Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics Broke Me, ComicsBrokeMe

Creators Tell Tales Of Comics Industry Use And Abuse #ComicsBrokeMe

The tragic death of Ian McGinty at the age of 38, has brought a new focus on the working pressures in comics with the hashtag #ComicsBrokeMe.

The tragic death of Ian McGinty at the age of 38, has brought a new focus on the working pressures on modern comic book creators, with the hashtag #ComicsBrokeMe.

Kandra Wells tweeted "Every post about Ian McGinty is "he was the nicest dude in the world, he encouraged me as a young artist, he was so funny and kind" and then, inevitably: "he worked so, so, so much". He worked more than I thought was possible, just constant creative output. He loved comics so much. All he wanted to do was make art. And it's so hard not to feel like the industry took advantage of that and exploited him. No one should be working themselves to death for the rates we are paid. Ian was the best of us. He should have made it to 40. He should have had a lifelong career that enabled him to rest, to heal, to take care of himself. His death is a f-cking shattering indictment of this industry and I hope the publishers who paid him pennies know that. Maybe it's too optimistic to hope that the people in publishing who constantly undercut and underpay their artists will see this as a horrifying awakening. I hope they're paying attention. I hope it haunts them. Ian's struggles were not unique to him, so many of my peers are breaking their bodies and their minds for the opportunity to make poverty wages with no healthcare. It's scary to think he won't be the first or last to leave us so young. Comics aren't worth dying for. I wish you could have found peace in this lifetime, Ian. I wish you'd had the opportunity to take care of yourself a little more. I wish this industry had deserved you."

And many, many, many other comic creators were inspired to share their own experiences. Here, are just a few of them, but the hashtag continues to grow.

Shivana Sookdero: "it has taken me over three years to work on my GN because i had a 7k advance (for over 120 pages of full color art AND lettering) and that meant i had to pick up not only a demanding day job (that started at 45k in f-cking NYC) but also freelance. i had to prioritize money. i didn't prioritize my health. i never saw my friends, i never saw family. i could only grind away bc i am a brown queer who has been f-cking broke and that desperation to not go back to skipping meals to pay rent still haunts me. so i am here now with wildly exacerbated PMDD, PCOS, and a panic disorder. for 7k. paid out in piecemeal. working in publishing and watching my cartoonist peers get ripped off from both sides. burning out while trying so hard to make it Better. we do artists so f-cking dirty. i grieve it every day, along with the ppl we lose to overwork. comics is a beautiful, complicated medium and fair compensation for the people who make them is treated like inconvenience. it is not worth your life. never keep your head down and accept a pittance then destroy your wellbeing to earn it. better you work on your own for yourself as a hobbyist than accept punishing schedules for f-cking nothing. again, i'm privileged. i have health insurance and enough to pay bills ok. my writer and agent are supportive and want to help me get better pay. but for every one of me there are countless others being trod under. we owe it to each other to stay loud about this"

Marc Ellerby: "Boom paid me and my buddy Clark $110 a page (split between us) to do a Regular Show backup comic. That's everything from writing, art, colours and letters. Then there's the exchange rate, bank fees, tax etc. Did anyone read it? Did they f-ck #ComicsBrokeMe … It is day 108 of me trying to get z2 to pay me."

Casey Nowak: "I drew lumberjanes 9-11 for 80 dollars a page. One of the most miserable experiences of my entire life. I took up cigarettes, I kicked a hole in a cabinet door, i woke up stressed out and went to bed stressed out. I hated what i had made. I was embarrassed. And I went crawling back multiple times. I think I got them to give me 90/page at some point. I'm talking layout, pencils and inks. All on Lumberjanes. I guess I believed in the comic. Ian always had it worse and he was just the kind of guy who would be like…"f-ck you, I can do this" I had the same attitude sometimes. You aren't gonna break me with your bullsh-t. But there's no getting through that. Comics are degrading all the way up and down. The deadlines were also always so intense and the feedback wasnt prompt. I mean they treat their staff like trash too as far as I can tell. It seemed like every editor had 30 series.  God he was so passionate. He was so good at it. He was so excited. I'm so sorry. I knew how exploitable he was. I wish I had talked to him about it more. I'm so sorry."

AnneMarie Rogers: "very much my experience lumberjanes. wake up and work until you go to bed and still can't make the deadlines, which is ultimately why they let me go from the project (but not without ghosting me for a few weeks lol!)"

Kelly Fitzpatrick: "I colored an entire book in a weekend for Dynamite once. I think it was an Army of Darkness comic. I didn't sleep for almost 3 days. I think that 1 was my worst. But then I got fibromyalgia and my health hasn't been stable for almost 6 years. They say the stress doesn't help me."

Chris Fenoglio: "Stan Lee Kids Media offered me $0 for all rights to my self published book, Weird Kids. Their contract also stipulated that I might be asked to do promo art and make changes to the book for… free. They also denied my request for first right of refusal to create any potential sequels — of my OWN BOOK. Licensed comics don't pay royalties. Like, ever. I did a book for Scholastic and got offered a second book and turned it down because they "couldn't " get me even a marginal amount of royalty pay. Scholastic… Saw the book I did for them a few years later at the Scholastic Book Fair at my kid's school. It probably didn't do AMAZING sales, but I'm sure it sold reasonably well. …coulda been a financial game changer for me. And yet, through it all, I still get a little swell of pride when I see a book I drew up on the shelf. I'm just a f*cking fool… One more thing about Scholastic: Their deadlines are absurd. My editor wrote me and was like, "You're actually getting things done really fast and on time. How are you doing it because my other artists are all late?" I told her the truth — I was putting a massive strain on my physical health and my marriage to work all hours of the day. She kinda brushed it off… Action Lab ALSO asked me to do about 10 pages of colors for them for a Free Comic Book Day thing. My story never got printed and they ghosted me when I asked to get paid. My editor on that project has since HMU twice to promote his different OGN projects…"

Alise Gluskova: "Payment wasn't high enough for work load, so much drama and there are a lot of bad actors in comics. My favorite comic book series I loved and did issues for it was tainted forever for me, because the editor ended being a sexual harasser."

