Comic Creators Free Talk

[Kupocake]

Never underestimate the power of good porn/erotica. Congratulations!

[Rieuna]

Congrats! That's a quite a feat! $40,000 is a lot.

I didn't know artists charged per page. I learn something new every day. :]

[IronSpike]

Thanks, everyone!

Bylamp

Congrats! That's a quite a feat! $40,000 is a lot.

I didn't know artists charged per page. I learn something new every day. :]

Yup. "Page rates." Standard form of payment in the comic book industry, variable by skill level and notoriety. If you're working for DC or Marvel, it's usually divided up. Page rates for the writer, penciller, inker, letterer and colorist, and a separate rate for the cover artist, which can be in the thousands.

This can confuse some inexperienced people into thinking you need this assembly line set-up to make ANY comic, but frankly, the majority of comics out there (webcomics, independents, small press, etc.) are by one person who does everything. The assembly line exists because Marvel/DC needs between 24 and 32 pages of a comic done every month, month after month. It's about keeping a schedule and meeting deadlines, not making comics correctly.

[Rieuna]

Wow. Although it seems the assembly line type seems very productive everyone would have to be very cooperative. Deadlines ... I don't know what to say about them. It's a love-hate relationship. Haha.

[Kyousouka]

Bylamp

Wow. Although it seems the assembly line type seems very productive everyone would have to be very cooperative. Deadlines ... I don't know what to say about them. It's a love-hate relationship. Haha.

Sometimes the "collaborators" don't even intersect, so it's not about being cooperative, it's about meeting deadlines. It's up to the project coordinator (editor) to make sure these deadlines are well-designed.

As an artist gains notoriety, they can exert more influence over this system, such as the penciller being able to pick the inker they'd like to work with.

With good management, it can be very productive, but it requires a professional approach and a respect for deadlines. In amateur projects, deadlines are often flexible and self-imposed (not to mention the artists probably have school or day jobs), so it's harder to keep the team on task. I have seen it work in an amateur project though, so I have some faith in it.

Personally, I prefer the one-man-band approach, but that's because I'm in no rush to get my comics out the door.

[Psycho Bunny Studio]

IronSpike

Fun fact: My Kickstarter just hit $40,000. That means I'm breaking even on the project!

Wondering how the hell that works? Watch.

$40,000
- $4,000 (Kickstarter takes 5% of the total. Amazon will likely take another 5% in fees.)
- $6,500 (The artists' bonuses.)
- $8,000 (Printing, storing, and shipping the books.)
- $17,000 (Artists' pay. A $50-per-page page rate for a 350-page book, my own contribution notwithstanding.)
- $4500 (Amount I borrowed from household expenses to get Poorcraft (my previous project) to print while the business went broke from paying SP's artists.)

So, basically, in early July, It will be as if I woke up one morning with 4,000 $30.00 books to sell, having invested nothing to finance their creation!

I'm pretty pleased with this.

Woo! Supergrats man! After you ship what the kickstarter asks for will you be doing a reprint to sell regular issues or sell on demand?

[Psycho Bunny Studio]

Kupocake

Psycho Bunny Studio

*smiles blankly at the whole facebook/G+ conversation because I'm DUUUUMMMMMM and OOOLLLDDDD and can't internet anymore*

You can do art on G+?

Nah, but you can network with artists!

No one's too old to do Facebook/G+. My 50+ year old teachers use Facebook quite well.

whippersnaper.

I might poke at it with G+ it's easier I find since I'm always logged into e-mail for work anyway.

I think when I say "Too old for facebook" I mean "I hate everyone who could look me up on there" I actually did have an account. First person to friend me? The girl who shoved my head into a locker every day for a month in jr. high.

Yeah, I don't even want some of these people knowing I'm alive.

[Psycho Bunny Studio]

Sometimes I'm just an old man in the corner with my rocking chair and cane talking about "IN MY DAY"

[Kupocake]

I already do that with the highschoolers these days. And I only got my right to drink a few months ago.

Speaking of which, I have the alcohol tolerance level of a toddler. Actually, I think most toddlers can outdrink me, if their mothers are negligent enough. Half a lemonade-vodka, and I already felt like puking.

I am a very cheap date, naturally.

[Jovian Temple]

Kupocake

Speaking of which, I have the alcohol tolerance level of a toddler. Actually, I think most toddlers can outdrink me, if their mothers are negligent enough. Half a lemonade-vodka, and I already felt like puking.

I am a very cheap date, naturally.

Largely a matter of finding your poison. I can drink quite a bit of whiskey but beer makes me icky. Drinking sake makes me feel stoned. Seems to depend on the body, its chemistry, and the drink's chemistry.

[Kupocake]

Shouting Fox

Kupocake

Speaking of which, I have the alcohol tolerance level of a toddler. Actually, I think most toddlers can outdrink me, if their mothers are negligent enough. Half a lemonade-vodka, and I already felt like puking.

I am a very cheap date, naturally.

Largely a matter of finding your poison. I can drink quite a bit of whiskey but beer makes me icky. Drinking sake makes me feel stoned. Seems to depend on the body, its chemistry, and the drink's chemistry.

Whiskey makes me giggle for half an hour non-stop, and then I throw up. Beer just tastes funky to me.

But I do like wine. I feel happy and classy after wine.

[IronSpike]

Psycho Bunny Studio

Woo! Supergrats man! After you ship what the kickstarter asks for will you be doing a reprint to sell regular issues or sell on demand?

I'll probably only do a single print run, and do a whole new Smut Peddler in two years. Kinda like Flight, but dirty. And the Kickstarter will pay for enough issues to see me through until the next round in 2014. I'll probably get a print run of like 4,000, with 1,000 already spoken for by KS backers and 3,000 to sell for the next two years.

[xTeChNo_KiSsEsx]

Sorry If this question has already been ask a million times but honestly there are way too many pages to read through but is Archaia Entertainment a creator owned company in a sense that they'll publish your comic or graphic novel and you retain the rights like Image comics?

[Jovian Temple]

xTeChNo_KiSsEsx

Sorry If this question has already been ask a million times but honestly there are way too many pages to read through but is Archaia Entertainment a creator owned company in a sense that they'll publish your comic or graphic novel and you retain the rights like Image comics?

I'd sacrifice the rights to my first ten projects if it meant a profitable career in comics. And then I'd use the money to work on projects I care more about, and the notoriety to shop around for a place for those projects to call home where I will keep the creator's rights.

[Seijaku_Ishida]

Shouting Fox

xTeChNo_KiSsEsx

Sorry If this question has already been ask a million times but honestly there are way too many pages to read through but is Archaia Entertainment a creator owned company in a sense that they'll publish your comic or graphic novel and you retain the rights like Image comics?

I'd sacrifice the rights to my first ten projects if it meant a profitable career in comics. And then I'd use the money to work on projects I care more about, and the notoriety to shop around for a place for those projects to call home where I will keep the creator's rights.

Doing something like that would really only give you a reputation for being easy to screw over.