This weeks podcast is two hours long, but worth listening to, if only to hear Kurtz curse like a sailor. It provides a few insights into how Scott approaches his business.
12 comments:
Anonymous
said...
It is a great podcast, well worth listening to if you havent already.
I don't agree with Scott warning everyone that tomorrow is April Fools day and that we should all go to his site because he's too mature for all that tomfoolery.
I haven't done the podcast yet, but I enjoyed reading the debate at the Daily Cartoonist (which took me a while to dig up, as Scott's link to it was actually a link to PvP. I had to go kick around their site to find it.) Fascinating how hostile some of those guys can get--and fascinating that "only" making $50,000 from doing a job you love is considered failure to some print cartoonists. That's just pathetic. Good for Scott, and David Malki! and others for shaking those guys up; they needed a good dose of 21st century reality.
understand that ted rall is talking about the cartoon as a commodity and an intellectual property. think about the hollywood writers strike and youll see what i mean.
lets say the value of a tested popular syndicated cartoonist's year output is 100,000. each caroon in that 365 day year comes out to $275. Scott puts up his cartoons for free and depends on ad revenue and merch sales for his income, at lets say 50,000 yearly.
ok, so, even though scott's business plan is different or whatever, the syndicated cartoonist might see his wages drop because scott's per cartoon worth is either 0, the ad revenue for that day, or the revenue+sales. all told, if hes making 50,000 his individual cartoons are 'worth' $137 per.
Thats why the syndicates are pissed. because though its great for scott to make the 50 he is (or whatever, im pulling numbers out my ass) and he might be making more than some other educated jobs, his successful cheaper cartoons drive down the prices on other successful cartoonists, especially those that dont market well.
is this a valid criticism? im not entirely sure. im still thinking it over.
Seriously, what's with these guest strip interpretations of Brent? I know he's a jerk to Skull and others sometimes, but he isn't just a flatout dick. However, every single guest strip features him as such. I predict this will be the script for the next one:
Skull: Hey Brent, I just waxed your car. Brent: AND YOU PROBABLY DID IT WRONG! IF I LOOK OUT THIS WINDOW, I KNOW MY CAR WILL BE COVERED IN SCRATCHES AND POOP. -looks out window to see a perfectly shined car- Brent: THIS DOESN'T CHANGE THAT THE CAFETERIA GIRL IS DEAD, SKULL. Skull: She...she's dead?! Brent: FAGGOT.
I'm just kidding. You know the guest artists don't make scripts.
Sweet monkey Jesus, as bad as Kurtz is, he looks like a genius in comparison to these guest strips. He always has the f*ckin' worst guest strips. I hate guest strips in general, but he always seems to get the most no-talent hacks with no concept of "humor" or knowledge of his characters. For the love of mercy, get him off his lazy ass and back to drawing so we at least don't have to look at these abortions he calls guest strips for one more day.
I dislike the idea of making less money for the product I produce because of some jackass doing it for less, but that's how it works, especially if I could have capitalized on it before the jackass.
Why get all pissed at web comic artists for breaking into a new medium, providing content for less, and being able to make a living off of it? Sounds like to me that syndicate artists are only pissed because they were too stubborn to expand into this medium first and are losing out.
If someone's comics are losing value because of web comics, then it's only the syndicate's fault. They fail to compete with the web comics because they're not producing a product that's keeping the interest of the reader, anymore. If people are willing to enjoy web comics that bring in a fraction of the revenue that a syndicate does, then the syndicate's comic was never worth what it makes now.
Achewood
In my opinion, there is no finer web comic than Achewood. You want subtlety of art and a one-of-a-kind worldview? This is it.
Penny Arcade
The classic. Gabe and Tycho are true pioneers in the world of web comics, and few have done more to expand the reach and influence of the medium. Plus they're funny.
Diesel Sweeties
Like PVP, DS has been coasting for some time. But it is worth reading, nonetheless.
PVP
Yes, I do recommend it; its very popularity is what recommends it. It is the ultimate example that web comics can have mainstream appeal, and shouldn't be disregarded by the industry just because they're web comics.
