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Mamo #1-5
Mamo
Family matters aren’t just hocus-pocus for this young witch!
Cartoonist Sas Milledge makes her astonishing debut in her first original graphic novel that answers the question of how we all reconcile our responsibilities with our dreams for our own future. Orla O’Reilly, the youngest in a long line of hedge witches, is compelled to return home after the death of her grandmother, Mamo. In the wake of her Mamo’s passing, seas are impossible to fish, crops have soured, even Jo Manalo’s attic is taken over by a poltergeist! And to make matters worse it appears that the cause is Mamo, or her mislaid bones that is. Can Orla shoulder the responsibility of quieting her Mamo’s spirit, saving her hometown, and will she have to step up as the new witch of Haresden like Mamo always wanted? Collects Mamo #1-5.
Cartoonist Sas Milledge makes her astonishing debut in her first original graphic novel that answers the question of how we all reconcile our responsibilities with our dreams for our own future. Orla O’Reilly, the youngest in a long line of hedge witches, is compelled to return home after the death of her grandmother, Mamo. In the wake of her Mamo’s passing, seas are impossible to fish, crops have soured, even Jo Manalo’s attic is taken over by a poltergeist! And to make matters worse it appears that the cause is Mamo, or her mislaid bones that is. Can Orla shoulder the responsibility of quieting her Mamo’s spirit, saving her hometown, and will she have to step up as the new witch of Haresden like Mamo always wanted? Collects Mamo #1-5.
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 2022
47 people are currently reading
7534 people want to read
About the author
Sas Milledge
16 books141 followersSas Milledge is a Melbourne-based comic artist and illustrator
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 831 reviews
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September 5, 2024
I warned you all I would read every sapphic witch graphic novel that came my way and Mamo by author/illustrator Sas Milledge is setting the bar high for books to read this year. It is hard to not instantly fall in love with Mamo as the breathtaking artwork grabs your eye and pulls your entire heart and soul into the idyllic, pastoral landscapes of Haresden, a town where the local witch has recently died and chaos and fae mischief is running amok. The artwork is so enrapturing you’ll practically smell the sweet grass and feel yourself ramble on through the fields and forests along with Jo as she aids witch Orla in a quest to collect the bones of her grandmother Mamo, the deceased witch. The pair must find and bury the bones to assuage Mamo’s angry spirit, lest the town be swallowed by the landscape, while also having the right the wrongs of Mamo’s neglect to the land. As adventurous as it is heartwarming and whimsical, Mamo is a magical story about the ties that bind us, featuring a thought-provoking magical lore and a deeply felt look at the ways we struggle with our personal histories.
I can’t scream enough about how much I love the artwork here. It comes alive in color palettes so precisely selected for maximum beauty to deliver you into sweeping vistas of countryside and cozy homes.The character design is also sharp and expressive, and there is such lovely attention to details that draw you in.
Isn’t this gorgeous? I mean, you can truly get lost in the art and Mamo is worth owning simply to return to the artwork.
Come for the artwork but stay for the story, because Mamo is an excellently plotted tale with plenty to ponder and love and surprise twists-and-turns. The dynamics between Jo and Orla as their friendship (and maybe something more) blossoms in the sunny fields and farms through which they travel on their quest. But there are plenty of other fascinating characters, such as fae and trolls who Orla must appease like little side-quests in the adventure to save the town of Haresden. This is a town Jo loves, but one Orla has a painful relationship with leading to her caustic and closed off attitudes that she must learn to abate as the story progresses. The pacing is delightful here, which is something I often find minor gripes with in graphic novels. It feels neither too long nor too short and keeps a good forward drive while still pausing to breathe in quiet moments that are welcome for their coziness and dialogue. The story is told in five chapters and was originally published as five issues, but it has a single-forward moving story instead of feeling episodic. That said, each chapter has a self-contained pacing structure that ebbs and flows in an effective rhythm for teasing out tension and tales.
‘Family isn’t about being the same. It’s about looking after one another.’
The magic system is integral to the overarching message and themes of the story in a moving and dynamic way. Without giving away too much, ideas of connection and bonds are central to the book, from perspectives of being shared burdens and being stronger together to feeling bound and tied down to painful memories and stifled by your home. There is a lovely message that when something is given freely, its magical essence doubles instead of is halved, which makes for a lovely metaphor about love and support. There is also the emotional irony that witches ‘are lonely by nature, but their work cannot be done alone’ and being bound to your repayments of debts and deals or accepting difficult consequences in order to get what you want become a running theme that brilliantly adds texture to the plot. It is a magic system that delivers an emotional resonance in a minor key within the reader’s heart, casting a bittersweet and existentially heavy shadow on a story so beautiful in its presentation. Plus there are other wonderful magic elements such as the creatures that populate the world, including a really fantastic talking crow.
