THOUGHT BUBBLE MONTH 2026! Off Register Press’s latest comics anthology subCULTURE: On In-Crowds & Outliers defines itself in the following terms: “It salutes the subsets & coteries of the 20th & 21st centuries. It’s a tribute to the social disruptors who razed the art and style status quo in order to form a more perfect cultural revolution. It’s about survival in a world we no longer recognize.” It’s a description that underlines its focus from the outset but it’s also one that embraces the fluidity and sprawling nature of its subject matter as well. Because this is a collection that is wonderfully, gloriously eclectic even within the thematic parameters it has set for itself.
Edited and curate by Shelly Bond, with an instantly attention-grabbing cover by Lid Thom (above), subCULTURE brings together comics, essays, illustration and photography as its contributors unearth memories, examine movements, and comment on the often ephemeral nature of the trends they depict. It’s a book that readers may find very easy to simply dip in and out of rather than necessarily reading linearly, looking for those recognisable points in pop cultural history that may resonate all the more keenly with them. The true joy of it though is in how unpredictable it is. Some offerings grounded in the very personal, others taking things in unexpected, fantastical directions.
There’s so much to be absorbed in subCULTURE that it’s impossible to give every single creator their due (though, of course, we’ll be sure to mention the three Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ artists included herein). The comics begin with a subversive take on the life of Marie Antoinette by L.Pidge (with eye-catching colours by Chase Hutchison) that carefully builds up to a frankly genius visual punchline. Beck Kubrick (above) is at their rebellious best in a short about teenage obsession in a story that catches that pivotal fixation with fame with a dark but relatable insight. And there’s autobiography from Carol Kovinick Hernandez, Gilbert Hernandez and Natalia Hernandez that talks to us of romance found over a mutual love of punk rock with a charming honesty.
Writer William Potter and artist Anna Readman (above), with atmospherically muted colours by Oliver Mertz, explore the sense of belonging that subcultures evoke in a witty tale of a former industrial rock fan in middle age. It goes without saying that Readman’s art is some of the finest in the book with a kind of grubby, busy energy perfectly suiting the tone of the tale. Oliver Mertz and Philip Bond take us to a Britpop summer in the ‘90s as a group of Glastonbury festival-goers get caught up in musical debate with the Lady of the Lake; Bond’s expressive visual characterisation perfectly complementing the humour of Mertz’s script.
Other comics which stood out for me included Mark Mosedale and Si Smith giving us a haunting supernatural take on the rave scene with an almost nihilistic twist. There’s panel-breaking cleverness from Clio Isadora, visceral imagery from davidt dunlop, and Liz Prince (below) managing that all-too rare goal of a pastiche of the original EC Comics that feels droll and new (despite retelling a familiar urban legend) rather than tired and played out.
There’s a plethora of non-comics material here too from the likes of Steve Cook, Cecil Castellucci, Jenn Woodall and many more. It all complements the comics work and ensures that subCULTURE has a broader appeal. But if there’s one of these text pieces that really stands out it’s Jayde Perkin’s writing about discovering Bowie via her mother (illustration below). If you’re a fan of Perkin’s autobiographical comics work about loss and grief then you’ll know how that would add an extra layer to her graphic memoir practice. A beautiful and delicate additional personal testimony.
From candid reminiscences to witness accounts, through to bizarre re-imaginings and speculative fiction this is an unmissable collection of accounts of finding your people, living on the peripheries, and embracing your thing. A celebration of true influencers before that term became a tainted one, and undoubtedly one of 2026’s finest comics(-plus) anthologies.
Gilbert Hernandez, Natalia Hernandez, Carol Kovinick Hernandez, Asimina Hollingworth, L. Pidge, Chase Hutchison, Lid Thom, Peter Milligan, James Romberger, Beck Kubrick, William Potter, Anna Readman, davidt dunlop, Oliver Mertz, Philip Bond, Mark Mosedale, Simon Smith, Dilraj Mann, Clio Isadora, Imogen Mangle, Liz Prince, Marguerite Van Cook, Cecil Castellucci, Steve Cook, Jayde Perkin, PM Buchan, Shelly Bond • Off Register Press
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Review by Andy Oliver
Shelly Bond and Philip Bond (Off Register Press) are exhibiting at Tables D1-2 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
