Cartoonist vs. The Man
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“Undercutting Creators”
Comic book artist Dustin Nguyen went on a profanity laden rant about Marvel (and DC too) contracts for the artists that work for the Disney owned company. Nnamdi Ezekwe reporting for CBR covered it:
Eisner Award-winning artist Dustin Nguyen has launched an expletive-filled tirade at Marvel for its poor contract rates and poor treatment of its creators. He also slammed the company’s reticence to pay royalties to creators for overseas sales of their work.
Nguyen aired his grievances on Instagram. “Also, everyone I’m not working with can go f–k themselves. I’ve asked nicely for the past 15 years on behalf of every artist. Stop f–king creators over. You are not getting another cover from me until then. Drown me. I’m ok with your minimum wage bulls..t,” he wrote. Apparently, Nguyen got heat for his strongly worded observation, leading him to double down on his post. “Ok. Getting hits earlier than expected from this one, and I’m kinda glad because I got words. But really, if this bothers you, I’m sorry. Marvel has been undercutting creators from the start unless you’re getting 6-7k a cover- then god bless. I hope you’re getting a piece of the MCU and after-sales.”
No royalties on overseas sales, no piece of the licensed merchandising action, near minimum wage pay.
Dustin later posted a non-apology to those upset by his take:
btw, I regret nothing but poor grammar. I hope the bridges I burn gets rebuilt as a better one for the next generation of creators.
AI Can Help
In her latest Cartooning in the Age of AI (#13) Alex Hallatt steps into contracts with comics companies:
When King Features Syndicate sent me a contract in 2006, I had my dad look at it. He was a lawyer, but for a financing company in England. He couldn’t advise me on the nuances of comic strip syndication, or US law relating to it. I can’t remember how we changed the contract, but we didn’t negotiate better rights for book publishing. Later on I would realise this would be important, and it is one of the reasons I haven’t put out any Arctic Circle print books myself. Luckily King Features have been largely fantastic to deal with and I could renegotiate book publishing terms if I was driven to do so. But I would not be using my dad again to look at any future contracts I was given. I would use Claude AI.
Alex maintains that Artificial Intellence can help with contracts.
As cartoonists who often can’t afford effective legal representation, this [AI] gives us an advantage. For too long big organisations like media outlets and publishing houses have used their legal might to take advantage of cartoonists who can’t afford proper legal advice.
getting paid to draw
My name is Brian Biggs, and I’m an illustrator. That’s not the confession — if you’re here, on my website, you already know that. My confession is that I’m new at this. I’m just starting out. After thirty years of getting paid to draw, I think I’m finally figuring out how this works.
Brian Biggs tells how he expanded his marketability and is having fun once more:
Don’t get me wrong — I love making books for kids. I published four books in 2022. I just completed work on a new Little Golden Book. I’m in the middle of a new picture book I’m illustrating and have another one lined up to follow. I’m in the late stages of writing a new picture book, the early stages of another, and have outlines for two more. All is well! But man, drawing weirder things, things for people who aren’t six years old, that’s a delight. And I want to do more. And I want to get paid for it. I’d love to put these things onto book covers, and on beer or wine labels, and in magazines. But I ran into a problem: things have changed in ten years — no one knows I can and want to do work in these other markets, and I haven’t the faintest idea how to get this work in front of the people who buy it.
“Art is not easy. You have to suffer in joy”
Not to say there is no joy in Mudville – or in the comics business.
Digital comic artist Stanley ‘Artgerm’ Lau is having fun and has some advice for newcomers:
“Fortunately, I grew up in a world without social media or without the internet. So when I was young, I just stayed at home and drew without concern,” he says. “Now it’s not so easy. Young artists always try to find inspiration on social media, but the more they look at other people’s work, instead of inspiring them, it cripples them. You’re no longer comparing yourself to one or two artists – you’re comparing yourself to hundreds every day. Instead of feeling inspired, you feel discouraged.”
feature image by Dustin Nguyen
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