Magic Tattooing and Queer Romance Offer a Beautiful Urban Fantasy in ‘The Ink Witch’

Writer: Izzi Ward / Artist: Izzi Ward / Indie Comic Hey, you looking for an urban fantasy indie comic about queer romance, magic, and tattoing? Yeah, I figured you might be. Or if you’re not, you should be. Introducing The Ink Witch, a Kickstarted-comic from Izzi Ward, a UK-based illustrator. (Not to be confused with a novel of the same name.) The Ink Witch has a fascinating magical setting where our main character, Nix, is a tattoo artist who enchants her work to move, evolve, or revolve depending on the request of the client. Nix’ client is Bryn, a technomancer with all the troubles of modern day tech support, but also magical abilities, so that’s damn cool. Over the course of several tattooing sessions Nix and Bryn have developed a serious mutual crush, but even in this magical setting getting to the first date takes some effort. The bulk of the comic then focuses on Nix’ friends counseling them through how to be honest about their identity and desires so the relationship can start off right.

The plot is an accessible romance with a soft-focus style combined with just enough real-world angst to feel genuine. This is a perfect wrapper for the cast of lesbian, bi, and asexual characters, including a “Were'” character, who — in a world that is fully accepting of our conception of queer people — are the less-accepted class working for full equality before the law. The parallels are obvious. The art, all black and white, has a watercolor touch that allows subtle shading to…