WHAT ROYALTIES CAN DO FOR LOCAL COMICS (1 of 4)

And now the fun begins.

September 14, 2007 has come and gone, Caparas’ five (5) mainstream komiks titles have finally debuted. Some have been renamed and covers interchanged at the last minute. The deadly five by the Massacre King are: Super Funny Komiks, Gwapo Komiks, Klasik Komiks, Estudyante Komiks and OFW Super Stories.

All in just Php 10.00 a piece, with colored coated covers, 32 black and white interior pages and in class B newsprint paper, it was originally announced that the titles would debut on September 4, 2007.

Due however to an alleged high and unexpected pre-order rate from newsstand dealers all over the country, the launch date was moved back to September 14, 2007 in order for Caparas’ publisher, Sterling Paper Products Enterprises, Inc., to rush and print additional copies amounting to about 600,000 for all the five titles. And that’s just an initial print run on the first issue as the supply still can’t keep up with the demand.

At present (2007), there are approximately 88.7 million Filipinos with a conservative 54 million Tagalog/Filipino reading audience aged 16 to 45 comprised of mostly women from the lower income bracket. What is an initial weekly print run of 600,000 copies to 54 million potential komiks readers nationwide ANYWAY?

The second issues of all five titles came out September 28, 2007 (Friday) preceded by another week long delay. A you tube video (Caparas Komiks Issue 2), finds Sterling Vice President for Marketing, MARTIN CADLUM, explaining that they were “re-packaging” the titles (whatever that means). The third issue came out also after a week-long delay.

Still, the consensus is that almost all the titles were pre-sold and sold-out to newsdealers all over the country. That means, for each copy that was “pre-sold” to the newsdealers, Sterling was already assured of pay even before the titles went to print.

And by pre-sold, we don’t mean that Sterling was paid the whole Php 10.00 cover price. Rather, the copies were sold to local dealers and distributors at discount in order for the latter to re-sell them at cover price to the public. Once sold, the dealers and distributors then pocket the difference. Unsold copies are returned.

Let’s say on the further assumption that Sterling just got a Php 2.00 net share from the 600,000 pre-sold copies. That is, after deducting operation costs. Let’s further assume that the unreturned copies on the first issue is a conservative 75% of 600,000, or 450,000 copies. 450,000 multiplied by Php 2.00 is Php 900,000 net. Assuming further that it’s the same figure on the 2nd weekly 5 title run, that’s another Php 900,000 for a total net income of Php 1,800,000.

And they didn’t even have to wait six months either for sales reports to come in first before collecting. The change of hands and money happened DURING the time copies were passed from publisher to newsdealer at the port area, Manila where most of the country’s Tagalog news tabloids hold office. It is here where dealers and agents congregate every day near midnight to purchase on discount their quota of Tagalog news tabloids for national distribution. Its that fast. Its that convenient. Its that quick. Never underestimate the power of small change. When put together, they can overwhelm you. That’s inexpensive, mass-market Filipino comics for you.

Even if there are some cases where dealers accept the copies on consignment basis and pay Sterling the discounted price only after the copies are sold, the waiting time does not go beyond two months.

Oh, and did we forget to mention advertising revenue? Other Sterling products are occupying the titles’ ad space at present. But give it a few more months when these titles have finally established a regular and consistent weekly readership and an impartial statistical audience profile is made on them that,its no surprise if the high paying cellphone and fastfood companies come in. When you get these accounts, you’re locked for a minimum six month ad subscription revenue.

And what about the Massacre King himself? We almost forgot about him. How does he benefit from all of this outpouring of love and good cheer? Well, two of his komiks features: “Kroko” and “Gagambino” have already been sold or optioned off to the two rival television networks ABS-CBN and GMA-7, at a time when these features have just started.

Those in the know rightly wager that the other “nobelas” in Caparas’ komiks, written by the clique of Elena Patron, R.R. Marcelino, Nerissa Cabral, Rod Santiago, Hal Santiago, Vic J. Poblete, Gilda Olvidado and (drumroll) the instigator of this whole shebang: Joe Lad Santos, will get the same treatment with Caparas getting a possible share in the percentage or another “business” arrangement. Brilliant, no? What a MASSACRE.

Sterling and Caparas would probably deny these assumptions and even claim that there’s no money coming in. That’s natural. In this early stage of the game you don’t want anybody else joining the party.