Watching the characters progress in their bonds and shared trials is delightful and builds enough empathetic high stakes for the dramatic conclusion to really land. It is billed as a YA graphic novel, but it has so much heart and sublte depth that I suspect it would be just as entertaining for any adult interested in graphic novels. This is just such a cute sapphic story delivered with such wonderment and amazing art. I will read anything Sas Milledge puts out now. I knew this was going to be fantastic as soon as both Amanda and hope independently told me it was a must-read during the same work shift. Mamo is a charming book and easily read in a glorious afternoon full of witchcraft and whimsy, you won’t regret it.
5/5
I can’t scream enough about how much I love the artwork here. It comes alive in color palettes so precisely selected for maximum beauty to deliver you into sweeping vistas of countryside and cozy homes.The character design is also sharp and expressive, and there is such lovely attention to details that draw you in.
Isn’t this gorgeous? I mean, you can truly get lost in the art and Mamo is worth owning simply to return to the artwork.
Come for the artwork but stay for the story, because Mamo is an excellently plotted tale with plenty to ponder and love and surprise twists-and-turns. The dynamics between Jo and Orla as their friendship (and maybe something more) blossoms in the sunny fields and farms through which they travel on their quest. But there are plenty of other fascinating characters, such as fae and trolls who Orla must appease like little side-quests in the adventure to save the town of Haresden. This is a town Jo loves, but one Orla has a painful relationship with leading to her caustic and closed off attitudes that she must learn to abate as the story progresses. The pacing is delightful here, which is something I often find minor gripes with in graphic novels. It feels neither too long nor too short and keeps a good forward drive while still pausing to breathe in quiet moments that are welcome for their coziness and dialogue. The story is told in five chapters and was originally published as five issues, but it has a single-forward moving story instead of feeling episodic. That said, each chapter has a self-contained pacing structure that ebbs and flows in an effective rhythm for teasing out tension and tales.
‘Family isn’t about being the same. It’s about looking after one another.’
The magic system is integral to the overarching message and themes of the story in a moving and dynamic way. Without giving away too much, ideas of connection and bonds are central to the book, from perspectives of being shared burdens and being stronger together to feeling bound and tied down to painful memories and stifled by your home. There is a lovely message that when something is given freely, its magical essence doubles instead of is halved, which makes for a lovely metaphor about love and support. There is also the emotional irony that witches ‘are lonely by nature, but their work cannot be done alone’ and being bound to your repayments of debts and deals or accepting difficult consequences in order to get what you want become a running theme that brilliantly adds texture to the plot. It is a magic system that delivers an emotional resonance in a minor key within the reader’s heart, casting a bittersweet and existentially heavy shadow on a story so beautiful in its presentation. Plus there are other wonderful magic elements such as the creatures that populate the world, including a really fantastic talking crow.
Watching the characters progress in their bonds and shared trials is delightful and builds enough empathetic high stakes for the dramatic conclusion to really land. It is billed as a YA graphic novel, but it has so much heart and sublte depth that I suspect it would be just as entertaining for any adult interested in graphic novels. This is just such a cute sapphic story delivered with such wonderment and amazing art. I will read anything Sas Milledge puts out now. I knew this was going to be fantastic as soon as both Amanda and hope independently told me it was a must-read during the same work shift. Mamo is a charming book and easily read in a glorious afternoon full of witchcraft and whimsy, you won’t regret it.
5/5
January 18, 2023
Thank goodness after the misery--eloquent misery, but misery, nevertheless; powerful but disturbing--of The Discomfort of Evening, I find Mamo, a sweet YA glbtq witch story where Orla, the granddaughter of a bad witch, Mamo, comes back to the town of Haresden she gladly left to help it work together to get their supernatural critter problem under control. In this project she is helped by Jo (Joanna; Joanna Goanna, her family calls her) who also learns magic from her. So if Mamo is bad magic, Orla is good magic (though others in the town are doubtful), cleaning up the odd troll problem, or the problem of all the sheep bewitched to face each other in a circle. You know the problem.
