Since way back in 2012 we have been running this annual ‘Ten UK Small Press Comics You Need to Own!’ round-up at Broken Frontier, choosing a handful of comics we covered in the preceding twelve months to give an additional spotlight to. Listicles aren’t really our thing at BF but this yearly feature has become something of a tradition on the site and, as we come into the new year, it gives us a chance to point you in the direction of some outstanding work from within our community.
The standard reminder that we underline every year. This is not intended as a “Best of” list. Instead it’s a selection of work to represent the diversity, creativity and breadth of subject coverage across the self-publishing community. And, as per last year, we are going to concentrate on solo creators or partnerships rather than one-shot anthologies, comics published by micropublishers or ongoing anthology-style series.
Again, “2025” will be defined as work that was covered at BF in those twelve months so there may be material included from the latter part of 2024. And, finally, small press generally means small print runs. So in some cases you may need to wait/hope for reprintings, look for comics fairs the mentioned creators are tabling at, or scour through the small press sections of your LCS.
Enjoy this chance to revisit some excellent self-published practice and pick up some comics you may have missed. We are so lucky in the UK to have such a vibrant small press scene to immerse ourselves in. Don’t ever let anyone tell you otherwise!
(Read our previous annual round-ups here at Broken Frontier)
Diary of a Detainee
R. E. Burke
Unarguably one of the most important self-published releases of 2025, Diary of a Detainee is a sampler for R. E. Burke’s upcoming longer-form account of her horrific experiences after a dream holiday in the States went from tourist adventure to living nightmare in a detention centre. All thanks to the brutality of ICE. Devastating and truly relevant this is a difficult but important read from our former Broken Frontier team member.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: This is clearly the beginning of a project that is not just vitally important as another record of the ongoing collapse of society and democracy in the United States but also a fiercely articulate piece of comics practice
Visit R. E. Burke’s website and store here
5 More Minutes
Hannah Berry
Former Comics Laureate Hannah Berry’s first comic in eight years begins as a character spotlight on the mother-daughter relationship but slowly moves into an exercise in quietly terrifying existential angst. One of the most truly unsettling comics of 2025 and a testament to Berry’s command of the form.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: A human drama that will leave you more disconcerted than any overt horror comic could ever hope to do.
My Taxidermy Angel
Rein Lee
Rein Lee is one of the most exciting new voices in UK indie comics and we reviewed a number of their publications last year as one of our 2025 ‘Six to Watch’ creators. My Taxidermy Angel is a perfect entry point to their work with its themes of queerness, religious trauma, identity and self-acceptance explored through extended allegory and hauntingly fragile art.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: With a subtly powerful ending My Taxidermy Angel is incredibly confident early work from a new voice destined to make a huge mark on the medium.
Fury
Dominique Duong
Dominique Duong has tackled themes of mental health awareness in her work before but Fury is some of her most assured storytelling to date. An extended visual metaphor bringing suppressed rage and anger to the page in canine form it was one of the highlights of this year’s Thought Bubble debut comics.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Powerful and instinctual comics work from someone clearly on the brink of breaking out and finding vastly expanded new audiences.
Road to Chimera
Jua OK!
Jua OK!’s fantasy story explores ideas of identity, self-discovery and transness. It’s particularly notable for its inventive use of the language of comics and for the way it brings us so fully into its protagonist’s journey. A newer creative voice on the scene to keep close tabs on.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Road to Chimera is one of a growing number of graphic narratives to frame trans lived experiences within the allegorical, and making them all the more connective to the reader for that careful use of symbolism.
All the Effort You Are Making Will Ultimately Pay Off
Peony Gent
It seems inconceivable that we would run one of these lists now without the work of the ground-breaking Peony Gent on it. All the Effort You Are Making Will Ultimately Pay Off sees Gent bringing her genuinely unique vision to what is essentially a diary comic. Graphic poetry from a true comics visionary.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Buy this, read it, and then read it again to find yourself experiencing it with an ever changing relationship with the page. Another essential comic from the UK’s most innovative practitioner in the medium.
I Know the Way Out
Chrissy Williams and Tom Humberstone
Chrissy Williams and Tom Humberstone return to the world of poetry comics in this collection of three illustrated poems that touch on themes of disconnection, purpose, escape and more as words and imagery give us a multi-layered reading experience. A comic that will constantly reward revisitation.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Ultimately this is work where the lines between authorial intent and reader interpretation are blurred and that’s part of why it’s so intriguing. Every reader will take away something different from the pages of I Know the Way Out and that’s the power of experimental work like this.
Mother
Abs Bailey
Mother was one of our comics of the festival for Thought Bubble this year and it’s a visual tour-de-force from BF ‘Six to Watch’ creator Abs Bailey. Protagonist Sylvie discovers she has a huge mould growth on her stomach which proves to be a sentient colony of spores that thinks of her as its mother. Bizarre body horror combines with an exploration of responsibility in one of the standout UK small press offerings of 2025.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: 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.
Cold Chips
Chris King
It’s rare to see such confident early work as Cold Chips but Chris King’s debut short comic following two young brothers on an initially fraught trip around their seaside town is both an immersive piece of psychogeography and a beautifully rendered visual study of the complexities of sibling relationships. Unmissable.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Cold Chips is simply one of the most confident first-time self-published efforts I have seen in my nearly two decades of reviewing at BF.
Summer Maze
Zhenyi Zheng
Zhenyi Zheng’s Summer Maze is a piece of abstract comics that would open up the average layperson’s eyes to the intricate possibilities of the form. Considering ideas of truth and reality it teases and plays with conventional page layouts and traditional conceptions of panel-to-panel sequential storytelling with deftness and imagination. Zheng is yet another Broken Frontier ‘Six to Watch’ artist to be included in this list and one whose practice deserves far wider recognition.
Broken Frontier review here
Broken Frontier soundbite: Summer Maze is a fine example of Zheng’s willingness to interrogate our easy definitions of what comics are. If formal experimentation is your thing you need to investigate her work further.
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