THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2025! Current Comics Laureate Bobby Joseph and LICAF Breakthrough Initiative artist Abbigayle Bircham come together on My Dad Fights Demons!, a book that in some ways feels a little atypical of the usual output of acclaimed British publisher SelfMadeHero but is nonetheless a most welcome addition to the surge of interest in comics aimed at YA audiences.
The premise is a simple but engaging one of a long absent parent suddenly re-entering a teen’s life and the subsequent upheaval that ensues. But in our protagonist Rye’s case there’s a difference. Because the dad in question is the Magical Mr Mantrikz, a gent who considers himself to be the world’s greatest sorcerer. With a home life that is hardly perfect Rye is now forced to spend time with their father as weekends become an exercise in demon-hunting and supernatural mishaps…
For a shorter graphic novel there’s so much going on in My Dad Fights Demons! that it’s sometimes difficult to take in all the explosions of action and motion within its pages. It’s that sense of frenetic energy and busy irreverence, of course, that will make it so appealing to its target audience. Bircham’s cartooning – all frantic activity and dynamic characterisation – is a perfect complement to Joseph’s cheeky dialogue with its witty commentary and occasional asterisked asides that providing fun additional commentary.
This is a graphic novel that knows there are storytelling tricks that only comics can perform and it feels like it wants to do a bit of all of them before its 100-plus pages or so are over. For all the amusing references to social influencers, emojis, Greta Thunberg and so on, though, it’s also a story that explores more familiar standards of YA work – the intricacies of family relationships and the importance of those connections. Joseph is also careful to ensure that the juxtaposition of everyday reality and supernatural silliness never sees one aspect overwhelming the other in narrative importance.
My Dad Fights Demons! is presented in a more compact size of the kind that many publishers are now gravitating to for all-ages and YA audiences. If there’s one criticism I would have here it is that this format doesn’t necessarily give Bircham’s art enough room to breathe. But then I am not the target audience so frankly my opinion on that is largely irrelevant comparatively. Diverse and inclusive in tone this is one to steer your teen readers to at Thought Bubble this year.
Bobby Joseph (W), Abbigayle Bircham (A) • SelfMadeHero, £14.99
Buy online from London’s Gosh! Comics here
Review by Andy Oliver
SelfMadeHero will be at Table D14 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
