THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2026! The American Western has long been a genre of outlaws, of people living beyond the confines of conventional society. It’s primarily centered around the typical cowboy, a towering figure of rugged individualism and masculine energy, a lone rider with a code of honor, self-reliant and laconic. Yet, behind the facade of all the wistful harmonica tunes, the dusty sunsets, and tense jousts with lawkeepers there’s an unseen set of people and range of emotions that the mythology of the American Western has overlooked.
Abi Watson chooses this unexplored arena as the setting for Old Souls, creating a romantic Western in which she addresses desire and loneliness with queer and black characters. The story opens with Rosa, better known as the Desert Rose, an outlaw whose latest train robbery goes wrong. Injured, she finds refuge in a barn belonging to Dorathea Todd. Dorathea is initially suspicious but allows her to stay and provides food and water.
Soon, the spark that sprang with first glances grows into a deeper connection. When the sheriff comes looking for Desert Rose, Dorathea protects Rosa and does not give her up. That decision pushes both of them into a world unknown to them. Dorathea must adapt to Rosa’s wild, untethered life, which is so far removed from life at the ranch while Rosa must confront what it means to prioritise another person.
Visually, Old Souls makes effective use of a restrained, warm palette of dusty browns, muted greens and soft beige desert tones, splashed with vivid orange panels indicating emotional moments. Watson alternates between sequences of conventional panels and broad, expansive panels showing the landscape, allowing the setting to establish the isolation of the characters’ lives. Watson also leans into the Western’s conventional vocabulary of trains, saloons, and gangs on horseback to enrich the backdrop. The panels with shots of mesas, a lone steam train, and a barn at dusk are particularly gorgeous and notable.
Watson focuses entirely on Dorothea and Rosa leaving the supporting cast underdeveloped. However, in a book such as this it’s essential to know the protagonists more than anyone else. If there’s a weakness, it’s that the romance moves too quickly and is not layered enough.
Nevertheless, Old Souls is an engaging queer Western that cleverly and deftly uses the conventions of the genre to tell a story about those who find themselves as outliers even in the land of the outlaws.
Such a swashbuckling, good-looking Thought Bubble debut.
Abi Watson (W/A) • Self-published
Review by Swati Nair
Abi Watson at Table C8b in the Travelling Man Hall at Thought Bubble.
Thought Bubble 2026 runs from November 9th-15th with the convention weekend taking place on the 14th-15th. More details on the Thought Bubble site here.
Read all our Thought Bubble 2026 coverage so far in one place here.
Poster art by Núria Tamarit
