These services are becoming more and more common. Gobstopped is a newly-launched platform where artists can submit their material for publication and it does not charge it’s customers anything for joining. The service is only available in the UK and on top of cartoons you can get short stories as well. There is a catch for this ‘free service’ as you are required to pay a set cost to actually read any of the material. The question becomes if anyone who is already paying for web service on their mobile would be willing to shell out an additional ?4.50 to read a cartoon or story. From the press release:

Cartoon strips are uploaded by the artist via their PC [and] reviewed by the editorial team before being passed for publication…The audience for Gobstopped is 17 – 25 year olds which means students and first time workers [so] These strips can be edgy, alternative, subversive, underground – they can be humorous or dark; self-contained jokes or social commentary; serials and even mobile graphic novels. The only restraint is that no extreme erotica, pornography or violence is permitted.