There
hasn’t been a new breakout comic book character at the two big comic book
publishers since 1990’s. Moreover, there hasn’t been a breakout creative talent
in the comic book industry at the big two comic book publishers since the 1990’s
And there’s a reason for that.
Money.
When
a writer or an artist creates a character for a comic book company like Disney’s
Marvel or Time Warner’s DC it’s under a “Work for Hire” clause. This means that
any work a writer or an artist does at the company belongs to the company and
the only compensation the writer or artist gets for creating said is their
salary.
Sounds
fair doesn’t it?
Not
if one counts the millions and sometimes billions some characters reap from
licensing and merchandising.
All
of that money goes to the corporate parent. While said comic book writer and
artist who created the character who makes billions for the corporate parent
sometimes struggle for years. Some go on to other jobs on other comic book series,
others do work on commissions for fans until that next job comes in while
others struggle in poverty.
Meanwhile
their creations reap profits for corporations in the form of action figures,
T-shirts and other licensed products for corporate owners. If they’re lucky to
get their work reprinted, they may get the royalties from those sales.
Sounds
fair doesn’t it?
That’s
why many writers and artists like myself are thinking twice about bringing our
original creations to the big two. Some are even thinking twice about looking
for work in the comic book industry period.
While
it would be great to see one’s creation on a comic store shelf under a Marvel
or a DC banner, today most writers and artists are realizing being part of that
brand just isn’t worth it in the long-term. Who wants to create the next Batman
or Spider-Man only to watch as someone else reaps the profits? Who wants to
create the next Superman or Captain America only to be told that their only
compensation pay-per-story? Or in the case of an artist a price-per-page?
In
an age where comic book characters are merchandised regularly as posters, backpacks,
apparel, action figures, video games, Television shows, and even sold and
repackaged in other mediums like children’s fiction and movies it feels like a
rip-off.
Today
a writer or an artist can make much more money by taking their work elsewhere. In
this digital age, the same character and story developed as a comic book can be
packaged and sold through self-publishing as a novel, YA novel, graphic novel
or as an eBook. In those venues a writer reaps one hundred percent of the
profits. And they hold one hundred percent of the rights to their work.
In
addition to the ownership of their properties, self-publishing offers aspiring
comic book writers and artists access to retail venues outside of comic shops.
When a writer or an artist publishes their work through print-on-demand, or
through an eBook retailer, they gain access to retailers such as Amazon.com and
Barnes & Noble.com and an opportunity to reach millions of customers all
over the world.
While
self-publishing may be an uphill struggle for many writers and artists in the
beginning, long-term a creator can reap the rewards for their work in the form
of fair compensation. By owning all those rights they can create their own
merchandise with a second party vendor if their work is successful. Or they can
directly negotiate a licensing deal with a retailer or a manufacturer. Some may
even negotiate a distribution deal with Diamond to get their work into comic
shops. A few may even negotiate film or TV rights to those same studios which
own the Marvel Comics and DC Comics catalogs.
It’s
clear the work-for-hire model used by large publishers over the past
seventy-five years is one of the major forces stagnating creativity within
comic book industry. As long as this obsolete business model exists, writers
and artists don’t have an incentive to take their creations to a major comic
book publisher. Nor do they have an incentive to go to work on existing
characters in the comic book business. That keeps the innovation and imagination
fresh talent would offer publishers from reaching the comic book marketplace.
Moreover,
it prevents the comic book industry from competing against other forms of
media. Most that fresh talent who would have been writing comics today are now
working in other forms of media. Some are working for trade publishers. Writing
YA stories, fantasy or sci-fi or even commercial fiction. Others are writing Teleplays
and screenplays. Artists are doing covers for those books or other commercial
work.
All
are making more money than they would writing comic books. And profiting from
it.
Which
is why comic books are still the bottom of the social food chain. In spite of
all the blockbuster movies, merchandise and TV shows.
If
the big two publishers hope to stay competitive in the twenty-first century,
they’re going to have to offer a compensation package to writers and artists to
work for them. This may include full ownership of their properties, profit
sharing on licensing and merchandising or even bonuses for increasing sales or
finding new demographics of readers when they promote their work. Without these
new compensation incentives, the industry won’t be able to attract and retain
new talent that will create the next big comic book character for the 21st
century.
Thanks, Shawn, for giving us more info on the coming demise of the comic book group if they don't change their ways. I know it's painful to watch something you love just splinter when it could have been otherwise.
ReplyDeleteKeep writing on the topic. You're doing your part. just maybe someone else will be brave enough to do theirs.