10 Artists and Webcomics to Support Right Now
We ask that you show some love to all of these artists so that creators can continue to thrive and create amazing content
We know that the cultural and creative sector has probably been hit harder than any other during this year’s events. Conventions and pretty much every other event related to comics have had to turn digital, and life has moved online for the most part. In times like these, it’s hugely important to share other people’s art, creative work, or donate to crowdfunded events if you can afford to, to empower their platforms. It’s also important to note the role that webcomics have in extending the medium of comics, and the possibilities this can have for the future of both print and digital.
Character designers can now take to Twitter to showcase their drawings, comic artists can get their work funded through Kickstarter, and newly emerging platforms like TikTok give creators a voice of their own.
We’d like to put forward 10 fantastic creators and creative studios we think, you should be paying attention to and supporting right now. We ask that you give all of these artists at least a Like and Share so that creators can continue to have the online world as a place to thrive.
1. Stephanie Williams
Creator of: Living Heroes, Parenthood Activate, But What if Though.
Where to support: Webtoon, Kickstarter, Website
Stephanie Williams’ Kickstarter project Living Heroes with O’Neill Jones got funded in 24 hours. Her online presence is already huge — from her comics criticism to creating her long-running webcomics, her inspiration being everyday life, and her love for commenting on TV shows.
As she previously tweeted about mundane activities superheroes probably get up to when we’re not looking, Stephanie brought this idea forward for Living Heroes. And so, Sarah Macklin became the visual artist behind the comic, and the crowdfunding began.
On her take as the writer of the comic, she states:
From being a storyteller, an online critic, and article author, Stephanie Williams is one of the writers and creators everyone should have on their radar. And we really do mean everyone.
2. Zachary Wilcox
Creator of: Branching Out (Webtoon).
Where to support: Webtoon, TikTok
Fun fact: we first came across Zach on TikTok! Platforms like TikTok have been a great way for artists to show a small glimpse into their personality, promote their work, and build an online community. Zachary Wilcox is a sequential artist, illustrator, concept artist, and animator, as stated on his website. But to us, he’s an incredible creator with an exceptional art style and eye for detail — seriously, we spent hours admiring his stuff.
Zach’s Webtoon, Branching Out, just came out in August, and the art style and story of Twig and Briar just make our hearts warm. We appreciate creators who can bring a certain beauty to fun, lighthearted webcomics, and this is the exact type of comic creation we hope to see more of.
We really recommend following his colourful tales on these two bug kids and keeping up with him on TikTok for some insight into the life of an artist and creator.
3. Joamette Gil
Creator of: As the Roots Undo, What White Americans Misunderstand About Mixed-Race Lantix Identity, and more.
Where to support: Joamette’s website, P&M Press
Joamette is an Afro-Cuban cartoonish, illustrator and publisher/writer. She is the one (wo)man show behind Power & Magic Press, where she publishes her own comics along with comics from other creators. P&M Press is special for publishing comics anthologies for queer and POC creators, specifically giving queer POC a voice. In an interview for Syfy Wire, she stated:
Recently, she held a marvellous campaign for Mañana: Latinx Comics From the 25th Century on Kickstarter; the first collective of Latinx stories, and a huge example of how crowdfunded events can be innovative and work towards representation — in our book, these are the true webcomic gems.
On her website, Joamette has various illustration works and comics, based on the fantasy, romance, and social justice genres. Her piece on mixed-race Latinx identity from 2017 is highly informative, and educational, with an art style that accompanies the lived experiences of Latinx people perfectly. Working on comics projects that prioritize marginalized communities such as queer POC is hugely important to us, and the reason why we admire artists like Joamette so much.
4. Astrea’s Nexus Studio
Creator of: Agents of The Realm, Bound Blades, Catalyst Overdrive, and more.
Where to support: Astrea’s Nexus
Astrea’s Nexus is a creative studio, created for creators to have a space that fits their needs and “recognized that sometimes life happens”. The collective focuses mostly on webcomics, but they have also delved into art books and illustrations. Mildred Louis is the one behind this collective, and coincidentally, Agents of the Realm is how we found this great studio. We’ve mentioned it before as a great example of POC and female representation — you can have a read here.
“At the end of the day — this is all about You doing You. We’re simply here to help. “
Nexus is in the name for a reason, and the studio’s focus on believing in ideas, and pushing creators to follow their dreams makes them the core of modern digital storytelling. We really recommend checking out Agents of Realm if you’re in the mood for some college girls becoming protectors of the Earth, Bound Blades if you’re into the mystical worlds of vampires and elves (and dogs embodying Gods), and Catalyst Overdrive if you’ve ever wanted to save the galaxy. Every publication has many elaborate, and beautiful illustrations and the stories stand for representation and all the fun you can have.
5. Kayden Phoenix
Creator of: SANTA, SJW Latina Superhero graphic novel
Where to support: Kickstarter, Instagram
Kayden Phoenix is the creator and writer of SANTA, SJW Latina Superhero graphic novel. She created SANTA after noticing a complete lack of Latina superheroes, and a focus on an industry-standard that does not much reflect real life.
Santa wants to raid the concentration camps and take down ICE. With an all-Latina artist team, Phoenix’s story is sure to break prejudices about race and origins and focus on the strength of Latina women in an all patriarchal society. Estimated to go out in November of this year, we can’t wait to see this come to fruition.
