Do you like cool cartooning? How about unique independent comics? Get excited if you said “yes” because the ShortBox Comics Fair returns in 2024. The online fair, organised by ShortBox publisher and ex-comics critic Zainab Akhtar, is back for its fourth year. If it’s like previous years, the digital comics event will be a fantastic outlet for cartoonists of wide-ranging backgrounds to showcase exciting and varied work.
So how does it work? Unlike traditional comic fairs, like SPX or Cartoon Crossroads Columbus, the ShortBox Comics Fair isn’t tied to any geographic location. Instead, it lives online for the whole month of October. Anyone can jump onto the ShortBox Comics Fair website between 1st-31st October and discover fantastic comics from a broad range of exhibitors worldwide. No need to travel or wait in line. And unlike conventions in real life, you won’t get con-crud. Each comic can be purchased for a price nominated by the exhibitor and downloaded as a PDF to read when you want.
116 exhibitors will be participating in this year’s fair. 2024’s lineup is another eclectic selection of voices, styles, and backgrounds. Expect to see personal memoirs, imaginative fantasy, creepy horror, LGBTQI+ narratives, unorthodox comedies, and heaps more.
ShortBox Comics Fair is a cornucopia of art styles. Each participating artist offers a different aesthetic that’s uniquely theirs. There’s a blend of fun cartooning, lush illustration, and abstract-leaning styles to excite the eyes.
It’s also worth noting that the comics will only be available via ShortBox Comics Fair during October. After that, they’re gone. Artists may offer them later through their own outlets. However, that’s not guaranteed.
Get a taste of what will be available at the ShortBox Comics Fair on the official Twitter and Instagram and by browsing the list of participating cartoonists.
It's coming…!
— ShortBox Comics Fair (@SBComicsFair) September 12, 2024
⬩ShortBox Comics Fair is an online-only, digital comics fair!
⬩Over 100+ artists participating from around the world!
⬩Each exhibiting artist makes a brand-new comic!
⬩All 100+ new comics are released digitally on our website, available throughout October!… pic.twitter.com/VDCrvzTFgE
Exhibiting artists retain full rights and ownership of their comics and receive 100% of the sales after the payment processing fees. As a result, the ShortBox Comics Fair is an awesome way to support independent artists and their work. It’s also a fantastic way to expand your reading, exploring different styles of stories you might not usually and discovering new artists.
Zainab Akhtar has been running ShortBox since 2016, where it began as a quarterly mail-order box of unique comics and evolved into different forms over the years. The micro-publisher is known for its keen sense of curation, working with established and up-and-coming cartoonists. As a result, it published many high-quality and beautiful comics. And while ShortBox has ceased publishing physical books, Akhtar’s knack for curation has carried through the comics fair and her work as an editor at Peow Studios.
It looks like this year’s edition will be the biggest one yet. So make sure you don’t sleep on it. Remember, it’s only running from October 1st to 31st. If you miss out, you’ll have to wait until next year.
Check out all of the comics available in this year’s comics fair over on the ShortBox Comics Fair website.
Have you checked out the ShortBox Comics Fair yet? Which comics caught your eye? Let me know in the comments below or via Facebook, X (formally Twitter), Mastodon, or BlueSky.
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