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An overview or examination of any great classic comic book artist would be welcome. Gotta get these folks in print again before it’s too late.

Congratulations on the success of the AIcala book! would love to see how other artists handle their creative process. But they should be chosen on the basis of being able to explain themselves; no offense, but some artists are completely intuitive, or they struggle to explain why they do something (“I just get it done”).

I’d love to see more academic books from you Heidi!

Bill Sienkewicz, Howard Chaykin, Dave Sim, P. Craig Russell…

Digital versions of Tillie’s work are available on SEQUENTIAL for iPad:

http://store.sequential.cc/catalogue/creator/tillie_walden/519

I recently reviewed both of those works: http://highlowcomics.blogspot.com/2015/11/thirty-days-of-ccs-10-tillie-walden.html

This is some beautiful work. Thanks for spotlighting her.

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C型钢机与Z型钢机的特点及选用   １.C型钢机和Z型钢机的特点： 　　1）Z型檩条因为弱轴方向的惯性距比同类的C型檩条大，所以它的整体性比C型檩&#

“Except when it isn’t” is probably the most accurate statement I’ve read regarding page rates in the comics industry today. No one ever takes into account how much it actually costs an artist who is trying to make a living at one or more of the professions it takes to produce a comic.

It does not cost the same overhead (equipment) to be a writer as it does to be a say a colorist. It does not cost the same to be a penciler as it does to be an inker and even that changes if you are working digitally versus traditionally. All of these skills require different tools. Even if some of the tools are the same, the speed requirements of these tools are often different and cost vastly different prices. Software and hardware requirements are different even if everyone needs a desk and chair.

Page rates today do not take into account the cost of doing business because when the existing rate systems were originally set into place they were based on a playing field that was analog and what was considered top down at the time. It worked at that time., but it’s an old way of thinking.

What does that mean today? Would the generation growing up with an iPad in their hands at the age of two or younger want a comic without colors? That would be like a video game without color. So does that mean color and lettering should still be at the bottom? The same goes for proper inks and so on. The rate system has never been updated to accommodate the changes in our world to a digital format.

Isn’t it time to at least start talking about that?

So, do we hear what the page rates actually are? Or is this like trying to decipher how much various actors are paid for movie roles, or how gasoline prices are a complex factor of supply, demand and global economics? Or is it that the comic business is so fragile and competitive, that we will never be party to transparency about this confidential matter?

Man, the fair page rates link has alot of really negative comments about some publishers…especially BlueWater, Zenescope and Boom.

Is there a way to see some access to the positive comments that some people may have left?

The amount of attention that should be paid to this survey is zero.

First off, it’s an opt-in survey. You don’t need to be a statistician to know that renders the survey pretty much worthless right off the bat. People love to complain but rarely go out of their way to praise–as is evident by the comments that Scott notes above.

Second: it’s an absurdly small sample size, even for a rarefied occupation like comics-making.

Third: as Zander Cannon correctly points out, the survey conflates work-for-hire page rates and an advance on royalties. These are entirely different things.

Finally, just by way of personal anecdote: I did work-for-hire work for one of the publishers listed in the survey. I received a page rate that was higher than the supposed “highest” page rate listed in the survey.

None of that’s to say that page rates are wonderful right now, just that this survey is significantly flawed–flawed enough in my opinion that it should probably just be ignored.

First, I would like to say that the article is pretty on target about the industry. I don’t think folks really know how bad the comic industry is right now. Diamond has made a very unfair playing field for the small guy. It isn’t like the late 80’s and 90’s where small press companies had a chance to really make an impact in comic shops. Small publishers, and Indy, folks are all producing comics and losing money to some degree. They keep the books going on sales and their is no profit. Understand that every business is in it to make a profit. Not lose money. And when you can’t even break even then you pretty much have to cash your chips out and go on to some other business.

