MY PRETENTIOUS, VERBOSE, FULL-OF-MYSELF, COMIC CREATOR POST OF THE DAY!!!😃😃😃😃 Someone asked me this "indie comic creator question" the other day and I've been struggling to figure out how to answer it ever since. It's a tough one to answer, because the truth is so simple that it is hard to explain! The question is basically: Is the amount of MONEY I earn from comics, worth the amount of TIME and EFFORT I put into creating, writing & drawing comics? (Not to mention all the parts of the job everybody forgets about: formatting files for the printer doing promotion running & fulfilling campaigns...) All I can say is… Who knows??? This question always strikes me as, a very practical person, asking about something very impractical. It's impossible to measure the amount of time I put in, because as a comic creator, I live, eat, and breathe this stuff. All day, every day. When I’m taking a shower or driving the car I’m thinking about my characters and stories. There is no cost vs. reward equation here. It's more of an obsession, than a job. I don’t count the hours I spend at the art desk or computer. I just sit down and enjoy the time I spend there, making weird, cool stuff. Not one minute of it, is ever a torturous slog. It never feels like real work. Yes it is VERY time consuming, but it is something I do for fun and creative satisfaction. I can stop whenever I want (said the true addict).😬 I have a family and other adult responsibilities that pull me out of my imaginary world and keep me somewhat in touch with reality, about 40% of the time. But I'm happy to go back, when free time allows. As for PROFITS... After many years of doing this in obscurity - my comics seem to have "caught on" (for what that is worth in the tiny ghetto of indie horror comics). The past few years I’ve been getting good sales and regular orders for the back stock, not to mention, original art sales and art commissions related to my comics. Leaving my former publisher to do everything myself, has created more work, but it has also given me total creative control and I don't have to split the profits with anyone. That said - whatever money I’ve made from comics, I still consider just a bonus. The profits are nice and very much appreciated - but never as satisfying as just writing and drawing my crazy monster stories and putting them out there, for other weirdos to enjoy. There’s a scene in the movie “HEAT” that I find very relatable. DeNiro asks Sizemore if he’s sure he wants to participate in a risky bank heist. The cops are onto them. The reward might not be worth the stretch. Sizemore gets this wild look in his eyes and says, “For me… the action IS the juice. I’m IN!” That’s how I feel about creating comics! The thrill of DOING THIS is more rewarding, than whatever reward I GET OUT of doing this. The action IS the juice! I don’t know if that answers the question. Probably not! But it’s the only answer I have. You might as well ask a bird if it finds enough worms to justify all the time and energy it spends flying around every day. It's not like I have a choice. This is just what I do!