ShortBox to the #9

Hello! Can you believe we're already releasing our NINTH ShortBox?! Well, we are, it's here, and it's a doozy. 5 brand new comics involving demons, transformative teas, mysterious islands, robot bears, underground mob power wars, social media relationships and more, from some of the freshest, finest and most interesting contemporary cartoonists around.

A *VERY IMPORTANT* point for anyone based in the USA: no more international shipping rates! Your ShortBoxes will now be shipped from within the US which means shipping for you is only £4. If you're in Canada, your boxes will also ship from the US so shipping is slightly cheaper for you, too! Hurrays all around!

As ever, a few salient points to go over for readers new and old before we get to the meaty bits:

• ShortBox is an independent, mail-order comics box. It is not a subscription service. There is no signing up. It's simply a (pretty ace) box of comics we publish every 3 months. The comics are brand new releases created especially for the box that you won't find anywhere else. You buy  a box, and that's that- there's no further commitment to anything else. 
• You purchase an order, we put you down for a box. It's a system that lets us know exactly how many boxes to make. You can pre-order ShortBox #9 right now, right here. We don't remake boxes.  
• Pre-orders run for a 12-day period. That begins today and ends at midnight on 29th July. This is the only way to get the box.
• The box will ship in September. Depending on where you live in the world, and also on the mercy of the postal system, your box can take anything from 2 days to 7 weeks to get to you once it has been shipped. After that period, if you still haven't received it, please get in touch with us via the 'contact' tab at the top of the site, and we'll take things from there. 
• We ship worldwide!

And now, onwards to the juicy stuff! ShortBox #9 will contain the following:

Stoke by Sam Wade, 32pp, colour. 

Arjuna’s got a problem; she’s too good at her job working as an underground, unlicensed boxing bookie for the city’s most blood thirsty crime boss, Montu. And now, because of her efficiency, he thinks she’s coming for the throne. Enter: Pretty Boy, bare knuckles boxing debutant and ruthless queen of the ring. As Montu’s attempts on Arjuna’s life get harder to dodge, she hires Pretty Boy to help her climb to the top. Stoke explores the honeyed synonymy of revenge, love, and obsession set against the backdrop of a surreal city underbelly where it’s all about going to the mattresses.

Gonzalo by Jed McGowan, 36pp, colour.
A worn, ageing robot bear, originally built to collect field data, is left stranded in the wild with an orphaned and very real bear cub after vast environmental collapse. Together they struggle to survive in the hostile wastes of near-future California.

Did You See Me? by Sophia Foster-Dimino, 56pp, colour. 

Did You See Me? follows a man through his growing obsession with a woman who may or may not be real. Taking place partly in reality, partly on social media, and partly in dreams, Did You See Me? looks at the role of fantasy, wishful thinking, and roleplay in romantic attraction.

The Island by Joy San, 40pp, colour.

A woman embarks on a journey to a mysterious island that promises to solve all her problems. 

Taemons by Kim Salt, 44pp, black and white. 
Beset by loneliness and self isolation, a girl is introduced to an app that allows people to match up with demons 'in your area' and meet them for tea. After connecting with a demon at the local all-night diner, she is transported to a different world, one she cannot escape without first confronting some demons of her own.

'Suspension' exclusive A4 print by Mathilde Kitteh.

Order ShortBox #9 here.