PRIDE MONTH 2026! KitsuneArt is one of the most versatile genre fiction creators currently working in the UK small press scene. From touching fantasy tales through to powerful sci-fi social commentary her captivating artwork brings to life stories that are often tinged with an element of social commentary. As part of our Pride Month coverage I caught up with Lucia to talk about her LGBTQIA+ comics, the creeping threat of AI “art” and the importance of getting involved with the comics community…
ANDY OLIVER: One of the aims of our Pride Month interviews is to bring featured creators to a wider audience so let’s start by asking you about yourself, your creative background and your route into comics?
KITSUNEART: I’m mainly a self-taught artist, save for some comic and illustration courses I took here and there, and a foundation year in Art, Media and Design at CASS/Metropolitan University when I first moved to London.
I grew up in Italy and my first encounter with comics was the Topolino weekly comic magazine (Topolino is the Italian name of Mickey Mouse). Then one day in middle school I found out that the anime I loved watching on TV were (almost always) coming from manga. I was blown away by this new world, and I never stopped reading and loving them since! Before coming to the UK I’ve collaborated with Treviso Comic Book Festival for several years and published a few short comics in some local comic anthologies.
But It was when I finally moved to London that I decided to take my passion more seriously and see for myself where throwing all my heart into comics would lead me. I’ve been very lucky to find a supportive comic community and a very vibrant small press scene that I’m super proud of being part of.
AO: I first covered your work back in 2021 when I reviewed your supernatural queer love story Midnight Heart, describing it as “like a 1930s Universal horror film but with a distinctly contemporary twist”. Can you tell us about the comic’s premise and how you used light, shade and black and white artwork to create a sense of mystery and atmosphere?
KITSUNEART: I remember that review with fondness! It was the very first time I was sharing my work with Broken Frontier and your words made me super happy and emotional!
The rough idea behind Midnight Heart came from a pitch I submitted for a queer horror anthology, and a pair statue of two women (that historians will tell you were “very good friends”), housed in the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy. The pitch was not selected, so I developed it as a full comic on my own.
Midnight Heart
Growing up on a manga diet, using black, white and greys to set the mood and create the atmosphere came really natural, even if I didn’t use screen tones but digital pencil brushes.
I found black and white very fitting for a murder mystery set in Victorian times. As Sheila Watson (the main character) discovers more about the case, the tones get darker and the light dims to the point of the the flashback, where I also removed the words and let the drawings do the talking.
AO: Starlit Lovers was your sapphic slice-of-life romance with Lor Phoenix. How did the collaborative process work between you both on that project?
KITSUNEART: It was very smooth and enjoyable! Lor contacted me on Twitter (before that platform changed name and turned ethically unusable). She saw one of my tweets (I think it was the blessed #portfolioday tag?) and proposed a collaboration. She was looking for an artist and, coming from novels, this was her first experience as a comic writer. She was very open and happy to let me have an input on the developing of the story and, being a storyteller myself, I was grateful for her trust.
We worked together on the plot of Starlit Lovers, sharing ideas back and forth. She suggested that I chose settings I knew I would have loved drawing (such as a flower shop and a Halloween party) which made the whole project even more fun! I had a lot of freedom on the character designs and I was very blessed that Lor always gave me very positive and enthusiastic feedbacks.
Starlit Lovers
Drawing comics is a lonely job so having a co-creator as involved and excited about the story as your are really helps with the mood and the motivation, and I think it reflected on the final product we created together!
AO: Tell us about the Queer Knights anthology, how it was curated and the tropes explored in the stories within its page?
KITSUNEART: The idea that sparked the anthology came to me during Pride Month. Once I had “the vision” I challenged myself to make it a reality in a super short timeline, so that it could debut at Thought Bubble on the same year.
I figured that three short comics could be enough to build a compelling anthology. I knew I needed someone happy to explore the “queer knights” theme and trustworthy enough to commit to a tight deadline. The names of two of my long time comic artists friends immediately came to mind, so I reached out to them.