But in all this explosion of good fortune, old-time camaraderie and world peace, there lurks, as always, a problem. Let’s summarize the events that have gone so far in this ongoing sitcom.

The media hype and public awareness of local komiks that kicked off early this year (2007) has been so successful that even President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo gamely took part by awarding Caparas a presidential medal of merit for just making 800 plus Tagalog komiks nobelas regardless of whether or not they were any good. In return, a grateful Caparas endorsed the Administration’s senatorial candidates during his nationwide komiks caravan. The funny thing is that, as a result almost all except one of these candidates lost the May, 2007 elections.

Be that as it may, the five komiks titles finally came out despite delays and the threat of global warming, with many unemployed komiks professionals of the past getting off their rockers and strollers, cheering and jumping for joy that they’ve finally started reviving a moribund local comics industry.

Initial sales seem to be doing pretty well sans some unimportant technical nitpicking and petty intrigues unsuccessfully sowed in the internet by the jealous and disgruntled “love-drunk” purveyors of expensive, hard-to-find, low print-run, artsy-fartsy, and pretentious globalized Filipino comics, calling themselves: “indies”. We say this because right now other people are seriously considering joining the bandwagon and publishing inexpensive, mainstream Filipino comics of their own under the same format and style set by Sterling/Caparas. Hallelujah, sis-boom-bah.

But after patting yourselves in the back silly, you have to ask yourselves one question: how long can you maintain the momentum? To rephrase that: How long can you keep a relic of the 2oth century Roces komiks sweatshop operation going?

Already there are reports of ramblings in the Caparas camp, the writers and artists are complaining that 5 mainstream komiks titles are not enough to contain all of them who sorely need steady, income-generating jobs; that the five titles are unduly monopolized by long-running nobelas whose favored few and selected creators are assured of steady income though at a measly page rate of from P300 to P800 a page. The rest however, are stuck with four page short stories that take their turns in appearance, interspersed by a long wait during intervals.

Naturally, there’s some behind the scenes jockeying and politicking going on that are highly likely to foster discontent and ill-will, affecting the quality of work being done. And when the quality of work is affected, it will not be long before the volume and quantity suffer as well. Pretty soon there’s the very real possibility that the whole business operation will go down the drain.

You say you got the dealers and distributors right under your thumb? They’re at your beck and call? You control them (for now)? Well brother, it won’t do you any good if your team of freelance creatives are ill-managed from the start by an outdated, informal, and exploitative sweatshop system. Abante Komiks part two.

Where are the new ideas in this set-up? Why aren’t they coming in? Why is it always the same, tired old faces? Why do lousy and recycled features dominate? Why is it like a rigid pyramid? Why are all good and bold ideas being blocked? Why is everything so informal, no contracts, no legalities, no incentives based on merit? Why are all these economically challenged and mostly geriatric komiks creators desperate to join and help maintain an obvious sweatshop system? Why do they put a premium on the average and the mediocre while still maintaining a happy face? Why is there an aching, gnawing distance between the old and new comics creators, no real communication, close-minded and still distrustful of each other? Why are these idea men A-1 gluttons for punishment?

To quote Shirley Bassey and the Propellerheads: “They say the next big thing is here, that the revolution's near, but to me it seems quite clear that it's all just a little bit of …history repeating.”

Want to know how a coercive monopoly starts to destroy itself from within when it’s the only player in town? Come watch the massacre. The show’s just starting.

WHAT ROYALTIES CAN DO FOR LOCAL COMICS (2 of 4)

THE EXPERIENCE AND LESSON FROM ANOTHER MAINSTREAM COMICS INDUSTRY

So you ask yourselves, will a royalty incentive program today for comics creators help create bestselling mass-market komiks? This has never been done before during the more than 50 year Roces/National Bookstore komiks monopoly. During all this time, the industry practice was akin to a sweatshop system. That is, everything that a freelance contributor submits, including the copyright, is owned by the publishing company. On top of this, the freelance comics contributor is only paid a measly page rate; a ‘work-made-for-hire’ system. Its a situation similar, nay, IDENTICAL, to the informal business arrangement between Sterling/Caparas and the tribe of veteran komiks contributors who weekly visit Sterling’s office in Pasig City for their measly page rate payments.

