Comic Vine News

58 Comments

DC Entertainment Makes Changes to Creator Payment and Credit

The comic market has changed over the last thirty years. DC is ready to roll out their new plan.

No Caption Provided

For most comic creators, there was the joy and anticipation of someday working on their favorite characters. But joy only gets you so far when it comes to paying the bills. DC Entertainment has been working on making adjustments to the way creators are paid and credited and they're now ready to implement it.

What's interesting is the current plan dated back over thirty years. Looking at the comic market today, things have obviously changed in many ways. Moving forward, DC has implemented a new structure in the hopes of being fair and competitive.

One of the changes is looking at a books net revenue instead of the cover price. This gives DC some flexibility in selling their books in new distribution channels that have different pricing models.

A big change is no longer looking at digital and physical sales as different things. Digital sales will now be added to print sales. Creators get further payment based on numbers and digital sales will now be used for the participation payments.

Going further with digital comics, DC will no longer separate the direct market, digital, and newsstand sales. They have added a new threshold for collected editions and are designed to "generously" reward high sales. Digital First creators will also be eligible for additional compensation to share the financial success of their books.

Another big change is something we've brought up before--Colorists. Color Artists are now being added to the participation pool. They will now get cover credit alongside writers, pencilers, and inkers.

All of this goes into effect beginning July 1, 2014.

To make things easier for creators, also beginning on July 1, payment can be received through electronic means. Those in a work-for-hire situation had to be paid by a physical check (if they live in the United States). Now they can receive their payment faster and more efficiently. Creators with questions can obviously reach out to their editors and the Talent Relations team.

It's DC's goal to keep their creators happy and remain competitive in the market. With the changes we're seeing in how comics are distributed and consumed, it makes sense that changes like these have to be made. It looks like DC is moving in a positive direction. We'll have to wait and see if all these changes please the creators.

Bottom line, we need publishers and creators to be happy so we can continue to get great comics.

58 Comments

Avatar image for rustyroy
RustyRoy

16610

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Great news

Avatar image for rustyroy
RustyRoy

16610

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Great news

Avatar image for micah007123
micah007123

10836

Forum Posts

237

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By micah007123

Awesome news, times truly have changed.

Avatar image for tobenracicot
TobenRacicot

148

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 21

User Lists: 0

That really changed my opinion of DC. Good work!

Avatar image for webling
webling

152

Forum Posts

2061

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 1

Glad to hear it

Avatar image for patrat18
patrat18

11753

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Sweet!

Avatar image for patrat18
patrat18

11753

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 4

Edited By patrat18

Marvel will announce this news in 2 months lol.

Avatar image for shadowswordmaster
ShadowSwordmaster

19974

Forum Posts

10454

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 19

User Lists: 13

That is great news to hear.

Avatar image for comicvine_is_jericho529
comicvine_is_jericho529

284

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Ohh...cool but why do the consumers care??

I mean I like hearing that colorists are going to get credit and creators are going to be payed now from both print and digital sales


but Im not sure why they'd make this news public at least to us the consumers, if anything it's embarassing they are just putting this into effect NOW

Whatever though, good news for creators i guess.

Avatar image for squalleon
Squalleon

9994

Forum Posts

3193

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 7

Bravo DC.
This is indeed a very good move, to bring back talent to your company. And after all the bad news we had from you this is a nice pace-changer.

Avatar image for jaken7
JakeN7

15180

Forum Posts

608

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

I don't think I'll ever be able to rid myself of my personal stigma against colorists. Their job is still equivalent to a Kindergartener's favorite hobby. Coloring inside the lines should not earn you cover credit. Yes I know there's more that goes into it, but it's still the same basic premise, and unless you're one of the few colorists that stand out (like Blond), then I really don't care.

- End ignorant rant.

Avatar image for righteous300
righteous300

3975

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Bravo DC.

This is indeed a very good move, to bring back talent to your company. And after all the bad news we had from you this is a nice pace-changer.

What bad news?

Avatar image for gmanfromheck
gmanfromheck

42524

Forum Posts

259238

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 472

User Lists: 2

@comicvine_is_jericho529: Well, it's not just 'consumers' that read comic book sites. Plus the reason we do care is because we want our creators to be happy and get what they deserve. If they're happy, they're likely to do a better job. Doing a better job means we get better comics? Something like that.

Avatar image for outside_85
Outside_85

23518

Forum Posts

18735

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 39

User Lists: 1

I hope it sounds as great when they get the fine print.

Avatar image for squalleon
Squalleon

9994

Forum Posts

3193

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 6

User Lists: 7

@squalleon said:

Bravo DC.

This is indeed a very good move, to bring back talent to your company. And after all the bad news we had from you this is a nice pace-changer.

What bad news?

Recently DC had many fallouts with many creators (Andy Diggle, James Robinson, Alex Kot), so it is nice to see something positive happen.

Avatar image for righteous300
righteous300

3975

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@mrtummytumms said:

@squalleon said:

Bravo DC.

