The annual Shortbox Comics Fair kicked off today, offering more than 100 new digital comics from artists all over the world. It runs from today through Oct. 31.
If you ever attended a small indie comics show — Small Press Expo, APE in San Francisco, etc. — this is basically the online equivalent of walking down the aisles and seeing just a ton of really cool comics by both veteran and up-and-coming indie creators. Only the creators are from around the world and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home to read their stuff.
And each comic on the site is indeed by one creator, vs. a team, as the guidelines call out. They’re also all new to the world; they may be available somewhere else in the future, as the creator retains the rights to do what they want with them after October ends, but for now you’ll only find them on the Shortbox site.
The fair is curated by Zainab Akhtar, who used to run the Shortbox comic imprint and published/sold print comics up until February of this year. The spirit of the imprint continues with the fair, which is described on the site:
What makes the fair unique is that we are proud to be a comics-focused platform: showcasing only new digital comics from independent artists around the world. Each participating artist debuts a new, original comic, and all these comics are then released simultaneously via the fair website in October. The month running-length of the fair gives people ample time to browse, buy, and to come back again. The fair has quickly established a reputation as truly innovative: people have a real, exciting reason to mark it in their calendar knowing all the comics listed will be never-before-seen/released works, and a space to discover a myriad range of artists both new and established. We want the event to both be a creative instigating factor for artists and, of course, to create a special experience for comics readers as well!
Each listing features a preview of the comic, so you can browse through them all to find something that appeals to you, or you can sort by categories like themes and price. Comics start at £2.50, or about $3.30 in U.S. dollars. So go take a look around and see what’s available, but just be sure to do it before the fair ends on Oct. 31.