WORDS AND PICTURES: Comics Industry: Respect the Work and the Workers by Grey Williamson

 
American “mainstream” comics...
Micromanaged so extremely by racists that it created a plantation sub-culture with absurd “massas”, “house ni**ers”, and a “runaway slave” web patrol.
Now you can’t sell anything without “us”...
And your Sambo forgot how to cook for his people...
— Grey Williamson
 

There is a such a thing as a comic book "industry".

There are people working within it that have studied and practiced for decades to perfect their work... as well as some newer talent struggling to gain confidence and license in this artistic environment.

Some work for the mainstream companies and some work independently, either by choice or by necessity.

Throughout this "industry" there are vipers that see it as just a tool to gain personal popularity or... to eat the value created by working people... leaving them with not enough to sustain themselves or their craft.

These vipers are the reason why Black people within this industry have little to no agency within it... and have no system to plug into, that they can just do their work without having to spend an inordinate amount of time working on being liked for hire ability.

Some of these vipers are talented enough to present themselves convincingly and others just hover around the talent, looking to package and exploit it... and eat up whatever potential revenue it could generate.

Vipers...

Parasites...

Claiming ownership over works, claiming mastery of an art form, and or claiming control over creatives... and presenting that in even more "packages".

The comic industry is in flux right now. Who we play along with and what we do determines how this industry will be for us and the generation that follows.

We screwed the last one up.

It's a new day.

Respect the work... and the workers.

~ grey