The Truth About Making a Living From Comics

Comments · 124

• VE

  @VenusOrionComics · 3 months ago · pinned

  💬 QUESTION FOR CREATORS &amp; READERS: <br> <br>Would you still create your story if nobody ever read it? <br> <br>That&apos;s the question I had to ask myself when building Venus Orion Comics. <br> <br>A lot of people see the finished comic, but they don&apos;t see the years of work, the thousands of dollars invested, the convention costs, the marketing, the trailers, the merchandise, and the constant challenge of building an audience from scratch. <br> <br>In this video, I share the honest reality of what it takes to pursue comics as an indie creator and why passion has to come before profit. <br> <br>Also, if you&apos;re new here, welcome to Venus Orion Comics! VK Chapter 1 is available now, and Chapter 2 is currently in development. <br> <br>I&apos;d love to hear your thoughts: <br> <br>➡ Do you think it&apos;s possible to make a living from comics today? <br>➡ If you&apos;re a creator, what has been your biggest challenge? <br> <br>Let&apos;s talk about it.<br><br>Website: <a href="http://venusorioncomics.com/">venusorioncomics.com</a><br>Custom T-Shirt Business: <a href="https://www.strikekeotees.com/">https://www.strikekeotees.com/</a>

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• MO

  @mofuziTP10 · 3 months ago

  Comics must be made in hopes they can get an Anime Adaptation like Castlevania.

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• JA

  @Jab-Cajun91 · 3 months ago

  Merch sales (toys really) is the sole reason why soooo many great animated shows from the 2000s (Static Shock, Teen Titans, etc.) got cancelled abruptly and I hate how true it is. Great video and I’m happy that your recent video has gained a lot of traction with many YouTubers reacting to it.<br><br>PS: I’m at Phase 0 of my own indie comic. No artists at the moment. I’m just writing my ten volumes (prelude and vol. 1 &amp; 2 are done) and will pull the trigger once my story is finished.

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• AS

  @AshenfallStudios · 3 months ago

  Solid advise, and not just for doing comics, but chasing passions in general.

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• DE

  @DevilRaptorB · 3 months ago

  I&apos;m doing Webcomic and already made 4 novels , &nbsp;I don&apos;t get much from them, Im simply doing it as a hobby and I already have a decent job

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• MA

  @magiciansapphire9278 · 3 months ago (edited)

  Probably the biggest example of an indie comic doing gangbusters would be the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It started out as a self published indie comic by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird. Once it got that Playmates toy deal and Fred Wolf cartoon show, it took off in a whole nother universe.

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• IN

  @IndieComicsRecapped · 3 months ago (edited)

  Something id like to add. Im glad you brought up the merch sales thing. Alot of people dont realise that alot of ips even outside of comics rely on merch sales. Look at glitch who are practically the cartoonetwork for youtube. <br><br>They sell merch to fund their cartoons. Heck even lackadaisy, the creator (despite doing webtoons for it) has admitted most of the funding comes from merch sales. Spindleshorse has done comics for Hazbin hotel and zoophobia but its established that its merch that keeps it going.<br><br>The only few mediums that dont necessarily need merch in my opinion. Is video games sales, Ticked sales for movies (like iron lung from markiplier). And a hand full of written novels here and there. <br><br>Most visual art meduims today are mostly merch businesses. Even marvel and dc make most of their money from merch and movie ticket sales.

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• CR

  @Creathrod · 2 months ago

  Thanks for the info

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• WO

  @WolfHunner · 3 months ago

  Underline money sink. First comic I made had an artist with a $160 page rate I paid out of pocked with separate colorist for a lot cheaper. 17 pages plus a cover. While the artist was good he was very difficult to work with, don’t get me started lol. Over thousands of dollars I paid out of pocket working a job for the past months. Made $4. While I’m glad it’s finally over and I got my first issue done I learned a LOT.

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• PE

  @Pen-tabgraphite · 3 months ago

  It takes alot of hard work, time and money to make sales. The most important is having hope and love for your comic.

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• TE

  @Teiradraws · 3 months ago

  To answer your question,,YES, I would still continue to create because I love storytelling. Ive already completed one webcomic and working on two other stories. Theyre not popular by any means. My audience is small.(Also, scifi doesnt seem to be a very popular genre on places like Webtoon and Tapas) But I still wanna get the story out there. <br><br>Also, youre not lying about the cost of going to events. Having to pay for the table, the supplies, transportation, etc. Ive mainly done small, local events.<br>I also did VirtuousCon, which is an online event, so you dont have to leave home. Maybe you get a virtual table for that, the next time their event rolls around. <br><br>Great video.

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• JU

  @JunebugMayMarchTower · 3 months ago

  After watching this a few time i had experience that problem of trying to get into a indie comic and the author just stopped making more of the story and try to do something else that get the same fate.

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