Indy Comics Writer

I remember reading something funny about Playboy magazine during its heyday: Someone said something like, “Playboy is one of the most popular magazines in the country. Yet you never see anyone reading it on the train.”

Well, I still don’t see anyone reading Playboy on the train. I even remember a candid-camera-type show doing a skit where people did read the magazine openly on public transportation. Fellow passengers had reactions ranging from anger to bemusement to inappropriate interest.

I bring this up because I wonder if some of us practice a form of the Playboy habit by refusing to read our beloved comic books in public places. We all know why some might feel uncomfortable holding up the latest issue of Hellboy. You feel a bit like a geek, right? You think people will snicker at you, especially if you’re past a certain age?

Well, so what? Who cares if someone thinks you’re a geek? You probably are. And who cares if people laugh? They probably have a Danielle Steele novel tucked in their bag.

Comics will never get the respect they deserve unless your fellow commuters see you proudly reading a copy of Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse. So take your graphic works out of your briefcases, purses and backpacks and flip through those pages proudly. Remember, there’s nothing wrong with being a comics geek!

Sometimes writing for comics seems like a thankless job: No one wants to pay new writers. Artists are tough to find, and often disappear in the middle of a project. The industry is so dominated by two big players that it’s almost impossible to land a job anywhere as a writer in the comics world.

But for all the stresses and frustrations, comics writing is still great fun. For one thing, it’s creative. For another, the medium allows you to tell stories in a way no other medium can.

And, most importantly, it’s not commercial real estate.

Let me explain this: One of my major freelance non-fiction jobs involves writing for and editing a commercial real estate magazine. These days, everyone involved in the magazine is a bit touchy. If you’ve not turned on the TV or read a newspaper in the last year, you might not know that the U.S. real estate industry is suffering a major crash. For our magazine, this means it’s harder than ever to get those ads.

Because of this, the salesmen working on the magazine are taking out their frustrations on the editorial staff. For instance, last month, I held out a column written by an advertiser because we didn’t have enough space for it. Instead, the column is running in our January issue. You’d have thought I went to that advertiser’s office and set it afire the way the sales staff reacted. I’ve been dealing with the wailing and whining all day. In fact, I am ready to set an office on fire, the office of the magazine that I edit.

Anyway, this kind of aggravation makes the headaches that come with comic-book writing seem like a vacation to Hawaii. Remember this the next time you’re ready to toss those dreams of making it in this field.

I received in my e-mail inbox this morning my first piece of happy comics news of 2009: A short strip of mine will appear early this year in MangaQuake, an anthology series published in the United Kingdom. This morning, I saw the final results of the drawn and lettered seven-page script.

Let me tell you, it’s fantastic. The artist, Triluz from Belgium, is amazing, and has turned in some fine-looking work on this script. I wish I could post a page or two here, but I won’t be doing that until the strip is actually published. I’m especially happy that Triluz is working on another of my short scripts, “Baby Button,” which will appear in a 2009 edition of IF-X, an anthology published by the Hamtramck Idea Men right here in the United States.

Finding Triluz has been a blessing. I’m hoping to have to her draw some of my other short scripts. We all know that it’s very difficult for writers to sell a comic script without any art attached. It’s even harder to sell a script when, in a fit of desperation, you hook up with an artist who isn’t really ready for prime time. (I’ve made this mistake. I’m sure many new comics writers, desperate to have at least some art with their scripts, have done the same.) But having a great artist illustrate your scripts increases your odds of publication in this field enormously.

So here’s hoping that my early happy 2009 moments bode well for the rest of the year. Last year was a tough one on the work front: I worked harder than ever, but ended up making a bit less money than I did in 2006 and 2007, my two best years of freelance writing. Of course, it could have been a lot worse. We’ve all seen, and many have experienced, the toll that the recession has taken on so many professionals.

I have my hopes, though, that 2009 will be a year we can all look back on fondly. Keep writing, and keep aiming for your goals. My friend, who works in the PR field and has to be positive all the time, says you only fail when you stop trying. So … keep on trying.

