Scott Kurtz asks on this thread at Talkaboutcomics.com whether there is a conflict of interest with Graphic Smash editor T Campbell placing two comics he’s writing on the new subscription site. It’s an issue Modern Tales has dealt with before according to publisher Joey Manley:
It’s an issue that has come up before (Tom Hart has comics on serializer.net, which he edits, but Lea has specifically decided not to put her own comics on girlamatic). We’ve had conversations, each of us, about this issue, but ultimately it’s the individual editor’s decision.
If it’s an issue at all (being fair and balanced and all I won’t offer an opinion here) it’s common in webcomicland where many sites are run by webtoonists.
It could be said that by bringing Campbell’s two popular comics over to Graphic Smash they’re stacking the deck in order to make sure Graphic Smash has a built in audience–The one belonging to the two popular comics. Something that the unknown comics on Graphic Smash can’t deliver straight out of the gate.