Friday, February 27, 2009

Hey New guy...you wanna get a job in comics? you better know somebody.

This is what l read today....if you are a new artist making samples...you better get your money together and go to the shows.
let me tell you a story about that...when l first got in at Marvel..(500 years ago)..l was flown down for a picnic and family day party. l met my editor Suzanne Gaffney and we hung out at her office...here is the part that might surprise you.

l was sitting there and a guy came in to show his work , she took the time to look at it gave him some advice, he was to do more stuff. l think he was an intern or something because he seemed to know her quite well. He was really cool with me and as soon as he was done he shook my hand and left the room leaving behind his work for her to keep ...l spoke to Suze for about 30sec when she picked his samples up and put them in the trash....l went 'huh'' and she said that she had to do that because she couldn't keep them all...l said ' wow, that's harsh''....she said 'yeah it is , but it's the way it is ...''..

she than said..' hey, l know how l can show you what it's like''.....she took me to the mail room where she put a HUGE bag of mail in front of me...she told me that was just today's mail...2000 pieces of mail...mostly samples. l said l would look through them...she laughed...l lasted about 200 before my mind just gave up.

l was just ripping open the package...looking in and if it didn't catch my eye l would toss it. l realized that day that if you mail it...you won't get hired.

on a funny note...l got a letter from Marvel after l had been working there for about 6 months...it was a rejection letter....everyone gets one because if they have your address chances are you didn''t make it. l would frame mine ...if l could find it..hahahaaha.

here is the article...enjoy.


'Marvel Comics announced this morning that it has halted unsolicited submissions while it reviews its policy.

A new submissions policy is expected to be announced “in the near future.” In the meantime, company representatives will continue to recruit artists through the talent department, and conduct portfolio reviews at conventions.

Talent Liaison C.B. Cebulski had first revealed last week on Twitter that Marvel was revising its approach to submissions.

Amid a flurry of tips for aspiring creators and a mention of the new policy, Cebulski wrote, “Just so no one gets their hopes up, the new Marvel submissions policies are only going to make breaking in that much harder, folks.”

In a press release posted today on Marvel’s submissions page, Cebulski said the publisher found that open submissions have been the least-effective way to discover new talent: “So instead we’ll be continuing with the more ‘proactive’ methods of artist and writer discovery that we’ve found so successful of late, including some soon-to-be-announced new outlets.”

Just how ineffective have open submissions been for Marvel? “Disturbing but eye-opening fact: No writer or artist has been hired through a cold submission mailed into Marvel in recent memory,” Cebulski wrote Feb. 14 on Twitter. That was followed by, “Upon intense review, we discovered that almost all new talent hired by Marvel over the past five years has come through ‘word-of-mouth.’”

2 comments:

babybro said...

Yeah, I read about it. I'm very happy and lucky to be living in san diego because I can go to the comic con every year to get my art reviewed, but it's looking liking every year, things are getting harder, not easier to get into comics. On the other hand, manga companies are picking up manga artists left and right here in the states lol. I just don't get it, maybe it's because manga continues to outsell comics, who knows.

Daniel Andrews said...

Very cool post Ken. Harsh but the reality is more refreshing than anything.
It helps answer misconceptions to someone who is still in the early stage of learning the biz.
Thanks Ken.