SHORTBOX COMICS KNOWLEDGE BASE
Inside the
Shortbox
Meet the people behind the Knowledge Base.
Shortbox Comics is an independent comic shop from the Netherlands, built around one simple idea: comic collecting should be fun, understandable and easy to enjoy.
Meet ShortboxWHY WE BUILT THE KNOWLEDGE BASE
We work with comics every day.
Since 2018, Shortbox Comics has grown from a passion for American comics into a comic shop serving collectors across the Netherlands and Europe. Over the years, more than 100,000 comics have passed through our hands.
New releases, back issues, pre-orders, variants, complete runs, collected editions and entire collections all bring their own questions. After answering many of those questions again and again, we decided the answers deserved a permanent home.
The Shortbox Comics Knowledge Base turns that day-to-day experience into practical, easy-to-understand guides for comic collectors.
THE PEOPLE BEHIND SHORTBOX
Collectors first.
Shortbox is run by people who genuinely enjoy the hobby. We read comics, collect them, work with them every day and understand the questions collectors run into.
OUR APPROACH
Collecting first. Jargon second.
Comics have their own language. The Knowledge Base explains it clearly without making the hobby more complicated than it needs to be.
Practical
We focus on questions collectors actually encounter: variants, printings, runs, numbering, condition, storage and buying new comics.
Easy to Understand
We explain comic terminology in normal language and add detail only when that detail helps you understand the hobby better.
Collector Focused
The Knowledge Base is about enjoying and understanding comics, not investment hype or telling you what your collection should look like.
THE CORE TEAM
Meet Marcel, Sam & Yoni
Different roles, one shared goal: making Shortbox Comics useful, recognisable and fun for collectors.
FOUNDER / COLLECTOR
Marcel Brilman
Marcel founded Shortbox Comics in 2018 and has been collecting American comics for more than 35 years.
His knowledge combines decades of collecting with daily hands-on experience with new comics, back issues, complete collections, variants, pre-orders and collectors.
DAILY OPERATIONS / DC FAN
Sam van de Vegte
Sam helps keep the daily Shortbox operation moving, from the webshop and customer service to order processing and the weekly flow of new comic releases.
He is also a dedicated DC fan and brings the perspective of an active reader and collector to the team.
VISUAL CREATOR / DESIGN
Yoni Jellesma
Yoni is the visual creator behind Shortbox Comics and has worked with us for around five years.
He helps shape our visual identity across the house style, layouts, social media, promotional material and other Shortbox visuals.
His work helps make Shortbox instantly recognisable wherever collectors encounter us.
FRIENDS OF THE SHORTBOX
The Shortbox Sidekicks
The Sidekicks did not start as a formal team. They started as customers.
Over the years those customer relationships grew into friendships, and today Hendrie, Roy, Frank, Daan, Niels and Peter are an important part of Shortbox Comics.
Every week they help bring Shortbox After Dark to life: our live show about comics, new releases, collecting and everything happening around the hobby.
You will also regularly find the Sidekicks alongside us at conventions, comic shows and other Shortbox events.
Customers became regulars. Regulars became friends. Friends became the Sidekicks.
COMICS IN THE REAL WORLD
Heroes Dutch Comic Con
Shortbox Comics works with Heroes Dutch Comic Con as its Comics retailer partner.
Together with the event, we help bring the Comic Kiosk to the convention floor: a place where visitors can find comics connected to attending creators, get books signed and experience the creator side of the hobby up close.
Working with creators, convention organisers, publishers and collectors keeps us connected to the hobby beyond the webshop and gives us even more real-world questions to answer in the Knowledge Base.
Visit the Heroes Dutch Comic Con Comics Area →SHORTBOX IN PRACTICE
Built around the hobby.
The Knowledge Base is backed by day-to-day experience with comics and collectors.
American comics, back issues and collected editions
Monthly pre-orders and weekly new comic releases
Comic conventions in the Netherlands and Belgium
Heroes Dutch Comic Con Comics retailer partner
Organizer of Comics in the Middle of Nowhere
Weekly Shortbox After Dark shows and WhatsApp community activity
WHY WE DO IT
Comic collecting should be fun.
There is no single right way to collect comics. The Knowledge Base exists to help you understand the hobby well enough to make your own choices.
Collect what you love. Learn as you go. Enjoy the hunt.
HELP US BUILD THE KNOWLEDGE BASE
What should we explain next?
Have a comic collecting question we have not answered yet? Send it to us. We are happy to help — and a good question might become a future Shortbox Knowledge Base guide.
