Grinding Against The Marrow, the graphic novel by Snake and Mauro De Falco, is set to make its convention debut at Thought Bubble’s 20th edition. The collected book follows Soma, a homeless Muslim woman navigating a hostile Halloween night in the fictional town of Marrow, where masked young people and corrupt police officers pursue her.
The central hook is movement. Soma is a parkour free runner, and that ability gives the story its means of escape, resistance and forward momentum. The book is designated for readers aged 18 and over. Snake and De Falco are scheduled to attend the event at Redshirt Hall, table D17a.
A Halloween pursuit story built around Soma
Grinding Against The Marrow places its protagonist in Marrow, described as a small-minded town, on Halloween. That setting combines several sources of pressure at once: a public celebration defined by masks, groups of hostile youths, and police corruption. Soma is a woman of few words, but the premise does not make her passive. Her parkour skills are explicitly positioned as the asset that lets her evade the people hunting her.
Parkour, in this context, means the practice of moving efficiently through built environments by running, climbing, vaulting and traversing obstacles. It is a natural fit for comics because it can turn streets, walls, rooftops and alleyways into an active part of the page rather than a static backdrop. For a thriller, it also changes the geometry of a chase: escape need not happen only along roads or through doorways when a character can find routes over and around the usual barriers.
That does not mean the material should be read as a simple action showcase. Soma’s homelessness, Muslim identity and the nature of those pursuing her put social hostility at the center of the premise. The book also incorporates poems written by Soma throughout the narrative. The juxtaposition of fast physical flight and poetry suggests a story interested in both urgency and interiority: what Soma does to stay ahead, and a voice that can articulate something beyond the pursuit itself.
From vertical-scroll comic to collected graphic novel
The project’s route to this collection has taken several publishing forms. It began as a Webtoon, then became a four-issue miniseries through Markosia. The new graphic novel gathers that work into a single edition.
That publishing history matters for readers approaching the book now. A Webtoon is a digital-comics format commonly designed for scrolling on a screen, while a four-issue miniseries presents a story in individual serial installments. A collected graphic novel offers a different reading proposition: the complete material is together in one volume instead of separated by update or issue breaks.
There is no claim here that the collection changes the story or adds new content. What is clear is that it provides a new entry point for readers who missed its earlier digital and single-issue forms. For convention visitors, it also creates a direct opportunity to find the book and meet the people behind it in the same place.
The creators behind the book
Snake is the pen name of Scott Matthew Watson, a poet, spoken-word artist and comics creator. His background includes a Master of Fine Arts in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media. The use of poetry within Soma’s story therefore sits alongside a wider creative practice rather than feeling detached from the writer’s established interests.
Mauro De Falco, an artist from Naples, provides the visual half of a project that depends heavily on the clarity and energy of movement. In a parkour-centered narrative, art has an especially demanding storytelling role. Readers need to understand where a character is going, what obstacles stand in the way, and why a seemingly impossible route is possible. Those fundamentals are what make a chase readable, whether the page depicts a leap, a climb or a sudden change in direction.
The material has also earned praise from Garth Ennis, who highlighted Snake’s ability to make a reader want to continue. That is an apt quality for a premise built around pursuit. Suspense is not merely a question of who is chasing Soma; it is the need to keep turning pages to learn how she can navigate the next threat.
Thought Bubble’s 20th edition
Thought Bubble takes place on November 14 and 15 at Harrogate Convention Centre, following a wider week of festival activity across Yorkshire, England. The festival is described as the UK’s largest comic art festival and centers creators, especially writers and artists, while maintaining a particular focus on small press.
For a book such as Grinding Against The Marrow, that emphasis is significant. Its path from webcomic to miniseries to collection is the sort of publishing journey that sits comfortably in a creator-focused convention environment. Visitors interested in small-press comics can find the book at the creators’ table rather than waiting for a more distant retail release cycle.
The 2026 event is Thought Bubble’s 20th show. The festival was founded in 2007 by Yorkshire artist Lisa Wood, also known as Tula Lotay, as part of the Leeds International Film Festival and with the aim of raising comics’ profile in the area. Its first event took place in the basement of Leeds Town Hall on November 10, 2007, attended by a few hundred people.
Thought Bubble subsequently grew beyond that first setting. Although the convention was initially spread across Leeds, it moved to Harrogate in 2019 because more space was needed and following issues with Leeds City Council. The modern event remains connected to its original mission of spotlighting comic creators, while its scale and Harrogate venue provide a larger home for the convention side of the festival.
It will not be the only small-format comic debut associated with the gathering. Readers tracking the show’s independent-comics activity can also see the limited debut planned for Goblin Soup at Thought Bubble.
What readers should take from the premise
The available details establish Grinding Against The Marrow as an adult-oriented thriller with a tightly focused protagonist and setting. Halloween does more than provide seasonal decoration: it places masks amid an already threatening atmosphere, while Marrow’s hostile environment turns ordinary civic spaces into terrain Soma must survive. Parkour supplies the immediate physical language of that survival.
At the same time, the presence of Soma’s poems suggests the book is not solely about velocity. A protagonist who speaks little in direct conversation but writes poetry can communicate through a deliberately different channel. That contrast may appeal to readers looking for a chase-driven comic whose lead has an interior voice without relying on constant dialogue.
For visitors attending Thought Bubble, the practical details are straightforward: Snake and Mauro De Falco will be at Redshirt Hall, table D17a, and the collected Grinding Against The Marrow will be available there. Its adults-only designation is worth noting before purchase, particularly for anyone shopping for younger readers at the festival.