This is indeed a very good move, to bring back talent to your company. And after all the bad news we had from you this is a nice pace-changer.

What bad news?

Recently DC had many fallouts with many creators (Andy Diggle, James Robinson, Alex Kot), so it is nice to see something positive happen.

Wow that's crazy.

Avatar image for gracetrack
Gracetrack

5283

Forum Posts

1

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@patrat18 said:

Marvel will announce this news in 2 months lol.

Indeed. lol

Avatar image for deactivated-5fbfd5d291164
deactivated-5fbfd5d291164

12702

Forum Posts

1547

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 74

User Lists: 7

@jaken7: Ikind of see your poknt, but a good colorist can make a book and a bad one can break a book. They're essential to the process.

Avatar image for fastestmanalive
Fastestmanalive

232

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

If I'm understanding it correctly this does affect us, the consumers.

The part where they will pay the creators based on net revenue rather on cover price is great. That means that not just Batman and Superman will be quality works because they are the only characters that are popular enough to get higher cover priced books, but now its open to all characters.

For example it dosn't matter if the Flash will never get a four dollar cover price but if the writer is writing great stories and people are buying it he will get more money by getting a percentage of the net revenue and rewarded for putting out quality material.

And vise versa. Even though its still Batman but if its bad writing and not selling as well the writer will get less money.

Basically its good motivation for the creators to work hard and put out quality stuff. The better the quality the more they get payed.

Anyways that's from how I understand this.

Avatar image for jaken7
JakeN7

15180

Forum Posts

608

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

@dagmar_merrill: Very true. No matter how small of a contribution or how juvenile I think said contribution is, there's still no book without them.

Avatar image for nahuel
Nahuel

392

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@fastestmanalive: Thanks for the clarification... I really didn't understood the article until your comment :)

Avatar image for the_stegman
the_stegman

41911

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

the_stegman  Moderator

Nice

Avatar image for jonny_anonymous
Jonny_Anonymous

45773

Forum Posts

11109

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 32

About time

Avatar image for smashbrawler
SmashBrawler

6033

Forum Posts

258

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Excellent news. I've wanted the colorists to get cover credit for a long time.

Avatar image for sychotic
Sychotic

19

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Very good change!

Avatar image for nightfang3
NightFang3

12416

Forum Posts

397487

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

@patrat18 said:

Marvel will announce this news in 2 months lol.

As long as DC does it first, it doesn't matter.

Avatar image for granitesoldier
GraniteSoldier

12746

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 42

User Lists: 0

Good deal. Greater incentive to do good work breeds a better product. I hope Marvel pays attention, because good competition breeds a better product too.

Avatar image for golden_cod
Golden Cod

630

Forum Posts

62

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jaken7 said:

I don't think I'll ever be able to rid myself of my personal stigma against colorists. Their job is still equivalent to a Kindergartener's favorite hobby. Coloring inside the lines should not earn you cover credit. Yes I know there's more that goes into it, but it's still the same basic premise, and unless you're one of the few colorists that stand out (like Blond), then I really don't care.

- End ignorant rant.

I'm the opposite - I feel colorists are more deserving of being listed then inkers. Drawing black lines along the pencil marks feels distinctively less creative to me. At the very least I feel the inker is constrained by what the penciler has given him/her.

Avatar image for lyrafay
LyraFay

2643

Forum Posts

43

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 12

Good deal. Greater incentive to do good work breeds a better product. I hope Marvel pays attention, because good competition breeds a better product too.

I thought Marvel already had a similar plan that they made twelve years ago.

Avatar image for vaeternus
Vaeternus

9558

Forum Posts

3

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Edited By Vaeternus

Nice, great news. Good job DC. Marvel and other comics will follow no doubt.

On this art bit, as an artist all ART is difficult and/or challenging in it's own right, however some more difficult then others such as drawing the detailed characters as oppose to just coloring it. Though, for inkers and color people you need a steady hand.

Depending on the medium can determine the difficulty involved, like sculpting for example requires LOTS of patience and steady hand. Drawing, not so much but tracing, inking and coloring helps to have one.

Painting, not so much unless you're trying to do a fine details( via smaller brush) or portrait paintings it helps to be patient.

Speaking as someone who's done all of these mediums. They're all challenging in their own way.

Avatar image for jaken7
JakeN7

15180

Forum Posts

608

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 3

@golden_cod: Except have you ever seen a sketched panel or cover vs an inked panel or cover? The difference is ridiculous. It's much more than just drawing black lines. They add depth, shadow, lighting, facial accentuations, fine details, etc.

Avatar image for deactivated-5edd330f57b65
deactivated-5edd330f57b65

26437

Forum Posts

815

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Way to make the cover even more cluttered than it already is with "the new 52" plastered everywhere on every single comic. But that's about the only negative thing I could come up with. Good Job DC.

