DELAY: A Comics Anthology

by Charis Loke (Editor), Paolo Chikiamco (Editor)

Looming milestones and missed connections. Resisting mainstream expectations and doing life at your own pace.

What does DELAY mean to you? Writers and illustrators from Southeast Asia take on this theme in a comics anthology curated by guest editors Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco.

From explorations of identity and inner worlds to the twists and turns of modern life, these stories offer restoration, room for reflection, and invite us to reclaim time in our own ways.


Creative Teams
• A Day in the Life by Cesar Miguel Escaño (PH) & Ferdee Bambico (PH)
• Ad Astra by Nicolette “Wanlingnic” Lee (SG)
• Astray by Farid Nad (MY)
• DELAYED by Peter Lin (SG) & Angela Wu (SG)
• Fish Curry Tastes Better the Next Day by Paati/பாட்டி Philosophy (SG)
• Limerence Station by Eliot Lime (SG)
• Ma, Pa, Delayed Ako by Hansel Dimapilis (PH)
• Syncopation by Aime Marisa (MY) & Bonnibel Rambatan (ID)
• The Adventures of Sunday Domingo feat. Yaya Precy by Julius Villanueva (PH)
• The Other World by Cathlyn Vania (ID)
• Time For That Later by Wayne Rée (SG), Nadia Daeng (SG), & Abigail Goh Tian-I (MY)

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics

252 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2025

About the author

Charis Loke has been found drawing book covers, fantasy maps, board games, street protests, in the jungle, on a boat, and by a glacier. As an editor and curator, she’s worked with close to a hundred Southeast Asian comic creators and artists, including co-editing SOUND: A Comics Anthology, published by Difference Engine. She’s illustrated for Netflix, Orbit, Macmillan, Subterranean Press, and Mekong Review, among others, and has an MA in Visual Sociology with an interest in mapping as arts research

Reviews

[Jolin (twentycharm) · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. full review to come but i freaking loved this.

i love how southeast asian this is. it’s really nice getting the familiar feeling of someone who /knows/ what it’s like to live here.

i think i went into this expecting some modern pieces on time as a concept in work-life balance but the reality of southeast asian stories is that they’re gonna revolve around family and that hit so much harder. im so grateful for all of these stories and their messages :”)

to really capture delay we must first unpack the passage of time. as Paolo Chikiamco says in his editor’s note, “delay, after all, is not about the length of time that passes but the deviation from a schedule, a plan.” i really love this collection of stories and how they depict characters shouldering the burden of the passage of time, as it pushes them further and further from their expected paths.

also from the character designs i just knew some of these artists had to be queer and after reading the “about” section at the end i’m happy to find out so many of them are!!! 🩷

more to come!!!!!!!!!

[shereadsbecause · Rating 5 out of 5]

every story feels like a reaffirming hug, that is all 💙

[Bren | Wordwanderlust · Rating 5 out of 5]

forgot to update here omg

[aqilahreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

delay is a quiet, contemplative collection – a pause between breaths. it brings together voices from across southeast asia, each exploring what it means to move through life at your own rhythm. through comics that touch on identity, longing, growth & resistance to expectation, this anthology reminds us that not everything meaningful has to happen quickly 🥹🌱

i devoured this in one sitting !!!😫 its rlly the kind of read that flows so easily you don’t notice time passing :'-) the illustrations are beautiful; i found myself slowing down just to take them in, panel by panel. every artist brought something unique, from intimate sketches to bold, expressive visuals that made me want to linger longer on each page. 😍

but !!!!! i'll admit – i wished the stories were longer & generally im also not a short stories girlie to begin with 🥲 just as i was getting attached to a voice or a scene, it would end & i was left craving a little more. but maybe that’s also part of the experience: feeling the absence, the unfinished, the delay itself. still, that fleetingness made some stories feel a bit forgettable, even as the whole collection stayed with me in tone and spirit.

what stood out most was the feeling – this shared understanding among the creators that life doesn’t always unfold on schedule. delay invites you to sit with stillness, to accept detours and pauses as part of the journey.

rounding this up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 – thoughtful and visually stunning, offering quiet moments of reflection. i only wish there was more to hold onto...but maybe that’s also the beauty of it. :-)

now available at @differenceenginesg 's website!! differenceengine.sg ✨

// thank you so much @differenceenginesg for this copy as well 🌧️💙

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.