SHORTBOX 2024 RECOMMENDATIONS

Hi everyone!! Do you all know about the Shortbox comics fair...? If not, it's a digital comic fair that runs for a month, and every comic sold in it is a newly debuting work! I always get really excited for shortbox time... I love comicssss. This year I wanted to talk about my favourites! Full disclosure though I still haven't finished reading all the comics I got. But I'm RUNNING out of TIME because the fair ends Oct 31st!! So this is just my top recs, from what I've read so far, haha. And of course I couldn't get every comic so there might be gems I'm missing... comic fomo.

Home by the Rotting Sea, by Otava Heikkila
Otava is one of my favourite comic artists! He has another comic, Time Will Devour His Children, that's one of my faves and I'm eagerly awaiting the second chapter. Home by the rotting sea was absolutely gorgeous, and I got so sucked into the world... I was so sad when it ended because I wanted to spend more time there, but it ended perfectly. Beautiful and moving!! Flawless!! Timely!!

Bobo Has an Offer For You, by Pavina
This one is much shorter and simpler, but also completely flawless imo. It made me laugh, the drawings are incredibly fun, the layouts are great, it was so charming... a 10/10 from me.

Detective Alice and a Day in Ruya's, by Kyky Yang
I had a hunch this would be a banger and I was so happy to be proven RIGHT!! The backgrounds are so lovingly drawn, and the concept is really fun and surprisingly sexy... I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's yuri too! The side characters were really cute and fun. I wish we could've seen more of these characters...!

Sacred Bodies, by Ver
Sexy. Sexy sexy sexy. If you like monster/human definitely check this one out... I was surprised by the angle it took which was VERY fun. Really gorgeous art too! And extremely cool anatomy for the bird people.

Expiry Date, by Sloane Hong
Also extremely sexy, in a body horror/death/gore kind of way. Gross, and sexy... idk what else to say about this one LOL but it was really fun and the extra concept sketches included in the back were very interesting.

The Solar System, by Seosamh Daire
Wowza!! Incredible artwork by Joe as per usual... I think some of the story went over my head tbh I need to reread it a couple of times I think. Joe did such a great job at introducing the characters and concepts for what feel like a massive story in only 100 pages and really getting the emotions across... I want to read a lot more about these characters and this setting!

Customer Service Eternity, by C A Strike
This one isn't the usual 'style' of comic I go for reading, but I'm really glad I checked it out because it was so charming and made me laugh so much... I think it captured the working in retail experience soooo well and the characters all felt so real hahaha.

Blade of the Fane, by Theo Stultz
UWWWAAAAAA!!! This is my top pick for the fair... I want to own a physical copy of this.. I was soooo blown away. The story is wonderful, the colour palette is SUCH a beautiful treat, the layouts... the backgrounds... THE BL...!! I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. VERY inspiring. 

There we go! Getting my top recs in right before closing day hahaha... I think a lot of these will be sold by the creators on their personal pages (itch.io etc) once the fair is over, so if you miss out I wouldn't worry too much.