HomeFeatures
Why artists are selling their rude, weird, and wonderful comics on a videogame marketplaceAnd why are so many about Yuri on Ice?
And why are so many about Yuri on Ice?
Itch.iois a lovely indie games marketplace, where you can find everything from the latest indie darlings to the weirdest game jam experiments. It might surprise you to find out, though, that Itch’s selection is not only limited to games: the website also offers a wide range of tabletop games, books, music, game assets and — guess what — comics. But why would artists choose to host their comics on a videogames website? And what kind of comics are they putting there?
Sadly I have no answers to offer on the specific mystery of why artists on Itch seem quietly fixated on an anime about ice skating. I even went to talk to YOA fanzine artistsKrayonelato solve this mystery, and they just told me the show was nice, “a light kind of series focused on love and self-acceptance”. Perhaps we should all just watch Yuri On Ice in those tiring times. But I digress.
Itch’s comics zone is a bit of a mess. The first impression can be off-putting, but there’s a very good reason for it being a deluge of steamy randomness: the site’s creator-friendly policies.
“Gumroad has more restrictions regarding NSFW content,” explains Kosmic, a webcomic artist mostly known for the NSFW comicFeast For A King— a gargantuan (3000+ pages and counting) hot mess with a content warning list longer than my CV. There are worm people, bomb people, plant people, and all are constantly trying to stab each other, smooch each other, or both at the same time. Tumblr was its natural home, until the site’s crackdown on adult content destroyed the comic’s place there overnight. But on Itch, it always remained available.
Tumblr isn’t the only website tightening the rules regarding NSFW content. Even works that aren’t as extreme as FFAK can struggle to find a platform, especially if they feature queer relationships.
“I chose Itch specifically because I needed somewhere to host my first graphic novel which had optional erotic content, and other sites had less transparent policies regarding adult contents,” recounts Australian artistHien Pham. “Most payment providers don’t allow adult content, but I sent an email asking Itch and they said it was perfectly fine!” His graphic novelIt Will Be Hardis a delicate story about two gay men struggling to make their open relationship work. Sex is just a small part of their relationship, but the few H-rated pages still put the whole comic at risk.
Some artists simply use Itch because they work both in comics and games. TakeJoe, a former Bandai Namco employee who uses Itch to post colorful zines and small videogames. The picture above is fromCyber Companion Cemetery, a zine about forgotten virtual pets.
“I realise the clean, friendly formatting, and the ability to freely host larger original comics for free is likely what drew a lot of artists,” explains cartoonistVictoria Smith, who started using the site at the recommendation of a few comic artist friends. “Besides having a dedicated comics section to browse, the site is pretty easy to set up, navigate, and monitor sales/statistics.”
Such features are useful to game developers and artists alike, and allow all kind of creators to share their work without hassle. Itch, it seems, is like Yuri On Ice. It’s just… nice. It remains a games-focused website, though, and doesn’t give comics much space to shine on its homepage. “It definitely helps to have supplementary social media platforms to build an audience rather than relying on the site, as it can be hit-or-miss,” continues Smith.
Many artists selling their comics on Itch do have a strong following outside the website, and use their social channels to direct their followers towards the website. This works well for the artists, but not so well for new comics fans. For the casual reader, the comics section on Itch is remains an intimidating wall of random stuff.
My advice for the curious reader, then, is simply to embrace the chaos. If you don’t know where to start, check thetop sellersandtop ratedtabs, and simply scroll until you find something that intrigues you. Itch will show you more related comics after your first download, and its algorithm is usually pretty good at suggesting other stuff you might like.
Check out all the cool stuff I read in just an hour of random browsing:
