The year is off to a slow start but I’m sure some of us have already given up on a few New Year’s Resolutions. Who was it that said they’d be gyming three times a week? Or said they’d finish 100 books this year? Certainly not me!
Did you know that just under half of adults wanted to take an artistic hobby of theirs to the next level this year? But did you also know that a huge pool of comic creators will self-publish for the majority or entirety of their career? That’s hundreds of creators who will never be able to reap the industry benefits of relying on and learning from a traditional publisher.
It’s a hard thing to look to your creative future without role models to follow in the footsteps of. This problem is compounded for Black artists who are underrepresented in the industry. The most recent figures show that just 6% of credits on books are given to Black creators at the top graphic novel publishers (Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse) – but statistics for representation in the UK don’t currently exist.