Leon's Microblog – October 2024

Well, that's all my recommendations for this swing round the hot yellow blob. Hope you enjoy them… because my wallet sure as hell didn't!!!!!! (← This is a joke for Australians only. Please ignore if you are in other countries. Do NOT google "AUD to GBP".)

HOLD ON… ZOOMING……SCANNING……27%……58%……87%……100%. REFERENCE IDENTIFIED.

The Maker of Grave-Goods https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/the-maker-of-grave-goods-by-erin-roseberry – While a bit heavy on first-person prose, and arguably a bit too overtly soppy, this is a nice reflection on ambition, mortality, civilisational culture, and their interplay. (The science-fiction bits are maybe a little silly.)

https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/in-fair-verona-by-val-wise – Despite the slightly misleading title, this is a very original and sumptuously grisly fantasy erotic horror comic by one of my most appreciated artists. Do be aware of what you're getting into before reading, though.

Aglæca (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/aglca-by-mohnfisch) – Another entry with an anticlimactic ending, this one still gets my nod for both great expressions and poses on very readable characters, and lovely pencil-shaded environments - the artist making the most of a not-exactly detailed art style.

Last Stop (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/last-stop-by-jade-lft-peters) – If you wanted this year's "two goofballs try to do something simple" comic, this is probably it. It's not the most intelligent offering, but the humour and expressions flow pretty well as their mission slowly escalates in ridiculousness.

Irene's Reverie (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/irenes-reverie-by-bolzemo) – A tense suburban psych-horror-ish story. While the text gets a little glurgey and cliched around the climax (hammering in the symbolism), it has a great variety of scenes, tones and minor characters to fill out the lead's life.

Eve in Her Estrangement (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/eve-in-her-estrangement-by-ryugure) - Mainly a cold and by-the-books science-fiction espionage story, I do give it some credit for interesting and not-overstated worldbuilding and composition, as well as the occasional cool full-page-splash panel.

Bobo Has An Offer For You (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/bobo-has-an-offer-for-you-by-pavina) – While this one feels like it ends just when it begins (a common issue for a lot of this year's comics), the artist - once more the master of smirking femmes - does manage to leave a mood of tragedy around the ambitious lead.

The Fool, the Absolute Mad Woman (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/the-fool-the-absolute-mad-woman-by-laweyd) – Doesn't hit the same highs as last year's shadow-drenched It All Ends With Me, but works well as an understated classic-yuri-like comic with a sliver of the uncanny stabbed into it.

Expiry Date (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/expiry-date-by-sloane-hong) - Another low-science-fiction worker-themed light-body-horror from the artist of last year's Marrow. While not as strongly character-driven as that one, it does have fun exploring the lead's eroticisation of her own body-alienation.

So Familiar A Gleam (https://www.shortboxcomicsfair.com/shop-sq4wj/p/so-familiar-a-gleam-by-aa-pandya) – Interesting juxtaposition of whimsy and groundedness, and a pacing that trusts the reader. It doesn't exactly lead anywhere or reveal much about its centerpiece character, but it doesn't waste its limited space, either.

I think it's a little interesting that by making the puzzles this approachable, such that the viewer can anticipate the solutions, it warms the viewer up to keep thinking about the actual puzzles of the series (the meaning of the portrayed events and veiled character backstories)

Some of this fictional game's puzzle designs are actually honestly pretty amazing

Biggest bugbear I have with the game is that I strongly think it should have been the "ant game", or at least another ant game - the whole sacrifice theme to me makes way more sense (and is significantly less on-the-nose) with ants than humans.

Goddamnit

By the way, I didn't look up any of the game's rules, so I only vaguely recognise the different potion colours have different mult and timers, and that collecting one potion while under the effects of another potion *seemingly* increases mult…

https://fairysvoice.net/games/ – Now YOU can play crinkly old 24-hour-game-jam Leongames like "U-Bend" or "Saucer Sandy's Moon Escape" (depicted below) on YOUR line, with all the dubiously-balanced audio volume they always deserved.

For the record, Miracle Ropit's Adventure in 2100 (Micronics, 1987) would absolutely definitely be a UFO 50 game, if it ran at 60FPS instead of 10, and if most of the reasons for losing a life were good instead of highly dubious