👉🌜👉

I was among the participants that were going to exhibit my comic at Shortbox Comic Fair 2025. I applied to this fair due to its reputation and very few, almost no bad press about it. The only example I could find is the organizer's anti-competition statement here. Only during the course of participating in this fair, I learned why the Shortbox brand was so clean: the sole organizer, Zainab, would often send out emails to participants, scolding them and telling them to NOT say anything bad about their own Shortbox comics, or say anything against her decision throughout the fair. She was dictating our tone in both public and private spaces. 

As for my case, I only communicated with Zainab via email. I tried to be as transparent with my progress as possible, though I was often met with a dismissive tone. One month prior to the deadline, I asked Zainab if my comic could have an 'extended' version, which I can link to Shortbox' customers after the fair so they can access it for free. She didn't comment or review my comic, but copy-pasted a statement from the participant guidebook about "exhibiting work post-Shortbox" (to summarize, we're not allowed to lower our prices or put up the comic for free immediately after the fair ends, an example can be seen here). Instead of a vendor fee, 2025 SBCF participants would have to deal with a 'drop out' fee, which applied to me later.

The five months after the Lunar New Year in March 2025, the comic for Shortbox was my entire priority. I took no breaks to finish the comic as fast as I can. During this period I didn’t have any income from commissions or freelance, I wanted to put my all into the comic even if the sales in October were close to nothing. All the risks were on the artists who couldn’t get any pay for the comic making period, while the organizer had little risk on it if there were only a few of us who couldn't make it to October. 

I submitted my comic in 65 pages, all proofread and sent in at the end of July which was the deadline. My comic previews were even posted on Shortbox page. In mid August, Zainab got back to me to tell me that my comic is ineligible for submission because it's 'incomplete', and she demanded a drop out fee from me. It completely took me by surprise. It was incredibly frustrating because I had already brought up the extended version of my comic beforehand, and I had asked for the organizer's help in amending the ending to fit her 'completion' criteria. Therefore I told her she would have to wait for the 'drop out' fee that she demanded from me. During this period, she had proceeded to erase all of my involvement with SBCF'25. I believe this is a silencing PR tactic she had used with other artists with smaller voices.

As for my comic currently, it's already done and has been translated into Vietnamese, since I'm planning to sell the comic at my local conventions (Ho Chi Minh City). Please note that I had to abide by the Shortbox rule to not sell my comic anywhere during the fair period - October 2025 - that I had to skip participating in the only one artist alley we had in this city. Conventions in Vietnam are... very sparse especially for art and comics people, to put it lightly.

If this happened in gamedev, it'd be much easier for me to find outlets to speak out. I feel especially annoyed... and angry that artists have been such pushovers that we allow any level of micro or macro-aggressions to happen to us and just let the abuse continue. When I saw how much support and also pushback from the public when Horses gamedevs spoke out when their game wasn't allowed to be on Steam, I felt the same way: people turning a blind eye to Steam’s monopoly and their first reaction being "You'd have other vendors/publishers to pitch to". While SBCF is not a monopoly, it’s still the most well-known online comic fair in English. Artists have very little to no avenue to pitch their comic, especially if they’re new to the scene, and are not well informed on the existence of other online events if not already blacklisted by Zainab. She insists on claiming that others are plagiarizing her format, that they’re trying to become SBCF’s ‘competitors’ while in reality, these are organized by people who simply liked the idea of having more comics.

While sympathizing with Zainab's background - a brown Muslim woman who has experienced the worst parts of the comics industry - her mistreatment towards the artists who have built the reputation of the fair is, to me, intolerable.

I’m making this statement to warn other artists who are new to the comic scene, that if you also happen to get starstruck when being accepted to this seemingly prestigious fair. This is to remind long-time supporters of Shortbox the kind of behavior Zainab has behind the scenes, how she treats your favorite artists, and why so many of us decided to keep silent: it is to protect ourselves but also to protect the reputation of Shortbox.

Don’t apply to Shortbox. Support the artists directly when they post on their storefront. A lot of us posted our SBCF comics for free or at a discount after the fair was over. At the end of the day, we just want people to read our comics, and that’s good enough.

Cheers,

I'm sincerely sorry that your experience was so unpleasant. However, the hyperbolic way you're describing Zainab's behaviour and work ethic feel very misleading.

Shortbox Comic's Fair is indeed a one-person led project. I will point out that she isn't getting paid for it either. She does not take any share of the profits generated by the fair - the only percentage that's taken off goes to the website hosting fee. The entire rest of the money goes to the comic artists. Comparing her to a giant like Steam feels incomprehensible, she is not a mega corporation?? If you go and table at a comics convention, you have to pay a fee for your table - it isn't even the case here. You no longer have to pay as you enter the fair. The principle is the same, except it's online. And we as artists get a lot more monetary profit and visibility that she ever does.

The rules of the fair are simple and pretty clear. The comic you're presenting has to be a complete story. It is very clearly stated ahead of applying, once you've gotten in, and throughout the fair. If she did not tell you she agreed to amending them for you, then it feels very unsurprising that failling to follow them would mean not being able to participate.

She is one person, having to deal with 150+ different people. She has to keep things clear, succinct and organised. She cannot amend rules for each person participating, and I don't know if you realise how complicated it would be to follow up with each buyer for additional content. The minimum amount of pages asked (16) is an accessible one. If you were not able to finish your story in time, then it is on your ability to manage your expectations for what you produced, not on her. It does not mean you didn't work hard, I know how it is to want to show the best of what you can do for such an exciting event. It just means you have to have a clearer understanding of what is doable to make in the time you have to make it.

The rules of having to present a finished story goes towards a very simple goal, that is coherent with the rest of the Fair's ethic. Having a professional event, where you can find quality one-shot comics. In that spirit, it is not tone policing to ask of the participants not to disparage their own work?? It feels very young and unprofessional to be flippant and dismissive about the work you're making for an event that is all about loving comics. The instance I know of when this happened and Zainab had to send a reminder to people not to behave this way, the message was firm. It was not scolding. We aren't children. It isn't abuse to expect people to respect themselves and other people's work. From my experience, she's never policed how we talk about the fair either.

In all the emails I've exchanged with her during my two participations, she was to the point. She was never aggressive or unpleasant, I believe she simply has so fucking much to deal with, I do not blame her for being succinct while answering emails and queries from 150 people for months at a time.

I haven't been online enough or participated recently enough to know about her claiming she's being plagiarized by competitors so I can't answer to that.

It just feels very misleading to me to tell people that Shortbox is secretly an abusive environment to make comics in. It's a passion project. She isn't an all powerful abusive tyrant, she is someone who created an event that grew in popularity and became this big thanks to her work ethic.

All the people I know who participated had a fun time, for me it was a great opportunity to finish a comic and have it be seen and read by many more people that I would have reached otherwise.

Even friends who got in but didn't finish in time weren't critical of the event. Sometimes our eyes are bigger than our stomach and we expect too much of ourselves, and it's disappointing to not be able to complete something.

Ranunculus - Adrian Nivola , 2026

Italian-American , b. 1977 -