Delay: A Comics Anthology
Editors: Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco
Publisher: Difference Engine
Publication Date: April 2026
Delay, the newest anthology from Singaporean micropublisher Difference Engine, collects eleven short comics by Southeast Asian artists on the theme of characters living out of sync with the present. Though many of the creators’ art styles reference American cartoons and Japanese manga, the anthology is aimed at a more mature young adult audience. The anthology’s stories tackle serious topics related to aging, death, and political injustice, but their characters joyfully manage to connect with one another across temporal, emotional, and sometimes generational delays.
Many of the stories in the collection focus on the theme of family and the complicated connections between younger and older generations, especially as aging parents and grandparents begin to require special care.
In Peter Lin and Angela Wu’s “Delayed,” the grandchild of a woman exhibiting symptoms of dementia finds a suitcase filled with photos of their grandmother’s career as a flight stewardess with Singapore Airlines. The woman in the photos is beautiful and gorgeously dressed, while the woman herself barely remembers her family’s faces. For the grandchild of this former “Singapore Girl,” it’s difficult to connect this irritable chairbound woman to the free spirit of the past. Thankfully, her extended family works together to ensure that she’s comfortable and still able to share the charm of her personality.
Paati Philosophy’s “Fish Curry Tastes Better the Next Day” takes up the theme of shared communication between generations as they prepare food together. A young woman named Meena is annoyed by the older women in her family, who police her personal appearance and criticize her for spending time with her friends at restaurants when they could just as easily make food at home. Thankfully, during the time-consuming process of preparing homemade curry, “there’s room and space for the occupants of the pot and house to breathe,” as “time allows flavours and relationships to blend and mature.”
The anthology’s second story, “Syncopation,” addresses another prominent theme in the anthology, the challenges faced by young people whose progress through life is stymied by the bureaucracy of countries that welcome migrants without granting them citizenship.
“Syncopation” explores the issue of statelessness in Malaysia as illustrated by the lived experiences of two young women. As children, Alisa and Hanna bonded over their shared love of a video game, and their friendship blossomed into a creative partnership as they encouraged one another’s passion for ballet and traditional dance.
Unfortunately, because of a legal technicality, Hanna does not have official Malaysian citizenship. Hanna’s applications for citizenship are denied, as are her applications for scholarships and other opportunities. After a series of rejections following the death of her Malaysian father, Hanna becomes depressed, stops dancing, and leaves social media. Compared to Alisa, whose talent is allowed to flourish, it seems as though Hana’s life is in a permanent state of delay.
Aime Marisa, a law graduate and advocate for marginalized communities in Malaysia, worked with Bonnibel Rambatan to use the tropes and imagery of video games to emphasize the unfairness of legal systems that actively prevent young people from contributing their skill and talent to society. In an interview on Difference Engine’s website, Marisa says that “being able to connect video games with the lived realities of stateless people in Malaysia felt both refreshing and powerful,” especially as the comics medium encourages creators to be concise and impactful while providing context for complex issues.
While the stories in Delay are specific to the culture and politics of the creators’ home countries, their themes are universally relatable, from the difficulties of communicating across generations to the joys of food and friendship. At the same time, the challenges faced by many of the characters are specific to multilingual and multicultural societies whose rigid borders create seemingly insurmountable barriers for young people who find the start of their adult lives frustratingly delayed by paperwork and bureaucracy.
The anthology’s editors, Charis Loke and Paolo Chikiamco, describe the anthology as celebrating the “value in dwelling in our present instead of cursing as it ticks by,” with the concept of “delay” serving as an antidote to the neoliberal demand for constant self-optimization and maximum efficiency. “May the stories in this book, and the experience of simply sitting back and reading, serve as a reminder that we always have a choice,” Chikiamco writes in the short “Editors’ Notes” essay that introduces the anthology.
Meanwhile, the actual choices of the characters themselves feel extremely limited, primarily by issues relating to citizenship faced by the children of migrant parents. Perhaps talented and ambitious young adults can choose how to continue living in the face of almost farcical unfairness and injustice, but the overall message is clear: they shouldn’t have to.
While the eleven stories in Delay are rooted in specific cultural and political contexts, the anthology’s themes of care, frustration, and connection will resonate with a broad audience. The stories challenge the pressure for constant progress, even as they underscore the unfair limitations imposed on those whose lives are held back by forces beyond their control. Still, Delay reminds the reader that joy is the foundation of resilience, and that even messy relationships can be rewarding.
Delay: A Comics Anthology is available from Difference Engine.
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