The Business of Comics Blog for July 21st, 2026
No More Marvel in Manhattan: The big news leading into this year’s San Diego Comic Con is the move of Marvel Comics from New York City to Burbank, California, the current headquarters of Marvel Studios and corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company. While this news rippled across mainstream media and the comic book press, it is in line with the increased integration between Feige, the film studios, and publishing that has been in the works since 2023. This physical move will also coincide with a change at the editor-in-chief position and marks a continued shift in comic book publishing from New York to California.
For comic creators, this move can have other ripple effects. Marvel editors and other staff who can’t relocate to the West Coast, might become available if they aren’t allowed to work remotely. If that happens, new editors might join the company to fill those empty slots. That in turn could change the fortunes of some freelance talent, with some creators losing gigs as new editors bring in their preferred people.
As a lifelong New Yorker, the one thing I’m sure that probably won’t change is the central nature of New York City in the Marvel Universe. I’ve been to Burbank. They don’t have enough skyscrapers for Spider-Man to swing on, and I doubt Galactus is going to suddenly descend on Downtown LA.
McFarlane Merges Multiple Revenue Streams: Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, is attempting to combine live selling, art sales, and autograph signings at this year’s San Diego Comic Con. The move is designed to sell rare art before the show even starts, which gives fans who can’t afford San Diego the ability to still buy his pieces. It offers an extra incentive to buyers who can actually attend the show, and it generates increased online content and interest in his work.
McFarlane might be a controversial figure in comics, but this move is, at its core, a higher profile attempt to diversify income as a comic book artist. We’ve discussed before how freelance page rates are not a sustainable form of income for many artists. The artists who supplement their income are turning to retailer variants, direct-to-consumer online stores, in addition to commissions and convention appearances. Many entrepreneurs like Gary Vee are calling live shopping the next great opportunity in the gig economy, and if this project works, we could see more integration between online and convention sales in Artist Alley. Todd McFarlane might not need to seek out new sources of income to make ends meet, but freelance artists might want to consider using his tactics to make more money from their work.
RIP Comix Wellspring?: Comix Wellspring was a popular printer among independent creators and publishers. I say was because the company recently announced that it is temporarily suspending all operations, halting production, and refunding all unfulfilled customer orders due to what it describes as “unforeseen operational challenges”. This comes at a particularly bad time for publishers, since it is the middle of the convention season and only days before San Diego Comic Con.
The closure of Comix Wellspring is also another blow to the distribution pipeline for independent comics, since many publishers are still looking for alternative ways to get their comics to market in the wake of the Diamond bankruptcy. I don’t know how many tables in Artist’s Alley will be empty because creators can’t find an affordable, last-minute printing solution, but hopefully this won’t push anyone out of comics completely, and Comix Wellspring can make an eventual comeback.
Clover Press Goes Creator Owned: Clover Press has announced a new creator-owned imprint, The Fourth Leaf, just in time for the publisher’s appearance at San Diego Comic-Con 2026. The company that made a name for itself with a long string of successful Kickstarter campaigns for licensed comic art books and newspaper comic compilations is now expanding into creator-owned graphic novels.
Clover Press has the infrastructure and understanding of the distribution side of comics, but it isn’t clear what kind of creator-owned publisher they will be. Creator-owned comics deals are often the most ambiguous relationships in the industry, and run the range from very creator-friendly to absolutely abusive. Creators looking for a creator-owned deal with Clover, or any other publisher, should have that contract reviewed and analyzed by an attorney who understands the industry before you sign anything. If only you knew of somebody like that who could negotiate that deal for you…that’s a hint, by the way.
Dark Horse Developments: Dark Horse Comics recently announced new management changes. After parting ways with the founder and CEO, the company will have three heads: one for publishing and business development; one for publishing operations; and one for finance and administration. This move comes in the wake of a corporate reshuffle within their parent company, staff unionization, layoffs, and the closure of its mobile app and retail store.
Dark Horse has a full slate of panels and signings planned for San Diego Comic Con this week, but creator-owned and freelance creators who don’t already have a relationship with the publisher might want to wait until the dust settles to approach this company with a new project.
Indies Come Together for Distribution: A new group called the Indie Comic Alliance has announced a program to distribute independent comics to the direct market. The Alliance plans to offer Independent Publishers reasonable Distribution into retail comic book stores and affordable Printing, Shipping, and Storage while creating a competitive advantage in the direct market by having a destination for customers to find Indie Titles. This is another response to the collapse of Diamond and will likely try to compete with the wave of sub-distributors and aggregators trying to fill that hole in the market.
More than twelve independent publishers have already signed on, but the real question is how many of the 3,000 comic book shops in America will decide to use them, how many orders they can generate on a regular basis, and most importantly, what is the financial breakdown for independent publishers who sign on with them. Distribution can be a complex issue in 2026, so make sure you understand the financial and legal implications of whoever you choose to get your books in the hands of your readers.
The Marvel Method: It’s almost time for another MCU movie, which means it’s also time to re-explain freelance IP creation to comic creators. Almost every time DC or Marvel releases a film, a veteran creator will remind everyone that while they created characters in the film, they don’t own them and they didn’t get paid anywhere near what the movie and secondary revenue streams will generate, if they get paid at all. It happened with the Winter Soldier, it happened with Thanos. There have been major court cases for almost all of the Avengers, and other legal battles over Superman, the X-Men, and other characters. This time it’s William Metzger, one of the antagonists of the film Spider-Man, Brand New Day. Metzger’s creator Joe Casey spoke up about the lack of payment for Metzger, and the fact that he’s still looking for payment for America Chavez, a character he created that played a prominent role in Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
This is the modern Marvel Method. The creators and characters may change, but the song remains the same. The characters being used in modern movies were created in the late 1900s, so those creators didn’t have the knowledge or options that you have, so let’s repeat the lesson for everyone who needs to hear it. If you create new characters for Marvel or DC, you will not own them. You will not be paid for them beyond your page rate and a possible royalty or bonus payment. If that is something that does not work for you, do not work freelance in corporate comics, or if you do, do not create new characters for them. Marvel and DC each have thousands of characters. They do not need yours. Use their toys to make their comics and make your page rate. Keep your toys for your own comics.