Secondly, I am the owner, and editor, of Alpha Dog Studios. We pay all our talent. We do not use page rates though. We pay flat rate. When you first start working for us, and you have no track record, or experience, you get $650 an issue for pencils. You have two months to do one issue. I tell all artist that they should look at this as a part time job. Not a full time gig. They get paid through Paypal on the 15th of the month. Now, this rate goes up to $750 once an artist has been for us a while. We don’t use inkers. Our colorist can get $500 to $600 per issue. They usually have about a month to a month and a half to do the work. Our letterers get about $125 an issue. We do tend to give bonuses too when the work is done on time and the quality deserves it.

Now on the business end these are rates that I can do that will not break the company and will allow us to keep creating books. It also allows us to start new projects and give new talent a shot at doing comics and making some money on it.

The biggest issue I have encountered is that a lot of artist over estimate their value. What I mean by this is that someone who is never been published or doesn’t have a fan base demands the same rates as someone who has worked in the industry for 30 years and has a huge fan base. You see the business end is that you are really worth what I can make off you. That is the hard facts that most folks don’t want to hear. The comic book industry is a entertainment industry. It may have aspects of commercial art in it but the facts are comics are produced to entertain.

Thirdly, if the rates the company is paying doesn’t fit what you want then the simple action to take is that you don’t take the job but this idea that you or anyone else has the power to tell any company what they should pay you is nonsense. You are not going to go into most interviews for any job demanding what they are going to pay you. This industry is no different.

In conclusion, if you are going to be a part of this industry at least make an effort to know and understand the whole industry and not just what you want to get out of it. I am sure most indy and small press guys would pay more if they could. The fact is the money just isn’t there and if you are all about making money then maybe you should take up another profession. There are a lot more out there that are easier to do and you will make a lot more money.

It’s information like this, whether right or not, that makes one realize that working for any kind of publisher is a crap shoot. Some can make it work while other’s can’t or won’t.

I remember Charlton Comics having the lowest pages rates in the industry way back in the 1970s. John Byrne’s rate was about $55.ºº for pencils, inks and lettering. Adjusted for inflation that would be about 260 dollars (give or take a few dollars. Looking at the survey, accurate or not, the publishers at Charlton would have loved the rates they are paying now. BTW, I loved Charlton Comics more than Marvel or DC. More diversity in art styles and Nick Cuti was a fantastic writer (still is). Just thought I’d add that.

@Will Caligan

Sure you pay page rates. They may vary, but there’s a number of pages the artists are expected to do and they’re paid a certain amount. For example, $650 for 22 pages… so your page for that particular book would be $30.

Makes one wish for the days when 55 bucks was a low rate.

I can understand that people want to do the work and will always cheer on someone with the enthusiasm to do it. As I say some can make the lower rates work, using those low paying books as a stepping stone onto (hopefully) better deals or they’ll decide it’s not worth it.

Drawing comics is like acting. Too many actors for too few roles. It seems, unfortunately, that there is no incentive for a publisher to really raise rates because there will probably be someone, somewhere who will do the job no matter how little the amount to be paid..

I do feel bad for the sincere publisher who’s trying to make a go of it. Times are tough but the problem may be that today’s publishers are so focused on the very few comic book shops and it’s customers (as well as superhero comics) that they forget that there are a hell of a lot of other people who may never enter a comic book store who might enjoy reading a comic book. Get the books out of the comic book shops. Just as movies are no longer just seen in theaters, so should comics not be relegated to only comic book shops (yes, there is digital). There must be other outlets. It’s a matter of finding them. For comics to truly survive publishers must serve the unserved (and not just with superheroes. There are other genres).

Thanks, Heidi! I should note that I was corrected by Jacque Nodell, Carrie Nodell died in 2004. I misunderstood her earlier, the identifications were by her father, not Carrie.

If something goes awry during the trip for anyone, it’s
much easier to ask for help from somebody who was courteous enough to introduce
themselves.

Your links above both go to Floyd Norman’s Wikipedia page. I had to Google his Facebook page to find it.

“Basically, there are very few comics elitists left.”

I’m one!

Perhaps they should change the title. Also, you have a really glaring typo in your headline.