I feel very blessed that both Atlantisvampir and Audrey Molinatti enthusiastically got on board and that we managed to bring the anthology to life!
Like many queer people out there, I’m very fond of any historical-fantasy, medieval, epic, DND-inspired scenarios. The tropes we explored in our three comics (enemies to lovers, king/knight relationship, mythical beings and creatures, supernatural entities) came up pretty naturally to us, and I’m delighted that the tales we told gravitated towards queer joy, where Love Conquers All.
AO: AI “art” has become an existential threat to creativity in recent years. How did you reframe Lewis Carroll’s work to create this story about the dangers of AI in Through the Looking Glass?
KITSUNEART: I have very, very strong feelings against AI. The way it has been forcefully implemented in every corner of the web, even inside government, health care, libraries, museums and public institutions without a second thought or approval from the general public; the way most people, even friends I respected, accepted it passively as inevitable or jumped enthusiastically on the slop-train…it all throws me in a loop of rage and despair so blinding I had to do something about it and sublimate those feelings into something else.
I really wanted to find a way to talk about AI and how damaging and dangerous this techno-fascist hellscape we are already living in is. I find it hard to stay calm and collected in real life when I have to discuss these topics with people who have decided to prioritise their own convenience and don’t want to hear you telling them their convenience will kill us all. So I thought, perhaps exorcising all this in a comic could help.
I remembered another rejected anthology pitch, a sci-fi retelling of Through the Looking Glass. I dug into it and gave it more purpose, turning the world inside the mirror into the digital AI world, giving Alice the perfect answers to all the shallow attempt of the AI to convince her to give up fighting and accept the slop world.
I am not sure if anyone will change their mind on AI after reading my comic, or if it can help giving someone good talking points to debate a slop-friend. I surely hope whoever read it knows we should keep fighting, even if it feels hopeless to do so, and that they are not alone in the fight.
Through the Looking Glass
AO: As someone who has been featured in publications from comics support network WIP Comics what would be your advice to newer faces on the scene embarking on self-publishing and getting their work out there and seen for the first time?
KITSUNEART: WIP Comics is definitely a group I would encourage any comic artist who wants to embark on self-publishing to join. It’s a very welcoming and encouraging community, always willing to help and to share their knowledge. They organise in person and online meet-ups, and the chance to be part of their yearly anthology is a good first step to get your work out there and seen for the first time.
If you’re starting out, start small. A one-shot story. You can always expand on it later, but if you start small you can challenge yourself and create something you know you can finish. There are cheap ways of printing and a lot of small press fairs around the UK that you can try and apply to, if you want to start selling your comics. And if you don’t get in, there is usually a communal table where you can leave some copies to sell on the day. It’s a great way to start.
‘The House on the Hill’ from the WIP Comics anthology Tall Tales and Short Stories
But also, if you want to be part of the small press scene, you should support it too. Attend that small press fair as a punter, support your local comic book shop, go to that comic-related talk or event, come to the monthly Gosh! / Broken Frontier drink & draw, find ways to make the other small press artists you know feel seen and appreciated if you like their works. Share that review, comment on a post, spread the word. Little things go a long way. If you want to be supported you should also support others. In these bleak individualistic times, trying to build and maintain community is more important than ever.
Making comics is the most time-consuming and least cost effective form of art (hand in hand with animation). You don’t do it for fame or big money, you do it because you love the medium and you feel is the best way you have to express your feelings. It’s a hard and sometime lonely road. That’s why it is super important to find community and kindred spirits to keep your momentum going and your flame lit.
AO: And, finally, what’s next for KitsuneArt? What comics projects are you currently working on?
KITSUNEART: As a matter of fact, I’m currently working on my entry for this year’s WIP comic anthology! I have a few projects down the line that I’m finalising, but I feel the next big challenge for me would be working on a long format graphic novel. I have some ideas and plans for that, but nothing set in stone yet. Lastly, if the inspiration strikes and if burnout doesn’t take me, I might have another one-shot comic ready for this year’s Thought Bubble. We’ll see!
Interview by Andy Oliver
Visit KitsuneArt’s site and online store here