There are exceptions of some local comics creators (mostly writers) like Francisco Coching, Pablo S. Gomez, Carlo J. Caparas, Mars Ravelo, Jim Fernandez, Vic J. Poblete,Elena Patron, Gilda Olvidado and Nerissa Cabral, being allowed by the Roceses to retain their copyright and profit from them through adaptations in television and film media, but it stops right there and they are the favored few. What about the rest?

It cannot be denied that the longstanding general practice is for local comics publishing companies to retain copyright on the comics creator’s work and pocket the corresponding profits from the use and exploitation of that copyright. If the contrary is claimed, where are the written contracts between publisher and freelance comics creator that prove otherwise?

It is also undeniable that during its more than 50 year sweatshop practice, the Roces family unduly monopolized the local comics industry causing its eventual collapse in the 1990s with National Bookstore acting as undertaker, shoveling the dirt on its grave in the first half of the 21st century until the industry was dead and buried in 2006; that is, the year when Atlas Publications, the last of the Roces dummy komiks corporations previously sold off in 1996 to National Bookstore, stopped operating.

So, royalties were never introduced in the local industry. Is that any reason to deny its applicability today, no matter how late it is? Could the introduction of such a scheme, interrupt and forestall the decline of the local komiks industry in the 1990s? Has there even been a similar situation wherein the decline of a mainstream comics industry was halted and saved by the introduction of royalties by sweatshop comics publishing companies?

The unqualified answer is yes. And the precedent for that is the mainstream comics industry of the United States.

To recall, in the early 1970s mainstream comicbooks in the U.S. were still sold mainly in the newsstand market at very cheap prices when compared to most publications also seen in the newsstands at the time. The newsstands, which are not unlike the newsstand kiosks and banketas of today where Sterling/Caparas’ komiks are sold, were the only mode of distribution for printed mainstream comicbooks in North America.

Despite the 1950s public lynching of U.S. comicbooks significantly reducing the number of newsstand distributors, the few that remained sauntered on carrying comics that followed a strict, self-imposed and industry-wide ‘Comics Code’ by the mainstream comics companies who were still standing (i.e., Dell, Gold Key, Charlton, Timely/Atlas, National/DC, Harvey, Archie and others).

With a reduced newsstand distribution service aggravated by a generally negative public view of the comics medium, the American mainstream comics companies still managed to barely survive the 1960s. That is, until two of its superhero-oriented comics publishers, Marvel and National/DC started flooding the market in the early 1970s with more than 50 titles on either side dealing with practically the same repetitive superhero-fantasy-sci-fi-horror genre, competing for precious magazine display space.

Magazine newsstand distributors and dealers naturally had limited space for such unreasonable volumes of supply. Not all the Marvel and DC titles were displayed. Only a few were, thus resulting in huge volumes of unreturned unsold copies. The titles from other comics companies who weren’t flooding the market suffered the same fate as well. Pretty soon, the remaining mainstream comics companies started to incur huge debts and financial losses. Some, like Dell, Gold Key, Harvey and Charlton closed down.

The mainstream comics reading public, realizing the repetitiveness of subject matter in the newsstands aggravated by an increase in comics prices, left in droves. Many newsstands devoted to comics distribution either stopped or limited carrying mainstream comics titles or closed down altogether.

By 1974, the big two: Marvel and DC were seriously losing money. Around 1978 and 1979, they pared down their number of titles, increased their prices, and were still getting huge returns for unsold comics from the newsstands. The new owners of Marvel and DC, Cadence Industries and Warner Communications, were seriously thinking of either selling them off or closing them down.

Comics creators from cash-strapped Marvel and DC were not earning much either and were still being paid measly page rates on top of their creations being owned by the big two. It was a sweatshop system where the comics creators were terribly exploited. They weren’t employees and had no benefits as employees yet they were treated LOWER than an employee under a work-for-hire system. They were freelancers who created original stories and art for Marvel and DC’s comics but retained no copyright over their storylines, revamps of established characters and introduction of new characters.

Soon, many left the industry and no new creators were coming in. Marvel and DC kept losing money and were recycling old material performed by old reliable creators faithful to the work-for-hire system. What kept them afloat were the licensing of their characters to other media. Mainstream comics publishing was at an all-time low. The late, great Jack Kirby in his 1981 interview with Howard Zimmerman for Starlog’s Comics Scene magazine, describes the sweatshop business arrangement between creatives and the mainstream U.S. comics companies at the time:

“Only a fool can function under the old comics structure. Why should a man draw a good picture if they are going to give it to three other guys? Why should a man write a good story if the company keeps it? Why should a man even ink, when he’s not sure whether the company will take care of him or not?”

