THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! It’s been far too long since we had the opportunity to talk about work by 2024 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creator Manon Wright (Children of the Earth & Sky) so new material in her collection Magic and Memory is something to be eagerly savoured. The anthology brings together some of her previous work alongside the all-new ‘The Witch’s Cookbook’ and is described as “Four Short Stories of Witches, Ghosts, and Girls Who Refused to Forget.”
Given the compiled nature of Magic and Memory, then, we have an opportunity to revisit some past Broken Frontier reviews. The first tale ‘The Gatherer’ (below) originally appeared in the anthology Boxes #2 (reviewed here at BF). As I said at the time ‘The Gatherer’ is a story about an enigmatic mer-creature collecting the artefacts of shipwrecked and drowned seafarers from the sea floor. Wright turns narrative expectations on their heads in this short but it’s her use of colour and texture to create the eeriest of undersea environments that makes this such an outstanding piece of visual storytelling.
‘The Changeling’ (below) was originally published in WIP Comics’ anthology Change (reviewed here at BF). Here a young girl in sole charge of her brothers takes advice from a local witch when she comes to believe they have been replaced by fairies and are, in fact, changelings. It’s a concise moral story that once again shows off one the greatest tools in Wright’s storytelling kit – that employment of colour to create a sense of the eerie and the supernatural.
The third entry ‘A Phantasmic Parade’ (below) is re-presented from its initial publication in the WIP Comics anthology Tall Tales & Short Stories last year. This is a beautiful tale of a young girl and her love for her dead dog that involves a hint of witchery and magic in a dreamlike, ethereal way. And one final mention for (yes) Wright’s colour choices here which absolutely sparkle.
And then to the final and all-new story the 20-plus pages ‘The Witch’s Cookbook’ (below) which upends everything I have previously mentioned here about Wright’s storytelling strengths given that it’s in black and white. And not just in b&w but also showing an innate understanding of how to use shadow and light to create a sense of mood and atmosphere.
Interspersed with centuries-old recipes this is the story of Amélie, a young girl who becomes an apprentice of sorts to Saoirse, a woman largely shunned as an outcast in their village for her understanding of natural remedies. While Amélie’s life eventually takes new paths her respect for her former mentor never leaves her, even when witch-hunting hysteria becomes rampant.
‘The Witch’s Cookbook’ touches on themes that Wright has explored before in her practice: ideas of the importance of empathy and understanding that are embodied in this account of someone being othered for their perceived differences. It’s delicately and carefully told, building up to an emotional and resonant finale. This new story makes up the bulk of Magic and Memory which, in itself, is also a most welcome primer for the work of Manon Wright.
Manon Wright (W/A) • Self-published
Review by Andy Oliver
Visit Manon Wright’s website and online store here
Manon Wright is at Table G6a in the Bubbleboy 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
