Will comic creators ever have a union(s)?

[Magneto_X]

Will comic creators ever have union(s)?

[PatrickG]

What would be the point? Seriously. There's not really a "minor leagues" version of the creators to protect as there is with acting. The treatment isn't inhumane, comparatively, and the top creators generally have the negotiating clout to get at least half of what they want creatively on the whole. There are about 50,000 people who all want to go pro and would take Jim Lee's job in a heartbeat. There are probably about 50 of those 50,000 as good as him, maybe, but creators don't have much to offer in that regard. Talent isn't scarce and what fan pool a creator has already gives them clout.

Actors, in having a union, protect the little guys more than anything.

There aren't really any little guys in comics. The little guys are generally their own bosses or working for a publisher who is giving everything they can (or maybe taking a loss) to compensate the talent what they can.

Coal miners, in having a union, protect against unsafe work conditions and exploitive wages.

Comic professionals are generally pretty well compensated once you've considered what the bottom line is. They generally get what the sales justify.

Creator rights could stand some improvement but union tactics like strikes really wouldn't impact things too badly.

DC and/or Marvel could either hire replacement teams (no big deal, really -- there's more talent than there's work for) or stop publishing (no big deal -- the real money's in film and television). The real losers would be the editors, colorists and letterers.

Heck, if comics stopped publishing tomorrow, the writers would likely go on to better paying jobs and the artists would EVEN MORE SO.

There are still some important changes that creators need to negotiate with the big publishers but I doubt a union would help this.

Now... Advertizing and publishing co-ops, small press anthologies, greater scholarly input on the medium and its corporate structure, freelance research, freelance editorial work and better distribution structure would all be great.

But none of those things really scream "union".

What the industry really needs is a couple of private bars/clubs where talent can mingle... and they JUST ABOUT have those right now.

One thing that IS cropping up and looks to have some nice benefits is the "studio" system which virtually all of the big creators this side of the Atlantic are members of.

You may not be aware of all the individual studios that have formed but virtually every geographical or online cluster of pros has a "studio" for the purposes of socializing.

Whether we're talking about Golden Goat (the online indy studio), Gaijin (Cully Hamner and friends), Man of Action (Casey, Kelly, Seagle, Rouleau), Empath (Loeb, Johns, Heinberg), etc. etc.

And for those who haven't made it into any of those, message boards not unlike this one (Millarworld being a not-so-bad example, Ellis' new message board being a better example) can serve a similar role for those not firmly associated with a bloc of creators.

[king mob]

John Wagner and Pat Mills apparently suggested a union to IPC in the 70's, the reply was "fuck off".Thats the only example i can think of regarding any creator trying to form one.

[Charles RB]

Since most comic creators are freelancers and not employees of any one comic company, I don't see how you could get a union.

[Sir Tim Drake]

John Wagner and Pat Mills apparently suggested a union to IPC in the 70's, the reply was "fuck off".Thats the only example i can think of regarding any creator trying to form one.

If I'm recalling correctly, a number of DC writers tried to form a union in the late '60s and were fired as a result. See Comic Book Artist vol. 1 #5.

[Michael P]

Since most comic creators are freelancers and not employees of any one comic company, I don't see how you could get a union.
Most actors are freelancers. Most non-comics writers are freelancers. They have unions.

[Ed Cunard]

Also, The Comics Journal #262 had an article on comics trade organizations that may be of interest--it was a follow-up article to the one written about the ICAA (and whatever happened to them?). There's only a brief excerpt at TCJ.com (http://tcj.com/262/n_assoc.html), but if anyone wants, I can see if I still have the actual issue and scan it.