THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2026! As we have mentioned on numerous occasions during this year’s Thought Bubble Month coverage at Broken Frontier this is the con where comics gems are to be unearthed and discoveries are to be made. That’s just as true for us here at Broken Frontier as it is for you, our audience, who are hopefully using this year’s TB reviews as a potential shopping list. Today’s review subject is a case in point. Sheena Dempsey’s Pablo and Splash – the first volume of which we are looking at today – is five books into its run but new to us because it sits in that all-ages demographic that we may not normally focus on. And it’s incredibly good fun. Exactly the kind of book that embodies the spirit of the recent UK renaissance in comics and graphic novels for younger readers.
Time-travelling anthropomorphised penguins is certainly a hook as starting point and Dempsey’s duo make for an instantly endearing pair of protagonists. Their chronal misadventures begin when Splash decides they need a holiday away from the freezing Antarctic environment they live in but they have no way to escape their surroundings. A chance encounter with human scientist Dr. O’Brain leads to them being whisked to the past in her sentient time machine the TimeBender, though, and Pablo and Splash find themselves having an unlikely vacation in the Cretaceous period…
Pablo and Splash serves as a perfect introduction to this colourful cast of characters (future instalments in the range see them meeting Romans, Vikings and others) and, of course, dinosaurs are an instant draw for the target younger audience. What makes this such an appealing opener rests not simply on its location though but more on Dempsey’s characterisation, recurring gags, comedy timing, and the odd pun. That idea of pacing, in particular, is strong throughout with Dempsey displaying a confident command of panel-to-panel movement and frequent step-backs into double-page spreads to build up to visual punchlines and ensure the many slapstick dino encounters never get old.
Lettering is also used to enhance the humour. There’s a running joke about the pronunciation of holiday, for example, that is very meta but to even attempt to explain it here would drain the life out of it. And there’s some clever twists on speech balloon contents that remind us of those things that comics and comics alone can do. Kinetic cartooning and a fluid sense of motion makes Pablo and Splash an absolute delight. Definitely a highlight for the younger readers in your Thought Bubble party in Harrogate this year.
Sheena Dempsey (W/A) • Bloomsbury, £8.99
Buy online from Gosh! Comics here
Review by Andy Oliver
Bloomsbury Children’s Books are at table A22 in the Bubbleboy 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