I’m guessing that I’m not alone in wishing 2008 a hearty “good riddance.”

This was one tough year financially. The majority of my income doesn’t come, unfortunately, from writing comics. Instead, I get most of my yearly money from writing non-fiction stores for newspapers, magazines, Web sites and trade publications. And of this, much of my income comes from magazines covering the residential and commercial real estate industries.

Now, that was great news during the housing boom that lasted in the United States from roughly 2001 through 2006. But during the housing slump, during which house sales have plummeted and housing prices have fallen just as much. At the same time, the real estate magazines that I write for are struggling, with ad sales at record lows. That means fewer pages, and fewer holes for a freelance writer like myself to fill.

I have hope, though, that the second half of 2009 will see some improvements in the housing market. And when that happens, those magazine sales and pages will increase, along with freelance-writing opportunities at them.

I hope, too, that your 2009 will be better than your 2008.

I’ve been writing for comics publishers for about two years now. I’ve had some success. One independent publisher has hired me to write four series, one of which, GEARZ, has already been published. I’ve also had four short stories accepted by anthology publishers, been hired to rewrite an artist/writer’s comic and wrote a graphic adaptation of Jules Vernes’ 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for another publisher.

But with all this, I’ve not made nearly enough money. Most of my income comes from my non-fiction freelance writing. If I had to survive on comics, I wouldn’t even be able to afford Ramen noodles.

That leads me to this interesting story at the Pulse, a Web site covering comics. It’s an interview with Darren Davis, head of Bluewater Comics, the company that I’ve written four mini-series for.

In the interview Darren — who is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet in the comics business — bemoans the state of the comics industry. Specifically, he worries about the future of independent comics. No one’s buying them, he points out. And Bluewater itself has had to cancel several promising series because sales just weren’t high enough. He wonders how any independent can ever make a profit.

What do you think? Is it possible for an independent comics publisher to succeed today? I know some have, but the success stories such as Image and Dark Horse are few and far between.

Whether you agree with Davis or not, his interview certainly provides some food for thought.

It’s hard not to reflect a bit during the holiday season, no matter which holiday you celebrate. And because I spent much of this year trying to build up a career writing for the comics industry, much of my reflection this year has turned to the graphic novel and comics industry.

And here’s what I wish: I wish the industry wasn’t dominated as much as it is by the big two, Marvel and D.C.

Now, I know that there are plenty of smaller, independent options out there. Companies like Slave Labor Graphics, Fantagraphics, First Second Books and many others do some wonderful work. But when you think of comics, you still think of Marvel, D.C., Spider-Man, Superman, Batman and the Hulk, right?

This has hurt the industry. For one thing, too many young creators pour all their energies into creating the next big superhero, hoping to one day have the chance to write their own Batman, Spider-Man and Iron Man adventures. Of course, the odds of any creator getting the chance to one day write for the Big Two are infinitely small. But the worst thing is that this mindset prevents these creators from working on something more imaginative. Instead of wasting time creating yet another Batman clone, these creators could be working up a Western comic that shocks us all or a mystery that baffles us.

Secondly, the Big Two have such a hold on the comics industry, that hardly anyone else can make any money in it. One publisher I write for regularly pays only on the back end. That means that most of his creators make pennies, if they’re lucky. Independents, at least the vast majority of them, don’t sell enough copies of their comics to make real profits. Again, this is a shame: Too many talented creators leave the field simply because there’s no money in it for them.

It’s probably a naive wish to hope that independents continue their slow growth and one day open the comics field to all sorts of creators and genres. I can hope, though, right?

I’m still getting the hang of this collaboration thing. As a writer who can’t draw, I have to work with other artists. Sometimes I get impatient and try to work with artists whom I know aren’t quite right for my projects.

It may be that they’re just not good enough yet. Or maybe their style doesn’t fit with my story. But because these newer artists are willing to work free, I jump at the opportunity to collaborate with them. Then, reality sets in. They begin turning in pages and the work is … unpublishable.