Okay, she’s a little grumpy, Orla is, perhaps a little petulant, but hey, she’s a witch, a teen witch, and having been psychologically abused by Mamo, maybe she’s entitled. And Jo seems somehow (you’ll see) drawn to her push me/pull me emotional life.
Now that I apparently am/have been reading several witch series, and other teen girl stories, I am inclined to reflect: I was reminded of Emmy, the good witch cleaning up the haint problem in Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crooks’s Harrow County series, which is darker and more complex and just better. I had it in my head, such as it is, that iy=t was like Harrow County lite, written by Tillie Walden but without her detailed architectural drawings and more backgrounds. But the crusty/grumpy teen emotions Sas Milledge gets right in that subtle, Waldenesque way. Lovely artwork though, sort of romantic, two pretty girls, with wispy-haired witch Orla teaching Jo how to become a witch. Cute!
There’s stuff in here as in another (manga) witch series, Witch Hat Atelier, that magic can save the world:
“Passing on magic is fundamental to all witches. Power shared is power doubled. . . The power is in the sharing.”
And there’s also stuff in here about people as they grow up and their relationship to places. You leave, you can’t go home again, you have to go home again and maybe you stay. That may be the central point of it, now that I think of it.
Okay, she’s a little grumpy, Orla is, perhaps a little petulant, but hey, she’s a witch, a teen witch, and having been psychologically abused by Mamo, maybe she’s entitled. And Jo seems somehow (you’ll see) drawn to her push me/pull me emotional life.
Now that I apparently am/have been reading several witch series, and other teen girl stories, I am inclined to reflect: I was reminded of Emmy, the good witch cleaning up the haint problem in Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crooks’s Harrow County series, which is darker and more complex and just better. I had it in my head, such as it is, that iy=t was like Harrow County lite, written by Tillie Walden but without her detailed architectural drawings and more backgrounds. But the crusty/grumpy teen emotions Sas Milledge gets right in that subtle, Waldenesque way. Lovely artwork though, sort of romantic, two pretty girls, with wispy-haired witch Orla teaching Jo how to become a witch. Cute!
There’s stuff in here as in another (manga) witch series, Witch Hat Atelier, that magic can save the world:
“Passing on magic is fundamental to all witches. Power shared is power doubled. . . The power is in the sharing.”
And there’s also stuff in here about people as they grow up and their relationship to places. You leave, you can’t go home again, you have to go home again and maybe you stay. That may be the central point of it, now that I think of it.
November 12, 2021
rep: sapphic mc, Filipino sapphic mc, Filipino characters
tw: mention of past child abuse
okay but reading a graphic novel by batcii feels like coming home somehow
tw: mention of past child abuse
okay but reading a graphic novel by batcii feels like coming home somehow
January 10, 2023
This was a deeply moving story about the connections between people and places. The story involves a young traveling witch who happens to be in the town she grew up in. This town is suffering from a magical curse. As she deals with this curse, she learns more about herself and the town she has left behind. The art is beautiful and creates a sense of mystery.
June 2, 2023
girls on a bone hunt! girls doing witchcraft! girls in love! girls deciding their places in the world!
girls (me) admiring some of the most impressive lineart and texture work they’ve ever seen! and the beautiful grassy seaside color scheme! the soft greens, the rich yellows!
this is a perfect graphic novel.
girls (me) admiring some of the most impressive lineart and texture work they’ve ever seen! and the beautiful grassy seaside color scheme! the soft greens, the rich yellows!
this is a perfect graphic novel.
June 23, 2023
Something about this witchy sapphic graphic novel didn't work for me in execution despite the interesting concept (two young women try to fix the magic that is out of wack in their town and discover it was caused by one of their grandmother's sinister plot beyond the grave) and beautiful art. Too much exposition and not enough action? I'm surprised this won the Lambda award for graphic novels this year, although I'd only read one of the other finalists, which I thought wa just okay too.
April 29, 2022
I loved it!!
Witches, curses and fey, not to mention the totally fantastic illustrations
Witches, curses and fey, not to mention the totally fantastic illustrations
February 3, 2024
Jo has lived in her small seaside hometown her whole life, and loves it there. But then things start to go wrong- curses, bad luck, mysterious illnesses. She seeks out the town witch and finds a teen girl about her own age, named Orla, who Jo has never met before. It turns out Orla has just returned to town after the death of her grandmother, the previous witch. She wasn't buried properly and her bones are scattered around the town, stirring up bad energy, disturbing the local fae and trolls. Jo and Orla set out of lay the old witch properly to rest, but there's more going on than either of them realize. This is a fairly short but well told tale, queer and magical, and with a little bittersweet edge.