Fulcagay: "Been publishing my comic since 2017 on webt00n. Got paid fairly well and decided to become a freelance. They unceremoniously decided to stop paying all creators based on views and only pay us based on ad cliks. Weekly episodes are paid a 100$/month now. I'm living out of savings"

Robin Hoelzemann: "You may be wondering why I've not released a comic in a while. I pushed through a comics deadline and I screwed up my hands. Inking hurts. Painting, blessedly, doesn't. I'm lucky, I can work and create; eventually I hope I'll recover. Take care of your bodies. Deadlines won't."

John Reppion: "Comics haven't broke me, but in the 20 years I've been writing them, the page rates of the very best publishers I work for have, at best, remained exactly the same. The book I self published has already paid me more than most of the best paying gigs I've ever had. I mean, they easily could have completley broken me five years ago when Leah suffered her brian injury but, thanks to @destructo9000
and loads and loads of increadibly generous people who donated to the Just Giving they set up, we had enough money to live on while she recuperated"

Andrea Purcel: Most of you know me through my work at Iron Circus, where I've worked since 2019. I recently asked for a raise, since I've been making $1875 a month this year.Spike refused. She has told business contacts that I quit. I assure you I did not.

Jody Houser: "The worst part about the #ComicsBrokeMe posts is that so many people didn't feel comfortable talking about the issues they've had until a friend and colleague died. We make comics because we love comics. No one should ever have to sacrifice their well-being for that. I stayed at my full-time day job as long as I could while writing comics so I could keep my (very good) health insurance. Decided it wasn't worth it after I cracked two molars grinding my teeth in my sleep from stress. Killing yourself for health insurance is counter-intuitive. I'm very lucky that I've been able to freelance full-time and get (not nearly as good but still okay) health insurance from the CA exchange. But. I'm a writer. It's a lot easier for me to pile on the work than an artist. Writing is both quicker and less physically demanding. A reminder that colorists are often the most impacted by production schedule delays, generally have to pay flatters out-of-pocket in order to maintain a work schedule that will pay the bills, and have had to fight to even get their name on the book cover."

Tríona Tree Farrell: "I have many stories but the crowd that asked me to colour 70 pages in 48 hours and then fired me when I couldn't comes to mind. Look I love comics but to be real, it's a medium that's not going to exist in about two decades beyond the odd auteur graphic novel at the rate its going. It feels like a medium that relies on young fresh talent that yiu can pay poverty wages and burn them put early. It feels like everyone laughs and says haha comics amirite. I know so many people, friends and others who are so tired, sick and have pushed everything they have into it only to be told that "we can't pay you anymore then a poverty wage and don't argue or we'll fire you" I have a deep twisted fury about this that has been rising for a while. Other creative industries get benefits, they get pay rises, they get proper raises. And I think we all have gaslit ourselves into thinking that a company paying you below minimum wage is somehow okay. (Also for those wondering, that company was also late at paying by 4 months, never communicated and the ceo shouted at me through email and got quite aggressive when I tried to explain the situation. I begged for 3 more days. They found someone else)… It's sadly not uncommon to get asked ridiculous deadlines like this, and then when you can't hit them, the company will take the work from you… It's physically not possible. I could've managed maybe 50. But the flatting alone is impossible."

Tríona Tree Farrell: "This tweet may get me fired. But you know what's a fun fact for colourists? A certain huge company lowered their starting rate for colourists from 120 to 90 recently. I get paid less than nearly all my peers because I started later. Another familiar large company had their rate at 100$ in 2008. Its now 80$. There is literally no way to raise this rate according to the company. I'm probably ruffling some feathers here with employers and older artists. I know the editors are also underpaid and are trying and props to those who fought for me. But I think this needs to be said. Because it feels unfair."

Dee Cunniffe: "Reading the terrible experiences of #ComicsBrokeMe has saddened me. An industry that we love so much shouldn't treat us so badly. I've accrued $50k+ in non payments from publishers/colleagues in the last 10 years, which led me to have to double job in order to pay my bills. I work 80+ hours a week. I've missed family occasions, friends' birthdays, I left my sister's wedding early to hand in pages. I rarely take holidays, and when I do I end up working in the hotel room while my wife does things on her own. I can't sustain this lifestyle much longer. The fear of being dumped by a publisher for pushing back on deadlines or payment is real. We break our bodies, hearts and our minds for comics. It shouldn't be this tough."

Madamka: "I've only started around 4 years ago and it's not like #ComicsBrokeMe (yet) but I had several injuries from overwork + been offered very dodgy contracts (both by platforms & sadly, fellow creatives) that would make me sign away rights for all eternity for like… $400."

