I love his work and will buy anything he does (hell, I bought the Neiber Captain America), but his output drops every year. In 2007 he gave us 3 or 4 issues of Astonishing, a couple of variant covers, and a Planetary. 2008? One Astonishing, and the year is 1/3 over.

Cassaday, Quitely, Lee, and Co. are all great and probably worth the high rate, whatever it is, but their glacier-like output drive fans like me up the wall. Perhaps a little market disciple in the form of lower page rates for slow output would get these guys to sit down at their tables and give us some damned pages.

Wow is that right? No wonder they take so long to do a comic. They really dont need to work that hard. Even if they got half that that would still be a great salary.

plus his rate might have something to do with teh fact that he inks himself.

I just wanted to post this comment from me from another discussion elsewhere…

(Really nice people are really)…the main reason I’ve gone to Pitt-Con for 14 years. The people. It’s the best family-friendly, fan-friendly convention around. Everyone for the most part is great, and it seems like every year we meet someone new, and establish a friendship. And most of those friendships, last for years.

My buddy Jay…met him at our booth one year and talked, saw him at the bar and talked, remembered him when we saw him the following year, and have always looked forward to hanging out now, every year since.

Same goes for creators Al Dorantes, Mike Wood, Russ McIntosh, Kristin Blank & Steve Foland, Chris Yambar, Tommy Castillo, Nigel Sade, Jason Yungbluth, and so many others we go out to dinner with, and drink with, and call our friends.

And now this year, my daughter Bethany and 11 year old creator Layne Toth have become good friends. Last year, they met at the casino night. They talked throughout the con, and hung out a bit. We bought Layne’s comics for Beth, and she got a sketch. This year, they get together, and were almost inseperable. Beth got more books & sketches, and walked around with Layne, and had a great time with her firend. At the end of the con, they exchanged addresses and phone numbers, and Beth is even more into comics now, wanting to produce some like Layne does.

If Pitt-Con fades, I know the friendships won’t…but I’ll be at a loss for getting to see those friends there every year…and making even more new ones. And that’s the saddest part.

This is my favorite picture from Pitt-Con 2008, of the 120 or so I took, and I think it speaks for itself…My daughter Bethany with Layne Toth

http://a723.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/88/l_1fd62fa34a4a5b3b1a040ef3285991aa.jpg

Not to mention the fund raising Pitt-Con does. This year, $19,300 for Make-A-Wish. Over $3000 for the CBLDF. Every year for 15 years, they’ve held events that raised thousands of dollars for special causes. One Quarter of a million dollars have been raised by Pitt-Con for Make-a-Wish alone. And if Pitt-Con fades, so do those donations.

Whatever is going on in the background, has no effect on my enjoyment of the Pittsburgh Comicon. And yes, it was a bit slow this year, but my family enjoyed it even more than last year. I factor the smaller crowds to the NYCC being the week before, the economy, and yes, even the bad press from the murder trial.

I really hope Renee George or their children continue the convention. If someone else would buy it, I don’t think it would have the same feel to it. As long as they run the show, I will support them. I don’t deal with their personal lives. That’s their business.

But it wasn’t unbearable weather like Evanier made it out to be.

~

Coat

Now, selling an original Cassady page/cover will get him to $1000 surely

I’m not sure the economics of the situation would work that way, though. Can you produce $1000 per page quality work consistently on a monthly basis? And would producing that many pages per year ultimately decrease the deminad for your work (and, in turn, your page rate)?

I’d love to read more about this sort of thing (it’s obviously none of my business, the inner working of the industry can be pretty fascinating).

Stark contrast to First Second or Image, where the staff were welcoming, really interested in the nature of my collection, full of suggestions, etc.

Granted my info may be a few years out of date, but someone getting $1,000 per page at Marvel or DC is not very likely…

Is that true?!?!? If Cassaday (or whoever) were able to do a monthly comic, and earn that much, they’d be getting more than $250K a year. If this figure is accurate, no wonder a lot of the big names don’t hold to a monthly schedule – they have no reason to. Even if they only do 5-6 issue a year, they still clear $100K.