I love Heidi, but I did once see her kill a man just to watch him die. Whereas I have never take a life. Just saying..

A classic comix fight: each of us with our eyes closed and heads back and slapping rapidly at each other…

It’s more a respectful debate, than a “fight.” I like Tony and I’ve read his columns for years, all the way back to the old Buyer’s Guide in the Eighties. He’s always been one of the mainstreamy guys most open to new types of comics, and I’m not saying that because he just gave a glowing review to my new book, Trashed, or lauded me here in his BAC takedown. I just think he missed the mark. BAC is certainly fair game for criticism, that’s not the point, I just think but the vehemence of his rant was a bit much. I know and respect quite a few of the creators in this year’s BAC, so I raised my hand and made my case.

I dunno, if you look at that table of contents, you’ll see that Lethem and BAC this year were looking exclusively at solo creators, whereas just about everything done not just by DC and Marvel, but also Image, Dark Horse, Boom! and IDW are done by writer/artist teams. So, no “Bitch Planet,” no “Saga,” no “March,” no “Lumberjanes.” If you don’t view comics as a collaborative artform, you’re going to miss a lot of the “best” work.done in any given year.

Derf has a press persona and his usual one. He’s the same guy who has outbursts at shows because other, better guests, have a schedule to keep even though he’s had a good two years since the French have made him a darling. But he thrives on whining and has the attitude of a bitter suburban teenager wearing a heavy metal shirt. Derf is the sort of guy who probably went to the Mall when he was younger, just so he could stand against the wall and mock and criticize the passerby.

Isabella is a marginal talent whose blog entries far outweigh his actual comic scripts in terms of accessibility and entertainment. Perhaps this is because he has more of a chance to insert himself into the narrative. Poor Tony. Without his life-defining struggle against DC to elicit his passive-aggressive and whiny remarks, he seems to be without purpose.

“These changes are long overdue, and while Gfrorer’s tweet was nothing to be proud of, she was clearly on the receiving end of the kind of abuse that the new guidelines are meant to stop. So it’s kind of like the kid who gets bullied all the time, finally fits back and is the one collared for starting the fight.”

So, Twitter should put an end to abusive and threatening tweets but not when they person is returning abuse? It’s OK then? I understand there can be a lot going on around each tweet but the basic story is she sent a tweet threatening to rape someone, joke or no joke, and under the new guidelines she was suspended for making that tweet. Your reaction/takeaway of “But she didn’t started it – they should just ban the one who first makes abusive remarks” is just ludicrous.

Now, I don’t say this should be a permanent suspension, I’m not saying that, but I look at this situation and I 100% agree with Twitter that she was in the wrong.

Agree with Twitter that I should have been suspended for the comment, but you don’t agree with Twitter that I should be suspended for the comment? Okay, thanks for weighing in.

TCW, you agree with Twitter that I should have been suspended for the comment, but you don’t agree with Twitter that I should be suspended for the comment? Okay, thanks for weighing in.

“So, Twitter should put an end to abusive and threatening tweets but not when they person is returning abuse? It’s OK then?”

Yes, TCW, it IS okay then. An intelligent person who’s interested in actually working toward the just treatment of all people, instead of a dullard scoring points against strangers from oppressed groups behind an internet pseudonym, is capable of making that distinction.

This article fails to demonstrate that anyone but the cartoonist, who tweeted a threat of rape herself, deserved to be blocked.

I don’t doubt the situation but this article fails to actually make the point. If I’m judging only from what I read in this blog here, the right person was banned.

If the other guys made threats like this and didn’t just “inserted himself into that conversation to suggest that violent feminist rhetoric like ours is the real cause of rape” then those examples should have been included – but as it is presented here, this guy was just annoying and was threatened with rape for his troubles.

I don’t think that’s cool.

“His troubles” is a nice way to gloss over a torrent of MRA-speak mansplaining invective thrown at women constantly, and the mock offense when someone lashes out is basically just “WHEN’S WHITE HISTORY MONTH?” dressed up in a fedora.