Read
January 5, 2023La magia de desboca en un encantador pueblecito y una chica local le pide ayuda a la nieta de una poderosa bruja para tratar de que todo vuelva a la normalidad. «Mamo» es un cómic juvenil de fantasía que habla de la amistad (¿o algo más?) entre dos chicas que usan sus habilidades para el bien. Es una historia de aventuras en la que están muy presentes el valor de la amistad, la ecología y el amor por dónde tienes las raíces.
June 30, 2022
Sas Milledge's Mamo has it all — witches, folklore, fae, LGBTQ+ romance. Paired with stunning artwork that's reminiscent of Ghibli and a major narrative focus on place and belonging, this delightfully bewitching read is perfect for summer daydreaming and trips back home.
"The old witch, how did she die?"
"Alone. A bitter old thing. Your witch was trying to escape that fate, we think. We do wonder why she came back. Perhaps we all fly home, one day. No matter how cold it is, how dark."
"The old witch, how did she die?"
"Alone. A bitter old thing. Your witch was trying to escape that fate, we think. We do wonder why she came back. Perhaps we all fly home, one day. No matter how cold it is, how dark."
June 29, 2025
I'm not sure why it is that the more I like a book, the less I want to say about it.
Let's leave it at . . .
Magical.
Let's leave it at . . .
Magical.
January 6, 2022
VERY CUTE AND DELIGHTFUL WITH LOVELY ART AND ALSO GAY AHHH
April 9, 2022
Rep: Filipino sapphic mc, sapphic mc
March 20, 2025
Brujitas lesbianas ✨ las vibras me recordaron a la sociedad de los dragones de té pero una historia un poco más madura y con más misterio🌳🌳🌳
July 15, 2022
Wow, instant favorite. I often wish graphic novels were longer but this story was perfectly told. It was full and rich and though I want more, the story itself isn't wanting. I'm going to have to buy this, it was so gorgeous and so so SO good.
July 1, 2022
THE CUTEST AND THE SWEETEST.
Mamo was a treat for my eyes, my brain, and my soul. Everyone stop what you are reading and pick this one up asap.
Read this under your favorite tree.
Mamo was a treat for my eyes, my brain, and my soul. Everyone stop what you are reading and pick this one up asap.
Read this under your favorite tree.
November 21, 2022
Loved the art!! I liked Jo a lot more than Orla so that kind of hindered my enjoyment but it was still good.
August 20, 2024
Might actually be my favorite art style ever
January 23, 2023
this was so good my coworkers never steer me wrong (also the raven cycle graphic novel is gonna go SO crazy)
December 31, 2023
Por favooooor lo cogí para conocer el trabajo de la ilustradora y me ha encantado. Una historia super bonita y cuquísima con una ilustración y unos colores preciosos. Muy bonico.
May 20, 2022
This coming-of-age witch story felt pretty cut and pasted to me. The characters are all likeable. None of the drama is high stakes. There is a touch of romance, and a touch of adventure, but not a whole lot of either. And much of the book is explaining how magic and witchcraft work in this universe.
It's cute. The art is stylized in a way that doesn't appeal to me, but it definitely sets the tone for the book. It looks like a sort of Gibli-esque magic coming-of-age-story but with cheeks constantly in flush for some reason.
If you're looking for a book for someone between pre-teen and thirty who really enjoys ya books, then you should totally buy this for them. Sas Milledge is a solid writer and their art is very good, even if it's not for me (not all art should be for everyone). It's also an lgbtq+ story but not so prominently that your local fascist parents are going to care enough to try and boycott it. It's a sweet book concerned more about the trials of figuring out who you are in adolescence than making political statements. It's just a solid coming of age story with two characters who happen to be queer. That's awesome. I wish the story had grabbed me a bit more so I had more reason to recommend it.
I'm not sure I would pick up a volume two of this story but I will definitely keep an eye out for more books by Sas Milledge. I look forward to reading what they do next.
It's cute. The art is stylized in a way that doesn't appeal to me, but it definitely sets the tone for the book. It looks like a sort of Gibli-esque magic coming-of-age-story but with cheeks constantly in flush for some reason.
