halfcactus

The fair closes in less than a week so I figured I should post my ~haul~ while considering what I can get next and trying to ignore the cries of my wallet.

The Things We Carve by Chan Chau is free: a 16-page little story about getting over a creative block and nurturing one's craft (+ established relationship).

Hwei, "The Hawk and The Rabbit"

https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop/p/the-hawk-and-the-rabbit-by-hwei

"Rabbits are good for hawks, but hawks are no good for rabbits."

There was once a prince who loved hawks, and a magician who loved rabbits. . . But this isn't a story about a prince of a magician. This is a story about a hawk, and a rabbit who loved hawks.

This is a comic with talking animals and they are so expressive while maintaining their animal-like qualities. It features a most handsome and regal hawk. The art and the story are self-contained, flowing into each other with deceptive ease between whimsy, sweetness, and unspeakable pain. The storyboarding is incredible, borne on interesting shapes and movements that made me weepy at unexpected moments...! *trying to keep it vague so I don't spoil anything*

Azam Raharjo, "SOMEONE DIED HERE"

https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop/p/someone-died-here-by-azam-raharjo

It is a house. Someone died here.

A horror comic set in late 1990s Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Content warning: Blood, Gore, Body Horror, Mental Illness, and Suicide.

The plot isn't anything new, although the bones of it probably contain elements that are invisible to me, a non-Indonesian reader. The art and storytelling are, however, mind-blowing. This comic truly, truly puts you into the perspective of the POV character and gives you a full cinematic experience. The type choices, colors (a lot of shadows, with the background color not being too bright), and the use of dense lines and texture made the reading experience really easy in the eyes. You can tell that the artist really designed it for reading on a screen.

But respectfully, I am never going to read anything by this artist again, unless they suddenly pivot from horror and use their powers for less traumatic purposes; this comic really fucked me up LMAO. I have never had such a visceral physical reaction to a comic asdjk;adja;s I'm so glad I read this in the middle of the day and that I had some variety show backlog to pull off the images that were ingrained so deeply in my brain. It was like the mental equivalent of sugaring the unwanted bits haha.

Otherwise, the paneling, composition, and sense of movements are 10/10, and it's packed with so much thought and intentionality that it makes me a little sad I'm not strong enough for the genre.

tl;dr - not my thing but extremely well done

Pearl Law, "Parasocial Activity"

https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop/p/parasocial-activity-by-pearl-law

Three old friends had a great evening at the concert of their favourite idol group, and had a chance meeting with a fellow fan. But there's more than meets the eye with the story he tells.

Indulgent and warm: three fandom friends watch an idol concert and meet a troubled fan. As a non-parasocial fan, I am not the target audience for this haha but it's still a very cute, short, and feel-good read, and I could feel the artist's love of boy groups AND tennis through the pages! It's especially cute because the three friends are older than the rest of the fans and have their own lives and routines. The tennis was so well-drawn!

Chan Chau, "The Things We Carve"

https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop/p/the-things-we-carve-by-chan-chau

A broomsquire attempts to whittle something for himself and struggles until his pen-turning friend visits his workshop.

If you've ever written/made art for yourself and/or other people, this one is an excellent and unsubtle metaphor for it. The artist doesn't shy away from drawing the process too, so you feel the same amount of care that Frederick devotes to his broomstick. It's also about love. :)

Once again, it is free to download here.

Hoping to get months later: The Stranger: a short speculative fiction comic set in the near future that explores the brief relationship between an old woman who is losing her memory and an android made in the image of her late wife. Not Shortbox-related/Shortbox-exclusive, thankfully! Most of my to-read/to-buy list is now comics/manga so idk if I'll fulfill my annual goal of finishing 12 books this year. I haven't gotten a single poetry collection either! I can feel my expressive ability withering haha