The Business of Comics for May 15th 2026
Kirby, Conway, and Credit in Comics: New York City named the corner of Essex and Delacey Streets as Jack Kirby Way. Late last month, Gerry Conway passed away at the age of 73. Conway was a staple in the comic book business for more than fifty years, creating characters like Punisher and doing seminal runs on books like Superman vs. Spider-Man and Justice League. Kirby defined the modern era of superhero comics, creating most of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men.
Everyone in the industry recognizes the impact these artists have on comics, but as a creator, you need to recognize the difference between credit and ownership. Conway created Punisher. He had no ownership of the Punisher special that dropped this week on Disney Plus. The Kirby estate had a lawsuit against Marvel for the characters he created that went all the way to the Supreme Court before it was settled, with Kirby owning none of that intellectual property. The lesson is clear. Creating comics for someone else can bring you credit and fame that will last long after you die, but those are not your characters. When the money comes in from movies and merchandise, make sure you know where you stand.
Publishers Play Musical Chairs: April saw several staffing changes at various publishers. Marvel lost several people, including their senior vice president of sales at the same time that they started looking for a new talent coordinator. Mad Cave also lost people in both its editorial and marketing departments. But in the same month, IDW found a new talent manager, and Tiny Onion brought in a new community manager.
We’ve discussed before the importance of keeping track of personnel moves inside comic book publishers, especially for creator-owned and freelance creators. Doors that were once opened might now be closed, and uninterested publishers might change their perspective when new blood arrives. But there is also an opportunity here for independent publishers. In many cases, layoffs have no relation to the experience and talent of the people being let go, so if you’re an independent publisher looking for talent, either on a permanent or project basis, the best time to find top-level talent could be when they are suddenly let go by their former employer.
Webtoons Tests AI Avatars: Because there always seems to be some AI news related to comics, let’s talk about Webtoon’s new project with AI avatar company Genies. The deal is designed to allow Webtoon creators to generate 3D avatars based on their characters. The avatars are supposed to have a deep understanding of the story, and readers will be able to engage with these characters, learning more about them and their world as the story progresses.
While this might be an interesting experiment in marketing engagement for fans, comic creators in general are anti-AI. It is also unclear who will own the avatar and the interactions that the avatars have with readers. We also don’t know how much control creators will have over these avatars, what they say, or what Webtoon could use them for once they are created.
Amazon Moves Away from Comics: The end of April appears to be the end of an era in digital comics. Comics Beat reported that the last employee of Comixology has left the company, completing the integration of the service into the Kindle platform. While Amazon will still produce original comics, and there are still several companies competing to grow the digital comics space, it is unclear when or if digital comics will become a profitable distribution channel outside of the vertical scroll space.
Generating revenue from digital platforms is challenging in any type of entertainment, whether you’re talking about the struggles of streaming platforms, musicians on Spotify, or comic book creators. Comic creators, especially independent publishers, will probably have to use digital as a marketing and secondary revenue stream for the foreseeable future.
Skybound Moves Towards Video Games: Comics have often been used by the producers of other media to develop and test ideas in a relatively low-risk arena. It hurts financially when you spend $10,000 on a comic and it fails, but that pain is a lot less than making a $100 million movie and watching that fail. I get several clients a year who openly admit to using their comic as a springboard into other media. Most don’t get that far, but companies like Skybound have. The publisher of Walking Dead and Invincible has found success on TV, streaming services, and video games. They have even gone so far as building their own video game studio in-house, instead of licensing the rights to established studios, which is what most publishers do.
Building your own studio, either for film or video games, keeps you in complete control of the IP and the quality of the product, which is perfect for independent publishers who are invested in the worlds they create. But running a game studio isn’t the same as running a comic book company. And like I said before, it sucks when a comic book doesn’t sell well. If the game doesn't sell well, it could destroy the whole company. Invincible seems to be performing well for Skybound so far. We’ll see if they can continue finding the success that so many independent publishers are working towards.
Art School for the Comics Career: Because the stigma against comics has diminished for Gen Z and Gen Alpha, and because comic book IP is at the center of pop culture, there are several colleges and universities offering courses and majors in comic art and storytelling. A recent piece on LinkedIn accurately cautions that aspiring creators need to think twice before committing to 40-50 thousand dollars in debt for a comic creator degree.
His reasoning is simple. Being a comic creator isn’t like being a doctor or a lawyer. There is no aspect of comic book creation that requires a degree. You can start an independent company, get a creator-owned deal, or become a freelance creator and no one will ever ask you where you went to school. Now, like many other forms of higher education, there are benefits to these types of programs. Your skills and your work ethic can develop faster than doing it on your own. You can make connections among your peers and instructors that can help you for the rest of your career. But you probably won’t get an understanding of the legal and business aspects of comics for your 50 thousand dollars, and profit margins in comics are slim. Make sure you’re not spending money you don’t have to.
Kickstarter Noves Away from NSFW: Crowdfunding has long been a safe harbor for adult-oriented comics, that couldn’t find distribution in the direct market or mainstream bookstores. It appears that pro-censorship groups have stepped up their tactics by indirectly attacking crowdfunding through the payment processing systems.
Kickstarter uses companies like Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa to process crowdfunding payments, so if those companies decide to clamp down on NSFW material, Kickstarter and other platforms will have to either develop their own payment processing systems, which may not be financially viable, begin using other payment methods, like some form of crypto, or limit the type of campaigns that can be on their platform. If you are a creator of this type of work, you’re going to have to decide how to respond to this kind of economic censorship, with or without working with Kickstarter.
Contract Disputes: It appears that artist George Pratt and UK publisher Tripwire ran into a public scuffle after their successful campaign for a new art book. Accusations and public statements have flown back and forth, and the campaign was ultimately terminated. At the heart of the dispute was a fundamental confusion over the rights, revenue, and responsibility of the project. This is the core purpose of a contract. The more you settle these issues beforehand, the fewer problems you will encounter later. There is also a secondary purpose of a contract that I run into in my practice.
Recently, a client came to me looking for a collaboration agreement with his creative partners for a new comic book series. As they began negotiating the deal, it became apparent that they couldn’t agree on basic questions of ownership or control. The deal fell apart, and my client was understandably disappointed. This is when I pointed out that contract negotiation is a good way to understand the character of your creative partner. If you can’t negotiate a deal with them in a few weeks, how are you going to make a graphic novel with them for a couple years? It is better to have a creative relationship end before the project gets started, than to spend months unable to finish the project, or to have the whole thing fall apart before the Kickstarter can be fulfilled, or to sue each other in court over the movie rights years later. It is often better to end somethings early, before everything goes sideways.
If you want a free legal consultation for your comic book or the contracts related to your comics, please visit my website. https://www.gamalhennessy.com/
Until next time, get off the internet and go make some comics.