Kirby views the overgrounds as “ads for toys. They don’t get sales, but they make awfully good looking ads for toys. They aren’t comics—they’re just an approach to a toy franchise.”

“We need a lot more innovation,” he says. “Under new structures, guys will get the incentive to do new things.” Xxx

“I feel that if people cooperated with people instead of hindering them in some way, I think they would get the chance to develop into whatever they want to be, and there would never be any conflict. My religion is cooperation, not power. That’s why I’m so adamantly against the rigid structure of comics.”

“I cooperate with Pacific Comics and Pacific cooperates with me. It’s a good relationship, without conflict. It’s living proof that if you give the next guy a fair break, or cooperate with him, he’s going to help you. And it’s certainly not going to hurt the world.” Xxx

Until now Kirby has spoken in even tones. His voice quiet, firm. Now emotion breaks through. There is an anguished look in his eyes and a touch of bitterness in his voice as he says, “I see it as a serpent’s nest. And in a serpent’s nest, nothing can survive. Eventually all the snakes kill each other. Eventually they’ll also kill whatever generated them. When I said that Marvel and DC were really ads for toys, I meant it. They’ll give the staff the chance to develop, but not the men who create, who participate, who are in the arena. It’s the guy who is in the arena who counts. He’s selling your book. And not only that: he’s creating a silent movie. I mean, IT’S A VISUAL ART.”

“So you need standards,” Kirby continues, his voice clam once again. “You need certain standards and discipline and professionalism. Any sort of pettiness and vindictiveness, any sort of toughness, is harmful to a good enterprise. A good enterprise needs all the cooperation it can get. I’m sure that, today, they’ll have a conference at any one of the publishers and they’ll sit down and say, “Come up with ideas” And there are men who will come up with ideas, but they’ll all be second-rate. They are all capable of first-rate ideas, every one of them, but not within that structure.”

All of the work done today for the regular overground mainstream comics is contracted for on the basis of “work-for-hire”, a sore point with many of the creative people who feel that they should own what they create. (After all, there is nothing harder to come up with than a good idea, and there is nothing harder to protect.) Kirby’s definition of work-for-hire is simple and direct: “It means that everything that comes out of you, they own.” (Source: Howard Zimmerman, “Kirby takes on the Comics”, Starlog Presents Comics Scene, No. 2, Comics World Corp., March, 1982 issue)

Amidst the travails being encountered by the big two of mainstream American comics, an alternative comics scene was developing that would eventually impel Marvel and DC to introduce the concept of royalties. As recounted by Robert Greenberger in his 1982 article from the now defunct Comics Scene magazine:

“In the 1960s a generation of dissatisfied comic readers began writing and drawing heir own brand of comics, cruder in appearance than Marvels or DCs but much broader in scope. These ‘Underground” comics became a symbol of the hippie era.

The 1970s gave another generation of dissatisfied comic readers a chance to publish their own stories. This time, however, the result was more of a cross between the freedom of the underground comix and the style of the superhero “above ground” comics. These books have been called either “ground level” or “alternative press” comics.

Many such attempts at alternative press publications have met with only limited success. Mike Friedrich’s STAR REACH Magazines, for example, were loved by the fans and professionals but Friedrich couldn’t keep them profitable or on schedule. Today (1982) there are over a dozen different ground-level publications including the recently released FANTASY ILLUSTRATED and ADVENTURE ILLUSTRATED, and the long-running CEREBUS THE AARDVARK. These magazines use the talents of many comic professionals and serve as a testing ground for new fan talent.” (Source: Robert Greenberger, “Eclipse Rising: a look at an alternative form of comic publishing and the man who made it happen”, Starlog Presents Comics Scene, World Comics Corp., March, 1982 issue)

The alternative press or ground level comics in the U.S. served as a venue for upcoming comics talents and dissatisfied work-for-hire comics professionals to engage in self-publishing where they own the copyright and profits to their work, or otherwise work for ground-level comics publishers such as Aardvark-Vanaheim, Americomics, Comico, Eclipse, Fantagraphics, Fantaco, Fictioneer, First, New Media Publishing, Pacific, Red Beard, Red Circle, and others, where they were offered royalty payments in addition to payment for their artistic and literary services. In short, the creatives were paid better, or were, through a system of royalty payment, given the opportunity to earn more money for their best quality work by the ground-level alternative comics publications.