The comics’ creators also brought forward a partnership with Girls Voices Now, an organization that advocates for social change through filmmaking and community activism. Creating an innovative and progressive story like Santa, and heightening the reach of other POC women organizations, is exactly why creators like Phoenix deserve to be put in the forefront of comics creation.
6. (Boudika Comics) Claudia Aguirre, Eva Cabrera, Marcela Ramirez
Creator(s) of: Boudika Comics
Where to support: Website
Boudika Comics is a collective of creators making their webcomic dreams come true. Claudia Aguirre, a queer woman of Mexican descent, describing herself as The Queen of Boudika Comics is one of the co-founders of the art studie; Eva Cabrera is the consequent co-founder and a GLAAD Award Nominee for Best of Comics, and Marcela Ramirez is a programmer looking to tell innovative stories through video games.
They all deserve honourable mentions for what they bring to the world of modern comics — Eva Cabrera recently did the art for the graphic novel we have just mentioned, SANTA, and Claudia Aguirre worked on one of the ComiXology favourites of this year, Lost on Planet Earth, which follows the adventures of Basil Miranda in a utopian, sci-fi future.
Bringing together creators and allowing them to have a voice is what the future of comics needs. Creativity that also includes diversity, new and original stories is really influential for the new wave of webcomics. We recommend checking out Firebrand, the Webtoon created by Claudia Aguirre, and the multitude of other projects the comics collective is a part of.
7. Ally Rom Colthoff
Creator of: Chirault, WychWood, and more comics.
Where to support: Website
Ally is an artist and storyteller who likes to explore new worlds, and we can see that reflected in the comics she has created so far. She has a large portfolio of webcomics, one of which is Chirault — a fantasy webcomic that got crowdfunded a few years ago on Kickstarter. WychWood is her most recent comic today, with a fantasy/sci-fi story about a delinquent named Tiara who uses her mysterious powers for everything she wants in life. In a genre where women usually assume a more passive role, Ally’s Webtoon stands for positive representation of females and POC in the sci-fi genre — something incredibly innovative for comics.
It feels like Ally belongs in the fantasy genre — a pioneer of webcomics, she has really mastered her own art style and given us many otherworldly characters to date.
8. Shazleen Khan
Creator of: Buuza!!
Where to support: Website
A story set in the Middle East and Central Asia is not something we see often. Buuza!! An iconic webcomic about “found family, diaspora, and religion”, won the Broken Frontier Award in 2019. Khan’s storytelling skills made the webcomic come alive from the very first panel, and she has been rightfully recognized by big publishers like BHP and of course, the Broken Frontier panel.
Her talent can be seen through her illustrations as well as the storyline. Buuza is about a mix of characters that come together by chance, as well as purposefully. She also fully seems to understand that illustrations and plots work differently in webcomics and print comics– and in that respect, Buuza manages to function in that in-between. Now available through Tapas and Webtoon, the comic can be enjoyed by a wider audience. Shazleen Khan’s other webcomics and illustrations can also be seen on her website. All of her creations really give a look into the grand talent she is.
9. Finn Lucullan & Kate Larking
Creator(s) of: Crash and Burn
Where to support: Website
Queer creators Finn Lucullan & Kate Larking have a brilliant science fiction webcomic, called Crash and Burn. The comic explores the relationship between humans and an alien race called “Ornos” — filled with sociopolitical tendencies, and a whole lot of intrigue, the story focuses on the dynamic between the two races as their ideas behind gender and relationships compete with each other. Making space for queerness in sci-fi has often resulted in tokenizing characters — or not writing them to their full potential — just to tick off the box of queerness. This is where the creators of Crash and Burn come in.
Like other admirable creators, Finn and Kate have looked to mainstream media to categorize what was missing and included those missing pieces of the puzzles into their creations. If the medium of comics is to reach higher levels of inclusivity, a world that very much reflect the spectrums of gender, sexuality, and overall life, then creators that make stories like Crash & Burn should be encouraged and supported, to continue writing their ideas.
10. Hari Conner
Creator of: Finding Home
Where to support: Tapas, Website
Finding Home is an award-winning LGBTQ+ romance comic, available in print as a graphic novel, and adapted for Tapas digitally. The webcomic covers many important social topics, like mental health and LGBTQ+ relationships, and the natural environment it is set in makes the story stick out in indie genre comics.
The creator, Hari Conner, recently ran a Kickstarter for the third book of Finding Home, which won’t be made available online (at least, not yet). Hari is a queer, disabled comic creator based in the UK, and has previously done other marvellous works such as the Adventure Zone Game illustrations.
We would be incredibly happy to see the visibility of Hari, and other creators like them, in the comics world. The indie comics world is overtaking the much-needed changes in storytelling and representation, and making comics overall more inclusive. We love to see it!
It is with no doubt that we can now say — indie comics are running the game when it comes to representation, diversity, and genuine storytelling.
Now that we’ve wrapped up our list, it’s time for some reminders. There are so many creators deserving of love and support, who create innovative digital / print stories that deserve recognition. We encourage all creators to keep making what their heart desires, and especially to be the change you want to see.
If you’ve read this article, feel free to Tweet us any creators, digital artists, art studios, or webcomics you would like us to check out and possibly feature in another article, @U_Schwein.
We ask that you keep an eye out for all comics creators, big or small, and give them all a chance. Read that Webtoon, fun3d that Kickstarter, and share that Tweet — it is only this way that creators can continue to thrive.
