THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! So this is a somewhat different theme for a comics anthology. MD Penman (Sir Gawain and the Green Knight) has put together a very impressive line-up of creators for GREB: The Little Guys Anthology. It’s fascinating in its simplicity – a collection of comics about “odd little guys” and it includes work by such indie luminaries as Flo Woolley, James Lawrence, Will Morris and Letty Wilson.
Comics like this are a perfect entry point into the work of voices that may be unfamiliar to potential readers, giving concise introductions to their styles and storytelling approaches. There are a number on offer at Thought Bubble this year, which in itself is reassuring given that the once ubiquitous nature of small press anthologies really seems to have diminished over the last decade.
The standouts include Will Morris’s ‘Little Lord Grebbington’ (above) in which an obnoxious local lord finds himself in danger of a nasty end at the hands of revolting peasants. Morris’s tightly packed and detailed art and witty dissection of the obliviousness of privilege combine perfectly to give us a dark comedy with elements of social commentary. Similarly intricate in presentation, April Newton’s ‘Wuwibs’ uses the fantasy genre as a platform for a careful piece of world-building, as an astronomer and a city civilisation encounter the inevitability of fate.
Penman’s own story ‘Who’s Got the Shiniest?’ (above) gives us three accounts of treasure “acquisition” from a trio of diminutive rogues named Clott, Snidge and Greefer. Penman’s slapstick action and use of sound effects to enhance a sense of motion and movement here is outstanding. Flo Woolley, meanwhile, gives us ‘Ball Boy Ultra Unlimited’ as the little guy in this tale as an amateur inventor’s creation has an unexpected positive social benefit. Woolley’s involved cartooning arrives at a deliciously topical punchline. Final mentions to the kinetic energy of James Lawrence’s ‘Waster’ and the bug-focussed hijinks of Toadlett aka Letty Wilson’s imaginatively laid-out ‘Good Morning Louse!’ (below).
All the work herein is in black and white with much of it showing that all too rare understanding of how to use that as a strength rather than a restriction. As mentioned before books like GREB are a great opportunity to discover new favourite artists and some of the work in these pages is highly impressive. A strongly curated compilation.
MD Penman, Lola Bonato, Will Morris, Ramon Perales Cano, Molly Pukes, James Lawrence, Celeste Zanatta, Frank Deacon, Flo Woolley, Rob Luckett, Jack Fallows • Self-published
Review by Andy Oliver
Visit MD Penman’s online store here
MD Penman will be at Table B18 in the Comixology Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2025 runs from November 1oth-16th with the convention weekend taking place on the 15th-16th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2025 coverage so far in one place here.
Poster by Ng Yin Shian
