As a child, I eagerly searched for the comics section of the newspaper every day, read my sister’s Calvin and Hobbes collections over and over, and got as many Tintin books from the library as I could carry. As I’ve grown up I never really lost my early love for comics, but began to branch out and look for different sources of content over time. The internet has been a gold-mine for my interest, with hundreds, even thousands, of different comics shared on platforms like Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, and elsewhere. In this article, similar to the first one I wrote this year, and last week’s as well, I’ll be looking at what our duty is to the artists whose work we enjoy, and how to define the size and importance of that duty.
With the examples of my early comic consumption, I gave in the first paragraph, the question of how to properly compensate the creators was never something I needed to worry about. A subscription to the newspaper was paid for, someone bought the collections, and by being a resident of the town of Woodstock, we got access to the public library. With the internet, however, things have gotten a little more nebulous, given the variety of places comics are available to be read and the proliferation of free content.
With an artist like Kate Beaton (see above Hamlet comics) it’s easy to know how to show my appreciation of her work, because she’s published several books. Now, it may seem counterintuitive to pay for a physical copy of something I could access for free online. However, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for things that I can hold in my hand, and it’s nice to not have to stare at a screen for long periods of time if I want to take in a lot of her comics at once.
My personal uneasiness recently gained new definition when I began using the LINE Webtoons app. This app is a repository for hundreds of different comics, from short gag-types to longer-form stories that continue a plot from week to week. When I first got it, I was rather amazed that such a thing could exist, as I couldn’t see any discernible way that the company producing the app or the creators who had their work on it could make any money. Now ads have started appearing, so I wonder if there was a thirty-day trial period that just ended or something.
But! I digress. As I started finding more comics that I liked, especially the longer ones, I started wondering if their work was worth the same monetarily to me as a more traditionally printed comic (like Saga). I truly do appreciate the talent and work that go into making comics like unOrdinary and Power Ballad and it sits uneasily to passively take the stories in. One good option to support creators (of comics and other content) through their Patreon account. Patreon is a service somewhat akin to Kickstarter in which you give set amounts of money ($1, $5, $10, etc.) to creators each month. In return, you often get content exclusive to supporters, or simply the knowledge you’re helping keep your favorite artist afloat financially. The service is very helpful because almost all of the money goes directly to creators, and it’s a simple way of showing support.
Now, I should add that, for the most part, I think the wide availability of quality entertainment for free (or mostly free) on the internet is a wonderful thing! Plus it can be hard to commit to paying an artist through Patreon, and I don’t want to suggest that if you aren’t able to do that you’re somehow less deserving of appreciating their work (I’d love to support all the artists I love but that’ll have to wait till I have a job…), because you do! Do I have a way to satisfactorily sum everything up and end this? Not yet, but in a few weeks I just might and my next article will hold all the answers. Here’s hoping!