The Pros and Cons of Working for Large Comic Book Companies

I've talked a lot in this blog about why you should be creating your own comic books instead of trying to work your way into the larger comic book companies like Marvel and DC. Why would I suggest that when clearly these companies are the biggest brands that comics have to offer? They're big enough that they have Hollywood blockbuster movies, action figures, Halloween costumes, and every type of merchandise you can think of. There are certainly pros and cons to working for big companies like Marvel or DC.

Working for a big company like Marvel sounds great on paper, it really does. Many artists and writers struggle most of their lives to find work. They constantly chase it and just when things are going well, sales start to slow down and you're expected to revive it with the next big piece of art or story. When you're at Marvel, you have a regular 9-5 job and a steady paycheck. You don't have to worry as much about whether or not you'll have something to do the next day, because they tell you exactly what panels you will be drawing or what scene you need to be writing.

Another perk to working for these companies is that you're working with some of the best talent in the industry. The highest paid, most prestigious illustrators and writers in the business, all under the same roof. The amount of talent pool that you're drawing from is enormous. You get the chance to collaborate with these geniuses and at the same time, Marvel is the one paying for all your exposure. They will fund the comic's release, publishing, distribution, marketing and everything that goes into it.

This all sounds fine and dandy, but isn't one of the most important part about creating these comic books the fact that you're creating something that you get to call your own? When you sign a contract with companies like Marvel and DC, you are signing over everything that you make. Your characters, your stories, your artwork, it all belongs to them. They tell you what you can and cannot put into a story and they tell you what direction to take your story.

The contracts you sign for big comic book companies not only limit the work you do for their company, but completely restricts the work you do for other companies. A writer at DC is legally binded, and thus they cannot write for other companies like Marvel and Dark Horse. When you sign that contract, you make a deal to hand over everything you do and completely dedicate yourself to one company and one company only.

Marvel certainly takes away your freedom as a creator or owner of a comic and it forces you to make a decision: sacrifice the steady job for ownership within the underground comic scene or sacrifice that ownership for a chance to enter the world of mainstream comics. Ultimately, the decision is yours but when it boils down to it, I am a creator because I enjoy the freedom of being able to do whatever the hell I want with what I create. I can give it out for free or I can burn it, it doesn't matter but what's important is that the options are all available to me. They should be for you as well.