The meaning of pro

[NatGertler]

There's the argument that "professional," when you're dealing with self-published work, means you could get publishers who actually make money publishing comics to pay you to do work for them if you wanted to, but you didn't want to. By the theory of the day, you didn't need to.

Well, that's an argument, but it's one that would apply poorly to the comics of the time. The established publishers were quite limited in the range of comics they were willing to publish, and someone's work could be of publishable quality yet outside the nature of what Marvel, DC, Archie, Harvey, and Warren were willing to publish. The ElfQuest work wasn't unprofessional when a couple of unknowns built their sales to 80,000 an issue. There would not have been a publishing home for Persepolis, or the 9/11 Commission Report GN, or even Bone back in the day, but that speaks to the limitations of the publishers, not the creative talent behind those books.

(Which suggests that such a definition of "professional" would be more viable in today's market than back in the day. With the wider range of publishers open to comics, it's much less likely that you are putting out viable commercial work yet cannot find an outside publisher for it.)

[Percival]

The meaning of "professional" is that you make money doing what you do. If its not the publishers paying you to creat art, then its the reader buying the book that ultimately is signing your paycheck. Which still leaves us with a theory that in order to be considered professional you have to at least make a profit self-publishing. Basically the whole word revolves around the idea of getting money for what you are doing. If you're loosing money on it, you are simply a hobbiest. Dictionary wise, however you can be considered a professional for only intending to make money doing something, the actual economic outcome being irrelevant...there are a lot of "professional" skateboarders who don't make a dime off the sport, but they are on the circuit and intending to breeng home the bacon.

[bartl]

The meaning of "professional" is that you make money doing what you do.
A term that is commonly used in the field of stage magic is "semi-professional", for people who make money doing it, but it is not their primary form of income.