What’s not cool is tone policing the article to take the focus away from harassment of women online, which is pretty much what happens any time an article like this comes out.

fuck this, she couldnt handle a crap comment in a decent, mature way. Instead she threatened violent bodily harm to another person. she threatened to RAPE someone. That make HER the scumbag, whatever was said before is irrelevant. She deserves to be banned like anyone else who would do the same.
she should have some respect for victims of rape and not throw it around like its nothing. She could have taken higher ground, but instead she revealed what a low piece of shit she is.

There’s pretty much nothing that any authority – from twitter people, to small claims courts, to Obama, to the Illuminati – can do to make the words “I’m going to rape you” mean anything other than what they mean. At the very best it was a rape JOKE, which is equally reprehensible, possibly even more so given her gender and her subscription to feminism. So all appeals claiming Julia was in the right are pointless.

I’m getting weird Autistic vibes from this too. Maybe an analogy will help.

J.S. Bach composed his fugal music with many clever and noble things in mind, however none of them can do much to change the fact that it sounds like a borderline-amusical hodgepodge that makes Vaporwave sound human. Incidentally, this is probably the reason Bach was ignored during his lifetime. Regardless of intent or context, a cacophonous mass of notes is a cacophonous mass of notes – a rape threat is a rape threat. Nothing more to it.

I don’t know if you guys realize, but this is the worse possible approach if you want her account restored. Yes, it is the best approach if you want to do it “feministically” or make a case for the broader spectrum of online abuse or whatever. But not if you want to get your account back. It’s more than a little ironic, no? Continue spamming twitter with the same attitude, turning yourself from a footnote into a full-blown undesirable person and basically making sure you stay banned for good BUT contributing to the fight against…I don’t know, neckbeards and dudebros? OR eating some humble pie, apologizing to twitter, and possibly getting unbanned.

If there IS a possibility of getting her account restored, it would have to start with a full admission of guilt from Julia with no mention of context, intent, or what the other party said.

By the way, Sean, I think you’re dangerously close to being banned for spam.

Same as it ever was. Bullies get a free pass to make people’s lies hell, but if a target stands up to them, the system smacks them down, hard. Who knew adult life was exactly like junior high?

I can understand why Julia snapped back, given what women in comics have had to put up with for so long. In case you missed it, here’s a Comics Alliance article that spells it out. Hard to believe this crap is still going on. I blame the superhero fanboy culture that still treats women as some alien species.

And, “pete,” your childish, profane comment is utterly repulsive. How old are you, 13? That’s how you’re acting.

http://comicsalliance.com/comics-industry-harassment/?trackback=fbshare_flat_4

Well, I guess it might help if somebody, somewhere still wanted to pay for editorial cartoons (?)

“Well, I guess it might help if somebody, somewhere still wanted to pay for editorial cartoons (?)”

Exactly. This reminds me of recent discussions about the shortage of female movie critics. Hardly anyone — male or female, black or white — is getting hired to review movies or draw editorial cartoons. Certainly not at daily newspapers outside the biggest cities.

The newspaper where I work hasn’t had a cartoonist or a movie reviewer in a decade. When their longtime cartoonist and critic retired, they simply weren’t replaced. Now they just run syndicated cartoons and wire reviews.

I’m glad to hear that an Archive team was put together. I hope they manage to find the CCA archives somewhere in there!

http://robot6.comicbookresources.com/2014/04/where-are-the-archives-of-the-comics-code-authority/

This is wonderful! Thanks for posting the smaller scan. I understand the full-resolution version is too big to post here, but is there a link to somewhere else that it can be found?

Their fashion is incredible – suits for the men and elegant outfits with hats for the ladies. They look like they’re having a great time.

I’m not sure what the hubub is about the ” lost” 1939 96-page WORLD’S FAIR comic. There are other copies around, and DC even reprinted the entire issue in the Archives: http://www.comics.org/issue/297576/ .

Heidi M. wrote: “The men of DC must have invited all of their mothers, girlfriends and wives. Or maybe some of them even worked in comics during the War years?”

