Whats the going rate per page for a comic book artist these days ?

[Senormac]

I imagine artists work out their own business negotiations these days ....or do they? I think it used to be that the Comic Book publishers like Marvel, DC.... Dark Horse.....whoever, paid a per page rate, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any experience or information on this ?

 

How about the writer per page or does he work per -script ?

[comix4fun]

I imagine artists work out their own business negotiations these days ....or do they? I think it used to be that the Comic Book publishers like Marvel, DC.... Dark Horse.....whoever, paid a per page rate, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any experience or information on this ?

 

How about the writer per page or does he work per -script ?

 

 

It's a scale, there isn't a set number. Marvel and DC, and other publishers, have pricing scales per page.

 

For artists there are pencil rates, ink rates, paint rates, etc.

 

However, there are also a ton of other factors that go into how an artist gets paid at the end of it all (royalties, incentives, etc.) that make it almost impossible to say "An artist will get paid $X per page".

[sd2416]

I had always thought it was based of the sales/popularity of the book.

ASM/UXM will pay more then Quasar.

[Senormac]

I imagine artists work out their own business negotiations these days ....or do they? I think it used to be that the Comic Book publishers like Marvel, DC.... Dark Horse.....whoever, paid a per page rate, but I'm not sure. Anyone have any experience or information on this ?

 

How about the writer per page or does he work per -script ?

 

 

It's a scale, there isn't a set number. Marvel and DC, and other publishers, have pricing scales per page.

 

For artists there are pencil rates, ink rates, paint rates, etc.

 

However, there are also a ton of other factors that go into how an artist gets paid at the end of it all (royalties, incentives, etc.) that make it almost impossible to say "An artist will get paid $X per page".

 

So there must be a base rate then.... a starting point, before all the stuff like royalties and sales get figured in. If not, then I get the impression it really is more of a team effort with everyone dividing the spoils. I remember reading about Jack Cole drawing Plastic Man and the boss (editor?) after they had used the work to print the comic.....just tore the originals up and threw them in the trash. Course that was the 40's. But even in the 70's and 80's weren't artists still working on a per page rate ?

 

[Artboy99]

The biggest change that has occurred is the digital era. Now artists retain the original work, which they can in turn sell if they so choose. In the old days original art was the property of the company.

[ashrael]

I have wondered about paychecks, because even crappy art can be worth a lot if the writing is great and there is a lot of fanfare. The crappy artist sells his art and makes $$$, while the writer gets nada.

 

(I am sure this doesn't happen too much)

[User 01001010]

i'm paid on a per -script basis. anywhere from very little to good. plus for the titles i own i get a small advance and the majority of profits (shared with the artist in a 50/50 split).

 

for my copywritten concepts and ideas, i give 50% rights to the original artist since i can't draw. found this to be the best way to do it after talking to tim seely last year regarding how best to divvy up rights.

[Norrin_Radd]

Ye olde thread...

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=684101&fpart=all

[Flash105]

That is interesting reading. If you can crank out work, get a creator owned hit, and have a regular gig on a big book you can make some real money. How much do you think covers go for?

[User 01001010]

Ye olde thread...

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=684101&fpart=all

 

 

sadly in the indy world, it is nowhere close to that. but you keep the rights to what you create though. that is a good thing if you get even a small hit. not sure how much the big houses pay anymore since the top selling book doesn't break 80k each month anymore.

[the blob]

The Village Voice had a big article on how tough it is to make any money at this, but, of course, they focused on small press indie stuff and just sort of skirted over the bigger companies. Oddly, a few of the people they interviewed doing indie stuff (and making very little) had worked at the big companies on occasion as well, but they didn't ask how much they had been making before. They quoted Image as basically saying 'we get so many submissions from creators and artists that are really really horrible" without getting into what they pay for good stuff. Typical Village Voice article ignores 95% of the actual comics market.

[User 01001010]

what i've found so far, is image has very high standards (funny if you think about all the horrible books they put out over the years). out of all the major indy publishers, is the publisher that a creator would have "making it" now.

 

there are plenty of smaller indy pubs that one can be successful (popularity and financially) besides image, idw & dark horse.

 

i do have one title that i am prepping to submit to image. don't know how it'll go but getting some guideance from valentino has helped.

 

most of the publishers that i'm focusing on is avatar, oni, antartic, zenescope (who knows?), idw and bloody pulp books (steve niles' small press company. he has given me the most info and how to's than anybody else).

 

the jobs i'm doing now are for foriegn markets and for some publishers that are going into comics from novels.

 

it's tough, but my resume is growing and i'm hopeful that current jobs will help with getting exposure to some of the bigger publishers.

 

i have no desire to write for marvel. i would write for dc.

[Senormac]

Ye olde thread...

 

http://boards.collectors-society.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=684101&fpart=all

 

Thanks NR. I knew some archivists would show up sooner or later (we need some kind of a thank you smiley )

[Kevin76]

I'd like to know what all the image guys were making at Marvel before they left...