📚 ShortBox Comics Fair 2025
Disclaimer: This post is dated October 6th but it’s actually going up on the 8th. Backdated Blogtober lives on, baby!!
So now that I have a Good Enough Kobo Libra Colour, it was time to fill it up with books. But not just any books. October is my favorite month of the year for a lot of reasons and one of those is that it’s time for the ShortBox Comics Fair!
The ShortBox Comics Fair
Comic by Jean Wei
There are over 140 cool indie comics out right now, released for this month-long fair! It’s a very neat concept and I look forward to it every year. All of the comics are digital, usually (only?) PDF and DRM-free. It’s a great way to support and find cool new indie artists from around the world!
I really love the idea of digital-first events and fairs like these. I will probably never go to Comiket because the idea of battling those crowds sounds like my idea of a very bad time, but I do like looking through their exhibitor list online. If you’re interested in indie comics and zines but don’t know where to start, I highly recommend the SBCF!
Some recs
You could spend £997.89 to get every single comic released this year, but odds are that’s a bit much for the average person. So here are the books that I picked up this year if you needed some recs to get you started!
Albo! by Kruttika Susarla
Albo is a steed full of stories, but when he mysteriously vanishes, three kids with big imaginations and little patience for unruly uncles team up, determined to find him.
Song of the Seabirds by Narsid
Awaking from the captivity of a 1000-year slumber to a changed world, the angel Sraosha embarks on an epic journey to be reunited with his lover -in a boat captained by a human who looks exactly like him…
Hero in the Serpent’s Skin by Hwei
The divine immortal Lady Bai, still mourning the passing of her human lover, misses him so much she returns to earth to seek out his reincarnation, even though he will no longer remember his past life with her.
However, this time, not only is he totally immune to her charms, he also turns out to be an eccentric artist in search of a muse, a hero - with a tail - to draw.
Of course, it’s finger-snappingly easy for a divine immortal to become a great hero, instead of a beautiful maiden or a cute snake, but is this really what Lady Bai herself wants? Also, what’s so heroic about having a tail??
Lisa and Cerise by Marie Derambure
While the rest of her class is celebrating the end of high school at Lou’s place, Lisa stays home. She hasn’t left the house in months, so nothing is going to convince her to go. Really, absolutely nothing. Well… maybe except for the letter she just received.
Beyond the Hearth by Júlia Rubau
In a family of anthropomorphic cats cursed long ago and shrunk to the size of a thimble, Coco—the youngest of the litter—dreams of escaping a suffocating routine.
In secret, he builds a small home deep in the now-overgrown garden that once surrounded their house, determined to start a new life, far from the demands and pressure of his mother and sisters.
But as he sets out on his path to independence, he’s forced to confront his own inexperience and a misguided idea of what it truly means to live alone.
An excess of self by Pautipeep (Paloma Carvajal)
On their first official date, Dalia and Sylvia go on the kind of hike that gets you talking, wondering, crying, laughing. As they walk through the cold, eastern hills of the Andean landscape, they intertwine with their surroundings and allow them to take them on a journey of, not precisely self-discovery, but re-discovery.
The President Threw a Coup by Hyejeon Jeon (Greenfield)
A friendly neighbourhood comic artist’s life is turned upside down when the president decides to declare a martial law.
The President Threw a Coup is a very personal recollection of the three-hour martial law in South Korea that took place on December 3, 2024.
Thank You For Your Service 국가유공자 | by Hwi, translated by Doyeon Kim
This comic tells the story of a grandfather who participated in the Vietnam War and his grandchild. It contains depictions of both past and present wars, so viewer discretion is advised.
이 만화는 베트남 전쟁에 복무한 한국인 할아버지와 손녀에 대해 이야기합니다. 과거와 현재에 대한 전쟁 묘사가 등장하므로, 주의해주세요.
String Figures by Darcy Morgan
On the way to a sleepover, quarrelling sisters Ruth and Maggie don’t realise the danger they’ve gotten tangled up in — until it may be too late.
We Were Just Playing Pretend by Linda Liu
A sapphic love story told in extended sonnet format from the perspective of a closeted young girl, whose only escape from the confines of her jewel-box family home is in the presence of a ghostly lover. Though she goes to great lengths to hide her relationship, she secretly longs to be free from scrutiny. Will her wish be granted?
Floodwater Maiden by LILYRESH
In the ruins left by a super typhoon, a girl searching through the wreckage stumbles upon something impossible–a tiny mermaid, stranded and trapped in filthy flood water.
Knightfall by Rowan Fartousi
The plan was simple: sneak into the Knights’ headquarters, steal what they need, and get out before sunrise. On the run and running out of time, Blue clings to a crumbling plan and a partner who barely believes in him. But when the past catches up in the form of the boy he left behind, Blue must confront the memories that refuse to stay buried.
Fallen into the Garden by Erin Roseberry
Xenolinguist Barker the Many-Tongued studies the languages of the myriad aliens that visit her home planet. But when an alien woman crash-lands on Barker’s planet that looks suspiciously like her own species, can her knowledge of linguistics and biology unravel this paradigm shifting mystery—and unravel why Barker finds this alien so attractive?
Fallen into the Garden is a romance comic for readers interested in anthropological science fiction and speculative biology. It is recommended for mature audiences due to depictions of nudity, violence, and homophobia.
This one was a rec by Misty! She also recommended Roseberry’s previous book The Maker of Grave-Goods,, plus the short free comics Werewolf’s Lament and Fantasy Is A Metaphor For The Human Condition!
I went way over budget and am not allowed to buy any more books or comics until 2026 😭 It was totally worth it, though!
If you’ve got any recs, please let me know! Remember that you have until October 31st to pick up some cool comics before they’re gone!