More thoughts, prognostications and previews from our annual creator survey. And if there’s one thing that comes up again and again it’s fair payment for creators and better page rates. How will that be possible in a time when the direct market is looking shakier than it has in a long time? Sounds like we’ll need the other thing people mention many times: new ideas and innovation. Welcome to the paradigm shift. Oh and more news and previews.
You can read previous parts of the survey here: Part One, Part Two.
Stuart Moore, Writer/Ops
2024 Projects: Various things, involving cats, time travelers, and scientists, that I cannot as yet reveal
Biggest story of ’23: On one hand, the continuing dominance of rapacious capitalism across all industries, including comics. On the other hand, the dismissal of Ike Perlmutter from Marvel.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? The new DOCTOR WHO! With as much Neal Patrick Harris as possible, please!
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? I’d like to see more economic compassion in general. Tax breaks and grants to struggling businesses, including comic shops and companies. Respect for the arts. I don’t miss 2020, but things worked a little better when the government was helping out a little.
Andrew Neal, cartoonist, former retailer
2024 Projects: I’m currently drawing the 29th issue of Meeting Comics, entitled The Divorce Party. I’ve slowed down to where I’m not putting out an issue every two months, but I’m hoping to knock out at least three big issues in 2024, including the third Val Cannon mystery (after Where The Rent Went and Gone Ghost). I also have plans to follow up the Adhouse-published Meeting Comics collection with a self-published second volume.
Images:
splash page from The Divorce Party
Where the Rent Went cover
Biggest story of ’23: Disney and Warner Brothers have continued to strip mine the medium for movie ideas, while fundamentally misunderstanding how to publish comics in a way that people enjoy. The good corporate comics feel more and more rare. Since the majority of comics retail stores are some still based around corporate comics, this has caused huge financial ripples in the direct market. Clearly comics is going to stick around as a medium, and comics retail will stick around in some form, but the direct market is going through significant changes right now. I’m glad every day that I sold my shop in 2014. I know that what’s happening right now has been extremely stressful for many comic retailers.
What will be the biggest story of 2024? This won’t be the biggest story of the year, but an important development that many people aren’t noticing is that indie creators are learning that if they have the wherewithal and resources to self-publish, they will frequently make more money than if they are published. Probably half the comics I bought in 2023 were purchased directly from self-publishers. As the direct market and comic and book publishers all continue to adjust to this weird economic dystopia in which we live, and as more and more cartoonists bring their own work to market, I think we’ll see the medium become more and more splintered. It’s already entirely possible for two people who read lots of comics to talk at the end of the year and find that they had no overlap in what they read. It’s going to get more and more like that.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? Hopefully I’ll get into all the shows at which I want to exhibit this year again, because spending time with other cartoonists is always a high point.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? My pie-in-the-sky answer is that I’d like to see comics seen as an actual artistic medium rather than a farm for real media, like TV and movies. I guess comics would actually have to pay a good living for that to happen, though, huh?
Filip Sablik, President, Publishing & Marketing
2024 Projects: 2024 will be another exciting year for BOOM! Studios as we celebrate a number of key anniversaries for some of our biggest original franchises including Something Is Killing The Children and Lumberjanes. It will be a transformational year for one of the biggest modern franchises – Keanu Reeves’ BRZRKR. We’re entering the second half of our massive yearlong event in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Darkest Hour, with a major inflection point in January. Plus we have an exciting year of new original series launching with creators partnering with BOOM! Studios for the first time like Kyle Starks & Fran Galan with Pine And Merrimac (January), Pornsak Pichetshote and Jesse Lonergan with Man’s Best (March), and Josie Campbell and Alessio Zonno with I Heart Skull-Crusher (March), along with returning creators like Ed Brisson and Luca Casalanguida with The Displaced (February). And that’s just a taste of our publishing plans in the first quarter of the year! We also have a new TV series, Butterfly, going into production with Prime Video and many exciting developments in the film and TV space in 2024!
Biggest story of ’23: The continued evolution of the North American distribution landscape and the ramifications those changes have on not only the distributors, but publishers and retailers within the market. The reverberations of these changes will continue to be felt in 2024 and beyond.
