Promoting comics in digital landscapes: Comics artists as content creators.

This article examines the underexplored role of digital promotion in the labor economy of comics artists, focusing on how Italian creators use digital marketing strategies to build audiences and engage readers. Through case studies of Associazione Culturale Mammaiuto, a self-publishing collective active in webcomics, and Mario Natangelo, a political cartoonist for the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano, the study highlights their use of personal websites and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram for self-branding and community building. Both examples illustrate the significant time and effort artists invest in managing online presence without extensive professional support, navigating platform-specific affordances and algorithmic challenges. The article concludes that digital self-promotion constitutes a form of relational labor essential for sustaining creative careers, fostering direct connections with readers who often support artists financially through crowdfunding and purchases.