Several creators are throwing in the towel when it comes to making comics, and for good reason!
‘THE DUDE’ IS CALLING IT QUITS
I often follow creators by signing up for their email lists, and I recently received a message that still causes me grief.
Steve Rude (commonly called “The Dude”), one of the very best artists ever in the comic book industry, in my opinion, is leaving comics behind for one simple reason—he can’t make a living at it. And that’s really horrific given Steve’s amazing talent and accomplishments!
Here’s some of what he sent out to his fans:
“For 20 years Jaynelle and I have put everything we have–literally every ounce of time, energy, and talent, into the belief that someday all the work we’re doing at Rude Dude will pay off. But it hasn’t. Decades on, what I’ve done my whole life, tried to stand for, endured, and maintained hope with, regardless of what hits all of us in our time here–it just isn’t working.”
He continued with this: “A reality that we’re just not financially cutting it. Yes, we have support of fans, always strong, always loyal, but given that our entire way of supporting ourselves has not been nearly enough to sustain us, I’m now looking at a future where things can’t continue as is.”
He points out that his “always devoted and tireless wife” actually works 10-20 hours a day to keep them afloat. He puts in at least 8 hours a day. “I love what I do, always have, and would do it for nothing, which is, in fact, exactly what I have been doing all this time; working for nothing.” That cuts me to the quick! His Nexus work is some of the very best I’ve ever read! Luckily for us fans, he’s going to finish off the remaining books in his The Battle for Thuneworld series, but there will be no more Nexus from him.
I can’t stop grieving about what a loss this will be!
If Steve Rude can’t make a living doing comics, what creator can?
ACCOMPLISHMENT DOES NOT ALWAYS EQUAL SUCCESS
Nexus is just one of the stellar comics series that hasn’t succeeded financially. I can think of several others, including the recent Hawkman series scripted by Robert Venditti. Honestly, I can’t think of any other creators who could tell a better tale featuring the Winged Wonder. I treasured each and every issue that DC published and felt the same sense of loss when they cancelled that book as I’m feeling now about Mr. Rude’s having to go in a different direction just to survive.
Of course, you and I could literally name many other wonderful comics that have made it to our collected comics shelves, there to wait for us to be ready to dive into them again, but the truth is, I would love there to be many, many more of those special books coming my way. It’s just not happening!
Again I say, if someone as talented as Steve Rude can’t make a living with comics, what chance do other creators have?
I keep thinking of long-past times when people of means would pay creators to provide excellent art or music. I wish I were one such individual, but I’m struggling just to keep up as well. Granted, there is crowdfunding, but I keep hearing stories of creators having to launch a Kickstarter just to replace a dying computer! That is just ridiculous, in my opinion! We need to come up with a better way to support our favorite creators!
THERE ARE STILL SUCCESSES, BUT…
While I’m thinking about all this, I have to also consider the recent successes in the industry like the Rippaverse, which literally sells millions of individual issues of their comics!
Of course, their operations completely bypass the local comics shop. You go to their website and order the books you want directly from them, and that’s not a good thing for those of us who still believe in our LCS and want them to continue to make the books available.
I have to say that my LCS experience has certainly changed over the years. I used to go to my local shop, talk with other customers, then develop friendships that lasted a long time. Now, I go in to the store, sort out the books I want to buy, purchase them, say goodbye, then leave until next week. The people who run the shop are very friendly, and I enjoy talking with them about the industry, but it’s not quite the same thing. I miss meeting new fans and striking up fun conversations there.
My brother would literally spend hours each time he visited the LCS, and I was most often glad to see him do that because he lived alone. (Well, there was one time we were supposed to drive for hours, and he made us travel during rush hour, which delayed us, so I fussed about that time.) We all go there because we love comics, so we like to discuss what we’re passionate about, so the LCS used to be a place where friendships were formed. Now, not so much.
We now have such busy schedules that we can barely say “hello” to each other in passing. I often wonder if we need to try to hold Zoom meetings during “off” hours including after dinner or even before work hours. It probably will take local fans setting up such events, but I would love to see these things happen. Hey, we need to re-establish fans talking with other fans face-to-face!
So, what can we do about situations like “The Dude?” All I can suggest for right now is that those of us who can afford it should buy whatever we can from his online store at his website and through other means to help him as much as we can! Hey, Steve has given us all so much to enjoy during his career! I would hope he can still give us more wonderful storytelling in the years ahead!
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