How much $$$ does a comic book writer/ artist make ??

[DiceX]

Man, if you could be the House Flatter for Marvel or DC and do, 20 books a month, you do ok for yourself.

I've done basic coloring like that of my art in Photoshop and it seemed pretty easy.

 

Back before computers, didn't they use some kind of number system for the colorist to go from (using, obviously a much smaller range of colors)?

 

They have plugins that auto flat the pages now. Seems that trade has been eliminated.

I've not kept up with it for many years and found that info doing a search.

 

 

[sd2416]

Only unique superstar artists make the huge money,but you have to remember, this isn't the early 90's anymore. Plus you have to slave over an art board for 18 hours a day, No "my shift is over at 5pm".

 

I know a couple of artists that work for comic companies and they don't slave over an art board for 18 hours a day. Both work about 6 -8 hour a day. Some they do more, some less. One works on 2 or 3 projects in that day.

 

 

[oakman29]

Some too much,most not enough.

[Ringfinger]

Seems not enough to me.

[paperheart]

i seem to recall an article about Mark Waid that said he made $400k a year (this was back in his prolific period)

[the blob]

There's this really cool thing called Google and I typed in: comic book artist starting page rates

 

 

The second hit was: Beginning Pay for a Comic Book Artist

 

To make it easier, so that you don't have to click on anything, here's what it says:

 

Beginning Pay

Beginning comic book artists usually get paid by the page. Commonly, publishers contract illustrators to create art for monthly books, which means meeting strict deadlines. Interviewed by "The Independent" in 2008, comic book artist Jim McCarthy, author and illustrator of "Sex Pistols: The Graphic Novel," stated that a beginning comic book artist would likely to earn about $200 to $250 per black and white page. That rate increases to about $350 to $400 for full-color pages.

 

--- This is high by about 400%

 

Supplemental Income

Many comic book artists also create stories and characters. In this case, artists can receive royalties on book sales, merchandise and spin-offs. The exact of amount is negotiated on a case-by-case basis. At the beginning level, "The Independent" reports that artists who also write their books earn an additional $50 to $65 per page, as of 2008 rates. Artists can also sell their original panel artwork. Beginners might only earn $100 per page, but veterans can make tens of thousands for artwork that has achieved iconic status.

 

-- Haven't bought OA in a while, but there is (was) plenty of modern OA out there for $10-$25 a page...so much for beginners making $100 page. most pages are pretty boring..think about it

 

Variable Factors

Comic book artists often work as independent contractors, so pay varies by the number of projects. Publishers determine their own pay rates, so even at the entry level, artists are likely to earn more at prominent publishers than at independent presses. Some artists even work for free to get a foot in the door. Pay rates and salaries vary greatly according to experience, reputation, workload, project and publisher.

 

Advanced Pay

In 2008, top pay for the most prominent comic book artists was about $1,000 per page. Books usually run about 22 pages and are published monthly, so one book can equal a monthly paycheck of more than $20,000 for advanced illustrators. Comic book artist John Cassaday, illustrator of such prominent Marvel titles as "Captain America" and "X-Men," reported a salary of $250,000 when interviewed by "Portfolio" in 2008.

 

--- Do the math on this. 50-70K is a decent size print run nowadays. Figure the publisher takes in a buck a book on regular $2.99 books after printing/shipping costs and the distributor getting some cut? (That might be high.) So...paying $20K just for the art on a gross of $50-$70K seems pretty high. It's another thing on some mega event that will sell 150K copies I guess.

 

Think about a book like Chew. 15-20K print-run? So we're talking about maybe a $15K gross that needs to be divided up?

[dupont2005]

Disregarding the big names, I think I have seen prices ranging from $50-$100 per page with inks and lettering

[shadroch]

Publisher gets about 40% of cover, so a $3 comic gives him about $1.20.

 

[DiceX]

Publisher gets about 40% of cover, so a $3 comic gives him about $1.20.

 

Out of which he has to pay to get it printed, the artists, and the editors. That's not $1.20 profit.

 

 

[oakman29]

Publisher gets about 40% of cover, so a $3 comic gives him about $1.20.

 

Out of which he has to pay to get it printed, the artists, and the editors. That's not $1.20 profit.

 

 

Yeah there are alot of pieces to that pie,most artists barely make enough to pay bills.They all don't make McFarlane or Alex Ross type money.

[unmovedmover]

Man, if you could be the House Flatter for Marvel or DC and do, 20 books a month, you do ok for yourself.

I've done basic coloring like that of my art in Photoshop and it seemed pretty easy.

 

Back before computers, didn't they use some kind of number system for the colorist to go from (using, obviously a much smaller range of colors)?

 

They have plugins that auto flat the pages now. Seems that trade has been eliminated.

I've not kept up with it for many years and found that info doing a search.

 

 

Can you link me to the info you found on that? I'd be interested in those plugins.

[jonjesper]

Royalties are also nice and are the gift that keeps on giving.

[batman_fan]

don't forget the chicks. we all know comic artist get loads of chicks. now that's got to be worth something.