Artist Dustin Nguyen (Descender, Batman: Li’l Gotham) took to Instagram this week to post a strong criticism of the rates that Marvel Comics pays creators, going on to declare that he now refuses to work with the company because they don’t pay artists enough.
Here’s the post that kicked-off the discussion:
Nguyen received a lot of support from other creatives, as well as from some former Marvel editors like Heather Antos, for speaking out.
Zoe Thorogood (It’s Lonely at the Centre of the Earth) commented that “the only time I worked with Marvel [on 2022’s Edge of Spider-Verse] was for a character design (they paid me $100 Imao but I thought it would be cool just to have done it so I agreed) they then, without my knowledge, used my concept art as a cover [for issue #2] with zero compensation and I got so much hate for it because IT WAS NOT COVER ART, IT WAS AN $100 sketch.”
Yanick Paquette (Wonder Woman: Earth One) added, “Marvel has been taking advantage of its almost monopoly of mainstream comics for years. EVERYBODY pays me better for a cover. DC, Boom, Image, Dark Horse, Oni, some joe starting a Kickstarter. Marvel is dead last. Their argument is that the original art would sell better (and they are right of course) but the original sale revenue is mine, we fought for this, and paying under the market is their way to claw back at this extra revenue.”
As anyone familiar with the life stories of Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko is aware, exploitation of freelancers is sadly nothing new from Marvel and the licensed comics industry, but we shouldn’t be apathetic about it; this story also provides a sobering answer as to why an artist you’re fond of may not have worked with the House of Ideas recently, or at all (especially in Thorogood’s case.)
It’s not just artists who are affected by low pay though: Dustin Nguyen going public with this post coincides with a new GoFundMe for longtime Marvel writer Peter David, whose ongoing health struggles have been exacerbated by Medicaid dropping his disability coverage. David has been far more reliant on Marvel than DC or Paramount to stay financially afloat, yet it’s clearly not enough. At the time of writing, $35,751 has been raised of the current $75,000 goal (previously $50,000.)