Aware that the ground-level alternative comics publications were steadily growing, attracting new talent and forming a devoted, albeit limited, “fan” audience at the time, the big two mainstream sweatshop comics publishers started to take notice. How could they get some of that talent and money on their side of the fence?

“Recognizing a change in the comic book business, DC announced on November 17 (1981) a royalty payment program for the regular newsstand comics. Immediate industry reaction was positive: creators say this legitimizes the entire business.

The program involves paying four percent of the cover price to the writer, penciller and inker for comics selling in excess of 100,000 copies in the United States and Canada. People creating comics since July, 1981 will receive a one percent royalty in addition to the standard royalty.

Paul Levitz, manager of business affairs for DC, told COMICS SCENE, “As our business has grown, we have seen a clearer and clearer correspondence between the efforts of our creative people and the sales of the comics. We feel it is stronger in our interests, therefore, to make their compensation based upon the sales of the work to motivate them to do things that will make the comics sell better.”

The program is being made retroactive to last July (1981) when all DC comics went from 50 cents to 60 cents. This was done as a psychological move, Levitz claimed. “Comic books operate on such long lead times—if I started under the royalty plan and wrote a story today (November, 1981) that story wouldn’t be published until May of 1982 and I wouldn’t get a check until May of 1983. Any plan under a system like that is going to take a long time before people are really going to feel excited about it. We chose to backdate the system to be able to make payments fairly soon. We chose to start with the 60 cents books because that’s when our economics could afford it. “ xxx

Levitz felt the readers will benefit from better quality work in exchange for shorter stories. “We’ve seen in the four days the plan has been in effect that some of the writers and artists who have previously never tried to get together for plot conferences are coming in to work on them, getting more intensely involved in the books,” he observed. Xxx

Levitz admitted that in a given month, about half the DC titles fail to sell in excess of 100,000 but he feels with the incentive of royalties, the quality of the entire line will improve, and in due time, all the books should be able to produce royalties.

In any given situation, he pointed out, there may be jockeying among the creators for a position on a top-selling book. “Once you change how people are being paid, you change what they want to do to some degree.” Levitz said.

The plan came to mind in late September (1981) and was put together rather quickly. Levitz said the idea was far from an original one since just about every other form of publishing has some kind of royalty system but now the economics finally made it feasible in the comic book industry.” Xxx

The royalty program indicates an improvement in the life of freelancers who can now work towards making more money while also improving the quality of their books. Fans may expect better stories in the long-run while the companies combat rising costs that have already made the standard 32-page comics almost obsolete.

One comics professional commented that this may spell the end to many small press publishers, such as New Media Publishing or Pacific Comics, who will no longer be able to woo away many of the top talents to work for them. “It’s a shame they will be the ones hurt by all this,” he said. (Source: “DC Rocks Industry with Royalty Program” news article from Comics Reporter column, Starlog Presents Comics Scene no. 2, Comics World Corp., March, 1982 issue)

Initially, Marvel introduced in the late 1970s, the grant of copyright ownership to comics creators when it put out its answer to “Heavy Metal” magazine: “Epic Illustrated”, in the hopes of gaining greater access to creators currently working outside the comics field. In this arrangement, comics creators contributing to Epic were made to sign actual publishing contracts whereby Marvel as publishing company only bought first printing rights, and allowed the creators to retain their copyrights.

Later however, perceiving much needed income from the expensive creator-owned graphic novel format in the direct market, and to initially match DC’s royalty program, Marvel lost no time in introducing new contracts for Marvel creator-owned graphic novels. And the only way to get high sales on the proposed graphic novels was to get fan favorite comics creators who had a devoted following in the direct market. To get these fan favorite creators interested, the new contracts for graphic novels had to be put out.

“The contract, as written, is similar to standard publishing agreements. It grants the creator an advance against future royalties from the books. Shooter said Marvel recognizes that the creators must live while working on the novels; he called the advance high. If a writer or artist receives a larger advance because artists need more time to complete their work.

Starlin, who has been contracted to produce two graphic novels before June (1982), explained that he first dealt with Marvel on “an ego basis”, meaning he thought of himself as a ‘hot talent” and made demands upon the company. After leaving comics for a while to do commercial art, he learned something about the business world. “I learned how to treat art as a business,” Starlin said. ‘Most freelancers don’t treat this as a business. They use ultimatums. If they learned how to treat this as a business, they’d be making much more than they are now. They’re an ignorant bunch of dummies.”

