Comic Book Artists

The U.S. Department of Labor classifies comic book artists under the category of "fine artists." It reports that fine artists who worked as independent artists, writers, and performers earned average salaries of $66,180 in May 2023. Approximately 10 percent of all fine artists earned less than $28,390 per year, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $135,420 annually.

The field of comic books is small and highly competitive, and it’s extremely challenging to make a living as a full-time comic book artist. Many comic book artists are freelance artists who supplement their income by working in part-time jobs.

A survey conducted by comic book artist David Harper in 2015 revealed that 60 percent of the respondents earned less than $12,000 per year from their comic book art. Comic book companies typically pay artists and writers on a per-page basis and generally as work for hire, meaning the publisher is the owner of the artwork. Artist Alex De Campi revealed the following per-page rates for work-for-hire comic book art at the 2015 Special Edition: New York Comic Con. For mainstream comic books: script, $80-100; covers, $600-700; line art, $200-300; color art, $120-150; and letters, $20-25. For indie comic books, the per page rate was: script, $25-50; covers, $200-500; line art, $100-250; color art, $35-100; and letters, $10-20.

Creator Resource is a Web site that provides comic book freelancers with information on the industry, including page rates. You can check out page rates for selected publishers by visiting https://www.creatorresource.com/page-rate-finder-comic-book-publishers.

Artists can often supplement their income by selling original art pages, which are returned to them after a comic is published. Many also take private commissions, drawing sketches and pin-ups for fans who order special requests. Others may teach art classes. A few attain very high earnings if their creations or characters appear in movies or television shows. Some comic book professionals earn additional money from podcasts and blog subscriber and advertising revenue.