and something she has been working on since 2017!

• Peony Gent will be releasing Park Bench Kensington which she descrobes as “An illustrated conversation that took place, unsurprisingly, on a park bench in Kensington. It touches upon the topics of immigration and searching for home in modern day Britain, and connection between strangers.”

• Portuguese creator Zé Burnay is bringing a self-published, crowdfunded, hardcover collection of 3 comics in their Andromeda series.  The book collects 3 comics from the Andromeda series (two of which were previously self-published), along with additional sketches and illustrations, an ambient music/ soundtrack CD and a guest art gallery including artists like Mike Mignola, Simon Roy and John Kenn Mortensen.  ANDROMEDA. or The Long Way Home follows the journey of a nomad as he struggles to understand, thrive and conquer the landscape that surrounds him.

• Dina Norlund The Snow Cat Prince 120 page graphic novel. “It will be kickstarted in June, but the book will be for sale and officially published before November. But it will be the highlight of my stand!

• The irrepressable Jennie Gyllblad will be releasing  By Man & Angels #2: What The Wind Blew “a space opera / “science fiction fairytale”, suitable for teens+

• Glenn Møane will be bringing The Break-Up to Thought Bubble. “A 22-page teen noir story about heartbreak and hate.”

• Vince Hunt will be bringing the Awesome Comics Special “a bumper sized anthology book that will serve as the follow up to the 4 issue mini-series Awesome Comics.”

• The fantastic Hamish Steele will be bringing not one but THREE new books to Thought Bubble. First up is DeadEndia: The Broken Halo from Nobrow, which is set to be the second in his trilogy of YA, LGBTQ+ adventures which we first saw last year. Next up is  I Like Your Beard Self-published, queer fantasy romance about two dwarves and finally, CRAB! Juji Ito inspired dark comedy horror about a merciless crab.

• The Wine and Zine collective will have two great new books debuting at this year’s event. First up is coming age drama Silent Horns from Bryony Evans which sees a young girl coming to terms with the manifestation of her magical powers. Also being released is Roy and Rei at the Fair from Zara Williams, which a really sweet and unconventional romance about an unlikely couple on a date at the fairground in the 1980s.

• After it’s successful Kickstarter earlier this year, Monty Nero will be bringing the first issue of his new sci-fi team book Frenemies to the show. Along with the new issues of Death Sentence Liberty.

• Roger Langridge will be releasing the new issue of his fantastic series ZOOT! Featuring the fantastic Art d’Ecco and the Gump, The Great McGonagal, The Fez and Fred the Clown in the usual zany strips that we love from this series.

• After the success of last year’s The Edge Off, Fraser Campbell and Iain Laurie are back together to give us House of Sweets. Featuring a couple who end up living in a house in the woods in the middle of nowhere, what could possible go wrong?! More dark and twisted wierdness from this fantastically original pairing.

• David Robertson’s Bell Time will be released via his Fried Egg comics imprint and is classified as ‘a kind of body swap time travel tale’

• Charles Raymond is back with a new volume of the excellent Death Inc., which we reviewed this time last year.

• Golf Girl from Chris Hazeldine is a quirky looking story about young girl who works in a golf club, yet doesn’t like golf. With a misfit bunch of buddies Becky’s life gets changed when she is possessed by the spirit of a golf loving alien and then things start to get really wierd. The first part of a four issue series this looks set to be a really fun read!

• Aussie writer Christian Carnouche funded his series THE RESURRECTED on Kickstarter, earlier this year. But Thought Bubble will be the first time the print edition will be available. With artwork from Crizam Zamora and a cover from Tula Lotay, Christians describes the book as: “A story about redemption, the acceptance of our mortality and about how far one Aboriginal- Australian detective would go to save his people from almost certain extinction.”

• Harvest is the comics debut from husband and wife team Julian Payne and Zoe Elkins. Set in a rural village it follows the story of a young girl who is trapped in the village and not all is quite as it seems in this book which is a mix of small town slice of life and something much more sinister!

• The latest volume of the excellent Comichaus anthology will also be making an appearance. Featuring new stories from Stu Perrins, Matt Hardy, Clark Bint, Jon Laight, Paul Penna, George Fredericks and with art from the likes of Rory Donald, Chris Simmonds and Steven Horry it looks set to be another dark and twisted collection of stories from the fantastic collection.