[Rec/Review] ShortBox Comics 2024

[hexmix]

The ShortBox Comics Fair runs every October and features dozens of original comics from different artists/authors. There's a still a few days left in the fair, so I wanted to rec (and review) my favorites that I've read this year. There are far more featured comics, however, much much more than I was able to afford/get to, so do take a look if it piques your interest!

For additional preview images, you can click on the title of each comic which will take you directly to the ShortBox page, where you can find a few pages from each comic.



Title: Impasto
Author: SJ Miller
Genre: horror
Content Warnings: (from the ShortBox website) Contains violence, cannibalism and other potentially disturbing imagery. Reader discretion advised.

Edgar hasn't been working as Lord Sharpe's valet for very long, and while the Lord himself seems kind enough, his walls are hung with strange and gruesome paintings that fill most visitors with unease. This on its own might be easy enough to ignore, were it not for an unsettling experience with one particular painting, which leads to equally unsettling changes to Edgar's body. In order to stop what is happening to him, Edgar must appease the paintings, though their appetites seem to be growing ever more voracious.

( review/rec behind the cut )

Title: Home by the Rotting Sea
Author: Otava Heikkilä
Genre: fantasy
Content Warnings: (from the ShortBox website) violence, sexual themes and imagery, miscarriage, SA

After a transgression by their King, Ilta and Laulu are taken from his harem and offered up as tribute to the Väki, a race of giants that the human women initially find both mysterious and fearsome. Life with a fickle and uncaring king has led them to expect little else from the Väki, however the longer the women remain among them, and the more they learn and are allowed to heal, the more this impression changes.

I really can't do this one justice with a summary. It's beautiful and heart-wrenching and hopeful, and I cannot recommend it enough.

( review/rec behind the cut )

Title: Blade of the Fane
Author: Theo Stultz
Genre: fantasy
Content Warnings: n/a

Osric, the heir to a long line of mystics sworn to protect the realm from all manner of evil beasts, is the least suited to take over after his grandmother dies: he has no magic, nor the ability to see the evil he's been charged with fighting; he barely even believes in it. But the Queen has ordered that Osric oversee that year's Culling; rumors abound that a beast more evil than all others prowls the kingdom, and these rumors eerily echo his grandmother's final warning. Fortunately for Osric, the arrival of an old friend means he will not have to face the Culling alone.

( review/rec behind the cut )

[Review] The Egyptian by Mika Waltari

[anehan]

Title: The Egyptian: fifteen books on the life of Sinuhe the physician, c. 1390-1335 BC
Original title: Sinuhe egyptiläinen: viisitoista kirjaa lääkäri Sinuhen elämästä n. 1390-1335 e.Kr.
Author: Mika Waltari
Translator: English translation by Naomi Walford
Year: published in 1945 (Finnish original), 1949 (English translation)
Genre: historical fiction
Content warnings: period-typical slavery; ahistorical racism, racist language (by modern standards); non-graphical depictions of violence

I, Sinuhe, the son of Senmut and of his wife Kipa, write this. I do not write it to the glory of the gods of Kem, for I am weary of gods, nor to the glory of the Pharaohs, for I am weary of their deeds. ... For my own sake only I write this.

Thus begins Mika Waltari's The Egyptian, one of the most beloved novels in the history of Finnish literature. The Egyptian is an autobiography by a fictional physician called Sinuhe. Sinuhe was born during the reign of Pharaoh Amehotep III, in the same year as Amenhotep's son, who would later become Pharaoh Ekhnaton. He writes his memoir in exile, during the reign of Pharaoh Horemheb, the last of the 18th dynasty Pharaohs.

( Mild spoilers )

The Egyptian is a pessimistic novel. Waltari wrote it in the span of a few months just after the end of the Second World War, and the effect of the events of the preceding decades are clear in it. Waltari has admitted to using places and events in the novel as allegories for places and events in modern Europe. The novel is a smorgasbord of corruption, religious zealotry, mob rule, and war crimes. It's full of cruelty, though it never gets very explicit in its depictions.

However, The Egyptian is also merciful in its depiction of human nature. It's true that no one is a hero in it, not even Sinuhe himself. Everyone, from the pacifist Ekhnaton to the slaves and poor labourers, is capable of great cruelty. Often, the people with good intentions are even worse than the selfish ones. And yet, the novel, through the character of Sinuhe, also shows understanding and sympathy for these people, even when they act in deplorable ways.

The Egyptian has been translated into many languages. However, many of the translations have apparently used the English edition as their source, rather than the original Finnish, which is a shame. The English translation was based on the abridged Swedish edition and was actually even further abridged. Not all of the editions have been translated from English, though. The German edition, for example, has been translated from Finnish and is unabridged.

I myself read the original Finnish edition, so I can't offer any in-depth comments on any translations, though at first glance Walford's English translation seems good (aside from the abridging). There is also a full English translation available online, though I presume it's an unlicensed one. A commenter on Reddit called it an improvement in general, but said that it felt clunkier than Walford's translation.

In my opinion, The Egyptian is fully deserving of its fame. It's a vivid portrayal of life in Ancient Egypt and the Near East -- Waltari definitely did his research, though he also took artistic liberties with historical facts -- and though it's pessimistic, that's part of its appeal. It's a brick of a book, sure, but it's a rewarding and surprisingly easy read. If you can read it unabridged, I recommend that, but I think even the abridged editions are most likely worth reading.

(Mod! Could we have a genre tag for historical fiction, please?)