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Comics Creators – Together We Will Stand?
As French comic book creators take to the streets to protest about imposed digital exploitation fee structures from their publishers, and launch a second petition against such action… it seems there are stirrings in the USA as well.
Tony Harris, best known for his work on Starman and Ex Machina, with a Sony deal signed for his War Heroes book, has been tweeting calls for a creation of a new comic book creators organisation//guild/thing, alongside Steev Niles.
Calling it the Sequential Arts and Entertainment Guild, Tony has been putting the word out.
I am sending out an open invitation to ANY working pro ( writer,artist,colorist, letterer etc…) get in touch with me. .
Tony Harris
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In person at Heroes Con this year.We NEED to talk about a UnionI will update soon about some face time concerning this@ Heroes Con.Tony Harris
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Lets give it a name, whil we are talking about it, a "working title " , if you will?Tony Harris
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Sequential Arts And Entertainment Guild, or S.A.A.E.G. ( pronounced like sage)Tony Harris
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Tony saw problems ahead;
@dlx_artist –Lets not get ahead of ourselves. Again, right now its a name, an idea. Organization, and..Tony Harris
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a mission statement Identifying all the problems that we would like addressed.Etc…Its not going to be easy itsTony Harris
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going to horrifyingly miserable, and an uphill BATTLE. But nothing worth doing SHOULD be easy.Tony Harris
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and there will be fallout. Of talent, at the publishing level, between friends and collaborators.Tony Harris
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We are talking about a fundamental change here in how our industry works. At the VERY base level. Its going to take time,Tony Harris
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Its going to take money, and most of all its going to take US! US!, we will not move an inch with out individuals joining hands here.Tony Harris
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Soon SAEG had its first member, Ron Marz.
@ronmarz is now with SAEG ( Sequential Arts and Enterrtainment Guild) !!Tony Harris
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And Tony went to work;
Made TONS of headway with SAEG yesterday amidst drawing pages and having video conference. Exciting news coming!Tony Harris
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And we started to get some definition.
SAEG is an ADVOCACY guild to promote the professional betterment, health and well being of Comic Book pros.Tony Harris
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Thats it. Nothing else. We arent planning on storming publishing offices with picket signs, or shutting things down with strikes!Tony Harris
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No. No. No. We are talking about advocating a better industry through awareness. Connecting a fragmented family of creatorsTony Harris
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Lobbying publishers through well respected creators a our face to improve working situations on both ends.Tony Harris
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Raising $ thru (possible) member dues, and slush funds created by sale of merch to match money paid by creatorsTony Harris
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toward LOW health insurance provided by companies who will give lower rates , the larger the group.Tony Harris
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and thru those same groups , options for saving for retirement thru many diff options that are open to individuals.Tony Harris
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But Tony wanted to make one thing clear.
SAEG is NOT a UNION! I did use that word initially in my early rants, but this is diff. SAEG is an ADVOCACY GUILD. RT this everyone.Tony Harris
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Of course not, that would be socialist. Tony has continued to post about plans, here are a few more highlights.
another thing( among MANY) that SAEG wants to tackle, is Colorists getting cover credit AND royalties.Tony Harris
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Royalties which most colorist currently DO NOT recieve. ( Only @ Marvel, so Im told)Tony Harris
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Free Tax advice, thru SAEG contacts, and retirement benefits for group members. Most of whom have NONE now.Tony Harris
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Scenario: Do lots of work. Publisher not pay. Bills late. Cant shave off tax money from checks, because they were late.Tony Harris
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when get checks, pay bills, but not shave taxes. Happens frequently. Tax debt builds over the fiscal year. Snowballs!Tony Harris
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April 15th comes and cant pay. File extension. Checks still late . Now editors busting balls to turn in pages.Tony Harris
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Hard to create pretty pictures when have no food, and cant pay bills, or taxes. IRS comes after you. Puts lean on your house.Tony Harris
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You have to hire attorney to file an offer in compromise. It works. You sell all you own to pay off agreed upon amount.Tony Harris
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live in fear, and check to check forever.Tony Harris
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That was presented to you in the voice of the Incredible Hulk. And it is a scenario I have heard happening MORE than once to guys in comics.Tony Harris
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We are not rich. Well, not all of us. We are working stiffs who love what we do so much that we have allowed a LOT of crap over the years.Tony Harris
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Hell we were not even given back our original art until Neil Adams raised hell, and made things happen. Publishers threw it away, or pulpedTony Harris
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it. Or gave it away to kids visiting th eoffices, so they could go home and color it in with markers.Tony Harris
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Tony may not want to call it a union, but it does seem to want to do the kind of things that unions do. There is a fear however that if employers see the word union, suddenly they come up with a word of their own, blacklist.
The concept of forming a comics union has been tried before. In the forties and fifties, it was scuppered by creators offering lower-than-union-suggested rates to get work. The aforementioned Neal Adams launched a number of initiatives in the seventies over health care, royalties and the return of art board, but the proposed union became guild, albeit with prominent members. Then in the eighties, a Creators Bill Of Rights was proposed by a number of the day's movers and shakers, from Dave Sim to Steve Bissette to Larry Marder. But since then, the move for industry representation has fallen to the side – the emergence of creator owned comics enabling creators of a certain mind set to set up on their own.
Of late, many creators have returned back to the fold of company-owned comics. It could be that the time for a union guild is upon us again…
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