Independent Cartoonists Band Together for Success

Brad Guigar writes "Six cartoonists, previously hosted at Keenspot, are banding together in a new approach to self-publishing. They have formed Blank Label Comics, a cooperative group of cartoonists who are helping one another succeed as independents. Each is using his proficiency in a particular aspect of the cartooning business to help the others -- who are doing the same in return. Scott Kurtz, creator of the daily comic strip PVP, applauded the move. 'The forming of Blank Label Comics is a big story in the webcomics community,' he said in a statement on his Web site, insisting that the 'real story ... is that a bunch of really talented guys are taking a chance, putting their necks out and trying to do this on their own.'"

Independent Labels

[geomon]

It is encouraging to see any independent label for cartoons come into existance. Like music, film, or any other artistic medium it is better to have more outlets than fewer. I enjoyed, during my early teen and, later, my college years, a variety of "underground" comics (e.g. R. Crumb, Gilbert Shelton) that would have *never* existed at established publishing houses. Some probably shouldn't have existed, but there you are.

The only concern I have with independent labels is their ability to fight off incorporation or extinction. Some independent music and film outlets have consolidated leaving these media under the control of only a few companies. We have all seen the result of that outcome.

Dime a dozen.

[Seumas]

Is anyone not an "independant online cartoonist" these days? The only thing there's more of are "internet models" and "blog journalists".

I wonder how...

[OrthodonticJake]

I wonder how Wiley will mock them this time? He sure didn't seem to think much [journalspace.com] of Scott Kurtz [pvponline.com] when he offered his strips to newspapers for free.

Re:"taking a chance, putting their necks out"

[TelcusFreshbreeze]

It does take guts to move away from the "protection" of keenspot in order to make a decent amount of money from their comics.

Re:Yeah, but are they FUNNY?

[Bob of Dole]

I have not seen any consistantly funny print comics. Most are painfully UNFUNNY. What does "unfunny" mean? That means they are the opposite of funny. They suck the funniness out of other things.

Unfunny print comics killed my inner child.

(Completely not joking. I have yet to see a single print comic that isn't completly unfunny. Calvin and Hobbes comes close, but cute!=funny.)

That's great for them...

[MagicDude]

Going independent is a good move for these people who look like they are looking to turn their cartooning into their primary job. However, for most internet cartoonists, I think Keenspot is still the best option for those who make 1-2 comics a week and don't want to deal with the hassle of having to maintain a server, deal with bandwidth issues, etc. The downside of working with Keenspot is that they take a big chunk of the advertising revenue that a site generates. A few weeks back, Tycho at PA had a comment about someone he knew who left Keenspot and went independent and started making triple what he used to make from advertising. For its flaws though, it seems that Keenspot (Or Keenspace rather for those undiscovered comics) is still the best place for a new cartoonist to start.

This has a good history of working

[RebRachman]

This kind of alliance between creatives has a good history of working in the comics industry. Malibu was that kind of a cooperative at first, started by a bunch of creatives who turned to someone with passion for comics and business sense. In the end they sold to Marvel, which didn't end well, but it could quite clearly be considered a success for the people who founded the group.

Right now the founder is doing this: http://platinumstudios.com/ [platinumstudios.com], and that seems to be going quite well. While they don't make much on the comics themselves, they leverage the best of their materials to go to mass market and to Hollywood. It's a good business strategy, and they seem to have tremedous respect for their creative people.

Re:I wonder how...

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a pity you weren't as vocal when Scott Kurtz was sounding off about all the old dinosaurs in syndication and how his revolutionary business model (giving the milk for free whilst charging for pictures of his cow) was going to send the syndicates broke.

I followed the whole debate on Toon Talk avidly, and Wiley Miller never talked anything but common sense. He also put across his points in polite language, which is more than Kurtz's suck-up acolytes did.

Web toonists came across badly in that debate, and Wiley can hardly be blamed for using his well-earned platform to have a playful dig at a well known blowhard who's dished out a few knocks himself.