THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! “For rebellious girls, mischievous femmes and daring thems” says the tagline for Kamila Krol aka Pigeon’s collection Fine Young Ladies. The comic collects two of Krol’s stories from anthology books – ‘Pygmalion’ from Boxes #2 and ‘Let Her Eat Cake from the Broken Frontier Award-winning Let Her Be Evil. For Pigeon completists there’s also a brand new framing sequence. It brings the stories and their themes together via a comical demon telling them to an unperturbed young girl it is meant to be haunting.
‘Pygmalion’ was originally published in Boxes #2 and was reviewed here at Broken Frontier at the time. That makes it all the easier for me to simply repeat what I said about it then. ‘Pygmalion’ is almost impossible to describe without immediately compromising the reading experience but this understated gothic horror – as a young girl finds herself the artistic model for a strange group of of hooded figures – explores the divide between being the observer and the observed with a chilling intensity. It’s yet more evidence of Krol’s ability to provide quietly sophisticated comics commentary on complex themes like individualism, art, objectification and the subjective capturing of reality. All brought to life in claustrophobic greys.
Framing sequence
‘Let Her Eat Cake’ (lettered with an appropriately haunting flair by Taylor Esposito) gives us a fantasy re-imagining of the life of Marie Antoinette, as a seeming demonic entity begins its corruption of her. Set in lavish palatial surroundings this is a tour de force of visual storytelling in terms of recognising the things that comics and comics alone can do. The world of Marie Antoinette is presented in green hues with the malevolent tormentor in shades of red.
Pygmalion
As Marie is seduced more and more to the dark side those crimson colours begin to infect not just her depiction but also seep out into her environment and deeds on the page. There are some highly imaginative page layouts and panel constructions herein as ‘Let Her Eat Cake’ builds up to a dramatic and poetic denouement.
Let Her Eat Cake
Pulling these two offerings together with a fun framing sequence is an inspired choice that gives the stories fresh life. Thought Bubble is about many things but one of them is providing an entry point to new artists for those unfamiliar with their work. Fine Young Ladies is an excellent example of that.
Pigeon/Kamila Krol • Self-published
Review by Andy Oliver
Visit Pigeon’s website and online store here
Pigeon is at Table C23 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
