I'm all caught up in my comics reading (well, except for a few graphic novels) and this month's DC comp box has yet to arrive, the two major conventions are behind everyone and the comics blogosphere's looking for something to talk about, so it must be time, once again, to Ask A Comics Geek! Yes, you, in the back, wearing the Superman shirt. What's on your mind, sonny?
Okay, you're married to a comic book inker, right?
Well, yes and no. Robin's an artist who happens to make his living as an inker at present. As he's fond of saying, inking is an artificial subdivision of labour (you can tell he's British because you can hear the "u" when he says "labour"), made necessary by an industry with tight deadlines to meet and historic underemployment. But go on, I sense this is leading somewhere.
Sure is, if I cared about the difference between "artist" and inker."
Watch it, sonny, inkers are artists, same as pencillers. If I had a nickel for every time someone wrote "artist and inker" in a comic review instead of "penciller and inker" or just "artists," why, I'd--
Okay stop, I don't care! I'm sorry I started you on that!
Most people are.
But you did mention having a nickel, and I had a question about money.
Most people do.
No, I'm serious. I read on the comics blogs that comic book artists and writers make a ton of money nowadays, even more than in the heyday of the speculeeches ten years ago. So why are you always bitching about not having enough?
What you read was one professional's opinion, an opinion based on hanging out with other writers and artists who are apparently all in the same happy circumstances. You shouldn't extrapolate those numbers to include everyone in the industry, any more than Mark Waid revealing to Parade magazine in 1997 that he made $250,000 means that every writer was pulling in those kinds of bucks, or noting that Jack Kirby drew very fast means that every artist can draw equally fast. In other words, you don't prove a point by noting the exception(s) to the rule. It would be like assuming our country's economy is robust solely on the basis of examining the richest 1% of citizens, rather than looking at the reality of a dwindling middle class and a large underclass becoming ever poorer.
In other words, if an upper echelon A-list writer or artist says something like "Everyone I know is doing fantastically," your first reaction ought to be to check with a B-list artist or writer to see if they concur. Chances are that B-lister (equivalent to the country's dwindling middle class - talented folks who do good work but aren't necessarily as "famous" as the rich folk) either lives in a place where the cost of living isn't as high as it is in typical urban areas, or he/she isn't able to make a living without, say, spousal income as well. They're extremely lucky if they have a regular book - do the math, there just aren't that many regular books to go around! - and they probably have no health insurance (a rarity in comics, usually only offered to freelancers with exclusive contracts - the, you guessed it, A-listers).
But-- but royalties...!
Royalties are only payable on books that reach a certain sales threshold. Like the "estate tax" is only applicable to super-rich estates that are worth gajillions more than you and I will ever see. Rob and I have been married for 7½ years and I've never seen a royalty check for any new book on which he's worked. And I consider him a solid B-lister. Most working comics pros know not to count on royalty checks for anything more than the occasional dinner out. (In the early '90s it may have been a different story but even then the handwriting was on the wall. I remember one freelancer boasting that he used his royalties to pay his rent, which seemed a tad shortsighted to me, and sure enough when that money dried up he quickly found himself in need of new digs.)
But what about the secondary market? Even if you're a B-lister you can still make big bucks reselling your art, right?
Assuming there are buyers out there, you still need to put in a bit of time and effort to market to them. Even if that effort is just eBay, it's still a whole 'nother level of organization with which a lot of pros don't want to deal. And if you get someone else to sell your art, they take a percentage. Besides, there are a lot of artists who don't feel like selling original art at all, that's not why they draw comics.
So, you won't be starting that writing career any time soon, then.
Oh, I still want to write comics and other stories, but likely only as a second career, and not until my primary one doesn't emotionally exhaust me any more. I don't think I have it in me to "quit my day job," in any case; I'm too addicted to a steady paycheck and a bit stronger illusion of security.
So, what would you say your motto is to anyone else who asks about Big Bucks in Comics?
I'd say, don't take any wooden nickels.
Okay, you're married to a comic book inker, right?
Well, yes and no. Robin's an artist who happens to make his living as an inker at present. As he's fond of saying, inking is an artificial subdivision of labour (you can tell he's British because you can hear the "u" when he says "labour"), made necessary by an industry with tight deadlines to meet and historic underemployment. But go on, I sense this is leading somewhere.
Sure is, if I cared about the difference between "artist" and inker."
Watch it, sonny, inkers are artists, same as pencillers. If I had a nickel for every time someone wrote "artist and inker" in a comic review instead of "penciller and inker" or just "artists," why, I'd--
Okay stop, I don't care! I'm sorry I started you on that!
Most people are.
But you did mention having a nickel, and I had a question about money.
Most people do.
No, I'm serious. I read on the comics blogs that comic book artists and writers make a ton of money nowadays, even more than in the heyday of the speculeeches ten years ago. So why are you always bitching about not having enough?
What you read was one professional's opinion, an opinion based on hanging out with other writers and artists who are apparently all in the same happy circumstances. You shouldn't extrapolate those numbers to include everyone in the industry, any more than Mark Waid revealing to Parade magazine in 1997 that he made $250,000 means that every writer was pulling in those kinds of bucks, or noting that Jack Kirby drew very fast means that every artist can draw equally fast. In other words, you don't prove a point by noting the exception(s) to the rule. It would be like assuming our country's economy is robust solely on the basis of examining the richest 1% of citizens, rather than looking at the reality of a dwindling middle class and a large underclass becoming ever poorer.
In other words, if an upper echelon A-list writer or artist says something like "Everyone I know is doing fantastically," your first reaction ought to be to check with a B-list artist or writer to see if they concur. Chances are that B-lister (equivalent to the country's dwindling middle class - talented folks who do good work but aren't necessarily as "famous" as the rich folk) either lives in a place where the cost of living isn't as high as it is in typical urban areas, or he/she isn't able to make a living without, say, spousal income as well. They're extremely lucky if they have a regular book - do the math, there just aren't that many regular books to go around! - and they probably have no health insurance (a rarity in comics, usually only offered to freelancers with exclusive contracts - the, you guessed it, A-listers).
But-- but royalties...!
Royalties are only payable on books that reach a certain sales threshold. Like the "estate tax" is only applicable to super-rich estates that are worth gajillions more than you and I will ever see. Rob and I have been married for 7½ years and I've never seen a royalty check for any new book on which he's worked. And I consider him a solid B-lister. Most working comics pros know not to count on royalty checks for anything more than the occasional dinner out. (In the early '90s it may have been a different story but even then the handwriting was on the wall. I remember one freelancer boasting that he used his royalties to pay his rent, which seemed a tad shortsighted to me, and sure enough when that money dried up he quickly found himself in need of new digs.)
But what about the secondary market? Even if you're a B-lister you can still make big bucks reselling your art, right?
Assuming there are buyers out there, you still need to put in a bit of time and effort to market to them. Even if that effort is just eBay, it's still a whole 'nother level of organization with which a lot of pros don't want to deal. And if you get someone else to sell your art, they take a percentage. Besides, there are a lot of artists who don't feel like selling original art at all, that's not why they draw comics.
So, you won't be starting that writing career any time soon, then.
Oh, I still want to write comics and other stories, but likely only as a second career, and not until my primary one doesn't emotionally exhaust me any more. I don't think I have it in me to "quit my day job," in any case; I'm too addicted to a steady paycheck and a bit stronger illusion of security.
So, what would you say your motto is to anyone else who asks about Big Bucks in Comics?
I'd say, don't take any wooden nickels.
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