"You've probably gotten the idea that comics is not the place to go if you're looking for money. The industry is not terribly strong right now, and those who manage a regular paycheque are a small minority.
"The only way to get regular pay is to land a job at DC or Marvel. And those companies are currently firing more people than they're hiring, if the rumors are true. Any other comic company would just be hit or miss in terms of getting paid, since most independent comics don't make much of a profit.
"Those of us self-publishing comics aren't doing it for the money--we do it because we're obsessed. We HAVE to tell this story, or whatever. Doing comics is the one thing that makes us happy, and the money doesn't matter. And then we get other jobs to pay the rent. I'm not saying you CAN'T make money doing comics, I'm just saying it's unlikely, these days. Don't go in with those kind of expectations, you know? Best of luck!"
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Brad Vancata
"I've been interested in comics from the time I was about 5 years old. After high school, I went to the Kubert school and worked as a Romita Raider at Marvel's New York City offices. From there, I went free-lance, and that's where I've been since.
"When I first started in comics, pay rates ran around $100 a page for inks, and $20 a page for coloring (at Marvel and DC). Those rates varied (and still vary) depending on the artist, and raises usually came at a rate of about 10% once every year. Current rates (at the same companies) run from $130-$180 a page for inks, and $45-$90 a page for coloring.
"As far as a fair pay rate, that's very subjective--each company is really open to paying whatever they think the talent will work for. If getting published is your main objective, and making money on the job is not the biggest consideration, then you're in pretty good shape. The days of making a lot of cash in this business are gone, and may never be back again."
Bradley Walton
"I went to college and double majored in English and in philosophy and religion to learn how to write, with the goal of writing comics in mind. Somewhere along the way, I decided that it was hard as hell to break into the business as a writer, so I decided to become an inker, rationalizing that I could break into the business more easily as an artist, and then show around writing samples once I had established contacts. I did inking samples and showed them around at conventions for a while, and finally made acontact at the Atlanta Fantasy Fair that eventually led to my first work (inking a short story in Negative Burn #3, two years after I started doing inking samples and learning my trade). The writing part has somewhat fallen into place as I'd hoped.
"I used to work on a royalty basis. The work I'm doing now (a couple of eight page stories on About Comics' THE FACTOR) is a royalty gig that I don't expect to get paid for, but I'm doing it because I was a fan of THE FACTOR before I was approached to work on the book. I'm happy to try to help it out because it's such an outstanding product.
As a general rule, however, I'm finished working for royalties.
"[When starting out] it is reasonable to ask artists to work on a royalty basis with the understanding that they will not get paid if the book does not turn a profit. Of course, it is also reasonable for those artists to turn you down. My personal opinion is that $20 per page for pencils and $10 per page for inks is a reasonable offer for non-professional artists entering the field. Of course, the more you're willing to pay, the better your chances of snagging some really good talent.
"My advice about publishing: Don't do it. This a a BAD time to try to start up a publishing enterprise. I'm feeling rather inclined to give it a shot myself, but I'm not feeling that suicidal right now. I know guys who have sunk THOUSANDS of dollars into advertising and thousands more into paying their artists--and their orders don't begin to cover their costs. I also know publishers putting out good product with very low overhead whose orders also don't begin to cover their costs. I'd say a minimum 90% of new, small publishers are losing money, and that's a VERY optimistic guess on my part. Good luck whatever you decide to do."
Chris Warner
"There's no real base [for set pay schedules]. Figure what you can reasonably afford to spend, ask the artists what they want, and go from there. If they ask below what you can afford, great. If they ask for more, negotiate or pass. It's that simple."
Walden Wong
"I became involved in the comic book industry by going to
Conventions and meeting everyone humanly possible. To tell you the truth, you can almost always get Non-professional artists to do stuff for free. For them, it's a foot in the door."
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