Eva Chibireva: "Oh, I have a story about how #ComicsBrokeMe but in a mental way. It was 2019 and I tried to make a comic book in time by myself. And I did 60 full-colored pages plus layout in a month. But for the next 2 years, I had a mental block for making comics. I'm pushing myself too hard. I succeed by the way and made some money from ComicCon where my book sold out. But I got ill right after it. Well, it all was difficult. And what about publishing houses? It is way more complicated. That's why I chose online posting for my next project."

C. Larsen: "I won't say #ComicsBrokeMe because I am a stubborn monster that refuses to die, but I have worked on so many projects (comics and otherwise) at once to square monthly expenses that my general health tanked. I've planned my weeks around when I can manage a string of all-nighters. And, I'd like to add: I'm not a kid anymore. I'm 41. I've not just paid my dues, I've paid interest. All nighters hit so much worse when you've clocked them at middle age, and you have a kiddo/partner that you still have to be human around. Like, I love my work. And I love my other work (teaching), but the amount of financial cobbling together me n the hubs have to do is not fun. We are constantly working."

Sarah Burgess: "I love drawing comics and I won't stop, but wouldn't be able to afford to live a life doing just this. I have to work 4 days a week on another job, and they all think I have a lovely day off, when I actually spend all my time playing catch up on crazy deadlines , PS- my part time salary plus my advance (paid over 2 years) altogether is 22k a year, so even then, I'm short about 10-15k the average salary of normies – if I went full time on my other job, I'd have more money (but I wouldn't be able to draw)"

Teto: "#ComicsBrokeMe italian edition: I'd have loved to do comics in Italy but that's pretty much impossible since the whole industry is based on exploitation. That's why. The average payment for a GN goes from 1500€ to 3000€ (almost never) for ~120 pages (sometimes even more). That means 12€/page and includes EVERYTHING: writing, art, colors, sometimes even lettering. When there are 2+ people involved the payment is the same, just split up. All the comic industry is based on ONE comic convention (Lucca Comics, in October) so everyone just have to rush to hit that deadline, sometimes you have less than a year to do ~120 pages. If you miss that deadline publishers can decide to not release the book until the next year. Most of the GN don't have a proper editor. Most of them don't care much of your book if they think it won't be a big hit, so they just leave you alone during the making of it, mostly the same as being an indie creator. Marketing is the same or even worst. If you are lucky enough to have your book out at Lucca, it could sell a few copies and the marketing it's just being there. Otherwise no publisher actually push much most of the books they publish and creators have to do that on their own. Right now to publish comics in Italy you need followers on social media. That's because publishers rely on your own promotion with your followers to sell the books. What they do is just post on social media when the book comes out, and that's it. After that you are pretty much forgotten. Publishers bring most of their authors to Lucca Comics but for all the next conventions they just can't spend too much money so they don't bring a lot of people, meaning their books will have less visibility. Then there's almost no promotion on social media, because they're already focused on the next books or on few big names (like Zerocalcare). Most of the books have a print run of 1500/3000 copies and a lot of copies in the end go to the shredder. Editors ghost you all the time. They ghost you when you send them a project, they take months to give you a proper answer and sometimes they don't answer at all. When they decide to publish you they ghost you during the making, because they don't care much. After the books is out they ghost you even when you ask something about promotion, conventions or anything regarding you book. All of this for 12€/page. Also, in Italy they keep saying that comics "sell very well". There are plenty of articles about that, gaslighting all the creators that struggle to sell their books. The comics that sell "well" are just a few GN and most of the manga. Luckily we have a strong indie production, with a lot of indie publishers that make incredible books. But that doesn't bring much money, it just showcase how many talented people there are in Italy and how much they get ignored."

ARTeapot: "#ComicsBrokeMe because I worked an entire year on my first published graphic novel entirely for free. The publisher didn't give any advance payment and promised a higher share "when printing costs would be covered by the sales". They never were. There was hardly any help from them to promote the book because "I had to do it" and I couldn't surely do any of that. During that year working I used all my miserable savings and never recovered since. I've been trying to make new comics but it never worked out. My webcomic Banshee never went big on webtoons and tapas so it was again, free work. And i would draw two pages fullcolor in less than 48 hours, plus layout because it was a side job for MY WEEKENDS. I can't afford it anymore so I had to pause it indefinitely. I now work on anything else EXCEPT comics. Whenever there's a job of any kind I take it because I'm always late on rent and other things I can't afford to keep up with everyone else in my life being able to afford stuff. I only get late payments and unbearable clients. I rarely draw. My main job is doing printing layouts and always use a wrist brace when I work. If there's crunch to do, my shoulders start to feel like burning, but I always continue because the pay is already low and I really can't afford it also being even more late than usual or work being suspended. It fills up all my time. I had a chance to start doing art on the regular, but the publishing department got shut down and I lost everything again. I'm crunching jobs I don't like to pay rent. I have a few lucky commissions but I'm still not doing comics because I need to get paid and comics don't pay. I pitched comics and was asked to make test pages. I can't make pages for free atm so I'm on a weird pinch. I have to work for free to have something for editors in case they agree to pay me but I don't have "free" (literally) time. My body may not hurt but my head sure does?! Imo, make a webcomic but readable from patreon subscription."

