THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! Originally presented in digital format as part of the LDComics Fair this past Summer, Abs Bailey’s Mother will be available in print at this year’s Thought Bubble. If you’re a fan of the 2019 Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ creator’s work be assured that this is very possibly her finest offering yet.
Mother has an undeniably grotesquely appealing premise. Our protagonist Sylvie lives her life in a filthy flat, adopting a somewhat… limited… hygiene regimen. When Sylvie discovers she has a huge mould growth on her stomach she finds herself in the strangest maternal situation. The mould is a sentient colony of spores and considers her to be its mother. Trouble erupts, though, when self-appointed leader of the spores Stachybotrys and Mucor, Sylvie’s real chosen one from their community, fall into conflict…
What the reader may feel the most struck by in an immediate sense is Bailey’s use of colour which employs vibrant hues to eerily emphasise the body horror aspects of the piece. Particularly in regards to the mould colony as Sylvie sees it from afar, and also the dinginess and squalor of Sylvie’s surroundings. There are some incredibly visceral scenes in Mother – melting, sliding flesh; the trappings of an unkempt, unclean lifestyle; and evolving, spreading infection – all brought to explicit life with a cartooning style that contradictorily still manages to have its own weird cuteness factor. The use of a narrator to add extra perspective on events is something rarely seen in comics these days but it’s a welcome and useful device here.
There’s a liquid, oozing quality to Bailey’s page layouts that add extra layers to the thematic feel of the book, and her use of lettering to emphasise these aspects is also sublime in its delivery. Bailey’s plot is admittedly (and wonderfully) off-the-wall but it touches on some universal themes, not least of which is that very human need to have purpose and a sense of belonging, and also ideas of responsibility (or lack thereof). It all builds up to a very satisfying and clever finale. Mother is a fungal coming-of-age story quite unlike anything else you will read this year. This darkly humorous offering is a definite must-buy at Thought Bubble this year.
Abs Bailey (W/A) • Self-published
Visit Abs Bailey’s website and online store here
Review by Andy Oliver
Abs Bailey will be at Table C4b 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
