One can’t help but to wonder whether Stavros Kioutsioukis’s comics are erotic or romantic, whenever coming across one of his strips on social media. Most people may know him through his Instagram account, but his love affair with the erotic drawings dates back many years before the world of social media came into our lives. “I began working as a comic artist about 25 years ago. Back then the audience was limited, nevertheless loyal and devoted,” he shares initially, before adding that the appearance of social media generated a new audience.

His crush over erotic comics was born at the very moment he had made the decision of quitting comics once and for all, as he had sensed that as a pharmacist – he had studied pharmaceutics and owned a pharmacy for a brief period of time – he lacked the spare time and the stamina to combine both jobs. Fortunately enough, a friend of his gave him the idea to draw an erotic story and in the end, as always, love conquered all! At that time he decided to drop out of his work as a pharmacist – which he never grew fond of and has not missed ever since – and devote himself to what he loved ever since a child: drawing and storytelling. At a younger age, when called to choose his professional path in life, he could not begin to imagine that art, let alone comics, was among the available options.

“At the age of 15-16, I had already started creating fully-rounded comics, but I never thought it would turn out as something more than a mere hobby. I come from an everyday working-class family, where art was never a priority, so I viewed comics as a pastime, as I always pictured myself in a mainstream line of work.” As it turned out, not only did he never have a mainstream work, but never made mainstream comics either. “When our group of fellow comic artists began working together, the same group that is hosting the Comic ‘N’ Play festival 23 years later, a comic art scene was formed in Thessaloniki, similar to the one that already existed in Athens. The funny thing is that here in Thessaloniki we were into underground comics even before the term mainstream was into use. In the course of time, a mainstream canon was gradually shaped, but I never strayed from the underground road.”

Stavros Kioutsioukis is self-taught, as his studies in the field of art include nothing more than a single painting course he once attended as a child, where he instantly felt like a complete stranger and decided to never set foot again. “My real studies are the countless hours I spent reading comics, as well as my close contact with comic artists for more than twenty years,” he goes on to say. Ever since a child, he delved into the comic books he read, absorbing every detail, whereas his favorite hero was Charlie Brown.

As he grew older, he began to search for more rare and sophisticated comics in thrift bookstores, mostly identifying as an artist with the French-Belgian comics scene. At that time, he began fantasizing about his own publishing house and soon enough he realized his dream, as he “founded” the self-publishing house Zart-Corps, while at the age of 25 he released his debut comic album titled The Sad Adventures of Yellow Boy. In addition to all the publishers he has partnered with, Stavros Kioutsioukis makes sure to have at least one self-publication released on a yearly basis, making use of the surplus of material uploaded on social media. “It’s a good thing, as the strips posted on social media gain a new life and get printed. Moreover, every strip constitutes a self-reliant universe, therefore by pressuring myself I build a better version of my own universe.”

Even though highly active on social media, straightforward regarding his political views and socially aware, he avoids turning the spotlight on center-stage issues, leaving the coast clear for the political cartoonists to do their work. After all, comics and cartoons are two separate forms of art, even though they tend to be viewed as indistinguishable in our days, as artists very often take on both roles. Moreover, the world of social media is usually governed by the law of slogans, mottos and catchphrases, with the purpose of attracting a bigger audience, a direction he steers clear from. “Some notions are constantly rehashed and I do not wish to reproduce them once again. For example I never refer to the term “women’s emancipation” as I’d rather portray its meaning through my stories.” After all, his favorite character, Denise from the Vampyres series, is a woman who knows what she wants and goes after it in the sweetest and most humorously unexpected way.