halfcactus

As with the last two years, I had a shared haul with a few other people. And as with the last two years, I've mostly only read what I got for myself, because we kind of got... a lot. I got more than I usually do bc the organizer (Zainab Akhtar) has been talking about taking a break so this is our last Shortbox Comics Fair for a while, which is also good for me bc both my wallet and my brain could use a break from month-long comic fairs. 😂

Hero in the Serpent's Skin by Hwei 🇲🇾
Wrote about it here.

Kasalan ng Bayan | Community Wedding by Renren Galeno 🇵🇭
An overachieving student deals with the duality of (co-)organizing a community wedding while convincing her parents to file for legal separation... A story about transferrable skills and girlhood. Renren Galeno is most known (locally, at least) for her thriller comic Sa Wala | Nothing to Lose which is about a magical cockfighting chicken (which I haven't read), so I was surprised to see her put out something with such a mundane and low-stakes setting lol.

Dead Horses by Freya JN
Or as the artist calls it, feline lesboviolence. A marvelous feat of storytelling that sets you on a winding path that twists and twists—"in circles, in knots"—until it takes you back to where it begins and gives you release. The writing is patient, the dialogue snappy, and the visual journey perfectly cinematic and emotionally rewarding. There's also a soundtrack for it.

Highly recommend if you like fantasy with worldbuilding, action, messy women, rewarding twists, and a dose of horror. Hands down one of the best things I've read this year.

how i made Dead Horses, from thumbnail to final page 🐱

[image or embed]

— Freya JN (goblinstunts) October 21, 2025 at 2:05 AM

Layover By Lis Xu
Short comic about visiting family in Shanghai during a layover. Everything is drawn in pencil which makes the story feel like a diary entry, and the characters drawn as anthropomorphic dogs which gives it a sense of distance. It's not too detailed or serious but still feels very personal and might be triggering for people who have sick family abroad.

Lina and Eileen by Shuning Ji
Fantasy comic about a princess who dreams of being kidnapped by a dragon, and a lady knight who dreams of slaying one. Painted with a vibrant watercolor style that evokes fairy tales while questioning them. The plot is too YA for me, though I'm fond of the note it ended with.

Meet Me at the Seafloor by Gojiberry
A depressed marine biologist hears a siren's song, tracks it down, and meets a selkie. Life-affirming and manga-like and a nice change of pace from my dark fantasy fish romances. Also reminded me of this other manhwa I was reading at that time called I See You, which is about a woman who's about to commit suicide but is challenged by the Reaper (also a woman) to live three more months. And then they were roommates! I haven't finished that one yet.

Fashion Intervention by Chereen Francis-Roberts
28-year-old Bertie has a party to attend but her closet is haunted by a fashionable demon. 😱 Very fun oneshot about self-care through self-expression. Has the thrills of shoujo transformations/makeovers except the MC has to do it all herself and make do with what she has. I basically live in Uniqlo so #can't relate to the struggles but the outfits were super fun.

Aquatic Lives by Pepe Reyes 🇵🇭
This was actually part of last year's comic fair, but since Pepe Reyes also participated this year I wanted to read his previous entry first. This is such a beautiful piece about being in the sea. The visual style reminds me of the Delirium chapter in Sandman: Endless Nights. In his afterword he posts underwater photos he took when diving in preparation for this comic, which was very cool! His 2025 comic is about bugs (I think), though, so I'm kind of nervous about reading that. 🙈