The future of comics and graphic novels... and my utopian hopes.

[taniadelrio]

I was checking one of my favorite sites, Mangablog, and from there I was led to a link of a recent blog post by Becky Cloonan about floppies vs. graphic novels and how the whole Original Graphic Novel thing can't keep on the way it is. Too demanding, not enough pay, and individual volumes tend to disapear on the shelves with the rest of the masses

Comments

[mistressnashya]

Maaan, I couldn't wait to get home to read this. I saw it on my way to work and was jumpy all day wondering what all you'd get into. Perfect! You hit so many things right on the head about everything in the comic industry right now. I hope what you and Becky wrote gets put up on the main page of SOMETHING. Like maybe TPs site as an article or that website you write stuff for sometimes. Other artists need to see this

[taniadelrio]

Don't worry Ms,Shatia - you're just as articulate as the rest. Thanks for your thoughtful reply, too

[taniadelrio]

Thanks for the comment! I agree - I would love to see a store dedicated to just manga and graphic novels. And I have noticed that my local Borders - which used to be so good about adding new titles to their ever- growing comic section have suddenly seemed to be putting the brakes on in that regard. (Could this be a direct effect of Kurt Hassler leaving his position as the graphic novel buyer for Borders?)

And you bring up another good point - about taking a lower paying gig to get your foot in the door. Heck, that's why I signed on to do Sabrina, and it turned out to be the absolute best choice for me. And that's also why I wanted so desperately to work for TPOP a couple years back - just so I could have the exposure. I guess my perspective has changed somewhat at this point though. I must be getting greedier! ;)

[anderson_t]

Came to this from Mangablog

[taniadelrio]

Welcome! And thanks for your reply - you bring up some good points, and it's nice to hear from a writer's side of things (especially since writers usually get neglected in debates like this). It's not ALL about the artist! :P

I see what you're saying about discussing pay rates openly - and you're right. So much of it has to do with an individual's experience or mainstream appeal. Still, it seems really difficult to gauge even a basic "average" for what you can expect to get paid in this line of work. It's all so secretive and it can be really frustrating to determine what you feel your worth is, versus what an employer says it is, and find a happy medium between the two. Of course, most of us won't be the next Jim Lee, but to even have a glimpse of the overall pay scale would be so helpful...

[limemanga]

As to pay rates: Ideally the page rates for the prepublication would be enough to get the work done and paid for and the paperback would be a separate income stream. It used to be like that in the 80's in France and to some extent in the US (in Epic magazine). I had a storyline published in the German Heavy Metal at one point and they paid around $100 for each page and then again the standard 50% advance for the graphic novel.

Now with Shogun (and presumably with any other upcoming anthology), they're paying a decent amount for prepublication, so you can produce the work. But this is also considered the advance for the paperback (the actual prepublication fee is just a small token amount).

[anderson_t]

It's like Tania expressed above--it's frustrating to hear about how GN’s are booming booming booming, and bookstores fueling that boom are doing so, but with licensed manga from Japan. LOL! Anyone looking to get in on that torrent, comes in to find that despite the boom, there’s just no cash up front plans in place for new domestic talent

[comicmaster_v]

I think the problem with monthly comics right now is that they're too expensive. Why spend $3/issue on monthlies, when you can get a trade of, say, 4 issues for $10, and will most likely contain extras. So it's less money for more content. I'm all for monthlies, but they need to be printed more cheaply. As you said, monthlies are disposable, but I don't think a lot of people see them that way. It seems like fans are more interested in keeping them as collector's items, which is why they have nice printing, driving up the costs

[taniadelrio]

You're right about monthlies being too expensive! I also balk at paying 3 dollars (or more!) on an issue of something - unless it's an artist or writer than I really love. But because of rising prices, I'm less likely to take a chance on a new series. I know printing costs have gone up and most books are printed on glossier stock, compared to the crappier newsprint days. But I'd much rather read a monthly on cheap paper and pay less. Save the fancy paper for the trades, I say!

[taniadelrio]

Thanks, Becky! Usually I don't get too riled up about things, but your blog entry really got me thinking... and I realized I had all these things building inside me that I just had to get out!

I like that despite the problems you pointed out, you remain quite optimistic for the future of the industry. I'd like to share that optimism as well. It's too easy to just get upset and beat down by everything that is going wrong.

And I have to say... if Marvel did release all the Civil War stuff as a monthly volume like you suggested, I would have *definitely* picked it up - and I'm not usually a big reader of superhero stuff. I think if anyone could make a monthly anthology work, it'd be DC or Marvel.

Well, thanks again for the comment - and for getting this fire started!