Vivian Risu "I had a full on meltdown yesterday and cried for the first time over all of the pain I'm in and all the deadlines I still have to meet. The worst part is that I blame myself for all of it: for not being able to take breaks, saying yes when I should be saying no #ComicsBrokeMe. I hate talking about my problems publicly and I'm not gonna ever be able to blast anything specific, but after watching every conversation happen in this industry for several years now, it's so important for us to share what's really happening behind the scenes. I have learned SO much from everyone being open about working with certain publishers and how to take care of yourself. I hope anyone who is looking into doing comics can learn a lot from what creators are saying too."

Rob Jones: "Reading #ComicsBrokeMe and starting to wonder if I'm a masochist for wanting to at least try and stay in this industry. I've been burnt multiple times already in 2 years freelance, but I also never want to have to fight for time spent with my family again… The world sucks. Right now, I've done a boat load of work, and currently have £9.15 in my bank account as I'm waiting on invoice payments. Rents due tomorrow, I'm stressed about it. I'm stressed about all the time I took off when my dad passed away. It's tough being freelance. Very, very tough. I love working in comics, and finally feel like I've found my "calling" I guess. But it really does push you to the limit."

Anthony Pollock: "I worked for $300 a month for 3 months doing PR for Kevin Roditeli (one of the co-owners) of Behemoth Comics (now Sumerian Comics) off shoot label, Happy Tank, which is now defunct. He never paid the last month of work. I told him and his boss to get f-cked. That was hundreds of emails sent every week to try and get this no name comic book imprint the littlest bit of press notice. At the same time I was working 20 hours a week on my comic book news and reviews website on top of my 40 hour a week day job. To add insult to injury my marriage almost broke down. All because I was chasing this pipe dream of being an Aussie working in the heralded American run comic book industry."

Angel De Santiago: "I really hope something good in the comics community can come from all these recent events. It's hard to speak out about my own experiences, but hearing from people I look up to that they struggle the same way I do, I realize it's worse than what i've gone thru even. I've struggled with some real awful stuff. From the very beginning, there was a miscommunication with a former editor that led to me not invoicing any work for an entire month which ofc led to an insane loss of income that ate into my savings drastically. when i finally started invoicing, i would still have to wait 30 days to get paid because of net 30. This led to me having to take on commissions to pay for bills THIS month, then not having enough time to work on stuff that would pay me next month, which was a vicious cycle. the money was pretty good when I was doing two full time gigs at a time, but that ended up being so insanely stressful that i had an appendicitis scare. and of course, this is if i got paid on time and 40% of my paycheck goes to taxes. I had to ask my partner and my amazing friend Eli to do flats for me but this meant comics was the only income for two people, which is not sustainable. I'm extremely proud of the work i've done and continue to be able to do, but i've also gone thru so much mistreatment. i've done unpaid tests (that didn't result in a job), not been tagged AT ALL in social media to credit me for colors in spite of that being a selling point. i've done paid tests with several rounds of unpaid edits, then not been paid on time for the test at all. I make more off a chibi with a background than I do off of some of these tests coloring entire pages! one of my amazing editors who advocated for me so much was suddenly let go even though she still had a project with us and others. talk about a blow to morale. i really hope all of us talking about this helps change the industry. I have based my entire life since i was a kid on working in comics. I think anyone who knows me personally can tell you that. I hate that our passion is seen as easy exploitation. I have always looked up to you Angel and im sad to hear youve been treated so badly. All creatives deserve the basic respect of fair compensation"

Meredith McClaren:  "I just always remember that one issue. The script was late. The turnaround was already sh-t. The book was officially cancelled but still running it's final coarse. And I was EXHAUSTED. A reviewer commented: 'You can really tell that the artist phoned it in.' I have been really, inexplicably, resoundingly lucky in this industry. But it can crush you so easily. There was also that time a PHENOMENAL book I was on (credit totally goes to the writer) didn't get the press rollout it deserved. Because a person in charge was intentionally trying to get themselves fired with a severance package."

Abby Starling: "There was also a gig that shattered my confidence for a long while- TLDR work was nitpicked to death, approved, crunched, then scrapped- I was told to start over. It happened again- except instead of starting over I was told to "practice more" (PS- I wasn't paid) After that, I almost gave up on comics entirely. I was convinced I was just a bad artist. I just wasn't good enough. Next job I had elsewhere, I broke down sobbing from anxiety cause "if it's not perfect I'll get fired again" Whenever I'm asked for advice on breaking into comics, I always try to stress how difficult it is. This industry is ruthless. Your most cherished dreams can destroy you, mentally and physically. And I don't think there's really any way to adequately steel oneself for that."

Jeremy Fuscaldo: "The worst part about trying to get a job is that you lose friends along the way; get rejected by peers, mess up; and told not to take it personal while you slave away at trying to get sustainable income only to realize it's not enough. It's a cruel industry."