12 comments:
It is a great podcast, well worth listening to if you havent already.
I don't agree with Scott warning everyone that tomorrow is April Fools day and that we should all go to his site because he's too mature for all that tomfoolery.
it is great, I have some thought on it, but i really want to express them in comics form. and post them on the web, for free, scandelously.
short form? it took me a couple of hours to process, but neither group really heard each other.
I haven't done the podcast yet, but I enjoyed reading the debate at the Daily Cartoonist (which took me a while to dig up, as Scott's link to it was actually a link to PvP. I had to go kick around their site to find it.) Fascinating how hostile some of those guys can get--and fascinating that "only" making $50,000 from doing a job you love is considered failure to some print cartoonists. That's just pathetic. Good for Scott, and David Malki! and others for shaking those guys up; they needed a good dose of 21st century reality.
well, its kind of not too.
understand that ted rall is talking about the cartoon as a commodity and an intellectual property. think about the hollywood writers strike and youll see what i mean.
lets say the value of a tested popular syndicated cartoonist's year output is 100,000. each caroon in that 365 day year comes out to $275.
Scott puts up his cartoons for free and depends on ad revenue and merch sales for his income, at lets say 50,000 yearly.
ok, so, even though scott's business plan is different or whatever, the syndicated cartoonist might see his wages drop because scott's per cartoon worth is either 0, the ad revenue for that day, or the revenue+sales. all told, if hes making 50,000 his individual cartoons are 'worth' $137 per.
Thats why the syndicates are pissed. because though its great for scott to make the 50 he is (or whatever, im pulling numbers out my ass) and he might be making more than some other educated jobs, his successful cheaper cartoons drive down the prices on other successful cartoonists, especially those that dont market well.
is this a valid criticism? im not entirely sure. im still thinking it over.
i think that art and music share the same phenomenon:
everyone loves both art and music- and nobody wants to pay for it.
Seriously, what's with these guest strip interpretations of Brent? I know he's a jerk to Skull and others sometimes, but he isn't just a flatout dick. However, every single guest strip features him as such. I predict this will be the script for the next one:
Skull: Hey Brent, I just waxed your car.
Brent: AND YOU PROBABLY DID IT WRONG! IF I LOOK OUT THIS WINDOW, I KNOW MY CAR WILL BE COVERED IN SCRATCHES AND POOP.
-looks out window to see a perfectly shined car-
Brent: THIS DOESN'T CHANGE THAT THE CAFETERIA GIRL IS DEAD, SKULL.
Skull: She...she's dead?!
Brent: FAGGOT.
I'm just kidding. You know the guest artists don't make scripts.
and 'lo...Will Rodriguez delivereth a guest strip that did not suck. And there was much rejoicing.
Sweet monkey Jesus, as bad as Kurtz is, he looks like a genius in comparison to these guest strips. He always has the f*ckin' worst guest strips. I hate guest strips in general, but he always seems to get the most no-talent hacks with no concept of "humor" or knowledge of his characters. For the love of mercy, get him off his lazy ass and back to drawing so we at least don't have to look at these abortions he calls guest strips for one more day.
Well Scott found a way not to be criticized, which is to not do any strips for a few weeks :)
The last strip Scott did was 11 days ago.
Maybe he's finally realised he can go a whole month without doing any work and still earn lots of money.
What was your favorite
Pvp guest strip fake scott Mcloud?
Sean, it's not a valid criticism at all.
I dislike the idea of making less money for the product I produce because of some jackass doing it for less, but that's how it works, especially if I could have capitalized on it before the jackass.
Why get all pissed at web comic artists for breaking into a new medium, providing content for less, and being able to make a living off of it? Sounds like to me that syndicate artists are only pissed because they were too stubborn to expand into this medium first and are losing out.
If someone's comics are losing value because of web comics, then it's only the syndicate's fault. They fail to compete with the web comics because they're not producing a product that's keeping the interest of the reader, anymore. If people are willing to enjoy web comics that bring in a fraction of the revenue that a syndicate does, then the syndicate's comic was never worth what it makes now.
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