This has happened twice to me in the last two months. Both times I made the fatal mistake of taking too long to mull over my next move. I should have immediately written both artists and ended our collaboration. And I should have been honest about the reason: The work they turned in wasn’t of a high enough quality for publication. Instead, I hemmed and hawed. When I finally did spring the bad news, both artists were understandably ticked at me.

I think I’ve resolved both situations. Not exactly amicably, mind you, but at least no one wants to kill me. At least I hope not …

The lesson here is an obvious one: No one likes to be the bearer of bad news. But sometimes you have to be. And the sooner you get it over with, the better for everyone.

I’ve been working at writing for comics for about two years now. Hard to believe. Here’s the number-one thing I’ve learned: If you actually find someone who pays you what they promise when they promise, hold on to that client for dear life.

In my short time in this industry, I’ve seen more than five artists I was working with suddenly disappear. No messages, no phone calls, nothing. They just left in the middle of working on a project with me. I’ve run into one artist who had such an overinflated view of his own talent that he couldn’t believe it when I told him I didn’t want to work with him anymore. It took me months to finally get him out of my hair.

And then there are the publishers who go out of business without a word to the talent they’ve been working with. This has happened three times to me already, all three times after these “publishers” committed to running one of my short stories in their anthologies.

So, yes, this is one tough business populated with flakes, wannabes and scammers.

That’s why when you finally do find someone who does exactly what’s promised, you keep ‘em. That happened to me late last week. I’m rewriting a comic for an artist. He promised to pay me half my fee after I turned in the first half of his rewritten graphic novel. He did just that. And for the amount he said he’d pay. It was a minor miracle.

Hopefully, when this project is done, I can work with this artist again. It sure beats dealing with the nuts out there.

I’m all for dreaming big when you’re building a writing career. We should all aspire to write the next Great American novel. We should all want to create the next blockbuster comic-book character.

But you have to be realistic, too. If you’re new to this business, if you’ve not yet proven yourself or if you’ve not even been published in the comics world, it’s probably not a wise use of your time to plan how you’d proceed if Marvel or D.C. gave you a call.

This is on my mind because of a recent thread at the Digital Webbing forums that asked the question: If Marvel or D.C. called, which of their characters would you like to revamp?

Now, it doesn’t hurt to fantasize about changing up Batman or Superman. And the thread is a fun one to read. But I seriously hope that no novice comics writers are actually worrying about one day tackling Wolverine or Spider-Man. The odds are extremely long that any of us will ever write for Marvel or D.C., even after spending years publishing in anthologies and independent publications. There just aren’t enough jobs at the big two for everyone who wants one.

I have little hope of ever working for either company. But that’s not the end of the world. The world of independent graphic novels and comics is growing. Other large publishers are also recognizing that kids and teens like graphic novels, and they are expending their own graphic-novel publishing arms.

It’s OK to dream of one day writing The Avengers. But it’s far more realistic to dream instead of one day seeing your own creation hitting the comic-book shelves, a creation more than likely published by someone other than the big two.

If you, like me, are trying to make it as a writer of comic books you’ve undoubtedly realized something by now: Even if you do get published, it’s awfully hard to actually get any paychecks at all from your comics writing.

Many of the projects I’ve taken on have been back-end deals, meaning I get paid from a comics’ profits. That usually means I don’t get paid anything at all. That’s OK, for now. I’m trying to build a portfolio of work large enough to actually land jobs that do pay upfront.

That being said, it’s still a thrill when you do receive actual money. And that happened last week. I received a check, albeit it a tiny one, from an anthology publisher that printed one of my short comic stories earlier this year. Now, that check will barely buy me two meals at McDonald’s, but still, it’s something. (Actually, if I go off the dollar menu, I could get four or five meals!)

Paychecks are rare for new writers in this industry. I did receive one four figure paycheck early last year. Surprisingly, or not, that company has since gone out of business, and the graphic script I wrote for them will probably never see the light of day. Still, the check didn’t bounce, and it bought a lot more than McDonald’s.

So when you do get paid, however infrequently that may be, for actually being a comic-book writer, savor the moment. You never know when it’ll happen again.