Lark & Wren: I guess we should say…there's a reason we've been in hiatus since November and it's because we got tired of not seeing family and being unable to do literally anything that wasn't the comic.
We were doing that for 2 yrs straight, stressing about deadlines, and still needing to take on supplementary work (because -you know- lmao) and eventually Lark was like "okay, time to slow down. We proved we could do this…we don't need to keep proving it, it's not sustainable" We love making comics, we've continued on Woven (working on episode 49 now♡), and can't imagine doing anything else. But if we're gonna continue making comics, it cannot be on the weekly publishing at the current rates. It is financially, physically, emotionally unsustainable. We have the luxury of being able to walk away from an arrangement that would otherwise grind us down into a fine powder. That's not true for a lot of other artists. Anyways, we're very shiny and new to comics, having clawed our way here outta video game development (lol) and taking our tough experiences in indie dev, we got to dip our toes in comics with open eyes and a careful step. We've not been burned but there are hot fires everywhere in the comics environment, hungry to use up passionate talent. Please be careful out there, guys"

Ariel Reis: "feels like a good time to mention that the initial offer I received for the print editions of Witchy was $25k for a five book deal. I'd receive 5k on signing, then 3.5k per book handed in until the final book, which I'd get a special treat of 6k for. Fortunately, even I as a newbie to the industry could tell this was exploitative as f-ck. But I did end up taking a single book deal for 5k. At that point Witchy had been running long enough that the book was almost done, so in my mind it was basically free money. I got a pay boost for the second book, (also almost finished by the time an offer for a new deal rolled around) but I did very much feel that the lack of risk the publisher took by paying me pennies for book 1 directly correlated with the efforts they took to promote the book. That's very much an unproven suspicion, so take it with a grain of salt. But seeing how the work of peers who were paid better for their books was treated, it seems within the realm of possibility. The truth is though, the money I was offered for Witchy was an insult, but not financially devastating. I started making Witchy when it was easier than ever to gain followers for independent webcomics. I'd built up a solid foundation of patreon supporters. But most importantly, I had parents who I could tolerate, and who were able to let me live with them for 4 years post university. So I didn't have to worry about losing money to rent and food. Most people working in comics don't have the privilege. This gave me the time to work on my craft and develop my portfolio, ride out severe burnout from juggling animation school and and a webcomic, time to recover from a severe panic disorder, and get my mental health in check. And time to work on a big pitch. The big pitch is what made me financially dependent, on top of patreon and the odd jobs (coughbowuigicough) that I make time for on the side. But the reason I was paid enough money to support me is due, I think, in part to me winning two Ignatzes the month my pitch went out. Which is such an insane serendipity of circumstance that I'm still reeling from it. I am just so, so exceedingly lucky. I'm lucky and I'm still not even earning the Australian median wage. I am among the most fortunate people working in comics and still not earning median wage. Anyway don't worry about me. Australia has subsidised healthcare. My parents have savings so I'm paying off the mortgage on a small apartment instead of rent thanks to them paying the deposit. and "below the median wage" when you don't have kids is still plenty to live off. I'm comfortable. so comics hasn't broken me yet. but only because I have a safety net in mummy and daddy. It's my friends and peers without that privilege that I'm worried about. (and at risk of drawing out the thread too long after ending it at a good point: I am still very much tired and working Too Much). Important post script: get yourself an agent. the reason I got a pay bump for witchy 2 and a great contract for bedfellows is because i had someone fighting in the ring for me (love you linda!). not every agent is good but a good agent is worth their weight in gold."

Taylor Espo: "When deadlines are blown, extensions come at the end of the project, taking time away from the colorists and letterers. Nothing is pushed back to make it easier. Also, most pubs will pay you Net 60. As in, do the job, then it goes to print, and then a month later, after the book has come out and made money, do you get paid. Can you imagine any other job doing that? And forget voicing concerns, I've been replaced on jobs when I've told people the requests were unreasonable. I had one publisher call me at night to ask me to turn around a weeks late book that same night."

Purpah: "Setting aside deadlines and the work crunches and the like – the dehumanization from people online is just as damaging. I lost two family members and nearly lost my partner and unless I divulged my "reasons" for hiatuses I was met with constant harassment. While I'm proud of my work and what I am making – it's just a comic. Find another one to read while I take care of my loved ones and myself. And until the work environment changes for artists, expect more breaks."

Christine Brunson: "When I first started comics, I worked so many late nights and often skipped sleep so I could get pages colored and still have time for my family. I got into a car wreck because of it. Luckily no one was hurt but I forced myself to take more breaks. I may be slower than I want but I am healthier for it. I do feel like my comics and art don't matter to many sometimes but I do still love making comics. I have worked with a lot of great people too."

Emma Raven: "My experience with #ComicsBrokeMe isn't as horrendous as many I've read on here but it has come about at a time where its still hitting hard. I got offered a job after sending in my portfolio for the most I've ever been paid. £1000 for 28 pages fully inked and coloured… i was beyond excited. I had to lower my hours at work for it and headed straight into the test page. Got paid on time for that page. All good. Then was told copyright would belong to the publisher. I countered with a license fee. They said no. Aoi guided me but I was so desperate for this job I went to "free for the license just let me have the right to decide what it's used for once a year". They still said no. No royalties were offered either. I had to let it go to support others rights. I didn't get out of bed for a while. I still can't pay my bills because of it. Can't get another job to support my Low wages. Glad I didn't give it to them though"

Andy Diggle: "They always, ALWAYS start the train before I've finished laying the track."

Mike Collins: "I remember Byrne saying he'd pitched a set of miniseries to DC, after they met to decide if they'd do em they said "good news, they're a go- bad news, you're late with the first script as we've scheduled it immediately"

Tom Heintjes: "I have a #ComicsBrokeMe story from the '80s. (All the principals are dead.) The legendary Denny O'Neil needed extended time off from Marvel for heart surgery & recuperation. He was writing Daredevil (IIRC) and was told he'd be fired from the book if he missed a deadline. He called his old friend Harlan Ellison, literally sobbing, begging him to write some fill-in issues so he wouldn't be fired, and that's how Ellison came to write an arc. Denny Freaking O'Neil. I knew then this was not an industry to build a life around.2

 David Cooper: "my first job in comics was for a client who ended up owing me over $2000 in unpaid invoices. He never paid up. I was in the "grind" of working in published comics as a flatter for a few years, and while the colourists I worked with were nice, the job wasn't. Schedules were often a mess and it became unsustainable. I'm glad I was able to get out of that pattern and make a small living from my own work. The comic industry is not great to the people working on the actual comics. Prioritise your own health because they sure as heck won't."

