9. It's Not Just Writers And Artists
WiredOf course, that's taking a very limited view of what jobs actually exist within the comics industry, not to mention a massive underestimation of how many people it takes to produce a single issue. There's the general view that breaks down any sort of auteur theory of comic books, the idea that they come from one visionary source. Nope, each comic book you read is a product not just of the writers and artists' imaginations but also the editor's input, the format it's published in, and the depressingly capitalist survey of market trends and projected sales figures that got the book and the story commissioned in the first place. You don't just come up with a neat idea for a Superman story and then tell it. You come up with the idea and pitch it to an editor or, more often than not, you get brought an idea and asked how you'd do it, and then develop that into a script with the help of your editor. It gets developed further through talking to the creative team, the whims of the publisher, and the marketers who make sure the comic actually sells copies when it gets released. And when it gets released, it doesn't stop. There's promotion to be done, handled by said marketing department. There's the people who actually run the printing presses that make the things. There's all the computer geniuses who run the digital side. That's all just in-house, too, because beyond that we have the people who pack the comics up, ship them out, drive them around the country, and sell them in stores. The comics industry isn't just guys at computers and drawing boards, it's a whole...well, industry of professionals each fulfilling a different, vital role.