THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! Hourly Comic Day strips can be a variable reading experience when compiled simply because their method of delivery was never about eventual collection; more about the immediacy of the moment as readers followed them as they emerged on social media. Creature Day is a threefold offering of strips from that annual event featuring the work of Letty Wilson, Ell J Walker, Eve Greenwood and Spire Greenwood. Where it avoids the trap of the usual Hourly Comic Day diary comic routine is that it emerged from the artist friends combining their HCD efforts with the titular Creature Day – “a day where you hang out with your pals and make funny little creatures with arts and crafts.” The results have an undeniable charm of their own.
Letty Wilson’s section (below) comes first and it’s an amiable mix of witty slice-of-life comics and some beautifully illustrated birdlife observational images. The throughline of the whole enterprise is that artists are attending the Creature Day-themed birthday event for their friend Faye Stacey and, as such, it also becomes a snapshot of the lives of a number of prominent Scottish small press creators. Wilson’s strips slowly morph from capturing the reality of the day to a fantasy-imbued sequences of sequentials as the created creatures take on a life of their own.
Some of the fun of this, of course, is in seeing variations on the same party events being recreated from different perspectives. Ell J Walker’s contributions (below) give us short comics that have a kind of self-contained nature while still playing into a greater whole. They tend to build into a final panel punchline of sorts which is quite a pacing feat in itself when you consider that some of them are only two panels long. And there’s something quite joyous about the final entry in Walker’s section.
Eve Greenwood’s cartooning (below) recreates the day with a more stripped back and immediate effect, further adding to the fun of the reader interacting with the party from so many varying visual vantage points. There’s a recurring joke about a proposed Jim Carrey movie concept called ‘Shart’ that again makes its presence felt here; its ubiquitous presence getting funnier on every repeat performance.
Spire Greenwood’s pages (below) round off the book giving us not just another set of eyes on the day but also one intertwined with partner Eve’s preceding it. Spire’s work has a certain loose energy to it that imbues the humorous elements with an added layer of levity. Finally, there’s a gallery of creatures that came to life from the arts and craft-themed party, reminding us of everything we didn’t necessarily see that happened between the panels.
Hourly Comic Day offerings are never going to be everyone’s comic of choice but I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this collection. In fact, I loved it. It’s silly and self-indulgent and that’s exactly why it’s such a delight. It’s also a beautiful testament to the power and importance of friendship. Highly recommended at Thought Bubble this year.
Letty Wilson, Ell J Walker, Eve Greenwood and Spire Greenwood (W/A) • Self-published, £6.00
Buy online here or here after Thought Bubble
Review by Andy Oliver
Letty Wilson/Toadlett will be at Table B14, Eve & Spire Greenwooad/Quindrie Press at Table B12 and Ell J Walker at Table B39, all in the 2000 AD 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