Lucie Ebrey: "Seeing all the insights and stories of fellow comic artists tonight has broken my heart open. For years I thought I was just a slow, bad artist who wasn't working hard enough, who must be difficult and lazy and not passionate because I couldn't get 200+ pages done in 5 months. At the time I was only working 1 part-time job. Now I'm working 2. Impossible. From October – November last year I didn't get a single day off. Now I get one a week. One. I thought it was my fault. Just had to work harder. I love comics so much. They don't always love you back. I'm lucky to have had editors and folks in the industry who have been understanding. But the readiness to push for such crushing workloads is usually always there, hinted at or casually dropped in to gauge. It's demoralising and the cycle of inferiority and overwork continues. I adore comics. It really is my one true love. But I've started to reassess just what I can and should allow myself to go through. My friends worry about me. My girlfriend worries about me. They always have to remind me to rest and rest for real. I don't know what or if I'm helping add anything substantial to all of this. Or if I'm even saying all I can/want to say. I'm tired and heartbroken at what I'm reading and what I've heard. I just want our industry to change before worse happens. It hurts to think of all the times I was underpaid and taken advantage of because I was young or eager or just genuinely excited to work on something. Or all the nights of little sleep consumed by tight chested panic spurned on by looming, unrealistic deadlines."

Sarah of TadxSarah: "#ComicsBrokeMe and Tad for not ever feeling like what we did was enough for any of our comics that we have been working on since 2016. No matter how hard we worked and improved over time, it felt like we were never genuinely appreciated for our efforts the whole time. We either dealt with people who constantly complained and put more pressure on us, compared us to other people who were successful, or only temporary supported us. Also till this year it was very rare that we were thanked for our hard work even though we do it all for free. Meaning we don't get paid from patreon, webtoon or anything. We purely make our comics for ourselves and provide entertainment to our readers. Anyway we were under a lot of mental stress and many times almost gave up from constantly feeling stagnant and the unsureness of it all. It wasn't till the beginning of this year 2023 that we changed our mindset and decided that we will only make comics for ourselves whether if a lot of people read them or not. Which if they do enjoy our comics that's just a bonus to us now, even though we appreciate the readers"

Dave Reyn: "I've been reading these #ComicsBrokeMe tweets all evening, and I thought I'd type up my experiences. And what I thought was going to be a quick write-up, ended up being some messed up stuff to go over with my therapist. I did not realize how bad it really was."

Picklerocket: "Apparently, #ComicsBrokeMe is a thing, and if there's anybody out there wondering about my webcomic, The Bar Bots, I worked in my original comic for four years and updated it weekly the whole time. So few people cared or kept up with it that when the pandemic hit, I gave up. If you want people to make comics for you, just give them literally any attention. ANY. A like, a share, ESPECIALLY comments!!!! It's extremely discouraging that I ran that comic for 4 years and I got MAYBE 5 comments I can think of off the cuff. Just support peoples work. F-ck."

Wells Thompson: "#ComicsBrokeMe when a "successful" Kickstarter nearly bankrupted me because, despite making $12k, over twice our goal, I had only a few hundred dollars left over when it was all said and done. This led to a months long descent into depression that I am still recovering from stemming from financial troubles and the harsh realization that I was never escaping food service. It was supposed to be a side gig, now it's all I can do to live. I'm proud of that book and the fact that we paid our team well, but even when things go exceedingly well, I am merely working for almost free. On other projects I am thousands of dollars in debt. My page rate for Frankenstein the Unconquered #2 was $12.50. Not to mention the two months of prepping/running the Kickstarter, the packaging and shipping, the project coordination… For MechaTon 4/5, I'm losing $63 a page to write it. The most I have ever been paid in comics was $30/page. For 4 pages of work. And I am painfully, horrifyingly aware that I'm luckier than most. I'm doing my best to believe that things will work out, that if I just continue to write good stories, pay my collaborators well, and work as hard as I can that things will work out. But just look at this industry. Where and when could that even happen? I almost exclusively self publish because, materially, I don't see a difference between that and traditional publishing. I'm still expected to pay the team out of pocket, to market the book with little help, to forego royalties until printing is paid back. The only difference between Kickstarting a comic and publishing it through X publisher is that I might make my money back on Kickstarter. I'll be honest, as a writer, I would kill to be underpaid. Right now, I'm treated more like the customer than anyone picking up my comic at a shop. I, for example, am being aggressively marketed to so I'll spend even more money on ad agencies and PR that doesn't work. When you're underpaid, at least it's an acknowledgment that your work is worth exploiting. The thought that a publisher would give me a page rate for *writing the story* is laughable. Please don't interpret those last two tweets as me thinking artists don't have a right to complain. OF COURSE artists are being left in the lurch, the physical toll on them is much higher and they deserve so, so much more than they're getting (from myself included) I'm just so tired. I'm begging for crumbs and I feel like I'm being scoffed at for that much. I love my friends in this space, I love getting to tell stories, but the drain is real."