Starlin has already signed the contracts for his two novels, the first being THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN MARVEL, due out this month (March, 1982). Since the novel involves an already established Marvel character, the percentages and royalties remain the same but the work is being done under “work-made-for-hire” terms which allow Marvel to retain the copyright. His second novel, due in May (1982), is DREADSTAR, the third book in his METAMORPHOSIS ODYSSEY series. The first story was serialized in EPIC and the second story, a graphic novel for Eclipse Enterprises, was THE PRICE.

In an interesting development, Marvel is, in essence, licensing Starlin’s characters for a sequel to DREADSTAR to be serialized in Marvel’s black and white magazine, BIZARRE ADVENTURES.

“I took a four day seminar on copyrights,” Shooter said. “And I now have a pretty firm foundation on why the copyright law does the things the way it does. We are a full publishing company and we ant to publish a lot of things. There are a lot of advantages available with this type of contract and as long as the artists are willing to share the risk, they can also share in the profits.” (Source: Robert Greenberger, “Marvel Introduces New Contracts”, Starlog Presents Comics Scene No. 2, March, 1982 issue).

Soon, Marvel too, matched DC’s royalty program for its line of newsstand and direct market comics titles. Thereafter, quality and income of DC and Marvel books of the 1980s gradually improved. Both companies began to slowly channel most of their distribution into the direct market where most of the alternative comics were selling. Of the two, Marvel was the most aggressive.

Comics sold in the direct market were usually bought by dealers who were mostly devoted comics fans. Dealers or comic shops in the direct market, bought comics from the big two at a discounted price on a non-returnable basis. This means that after selling the comics at cover price and earning a profit, unsold copies were never returned and remained with the comic shops.

Unlike the slowly dwindling DC/Marvel mainstream comics sold in the newsstands, the alternative comics publications of the 1980s were oftimes sold in the direct market at expensive prices beyond $1 and sometimes had high quality art and printing. It was this kind of market that enabled Marvel and DC to likewise sell comics beyond the cheap newsstand prices and improve the quality overall. Naturally, the income of the comics creators also improved through the royalty incentive scheme.

During the 1980s, comics boomed in the United States thanks to the direct market and its making possible the introduction of royalties and creator’s rights. Milestones such as Concrete, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, A Distant Soil, Love and Rockets, American Flagg, Sable, Mr. X, Elfquest, Miracleman, The Dark knight Returns, Watchmen, and others came to the fore during the 1980s. It all peaked in 1986:

"1986 seemed to be the year that everybody with a couple thousand dollars in the bank and a line of credit decided that they too wanted to be a comic book publisher. With the recent phenomenal success of a couple of well-known, small print-run black and white titles, comics publishing seemed to be an easy way to become an instant millionaire. By summer, this became known as "the great black and white glut," as over 100 new small press publishers disrupted the entire wholesale and retail market-place with product that, for the most part, did not meet even minimal standards of competency." (Source: Bob Hughes, "Enlarging the Penumbra: Ten Years of Creators' Rights at Eclipse", Amazing Heroes No. 147, Fantagraphics Books, Inc., June 1, 1988 issue.)

As the 1980s came to a close, the volume of Marvel and DC comics soon dominated the direct market edging out the original alternative publishers of the late 1970s and early 1980s. But new independent and alternative comics publishing houses took their place in the 1990s: Dark Horse, Malibu, Image, and others.

Pretty soon, almost all mainstream comics titles in the United States from the 1990s up to the present, were sold in the expensive direct market comics shops. Comics distributed in the newsstands became minimal. And, most importantly, there was an improvement in the U.S. mainstream comics industry. The main cause: the introduction and existence of a business arrangment system which allowed comics creators copyright ownership over their work and to fairly profit from their efforts through a royalty incentive scheme. Sadly, this has yet to take shape in our present local comics scene here in the Philippines.

WHAT ROYALTIES CAN DO FOR LOCAL COMICS (3 of 4)

HOW THE ROYALTY CONTRACT ARRANGEMENT WORKS

DC’s 1981 royalty incentive scheme for all its newsstand comics titles worked as follows:

“Once a comic goes off sale, several months pass by before the final sales figures are known. After the information comes in, if the sales exceed 100,000 copies, the number of sales above 100,000 is multiplied by the cover price. For example, if the NEW TEEN TITANS sold 217,000 copies one month, 117,000 copies are multiplied by 60 cents for a total of $70,200. Since that book was created before the royalty program, Marv Wolfman, George Perez and Romeo Tanghal split four percent of $2,808 and did not receive the one percent creator’s royalty.