What will be the biggest story of 2024? The last few years have made predicting what the future holds challenging to say the least. Going off my 2023 answer, I suspect it will be how different the North American direct market looks when compared to the first 50 years of that market.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? My weekly trip to my local comic shop (shout out to the amazing staff at Golden Apple Comics in Los Angeles), steady stream of comic book/industry podcasts, and nightly ritual of reading at least 1 comic before bed. After 23 years as a comic professional, I find these moments of joy continually refill my passion and love of the medium and the people who work in it.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? Our outlook! Yes, we are in a period of tremendous change, but in many many ways the medium of comic books is thriving like never before. The challenges we are facing as an industry are (by and large) not particularly unique to comic books, but the medium and its seemingly endless well of creativity and innovation is. Let’s celebrate that in 2024 and build the future we all hope to see!
Randy Reynaldo, Writer-artist-publisher, Rob Hanes Adventures (WCG Comics)
2024 Projects: I’m currently working on the milestone 25th issue of my long-running indie comic book series, Rob Hanes Adventures! To celebrate, the issue consists of all Sunday pages, as a nod to the classic soldier-of-fortune syndicated comics that inspired the series, taking my globetrotting private eye protagonist back in time to 1930s’ China. Readers will recognize many of the characters from the classic adventure strips of the period that originally inspired the series—and for those who don’t, they’ll still get a fun, rip-roaring adventure! I should note that 2024 also marks the 30th anniversary of my publishing imprint, WCG Comics—and that in 2018, I received an Inkpot Award from the San Diego Comic-Con.
Biggest story of ’23: The changing landscape of the direct sales market really came to the forefront, along with concerns about the health of the periodical superhero genre that’s traditionally been the anchor for the current comics distribution model.
What will be the biggest story of 2024? How comic book stores navigate and deal with the challenges they currently face will spill over into 2024. Retailers (and publishers) likely need to find a way to pivot to bring in a broader audience, meaning largely younger and more diverse readers who did not grow up going to comic book stores. When the market has been in the doldrums in the past, there often has been a breakout hit or two that has come to the rescue to pull readers back into stores, jack up sales and get people excited about comics again. Hopefully, we’ll see that in 2024 too.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? To read more comics! Like a lot of working cartoonists, it’s sometimes tough to carve out time to read comics and stay up to date on what’s going on, so I hope to correct that in the coming year.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? To get past the culture and generational wars. Classic comics are always there to be enjoyed and collected, so pining for a return to the old days is neither productive nor realistic. Comics need to keep moving forward and broaden their audience.
Marc Arsenault, artist and publisher
2024 Projects: Getting back on top of the current digital publishing landscape with an ATV after a train wreck the last few years that seemed to take most of the roads with it. Resuming ebook publication of the complete Magic Whistle by Sam Henderson. Getting some of my own work out in the world for a change in print, digital and in person.
Biggest story of ’23: Sadly, further collapse in traditional print publishing and retail. Struggles at Tattered Cover and Mission Comics were possibly the ones that hit most clearly. Yes, I would put that over the distribution shifts.
What will be the biggest story of 2024? Mark Waid gets put in charge of something really big.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? Finally visiting Meow Wolf in Santa Fe.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? Creators getting paid fairly for the work they do and not having to take second and third jobs, beg or hold garage sales to get by.
Neil Kleid, Writer, graphic novelist
2024 Projects: Nice Jewish Boys, co-authored with John Broglia and colored by Ellie Wright, is an intimate suburban crime comic set in New Jersey, coming out now digitally from Comixology Originals. Inspired by a true-life criminal event, it follows a Modern Orthodox religious family man struggling to pay his bills, who’s drawn into a triangle of secrets when he moonlights for his best friend, a kosher caterer-turned-criminal, who unbeknownst to him, is wanted by the FBI thanks to their other pal, a screw-up turned informant. You can buy the comics on Amazon at and read them in the Kindle app on your device. A print edition will hopefully come out in 2024.
In 2024, readers can also get copies of Kings and Canvas, the recently crowdfunded collection of a fantasy boxing comic I co-authored with Jake Allen and Frank Reynoso. It explores the lengths a man will go to find purpose after life, liberty and career have passed him by. Simply described as Game of Thrones meets Rocky Balboa (but with sea dwarves, pirate referees and talking, boxing dragons), Kings and Canvas is a tale of dynasties, boxing, family and revenge…in a new world where honor is gained not by using guns or swords, but rather fists, wits and the courage to change. Copies are available via the Outland Entertainment website.
