Expert: Brian G. Philbin - 5/22/2008

Question
QUESTION: In order to publish a comic book, do you have to pay$? Or is it covered by the company? I'm looking at Image inparticular...

ANSWER: Hi, Trevor -

Thanks for your question!

In the industry, there are two ways of publishing work - either work-for-hire (having been hired by the company and creating projects under their umbrella) or independently publishing comics on your own (creating the character, creating the art and story for the comic and, thereby, owning it, and paying to publish it yourself).  

The writing and drawing talent for Marvel and DC were very frequently pooled from previous independent projects, but Image tends to do that, now, as well.  However, Image is a bit different, in that they will put their label on the comic to give it attention if they think that it is worthwhile, but profits are only realized after all costs are covered, so the creator doesn't get paid unless the book makes a buck.  There are also instances in which rights for a character created by individuals were transferred to the publisher, even though the creator had a deal with the publisher to retain the rights.

For instance, Bill Willingham, who writes and draws "Shadowpact" for DC started out  writing and drawing the "Elementals" for a small, independent company called "Comico", who promised him complete control and ownership of his own creations, but later filed bankruptcy and withheld his ability to transfer his creation to another company and even sold the rights to the Elementals out from under him.  He went on to create "Fables" for Vertigo and has written much more than he has drawn lately, but is a very popular creator.

That same company had a deal with Matt Wagner, who wrote and drew "Mage" and "Grendel", but Wagner ended up obtaining his rights to those characters after the whole bankruptcy thing was handled.

Also, Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman, who published their own comic book in the mid-1980's are now multi-millionaires because the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles belonged wholly to them and were subsequently licensed for movies, television and toys.

If you have an idea for a character/comic, I highly recommend publishing your own book.  And luckily for you, the "How To" on such things has been published recently.  You can find it here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823024555/104-6656371-2017513?v=glance&n=28315

Also, there is a company that will publish as many or as few comics as you want for cheap, here:

http://www.ka-blam.com/

Best of luck to you!  I hope you enjoy great success!

Pax, harmonia,

Brian G. Philbin
http://www.metropolisplus.com/comics

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Also, how will you be paid and for that matter what is the average amount of pay that would be given to the crew? (there are two of us and we cover everything, pencil,ink, color ect.)

ANSWER: That has a lot to do with the deal that you strike if you're working for a company like DC or Marvel.  They're the only ones who pay a regular paycheck that entails a per-page rate.  However, that information is an industry secret, as contracts with for-hire workers are confidential.

Image strikes a different kind of deal, but they don't pay a per-page rate, they figure out how much your book makes and then pays you a percentage of that.

If you're publishing it yourself, then you get all of the money you make from doing so.

Hope that's helpful!

Pax, harmonia,

Brian



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: How would(if I published my own comics)I distribute them?

Answer
Hi, again, Trevor -

You would need to go through Diamond and there is a process to getting accepted, but that would be something that you'd have to look into in the book that I gave you the link for - here it is again:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0823024555/104-6656371-2017513?v=glance&n=28315

If you want just the basics, I recommend you look at Diamond's submission package information, starting at:

http://vendor.diamondcomics.com/public/

Hope that's helpful!

Pax, harmonia,

Brian