In the media-driven world, there are many voices.  In the end, though, money is king.

from Final Crisis

Recently, the advocacy group Fair Page Rates released the results of their 2015 end-of-year creator survey, which asked work-for-hire creators to anonymously disclose the pay rates they received for work at various publishing houses.  While the data is interesting and the intent of the survey is only positive, the results stirred some controversy after people noted the limited sample size of creators who responded.  What does the Podcorn Team make of this?  What is a fair page rate in 2016?  Why didn’t we get Fruits Basket underwear?  Find out all this and more on this week’s Podcorn Podcast.

from Alex de Campi’s Tumblr

Show Notes

0:50 – Show begins!  God Hates, Claremont kills.

3:38 – Let’s talk about FAIR PAGE RATES

7:50 – Where is comics money going? A discussion of general pay rates and the average rates people get as writers, artists, or inkers.

12:00 – Should we account for inflation when we calculate page rates in 2016?

14:50 – Are these surveys meant more for indie creators than those in the mainstream?  How do we factor royalties garnered outside of the production of the comic itself into the discussion of creator pay?

20:00 – What’s the ideal sample size for a survey like this?  How do we encourage pros to share?

27:15 – How much are top people in comics making?  How accurate do we want sales numbers to look?

34:00 – The secret to TokyoPop’s business model, revealed!  Why you never got your Fruits Basket underwear!

39:50 – Brandon turns into a prototypical Jeff Bridges Big Lebowski type when he talks about hustlin’

45:00 – Revisionist history on those half page DC Twix ads.

47:00 – Brandon calls Booster Gold lame and he is SO WRONG.  Please, listeners, tell him how WRONG he is in the comments!


Every Wednesday, I talk about comics with Brandon Montclare, writer of the hit Image series Rocket Girl and co-writer of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur series.

We gab about what we’re reading now, what books we consider classics (Brandon loves Dark Knight Strikes Again…), and the hottest gossip of the industry.  Occasionally, the inimitable artist Amy Reeder (Rocket GirlBatwoman) stops by.  Check out our full show archive at podcornpodcast.com.

Intro/Outro music this week is Aerials by System of a Down, off their album Toxicity.

Visit rocketgirl.nyc for swag from Brandon and Amy!

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