John Aggs: "4 pages a day, every day. You end up with pains, no career progression, no savings and body of work that… kinda sucks"

Godsbane Manga: "I see the #ComicsBrokeMe thing going around. Anyone remember Onami, my 2020 Tezuka-Jump entry? Back then, I worked at a fabrication company aka custom gifts, awards, etc. I ended up dislocating my forearm at the elbow -twice- in the 120day drawing period. I was desperate. To finish my entry. Outside of Japan/with little to no Japanese language skill, it's difficult to break into the industry, even just as an assistant. I thought then, stupidly, this was my ONLY CHANCE. I WAS GONNA WIN! Or break myself trying. The latter happened. After my arm had healed I had about 45-30 days left and enough PTO (that I earned over many months) to take 2 weeks off. I elected to take them and finish Onami. Well… I have hypermobility, I can overextend many joints, which can result in dislocation among other issues. My arm was already tender and still healing, technically, I hit it on something (I forget) and dislocated it at home. I knew if I went in, I'd lose time drawing. Precious time I had worked SO hard to save. Precious time I'd waste (yes, waste), by spending it in a clinic.  So I drew as best I could, for 3 days. This was my dominant arm, and it did not go well. But damn straight I got those pages done. There was a notable drop after page 37 in quality, that's why. I drew nearly 16 pages, 16 sh-tty pages, with a bad elbow. By the time I got it. Seen it was too late and I had caused extensive damage I will never fully recover from. All for a stupid contest, that I didn't even place in. I lost my 2 weeks of vacation that year. I lost full use of my arm as it regularly causes me pain now. I broke myself for nothing. And I was under the impression at that time "this is normal. This is what a real mangaka would do. I have to be like them." I still struggle with this mindset for all aspects of my life. I'm a 200% or 0% kind of person. I wish I had stopped and rested. will never allow anyone to treat me like I treated me. But I will never be 100% capacity ever again. All because I was so wrapped up in the self-sacrifice. Don't do it. It isn't worth it. I'm afraid I'd never be able to keep up with the industry and I am heartbroken. It feels like, sometimes, the industry I want so bad to be a part of. I was willing to throw away my health for a chance, but it wasn't enough. I feel like I'll never be enough and it hurts every day. If you made it this far, have a link. It was my first manga, I learned a ton. It's an ok manga and set in the same world as Godsbane. : ) you'll recognize the villain too. I fully intend to reboot it in the future."

Megan Porch: "I had a colorist job that paid $5 a page once and then found out they expected me to draw all the backgrounds too. I also had another offer for coloring work that was $25 a page that fell through. I did inking assisting for $10 a page. Like WHAT. I wasn't ever in a position where I could make a living just doing comics. I don't think I really know anyone who does. It's f-cking sad."

Deb JJ Lee: "I'm happy with what IN LIMBO became, but there was a point where I dreaded working on it so much that I could not get out of bed. It also was a big reason my last serious 3 year relationship failed."

Eva Hopkins: "People know what happened to me in comics, still Google-able. Misogyny. Inability to pay medical bills. Lack of responsibility as regards hostile work environment. A 15-year career gone in a *poof!* b/c that's how it works: entrenched power protects its own. Joke's gonna be on the establishment though. Living well is the best revenge – plus, I have a helluva story. If you know me back when & think this applies to you? Maybe it does. I miss comics, even the business parts but hella don't miss the comics griiiiind."

Thomas Deer: "I'm sure I have a lot of stories, but I'll focus on the decade I didn't sleep. Coloring comics didn't pay well, so I could only work on comics overnight after my day job. Often on more than one book. Throw in raising 3 kids; I didn't sleep much for most of my 30s. I still don't know how I managed and I'm sure I'll have lingering health consequences on account of the stress and exhaustion of those years. My right shoulder is pretty bad. Still, I have no regrets though. I got to work on titles that would make 8-year old me proud"

Sarah Winifred Searle: "I spend a lot of time thinking about how likely the sole reason I've kept up comics as my only job for 7 years straight is the fact that I moved to a country with public healthcare. That isn't to say the rest of it has been easy in the slightest, but it keeps comics an option. With chronic illness and perpetual workplace injury and mental health issues, I'd be f-cked if I moved back to the states. I'd be forced to get back into corporate offices to obtain the funds and insurance it takes to not shrivel up and die there. Literally. No exaggeration. I'm lucky, and even that luck is complicated. I'm a white person who moved from one British colony to another for a better life. It's painful being on the other side of the planet from my entire family and most of my dearest friends. But I get to be alive and making comics here. My problems aren't even that expensive or unmanageable by standards here, but they'd decimate me back where I'm from. One of my meds costs $90 USD per month before public health if u qualify here, and $900 out of pocket in the US. That is criminal. I have nightmares about having to return to the US, losing my creative outlet and passion to get back into an endless grind to keep alive, my body and brain deteriorating anyway. It is now one of my main stress dreams. I consider myself extremely fortunate to be in a place with my career where I have some experience/street smarts, I mostly just work with people I know I can trust, and I have an agent to advocate for me. But it's still hard on my body and I still stress about money all the time. One pub made a 5 figure accounting mistake & withheld 1/3 of my average annual income for almost a year. If I didn't have the professional support and network that I do, I never would've known how to analyze my statements & ask for that money in the first place."

