John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs, also known as Metaphrog, will be launching their glorious new children’s graphic novel, Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares at Waterstones, Glasgow, on Sauchiehall Street, on Tuesday 11th August 2026.
With praise from authors like Louie Stowell and Tim Probert, Wilomina is an absolutely fantastic looking graphic novel that should grab you from the first page: the enthralling of a young girl who falls into Nocturna, the land of dreams and nightmares, where the nightmares are taking over!
With the help of a talking cat called Mephisto, Wilomina must find her family and find her way home… before turning into a nightmare herself!
John and Sandra celebrate the launch of this wonderful new children’s graphic novel, and will be giving a brief talk about the creation process, before discussing the book more generally, and then signing copies.
• Head here on the Waterstones website to book tickets for this special launch event
• Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares is out on 13th August 2026 | Pre-order: https://linktr.ee/wilomina
• Sign up for their newsletter on Substack
Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares
Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares is pitched as “Studio Ghibli meets Wednesday” by publisher, Scholastic: an action-packed, fantastical full-colour graphic novel for readers aged 8-12, full of wild imagination, enchanting characters and hair-raising adventure.
On their way to visit Mum in hospital, Wilomina, her father and baby brother Kes get stuck in the middle of nowhere. Desperate, Wilomina leaps aboard a mysterious train – and away from the world she knows. On board, she meets Mephisto, a talking cat – and this is only the beginning of the absurd…
Soon, Wilomina is separated from her family, tumbling into Nocturna – a parallel land where dreams and nightmares come from. But something eerie is happening: the nightmares are taking over. With Mephisto’s help, Wilomina must find her family and seek the gate that will lead them home. On their journey, they meet spectres, dragons and spider-witches, crossing monster-infested waters and facing impossible puzzles at the maze-like Premonition Library.
But worst of all: Nocturna is slowly transforming Wilomina into a ferocious ‘werepire’. Can she fight the monster within… and find the way home?
We’ve received a copy of this latest novel from this talented, dedicated duo, and after al the teasing about it from them online, it’s been well worth the wait to see the fruits of all the hard work they have been giving tantalising peeks of in recent months on their social channels. Look out for a review here soon.
John Chalmers and Sandra Marrs should need no introduction to downthetuebs readers. They are a graphic novel duo also known as Metaphrog, whose joint creative career started in 1994, when Sandra moved to Scotland from France to find herself and become an artist, and John, a punk who had just completed a PhD in Engineering but dreamed of being a writer, returned from The Netherlands. They met by chance, fell in love, and have been making comics together ever since.
Their acclaimed graphic novels, such as The Little Mermaid and The Red Shoes, and may others, have deservedly received multiple Eisner Award nominations, were Highly Commended for The Scottish Children’s Book Awards, and won the Sunday Herald Scottish Culture Awards Best Visual Artist.
• Wilomina: The Land of Dreams and Nightmares is out on 13th August 2026 | Pre-order: https://linktr.ee/wilomina
• Sign up for their newsletter on Substack
• John and Sandra have also shared reels of the making of Wilomina on Instagram @metaphrog_art and TikTok @metaphrog
• Celebrate the launch of Wilomina with John Chalmers and Sandra Mars 7.00pm Tuesday 11th August 2026, Waterstones, Glasgow – Sauchiehall Street | Get your tickets here
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Comic Previews, Comics, Creating Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Events
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