Internet killed the comic strip star
D.D.Degg
about Julie (Dinette Set) Larson and her problems
at making a living at her preferred profession.
"The culprit is the Internet," Larson said. " 'The Dinette Set' is
available 24-7, with that day's strip available for free all over the
Internet. The free-for-all is killing any chance for a cartoonist to
make a modest income."
When the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dropped its print edition in
March, Larson also saw her compensation drop.
"I used to get $375 for four 'Dinette Set' Sunday cartoons. Now that
they're strictly an online paper, they only pay $40," she said.
"To add insult to injury, even my own syndicate, bound to sell and
promote 'Dinette Set,' gives my product away for free on their Web
site," Larson said.
The entire article is at
http://www.pjstar.com/entertainment/x511160397/On-the-Air-Internet-not-helping-cartoonists
Earlier this month there was another article about
the sad state of newspapers and comic strips.
"$12 a week per paper? Shared equally with the syndicate? For a
cartoon that’s run in 100 papers, that represents an income of $31,200
– which means you can’t quit your day job."
and
"The low syndication rates date from a time when a cartoonist would
most likely be on staff. The syndication money was meant to be a
bonus, not the primary way that the cartoonist made a living. Comic
strip writers would often be employed by a newspaper and also create
political cartoons or draw illustrations for stories. Very few were
completely independent, at least not when they started."
This article can be read, on the internet, at
http://popdose.com/numberscruncher-the-funny-papers/
The above article mentions the alternative cartoonists
and their plight, here's an article about that.
http://trueslant.com/leorgalil/2009/11/07/will-matt-groening-stop-drawing-life-in-hell/
"Groening, who started “Life in Hell” in the late ’70s, talked about
how the syndication of the comic dropped significantly over the years.
What was once published in The Village Voice can be found in the
tiniest of California weeklies."
D.D.Degg
Carl Fink
> From today's Peoria Journal Star comes an article
> about Julie (Dinette Set) Larson and her problems
> at making a living at her preferred profession.
>
> "The culprit is the Internet," Larson said. " 'The Dinette Set' is
> available 24-7, with that day's strip available for free all over the
> Internet. The free-for-all is killing any chance for a cartoonist to
> make a modest income."
So Larson is ignorant or stupid? How are so many other cartoonists
continuing to ear a living in the field, even without syndication? Could it
be that they're either better cartoonists or better at business?
Frankly, the problem is that Ms. Larson's work is enormously inferior to
that of Jeph Jacques, Rich Burlew, Bill Holbrook, the Foglios, Jenny
Breeden, et al. (Selected because all make a living mostly by means of
webcomics, in Bill's case wth syndication added.)
--
Carl Fink nitpi...@nitpicking.com
Read my blog at blog.nitpicking.com. Reviews! Observations!
Stupid mistakes you can correct!
D.D.Degg
"Cartoonists and editorial illustrators find themselves out of work as
newspapers struggle to survive"
Mostly about alternative and editorial cartooning
but relating to syndicated comic strips.
Writer gets editorial cartoonist and historian Steve Geenberg
as a major source for the story.
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/cartoon_crisis/8006/
"For that matter, why are some editorial illustrators and cartoonists
apparently no longer even welcome at a table that they’ve been largely
responsible for setting for otherwise successful daily and weekly
papers..."
"Wallis says newspapers are their own worst enemies by projecting
images of weakness. 'When you put out a thin newspaper, one without
editorial art, you start conveying the message to readers that what
you are putting out is no longer important enough to pick up...'"
D.D.Degg
aemeijers
> A Pasadena Weekly article from a few days ago, subtitled
> "Cartoonists and editorial illustrators find themselves out of work as
> newspapers struggle to survive"
> Mostly about alternative and editorial cartooning
> but relating to syndicated comic strips.
> Writer gets editorial cartoonist and historian Steve Geenberg
> as a major source for the story.
>
> http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cms/story/detail/cartoon_crisis/8006/
>
> "For that matter, why are some editorial illustrators and cartoonists
> responsible for setting for otherwise successful daily and weekly
> papers..."
>
> "Wallis says newspapers are their own worst enemies by projecting
> images of weakness. 'When you put out a thin newspaper, one without
> editorial art, you start conveying the message to readers that what
> you are putting out is no longer important enough to pick up...'"
>
> D.D.Degg
Sounds like the papers around here. Several days a week, the 3 of them
don't add up to one real paper. Laying $2.50 on the counter for what
used to cost me $0.75, and getting less, makes me wonder why I still
bother. If the station on the way home from work is out of one of them
on the thin days, I don't bother hunting it down elsewhere any more.
--
aem sends...