Biggest story of ’23: I know there’s going to be a lot of chatter about crowdfunding, comic book shops and digital distribution platforms, the uncertainty of the direct marker and the heartbreaking passage of various industry luminaries (Keith Giffen, Rachel Pollak, John Romita, Ian Gibson). There was definitely a lot of buzz around Bill Willingham ‘releasing’ Fables to the public domain, to DC Comics’ chagrin and fast response. Banned books? The end of the CW Arrowverse? I dunno, to me it’s probably the implosion of Twitter—following its purchase and destruction—as a consolidated method for comics community and as a dependable avenue to promote new work, especially for independent creators. Sure, it’s slowly rebuilding itself on Bluesky, but that’s going to take some time, and in the meanwhile it’s difficult to get eyes on projects and stories if you’re not a ‘name’ with a vocal and existing fanbase or a media property connected to your work.
Personally, I think the bigger story should have been (and still could be) the need for more original Jewish comic books. Jewish representation in our medium (in original fiction and when it comes to licensed characters) is very important to me, now more than ever with anti-semitism rampant across the globe. The introduction of JewCE—the first full celebration of Jewish comics and comic book creators—was an important step to show our industry—one built on the backs of Jews with names like Lieber , Kubert, Eisner, Siegel, Shuster and Kurtzman—that Jewish stories and creators are important, have much to offer readers and audiences of all kinds, and need to be offered and spotlighted in all genres and mediums. The more Jewish creators, young or old, we have out there making authentic, heartfelt, stirring, confrontational and compelling Jewish comics the better…and a forum like JewCE, with a focus on the masterful work and masterful artists that have come before with an eye on the future of our medium, was a wonderful place for the industry to show its support for Jewish comics. I hope it’s the start of even more.
What will be the biggest story of 2024? This is always hard to predict…but I think it’s probably going to me the massive shift in cinematic adaptations from Marvel and DC, with the fluctuations in the MCU rippling out of the Jonathan Majors verdict, the shrinking of their film and television output due to the aftermath of the writers’ strike, and the slow and gradual approach of James Gunn’s overhaul of DC’s slate following the collapse of the DCEU. Truthfully, I hope the biggest story is someone actually figuring out the right way to make digital distribution work for independent publishers and creators — you have DSTLRY and Omnibus out there making noise following the shuttering of the Comixology app, and I believe we’re getting closer and closer to having a viable solution that makes it not only logistically but financially to create and publish comics for a digital market.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? I just learned how to make a whiskey sour, so I’m enjoy this and also figure out how to make more mixed drinks. Teach a man to fish, and all that. Oh, also gimme those final Stranger Things episodes, thanks.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? Again, I’d like to see a commitment by publishers and creators to invest in more original Jewish fiction in all kinds of genres, particularly for Marvel and DC to hire Jewish creators to tell authentic stories using existing—and creating new—Jewish characters.
Kel McDonald, creator
2024 Projects: Murky Water, the next volume of my ongoing webcomic The City Between.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? I’d like the book market to open up to genre fiction aimed at adults
Dave Scheidt, Writer
2024 Projects: Time Traveler Tales! Secret Stuff! Spreading the word of MAYOR GOOD BOY
Biggest story of ’23: National Book Bannings
What will be the biggest story of 2024? Fighting against book bannings
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? Sorry not to sound pretentious but I don’t really believe in the concept of a guilty pleasure. Life is short and we should celebrate everything and anything that brings us joy and entertainment.
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? Publishers better supporting authors whose books are being banned nationwide. More kids books from the direct market. More solidarity and support for behind the scenes workers at comic publishers.
Sean Von Gorman (of Comics), Illustrator
2024 Projects: Last Comic Books on The Left Vol 4, Star Trek Covers for IDW
Biggest story of ’23: The launch of DSTLRY
What will be the biggest story of 2024? The Return/Rise of Magma Comics
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? Poolside Cocktails at SDCC
What do you want to see change the most in the comics industry in 2024? Curious who will replace Comixology as the digital comic leader. Global Comics is looking like they could be the next thing.
Meg Lemke, Editor
2024 Projects: MUTHA had a great 2023; it was our 10th anniversary. In 2024, we’ve already got several memoir comics series on horizon/continuing, stay tuned.
Biggest story of ’23: Proliferation of new imprints at major trade houses, many following-the-followers of webtoons
What will be the biggest story of 2024? At least one of these new imprints is going to scale back again, I assume. This is just throwing darts.
What is your guilty pleasure for 2024? New season of Call the Midwives for recreational crying.
That Iron Claw movie with the chef from the Bear is in.