Wolfman would receive 50% of that figure while Perez and Tanghal get 25% each since layout artists and embellishers get an even split. In the case of a penciller and inker, such as Curt Swan and Frank Chiaramonte on SUPERMAN, the split would be 35% and 15% respectively.

If there are back-up series, the royalties are divided up so that 75% goes to the team on the lead feature and 30% goes to the creators of the back-up strip. Anthology books such as SUPERMAN FAMILY or HOUSE OF MYSTERY have the royalties split according to the percentage of the total page count each story runs.” (Source: “DC Rocks Industry with Royalty Program” news article appearing on ‘Comics Reporter” column appearing in Starlog Presents Comics Scene No. 2, World Comics Corp., March, 1982 issue).

The main features of Marvel’s 1982 contract for graphic novels are as follows:

ARTIST RECEIVES:

Set advance on royalties.
8% of cover price.

If the graphic novel is sold in the mass market:
6% on the first 150,000 and 8% over 150,000.

10% of amount received by Marvel for copies sold for export
50% of overseas sales
50% of licensing
5% of mail sales
4% of remainder if not sold under cost.
Full rate for magazine publication.
50% for reprint.
Original art insured up to $1,500.

Upon artist’s death, heirs inherit agreement.

PUBLISHER’S RIGHTS AND OPTIONS

World publishing rights.
License rights.
Work must be acceptable to the publisher. Work is either done right or the agreement is terminated.
Artist indemnifies the company against lawsuits.
Artist and Company share copyright responsibility on infringement.
Company has first options on future work. They have 60 days to match or refuse offer.
May use author’s name in advertising.

(Source: Robert Greenberger, “Marvel Introduces New Contracts”, Starlog Presents Comics Scene No. 2, World Comics Corp., March, 1982 issue.)

WHAT ROYALTIES CAN DO FOR LOCAL COMICS (4 of 4)

CROSSROADS

Sterling, I personally believe, is aware of the problem. How do you maintain an old sweatshop system that clearly results in mediocre, half-baked work? How do you maintain your stable of freelance comics creators when there are other publishers coming in who will grab some of these creators away from you later on? What business incentive is there for the comics contributor to even pour out his very best ideas for you? A measly page rate system? The opportunity and experience of waiting in an air-conditioned office in the business district of Ortigas Center? “Love” for Filipino comics? C’mon.

At the end of the day, it’s a business. Creating an industry is a business. You need other people, creative people, to help you build that industry. What are the terms of your arrangement with these people? How do you make them cooperate with you? What’s in it for them? What’s their motivation? Where’s the legality in all of this? WHERE ARE THE WRITTEN CONTRACTS?

You can invite the professional and wannabe comics creators all you want for a meeting. Declare to all and sundry that you want to produce graphic novels, independent Filipino comics (whatever that means nowadays), and provide livelihood to a lot of people, but all you’ll get are blank stares, quizzical looks and a noncommittal shrug from the real creative talents in your midst.

In the end, you’ll probably get the mediocre and amateur talents to help you stay afloat but that’s all where you’re going. Mediocrity, without an incentive to improve, has a way of destroying itself. If you don’t believe that, just look at what happened to our local comics industry.

You got it right. You’re targeting the lower income market. But how do you maintain the momentum? You can’t possibly go on giving them the same product again and again.

Comics are a product of intellectual creation. They appeal to the mind. They are NOT canned goods. Thinking, intelligent, creative PEOPLE usually produce good comics that appeal to the mind, assuring you of regular, consistent sales. You need innovation, the responsibility of creatives, to constantly invite more readers. You need variety. You need constant improvement.

Can’t the best or the opportunity to be the best, have room in your operation? Can’t both sides play fair? Can’t you all sit down and honestly, seriously, discuss your respective plans, objectives and rights in order for all of you to truly cooperate and prosper? Can’t you all take mutual responsibility for the risks as well as the benefits of a royalty incentive scheme? That is, the creators initially take in the low page rates but are assured later on of royalty payments once their issues sell beyond the threshold limit? Can’t all this be reduced into written contracts?

Can’t we all avoid another massacre?