Yes, a lot of women were hired as writers and artists during WWII. When the men came back, most of them lost their jobs, which happened in every industry.

I’d imagine that some of DC’s young male employees were still in uniform at this point (only four months after Japan’s surrender).

Wow! Kudos to DC for this. And for sharing here!

This was right after DC and All-American Merged operations completely after a split for a year.

I’d love to see a volume on Ramona Fradon… though I think Fiona Staples and Amanda Conner would be better bets.

I collect some of these and have I have been waiting for one on Amanda Conner and Becky Cloonan. I can’t believe there are 30 volumes in and there hasn’t been one female artists.

LOL, Ron Garney as a modern master? Stretching the definition of master here.

This is scandalous. Julie Doucet should have been on Wizard’s Top 10 Hottest Artists list.

And what is the deal with people drawing faeries? I do not understand that! It does not appeal to my tastes! It must just be a way for people to–

Kidding, I love Charles Vess’s art.

But really, folks, TwoMorrows is not Marvel. There’s not much money or cultural capital at stake here. “Modern Masters” is a marketing term, not some genuine honor or award in the industry. TwoMorrows will eventually get around to a book on Amanda Conner or Jill Thompson, and then… this line of artist spotlights will remain vastly disproportionately male, just like its audience. And Kate Beaton and Noelle Stevenson will continue to do just fine, without the help of the traditional comics-shop crowd.

Marie Severin! For cryin’ out loud. A comic genius, and she was on the foundations of Marvel Comics before Marvel was even Marvel.

And Sara Pichelli . Modern and Master both apply.

I would buy a Jan Duursema Modern Masters collection in a heartbeat.

Charles Vess! Very cool. I’m sure you’re on everybody’s masters list. That aside, I think there was a drought of women in comics for a long time (outside of those you mentioned). In modern times, it appears that most of the women who are breaking into comics aren’t doing it at one of the big 2, but with smaller publishers or going it solo. I don’t think anyone these days will make any such claim that there AREN’T any women masters in comics, or that women aren’t ‘capable’ of producing such work.

Here’s a name that fits in with the masters they have published (i.e., in the superhero genre): Sara Pichelli. She’s one of the best artists I’ve seen in years.

Can’t we all (comics fans) get along? There’s good in every genre of comics. And artists of all sexes to be celebrated. Let’s not waste precious comics reading time fighting each other!

Being a silver and bronze age fan myself, I own many of the TwoMorrows books, but I’ll have to admit, when you call a series ‘Modern Masters’ — well, you do paint a bit of a target on yourself as to who gets in this exclusive ‘club’. Unfortunately, to date, that club has a big ‘No Girls Allowed’ sign on it. I would like to think (hope) it’s because the TwoMorrow editors only see things through a certain set of myopic glasses — not because there’s deliberate discrimination there. But by doing so, they *are* missing out on expanding not only their own horizons, but their audiences’ as well. Hopefully, this article will get them off the dime and finally committing to the volumes they are “trying to do”.

In the meantime, I’d like to recommend two books in my library that are still available about two of the candidates mentioned here — The Art of Ramona Fradon published by Dynamite Entertainment and Marie Severin: The Mirthful Mistress of Comics from aforementioned TwoMorrows. And for a terrific overview of the talented ladies of comics, also check out Pretty In Ink: North American Women Cartoonists, 1896-2013 by Trina Robbins from Fantagraphics. In fact, Trina’s written a number of entertaining retrospectives on women in variety of comics genres — and is a ‘Modern Master’ herself worthy of a volume on her own noteworthy career (TwoMorrows, take note!)

*glances up from a Alison Bechtel comic*

Wait…what’s everybody talking about?

Rowena? Olivia deBernardis? Julie Bell? There’s more to genre art than just comics work, after all.
But if you want to stick to comics and be really daring: Cathy Guisewite.

Are you going Heidi?

Can you loudly scream MAKE MORE COMICS over and over until you are removed?

LOVE THIS !

Holy s#it.
Now I have to go!