Do cartoonists start in the funny papers, or do they start with publications? I WAG the funny papers might be a shorter route to fame, but the pay may be less at first. OTOH, publishers may pay more, but the road is longer and harder, correct?
Anyone know how this works? Thanks!
Syndicates are interested in signing on artists who can produce work consistently which readers will want to see. There would not seem to be any “official” or “required” path one has to follow before one can show the ability to do this.
Some comic strip artists began in the comic book industry before moving to comic strips. In the early days of comic books, standards were often pretty low, and a great many comic book artists were people who had failed to get established as comic strip artists or who hoped to work themselves up to working for newspaper syndicates later. For instance, Jerry Seigal and Joe Schuster tried selling Superman as a comic strip before turning it into a comic book feature.
Frank Frazetta–now known primarily as a paperback book cover artist–drew science fiction stories for EC Comics in the early 50s before becoming an assistant to Al Capp.
Some comic strip artists worked as commercial illustrators before moving to comics. Hal Foster, the creator of Prince Valiant, was a well-respected advertising illustrator before he was hired to draw Tarzan as a comic strip.
Some artists who created well-known humorous comic strip features began by selling individual cartoons to magazines, local papers, etc. Charles Schultz and Gary Larson come to mind as examples. Turning out a joke a day can be tremendously demanding, and it is understandable that such artists often start out “slow” as they develop their technique.
Some comic strip cartoonists worked originally as assistants to other cartoonists. Al Capp worked for Ham Fisher on Joe Palooka before creating Lil’ Abner.
With respect to pay, the rates various cartoonists earn varies tremendously.
Big name magazines such as Playboy or The New Yorker pay considerably more than do smaller ones. There is also considerably more competition to get published in them. I recall reading once that editors at The New Yorker once considered sending George Booth a letter of encouragement after he had submitted cartoons and been rejected for several years, suggesting that he would probably get published in a few more. They decided not to, fearing that he might be old and decrepit, considering as how old people figured in his drawings so often, and his drawing style was so wobbly.
The pay from newspaper syndicates is linked to how widely published a particular feature is. Charles Schultz and Hal Foster died very wealthy men. (Of course, Schultz’ income likely came in large part from Peanuts related merchandise).
On the other hand, when the respected cartoonist Bobby London was fired by his syndicate from drawing the Popeye strip about ten years ago, I read that he was only making two hundred dollars a week. This points up the difference which can come from “having” a comic strip, as opposed to working for one.
Popeye is, of course, not nearly as successful as it was many decades ago. At the time, it appears, the strip was mostly being carried in free papers, and London, a long-time underground cartoonist, got in trouble for doing a story line in which some ministers mistakenly thought Olive Oyl was considering an abortion. (They had overheard Popeye telling her to “get rid of the kid”; he meant an expensive collector’s doll she had bought over a home shopping channel to which she had become addicted.)
Information about pay rates, etc. can be found in professional publications for artists and writers.