OTT & Transmedia : How Much DOES Making a Comic Book Cost? by Karen "Kay" Ross

That's a really tough question because it will depend a lot on the illustrator, inker, colourist and letterer that you will hire. I know some good illustrators that start at $100-$150 per page, and others at $300 (and that doesn't include the inking and colour). So, for a 22-pages single-issue comic book, it could cost between $3 000 to $10 000. And this doesn't include the printing.

Here's an article that could interest you: https://www.grekoprinting-comixwellspring.com/blog/how-much-cost-self-pu...

That's true. I started creating a graphic novel years ago, but I had to put it on hold after the artist left the project for something more lucrative. I also lost money in the process. That doesn't mean that it can't work that way, but you better be sure the artist working with you is not just here for the money.

You know what I love? I love thoughtful responses - SUCH good information here, gents! THANK YOU!

I hired an editor (he converted my screenplay) and coordinated the pencils, ink, color, and dialog and that cost $100 per page for 124 pages including cover art.; however, that pricing is over a decade ago. Printing is highly competitive, you can get quote here for the best deal (ask for samples because the price might be really good but their printing quality would be mediocre): https://www.printindustry.com/. Also, higher the quantity, the per unit cost drops, of course - so it may be cheaper to get 1000 than 500; or 500 than 100, etc. If using an overseas printer, make sure it's FOB [your destination] and make sure they do all of the paperwork for customs! - Oh, and make sure all taxes are included too. (Quotes tend too leave off thing that make the price go up, so make sure to ask for the FINAL cost!)

Hi! I’m new here and this post caught my attention. I’d like to suggest looking at Panoply, a graphic novel app created by a small developer called Opertoon. It’s a Unity-based app and you can find it in the Unity App Store. I know a few folks who have used it and they love it.

Christian really nailed it on the head. During my time doing comic books (short stories for anthologies, a single issue collection of those anthology shorts and an issue of book I had hoped to make a continuing series), the price varied wildly.

If you're paying people industry rates and going for the full gamut (pencils/inks/colors/letters) you can easily rake in thousands of dollars of bills... and that's just for a short story! The more things are consolidated (say, a penciller who also inks) you can save some costs and this is why a lot of writers I know ended up taking over lettering duties as well, because that's one less expense. And, of course, opting not to do color saves a lot as well.

Some people work out back-end deals or figure something out in order not to pay. As Robert Kirkman, writer of Invincible and the Walking Dead, had an artist live in his house and fed him, which in turn the artist didn't bill him (this was early on in Kirkman's career, of course, when he wasn't rolling in dough).

It's why I got out of doing comics, because although I love the format dearly, I couldn't afford it anymore and I couldn't in good conscious try to haggle or undercut the artists I loved working with.

But I will say that outside of watching something you made show up on a theater screen, holding a printed comic book you wrote is one of the greatest feelings ever.

There are so many PC-based options for creating art, I would say that a dedicated solo-dev type could develop a full comic for almost free (if you don't count the time invested). Most 3-D modeling systems have a whole host of "toon" shaders and techniques for creating everything from Ghibli trees and clouds to Borderlands-style cell-shading. Printing would be another matter, but I'm guessing a clever and industrious type could find a ton of DIY solutions. I've done novels on Amazon's Create Space and they offered great quality at good price. The cool thing about developing in any app is you can immediately publish the work to any of the zillion on-line comic sites or develop into a product for eBooks.

Thank you for insight, @Mike! Ooooo... I sense a post about Amazon's Create Space coming up! :-D