There’s some talk on the internet about which comic creators should/shouldn’t get royalties.

I personally think that comics are a collaborative creation- writers, pencilers, inkers, colorists, letterers, and editors are all a team.

If one creator gets more money, everyone should.  Royalties, bonuses, comp copies, whatever. Unless it’s a solo book, no one person is the book. Some creators’ names sell more books than others, and if they get a bigger piece of the pie that’s probably fair. But their comics wouldn’t get done without the rest of the creative team. Share the wealth.

On newsarama.com Image Comics’ Erik Larson was quoted as saying, “I don’t know of a colorist that moves the needle–so I don’t think they should get royalties–same with letterers. Sorry.”

Dave McCaig replied, “Print your books in black and white. Put your money where your mouth is if you think colorists are not essential to the team.”

I tend to agree, and other than Owly I don’t know many comics that can do without lettering, too. And every comic should have a good editor.

I’ve seen inkers save pencilers on a book.  I’ve seen colorists save inkers. I’ve picked up books because I really dug the colors or inks. I’ve also seen both butcher a book, too-and I’ve dropped a book because of bad inks/colors. Bad balloon placement and fonts can take a reader out of a story. And without a letterer and the credits how would we know who did what on a comic!

I’m not crazy that there’s a food chain in comics- and that colorists and letterers tend to be considered at the bottom of it.

Shame when they’ve had to pull a late writer or penciler’s fat out of the deadline fire.

Lin

I’m a media ho’ again!

I’ll be on Channel 3′s Live at 9 morning show this Monday morning talking about the upcoming MidSouthCon (March 12-14 in Olive Branch, MS).

I’ve been on before with Alex and Marybeth pimping my comic Bushi Tales. This time I’ll be pimping the art and comics programming MSC will have to offer sci-fi fans next month at the con.

This year’s con will have Kevin J. Anderson, Gail Simone, Billy Tackett, John Jackson Miller, and many more!

I’ll have at least one of my paintings there, and should be doing some sketching live.

You can see one of my paintings in an interview about the con on Fox13 here. (Thanks, Carlin!)

Lin

Former Memphian John Jackson Miller is ending his 50 issue writing run on Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic this coming Wednesday. In fact, the whole series is ending with issue #50.

This news has some JJM and KOTOR fans saddened. Not to worry, John will return to the Star Wars universe later this year with a new comic series Star Wars: Knight Errant. If that’s not good enough for you, a novel of the same name will be released next year! You can read more about it from JJM here.

In addition to his comic duties for Dark Horse, he is also writing a series of e-books in conjunction with the Fate of the Jedi novel series by Del Rey.  The 3rd e-book, Lost Tribe of the Sith: Paragon, is now available for download from StarWars.com, Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com (Kindle version).  You can download previous installments here and here.

And if he wasn’t busy enough, John also writes a webcomic, Sword and Sarcasm that you can check out here.

John will be attending the Midsouthcon this March 12th-14th. He was recently on a couple of podcasts- The Legion of Dudes and Fictional Frontiers.

Congrats, JJM!

Hey gang-

I’ve been invited to participate in a book signing at the M.R. Davis Public Library in Southaven, MS on Sunday, January 31st from 2:30-4:30pm.

I’ll be singing/selling copies of my comic series “Bushi Tales“.

Other authors in attendance will include  Mark Grisham (John Grisham’s brother) and Daivd Donaldson- authors of “Bedlam South“, and Suzanna Maddox one of 150 teachers who contributed to “Teaching Hope: Stories from the Freedom Writer Teachers“.

The library is located at 8554 Northwest Drive, Southaven, MS 38671, and you can get directions here. Phone number is (662) 342-0102.

Hope to see you there!

Lin

Hey gang-

Writer Marv Wolfman posted this on Facebook today and I thought I’d share:

“My latest blog is the beginning of an autobiography of sorts. Take a look at: http://www.marvwolfman.com/todaysviews.html “

Met Marv in Metropolis a few years ago and got to have dinner with him and some of the Memphis Mafia. Got to talk Teen Titans, Nova, and more, and heard stories about him and Len Wein growing up and getting into the comics biz. Looking forward to more from Marv!

Lin