Avatar image for transformers1024
Transformers1024

7603

Forum Posts

1596

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By Transformers1024

Sounds like great news! Although I'm still hoping for a digital redemption code when I buy my physical copy like Marvel does..

Avatar image for golden_cod
Golden Cod

630

Forum Posts

62

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@jaken7:

Well it shows how my bias mirrors yours :). Ultimately I feel all three jobs (penciling, inking, coloring) should ideally be done by the same person but I see how the division speeds up the process and allows for mixing and matching of styles.

Avatar image for mje360
mje360

146

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

This is great news to anyone who may potentially throw their names into the hat of comic book creativity of any publisher one day.

Avatar image for makkyd
MakkyD

6989

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 2

@g_man: Does this mean digital sales will be easier to track for consumers, I wonder?

Avatar image for granitesoldier
GraniteSoldier

12746

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 42

User Lists: 0

@lyrafay said:

@granitesoldier said:

Good deal. Greater incentive to do good work breeds a better product. I hope Marvel pays attention, because good competition breeds a better product too.

I thought Marvel already had a similar plan that they made twelve years ago.

Did they? I don't follow this sort of thing very closely.

Avatar image for longbowhunter
longbowhunter

9425

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 4

User Lists: 1

Edited By longbowhunter

So glad to hear good news coming from DC for once. This feel like a inevitable step in the right direction.

Avatar image for slacker1977
Slacker1977

10

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Are there any hard numbers available? Without actual examples I find it hard to believe that this will be a meaningful improvement for most creators. I mean isn't this basically rev-share and hasn't the film industry had several cases of major blockbusters allegedly turning no profit so the creative talent or FX houses involved didn't get anything?

And isn't DC owned by a film studio?

Avatar image for bloggerboy
bloggerboy

896

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 2

User Lists: 0

Good news!

Avatar image for madeinbangladesh
MadeinBangladesh

12494

Forum Posts

53

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 59

User Lists: 172

cool cool cool

Avatar image for knightfall225
Knightfall225

2145

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 5

Edited By Knightfall225

good way to attract talented people to join

Avatar image for plastic_man
Plastic_Man

5

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Does this mean comics will cost more?

Avatar image for darkmount1
Darkmount1

1535

Forum Posts

19439

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 12

Good start--now start doing more to end your petty legal feuds.

Avatar image for owie
owie

9544

Forum Posts

286670

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 16

User Lists: 0

owie  Moderator

@jaken7 said:

I don't think I'll ever be able to rid myself of my personal stigma against colorists. Their job is still equivalent to a Kindergartener's favorite hobby. Coloring inside the lines should not earn you cover credit. Yes I know there's more that goes into it, but it's still the same basic premise, and unless you're one of the few colorists that stand out (like Blond), then I really don't care.

- End ignorant rant.

I think that might have been true some years ago, but with digital coloring now, coloring has become a very creative practice, with the colorists making a lot of creative decisions that really affect the look of a book quite a bit. Coloring is rarely flat now, usually it adds a real sense of volume that takes quite a bit of work to get right, and especially considering that they have to work with many different penciler/inkers' line styles. I'm honestly amazed at how many books certain colorists can do per month, considering how much work it must be.

Avatar image for lyrafay
LyraFay

2643

Forum Posts

43

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 5

User Lists: 12

@lyrafay said:

@granitesoldier said:

Good deal. Greater incentive to do good work breeds a better product. I hope Marvel pays attention, because good competition breeds a better product too.

I thought Marvel already had a similar plan that they made twelve years ago.

Did they? I don't follow this sort of thing very closely.

I read it somewhere but I could be wrong. Don't quote me on it!

Avatar image for jphu8414
Jphu8414

4044

Forum Posts

8566

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 3

User Lists: 0

Edited By Jphu8414

I applaud this movie

Avatar image for granitesoldier
GraniteSoldier

12746

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 42

User Lists: 0

Edited By GraniteSoldier

@lyrafay said:

@granitesoldier said:

@lyrafay said:

@granitesoldier said:

Good deal. Greater incentive to do good work breeds a better product. I hope Marvel pays attention, because good competition breeds a better product too.

I thought Marvel already had a similar plan that they made twelve years ago.

Did they? I don't follow this sort of thing very closely.

I read it somewhere but I could be wrong. Don't quote me on it!

I already did! Fell right into my trap.

Avatar image for j_hickmanisgod
J_HickmanIsGod

435

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 1

User Lists: 0

everyone wants to do a comic at Image or Dark Horse or now even Dynamite, cause the creators get paid based on how well the comic is doing and a lot of people go to Creative based stuff.

and plus im pretty sure almost all the writers under Image are pretty happy there and are well compensated. DC and Marvel have to stop taking major chunks of creative team's money and then maybe then the major league writers might wanna write for them again.

All in all: IMAGE COMICS IS FUCKING STICKING IT TO DC n MARVEL(!!!) and i am loving every minute of it!

  • 58 results
  • 1
  • 2