If you're looking for a book for someone between pre-teen and thirty who really enjoys ya books, then you should totally buy this for them. Sas Milledge is a solid writer and their art is very good, even if it's not for me (not all art should be for everyone). It's also an lgbtq+ story but not so prominently that your local fascist parents are going to care enough to try and boycott it. It's a sweet book concerned more about the trials of figuring out who you are in adolescence than making political statements. It's just a solid coming of age story with two characters who happen to be queer. That's awesome. I wish the story had grabbed me a bit more so I had more reason to recommend it.
I'm not sure I would pick up a volume two of this story but I will definitely keep an eye out for more books by Sas Milledge. I look forward to reading what they do next.
June 25, 2024
Loveeee love love!!! Perhaps magical queer graphic novels is my favourite niche
Also just discovered that this author is illustrating the raven cycle graphic novel adaptation so I am HYPED I think her art style is gorgeous and absolutely perfect for it
Also just discovered that this author is illustrating the raven cycle graphic novel adaptation so I am HYPED I think her art style is gorgeous and absolutely perfect for it
January 11, 2025
2.5 stars
This is… cute, I suppose. It’s a graphic novel about two young women sorting out some magical troubles in their small town. It’s marketed as YA, and I’m not exactly sure why—on the one hand it feels more like a forgettable children’s book, because every challenge is resolved within a few minutes of being introduced, and there’s never any reason to feel concern for the characters—but on the other I think it’s shooting for “cozy” which seems to be more an adult taste. At any rate, I never got invested in the characters, their challenges never quite felt significant, their development was mostly limited to a few potted bonding moments. I question the author’s decision to spend so much time explaining how magic works in ways that seem inconsistent with later events anyway. And while the art is perfectly competent, I also question why every character is permanently blushing.
This is… cute, I suppose. It’s a graphic novel about two young women sorting out some magical troubles in their small town. It’s marketed as YA, and I’m not exactly sure why—on the one hand it feels more like a forgettable children’s book, because every challenge is resolved within a few minutes of being introduced, and there’s never any reason to feel concern for the characters—but on the other I think it’s shooting for “cozy” which seems to be more an adult taste. At any rate, I never got invested in the characters, their challenges never quite felt significant, their development was mostly limited to a few potted bonding moments. I question the author’s decision to spend so much time explaining how magic works in ways that seem inconsistent with later events anyway. And while the art is perfectly competent, I also question why every character is permanently blushing.
August 22, 2023
loved the art and vibrant colors used😍 the witchy vibes reminded me of a studio ghibli movie but sapphic 🩷
January 1, 2024
Eerste boekje van het nieuwe jaar! :) erg cute!!
April 14, 2025
This is the cutest graphic novel I have EVER read and the art is absolutely stunning. I am completely obsessed and now I am spiraling because I want to be a witch in a small coastal town SO BAD.
August 6, 2022
✨ "Family isn't about being the same. It's about looking after one another."
A random library find and blind read — and I adored it!
This charming graphic novel follows a teenager and a young witch who embark on a journey to right the scales amid magical unrest. I loved the Filipino representation, well-developed main characters and lively cast. The trolls are so freaking cute and I wish we got more of them. I also enjoyed the themes of belonging as well as the beautiful bond between Jo and Orla.
The vibrant colours and stunning illustrations really brought the story to life. This book is both emotionally and aesthetically rich, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. What a fun, enjoyable, satisfying and magical ride!
A random library find and blind read — and I adored it!
This charming graphic novel follows a teenager and a young witch who embark on a journey to right the scales amid magical unrest. I loved the Filipino representation, well-developed main characters and lively cast. The trolls are so freaking cute and I wish we got more of them. I also enjoyed the themes of belonging as well as the beautiful bond between Jo and Orla.
The vibrant colours and stunning illustrations really brought the story to life. This book is both emotionally and aesthetically rich, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. What a fun, enjoyable, satisfying and magical ride!
October 14, 2022
I love this. The pieces of the story and the soft worldbuilding all come together smoothly. I love the art and the coloring, particularly the black fills for hair and feathers.
For readers who enjoy this, I also recommend Mooncakes.
For readers who enjoy this, I also recommend Mooncakes.
September 3, 2022
Fairly short, but all-encompassing/complete story. Cute gay representation and really nice art with an atypical color palette to emphasize the magic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 831 reviews