Classic Characters Create Cash: A recent article asks why the independent and small-press scene in comics seems to be thriving, and yet the Big Two haven’t put out an original character in years? The question itself is disingenuous because a thriving independent industry and original superhero characters are not mutually exclusive, but the question does raise issues that comic creators need to understand. First, independent comics are doing better than they have ever done. Lower production costs, greater access to markets, and streamlined management brought about by digital technology make this the best time to be an independent comic creator, although it still isn’t easy. Second, the Big Two, by and large, do not make new characters. Their freelance talent makes those characters, and these companies have famously financially disincentivized creators from developing original characters. But the issue goes deeper than that. In spite of the fact that Marvel and DC own the majority of comic book shop sales in North America, Marvel and DC are not comic book companies. They are character franchise companies.
If you go to the about us page on Marvel.com, for example, the company describes itself as “one of the world's most prominent character-based entertainment companies, built on a proven library of more than 8,000 characters featured in a variety of media in entertainment, licensing and publishing. Comic book publishing at that level feeds the corporate machine, rather than being a profit center. Consider this: Marvel has licensed two mobile games on the market now that have generated almost three billion dollars over the past 10 years in license fees alone. These are mobile games, not movies, not triple-A video games, not clothing, not toys. Free-to-play mobile games. In that same 10-year period, Marvel’s comic book publishing made them about 1.5 billion in profit. In that kind of business model, I would argue that variations of established characters are just as valuable, if not more than, new characters, because that variety allows the corporation to plug in whichever version of the character works for any given project, or in the case of Lego Batman, all the versions can be thrown in at once. This isn’t to say that new characters are bad, or that corporate comics are without fault, but independent comic book publishers and corporate publishers are playing a different game with different business models. Confusing the two doesn’t make sense, and could be a recipe for disaster.
On Writing Corporate Comics: New writers who pitch stories to Marvel or DC often try to impress editors with a dramatic reimagining of their favorite character. They’ve seen what happened with Dark Knight Returns or what’s happening now with the Absolute Line and they try to pitch a story that “completely changes everything”. According to a recent post by longtime Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada, that is a mistake.
Corporate comic publishers with legacy IP don’t want new writers who are going to subvert a profitable, proven concept. They want you to be able to write something that feels fresh within the construct of who the character is. They need you to prove you can be a consistent, reliable, and expressive storyteller. If you can do that, you might be able to get your foot in the door. Once you’ve established your track record over time, then they might give you the reins to do your Court of Owls, House of X, Absolute Line, or whatever.
Moulin Rouge: The Graphic Novel: Rocketship Entertainment has signed a deal with Moulin Rouge to develop tabletop games, graphic novels, and manga set in and inspired by the famous Parisian cabaret. While it might be unusual for a comic book publisher to negotiate an IP license for what is essentially a building, you have to keep in mind that Moulin Rouge has been the subject of more than a dozen films, a Broadway play, two restaurants, a hotel, and a handful of books about the major characters associated with the space.
While it is unclear if fans of the Moulin Rouge can be found in, or are willing to migrate to, comics and manga, independent publishers, especially ones who are building their companies on licensed IP, can look beyond the current trends of video game and public domain properties, to publish books with little or no competition once the audience is found.
More than Time and Money: Here’s a creator Question: As an artist, if you got 5K per month, how many pages of art could you produce? This question generated more than 250 replies in the Business of Comics Facebook group, but in reality, it has too many unknowns to be answered accurately.
Depending on the complexity of the script, the art style of the artist, the number of approvals you need at each stage, the amount of revisions after approvals, the other commitments of the artist, the length of the project, the dynamic between the editor, artist, and writer, and several other factors, there is no realistic way to know beforehand how many final pages an artist can produce. Now artists often have deadlines, and the amount you’re getting paid can have a real impact on how fast you work, but time and money are just two factors in the equation. If you’re a publisher, or an artist, who makes a deal without considering the other factors, it can easily lead to friction and misunderstandings in the project.
After Shocks for AfterShock: In December of 2022, independent publisher AfterShock filed for bankruptcy along with its sister film production company. In May of this year, the company emerged from bankruptcy with a court-approved plan to pay outstanding debts to creators and vendors. Now, Aftershock has added their titles to the digital distribution platform GlobalComix to re-establish themselves in the market. Hopefully, the post-bankruptcy restructure, court-approved debt repayment plan, and new publishing initiatives can bring compensation to the impacted creators, and AfterShock can begin moving forward. The question is, how long will it take them to pay their debts? Who is going to print, distribute, or market their comics after four years of bankruptcy? What creators are going to be willing to sign their rights to a publisher most recently known for not paying their creators? How will the reversion rights in their contracts change in light of this new chapter of the company? Until the first two questions are answered to your satisfaction, the last two questions might not be worth asking.
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Have fun.
Gamal
PLEASE NOTE: THIS BLOG POST IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE A CONTENT, LICENSING OR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUE, DISCUSS IT WITH YOUR LEGAL ADVISOR OR CONTACT C3 FOR A FREE CONSULTATION.
