Heart of Gold: An Indie Comic

Heart of Gold is an LGBT+ indie web comic that began back in February of 2017. It’s the brainchild of freelance artists Eli Baumgartner and Viv Tanner who reside in Vienna, Austria. Since publishing their comic on the web, they have been offered a position to publish through Sparkler, a popular monthly digital magazine that distributes comics, prose, and audio for free.

The gist of the comic follows main characters Dunant, a priest, and Ionel, a career pianist. Ionel suffers from a condition known as Nystagmus, making it nearly impossible to play the piano as his vision is so badly blurred. The priest Dunant regularly holds ‘faith healing’ masses that Ionel consistently attends, hoping to be healed. However, Ionel finds that something isn’t right about Dunant’s blessings, and decides to investigate the matter.

The comic features breathtaking art in selective color palettes and promises an aesthetically pleasing read blended with a plot based on mystery and suspense. The style is reminiscent of paint on a canvas rather than the traditional ‘comic book style’ many comics still possess today.

Eli is the main artist and co-writer of the comic, while Viv applies the colors and lettering. The comic has 184 patrons on Patreon, and you can support them by visiting https://www.patreon.com/heartofgoldcomic. You can read the comic online at https://sparklermonthly.com/series/heart-of-gold/.