Ryuuen Tanaka: "I used to draw comings for other people for about a decade. I've got carpal tunnel, and extremely creatively burnt out from drawing stories that aren't mine I still miss making comics although I can't really think of ~anything~ for it anymore.I've been dealing with creative burnt out for a decade now and i;ve hit the limit when the year started that I have stopped drawing."

Alejandro A. Arbona: #ComicsBrokeMe is trending but there aren't characters enough for how badly and how REPEATEDLY comics broke me. From bad managers to the rotten economics of the business to the entire indie publisher landscape mutating into a failing would-be IP cash grab for rich investors. BUT in only the last few years I've been lucky enough to have the kind of stars aligning that SHOULD be more common for a lot of everyday creators just earning a regular living, and in light of that, the warmth and generosity of certain key people also means comics reinvigorated me. I may have a viable career for the next decade and that's a miracle. It's MORE galling that in light of my good fortune I still feel like #ComicsBrokeMe but the good fortune I'm experiencing should be standard for a lot of folks…and even now I'm terrified it could all go away"

Gina Allnatt: "I don't have much to say because most horrible things happened to my friends, but from early 2020 to mid 2022 a publisher ghosted me and it destroyed my mental health. Artists are dropped like hot potatoes and not even told why sometimes. Being left in limbo was worse than being told 'we don't want to hire you again' because my mind was free to fill in the blanks and the blanks were 'you are a sh-t artist.' It doesn't help that I had undiagnosed ADHD at the time so my art was not at my best anyway. So that just added to my terrible self esteem. I got diagnosed, medicated for adhd, polished my portfolio and was still ghosted for a long time until the publisher got new staff (who are lovely btw). But my story of being left in the dark for years is not uncommon in comics. as for terrible things that happened to people I know in the industry, examples involve being paid $3500 for a 200 page graphic novel, sexism, racism and both artists and editors being overworked and underpaid in general."

Del Hahn: "My only real #ComicsBrokeMe was when I was making a whole 22 page comic book for $1000. Twice. I never saw any copies of the book and the writer said he'd send me some on consignment (I sell, he gets the money). When I told him that this wasnt sustainable for me, I was ghosted. I was defo taken advantage of and just kinda stupid due to inexperience. I lost some good, productive years to those books."

Lauren Sparks: "The only reason comics haven't broken me is because I chose a graphic design job at a mega-manufacturing company. Healthcare. I draw my own comics on the side, and am super picky about freelance. Graphic design pays the bills, but I wish comics could."

Abby Starling: "There was also a gig that shattered my confidence for a long while- TLDR work was nitpicked to death, approved, crunched, then scrapped- I was told to start over. It happened again- except instead of starting over I was told to "practice more" (PS- I wasn't paid) After that, I almost gave up on comics entirely. I was convinced I was just a bad artist. I just wasn't good enough. Next job I had elsewhere, I broke down sobbing from anxiety cause "if it's not perfect I'll get fired again" Whenever I'm asked for advice on breaking into comics, I always try to stress how difficult it is. This industry is ruthless. Your most cherished dreams can destroy you, mentally and physically. And I don't think there's really any way to adequately steel oneself for that… Last year I went to a massage therapist after finishing a mini-series and the therapist said there was so much scar tissue in my forearm built up from overwork, there were muscles that *weren't moving* with the rest of my arm- basically stuck in place. I need publishers to understand the responsibility they have for the mental and physical well-being of the people who work on their books. This industry won't survive and thrive if it continues to chew up promising talents and spit them out as tired and burnt out afterwards (We broke up the scar tissue that session which was EXTREMELY PAINFUL and I was super bruised up for a while after. Had an ice/heat routine and all that.) I've also had heart palpitations and insomnia issues from the anxiety of deadlines and frustration of "why can't I just draw faster!"

Mariah McCourt: "#ComicsBrokeMe is a painful read. And I don't even know where I'd start with my own stories, because there are too many. For so many reasons. Like, did it break me the first time I was sexually harassed while I did my job? Or the second time? Or when I was told that talking about my experiences was "making the industry" look bad? Those were rough. Maybe it was working myself sick at nearly every publisher I've worked for, where each time I left a place it took months (or more) to feel worthwhile again.2

Landry Quinn Walker had a different perspective. "I am a firm believer that comics creators need better pay, benefits, reasonable deadlines, and much more. It's hard work and it pays poorly… …I guess? Sort of? I sometimes feel like a lot of the people working in publishing came to the table with expectations that were never super realistic. A $15000 book deal is terrible pay – if you came from a life that allowed you to pursue higher education and you lived in a house as a child… #Comicsbrokeme is not true for me. Comics saved me. By the time I was 20 I had trouble keeping count of the friends who'd died – either suicide, murder, overdose, or accident. Myself, and many of my friends, were poor – ranging from living in sh-tty drug dens to homelessness. Comics is hard work. Yes. It needs to pay better. Yes. It breaks people. Yes. But I'm not convinced that isn't just the world. I survived doing comics because I lived in a kitchen throughout my 20's. I stole food to eat. But comics didn't put me there. Comics got me OUT of there. There was nothing else for me but comics. My education functionally ended in 7th grade, my skill set is very limited, I survived a brutal childhood filled with trauma, violence, and uncertainty through escapism. My ONLY hope was to monetize my coping habits – which was comics. Ignoring the nuance of individual experiences – which always are exceptional regardless of which side of the argument a person might be on – comics are a form of gambling. You roll the dice and hope for a hit. Gambling is a risk. Never bet more than you are willing to lose."

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