First, an important update.

I failed to make it to Richard Walker’s Pancake House during SDCC. I know. I talked a big game and didn’t follow through.

I did, however, eat a ton of good food, including my ritualistic pre-madness fancy meal, which this time was at Black Radish. I ate like a king, but I did not take photos because I was too self-conscious. That’s okay. Here’s what I ate from the prix fixe menu:

It was a great show overall. Being at the Eisners and losing to Wonder Woman was an honor. Sold a lot of books. Saw a lot of friends. Made new ones. Had quality hangs with one of my oldest and closest. Got Big Timed by some people, stayed humble. Bought some toys.

One thing that really came to the fore this year was how many colleagues I saw who have been slowly but surely leveling up year after year. Every year we see each other, every year our shows feel just a little bit different. More productive, more to promote, more positive, more exhausted, but less depleted. It’s good. It’s how it should be after many years of putting the work in.

But something else happened this year that I wasn’t expecting, which was realizing just how many indie creators I used to see all the time, whether on the shelf at the comic shop or tabling at shows, that have self-evicted from comics. I don’t blame them.

It’s a tough industry even if you’re incredibly talented, reliable, and kind. Maybe even especially if you’re kind, I don’t know. I’m certainly not faulting or judging anyone for making the decision to step away, especially if they’ve found a different way to express themselves or simply needed to focus on more important things.

Dodging bullets, catching strays

There are so many factors actively working against you to make any kind of reliable living. Costs are high, margins are thin, attention spans are limited, billionaires want to kill us all, distribution is in shambles, so on and so forth. Direct market comics, as an industry, is in a tough spot despite the medium firing on all cylinders with some of the best work being done by anyone anywhere. Those who are successful are very successful, but everyone else — which includes most creators — are holding on for dear life.

It shouldn’t be this way, but it’s just how it is for most indie creators in the year 2025. It’s part of why I think keeping a day job is key for my own mental health. To keep myself from relying too heavily on the non-existent financial stability of comics that would in turn undoubtedly impact my love for making them. Making comics is my favorite thing to do and I would like to keep it that way.

There are people who behave unprofessionally, offer predatory contracts, stiff you on payment. There are otherwise decent people who turn a blind eye or feign ignorance when this happens. There are people who will promise you the world and disappear. There are hacks, hucksters, and assholes in every industry, but there are a lot of those types in comics who somehow linger on despite their misdeeds, probably because no other industry will tolerate the bullshit.

So, first, fuck those people. They needn’t be tolerated whether you are brand new to the industry or are a best-selling author. But it just goes to show that in my experience, all of these factors combine to challenge you in crafting your output within this weird space. The truth about making comics is that it’s a war of attrition.

I don’t mean it in a competitive sense; it’s not SURVIVOR where you must Outwit, Outplay, Outlast. It’s forging ahead despite ~*everything*~, whether that’s industry shakeups you can’t control or the more personal struggles that nobody knows about.

Making comics is fucking hard, straight up. Every comic book that exists, even the not very good ones, is a god damn miracle. On top of that, you’re brushing off rejection time and again, dodging the aforementioned bad actors and the assholes.

Making comics with any regularity is simply propelling yourself upstream under your own self-generated steam power, plugging leaky holes along the way. Hopefully, you and your peers toss each other some rope to gain some ground when one of you gains a little traction. Friends can — and should — gas you up, but it’s only your own self-motivation that is going to get you to the next goal post.

You just have to hang the fuck on for dear life while trying to do things you’re proud of and making the comics that are important to you by any means necessary. All while behaving in a way that makes your collaborator’s lives just a little easier and prioritizing the important people in your real day-to-day existence.

There’s no failure to be had if you feel like you’ve stayed true to yourself.

Baby steps to the elevator,

-Joey
[email protected]
PO Box 1093, Bath, ME 04530
Buy my comics

CRITICAL SHIT

SOUP DAD MERCH!!! 

I put together a lil Teepublic store in support of Soup Dad Comics, my self-publishing imprint. Currently the main attraction is the AI IS FOR HACKS & FASCISTS t-shirt, but there other items featuring Ben Bailey’s excellent Soup Dad logo with more to come. This isn’t gonna be a windfall, but all of these monies will ultimately go back into the pockets of real life organic artists. Imagine that.

THE PEDESTRIAN THREADLESS SHOP is still available for all your PEDESTRIAN needs. And as always, if you haven’t snagged a copy of THE PEDESTRIAN yet, it’s available in my web store, online, and on GlobalComix. 

COOL SHIT FROM OTHER PEOPLE

ROOTS OF MADNESS by Stephanie Williams and Letizia Cadonici

Anything Stephanie writes you should buy, but a new creator-owned book? With Letizia Cadonici? From new publisher Ignition Press?! Absolutely. This one is an alt-history horror book dripping with mystery and magic and intriguing family lore while exploring the influence and impact of Madam CJ Walker, the first woman to become a self-made millionaire, and doing so as a Black woman at the turn of the century. Pre-order here, on sale Oct. 1!

MACABRE VALLEY by Zack Quaintance and Anna Readman

This new rural horror story sounds (and looks) rad as hell: “A young reporter gets a job covering the night cops beat at a newspaper in South Texas. When a Border Patrol agent is gruesomely murdered, our hero must untangle a violent mystery with a beloved local priest and a werewolf at its dark center.” I’m a big fan of Zack’s DEATH OF COMICS BOOKCASE anthology, so I’ll be a day one backer when this launches on Kickstarter. Sign-up to get notified when it goes live!

ATLANTIS WASN’T BUILT FOR TOURISTS by Eric Palicki and Wendell Cavalcanti

I loved ATLANTIS WASN’T BUILT FOR TOURISTS back when it originally came out in 2020, and I’m VERY excited to get this new edition entirely benefiting the creators rather than a “publisher” I have a grudge with. It’s like a neo-western meets Lovecraft, you’ll love it. Back it on Kickstarter now!

OTHER SHIT I’M WORKING ON

PROJECT SLICE-N-DICE (WFH) — An editor I’ve worked with previously reached out about a new work-for-hire project spinning out of SDCC, and I’m stoked — not just for the new work to replace PROJECT GOLDEN AXE (RIP) but also to work with said editor again. Research for this is VERY grim and already giving me nightmares, but I think, ironically, the book will be pretty fun.

PROJECT HELMET (WFH) — I’m working with the most excellent Gavin Smith on this one and reader, it’s going to be fucking sick. I’ve been a fan of his for a while, most recently on his excellent creator-owned series HEARTPIERCER with equally rad dude Rich Douek, from Dark Horse. We got to hang at SDCC and hit it off — he was gracious enough to come to karaoke — so I hope there’s more to come, whether it’s on this WFH property or something else.

PROJECT PUKE — Had some good conversations about this one at SDCC, including a comment from a potential editor who said, “I had to stop eating when I was reading it, it was making me sick.” Keeping my fingers crossed. Also, the original art for the incredible James Stokoe cover is now in my possession.

SHITKICKERS — This has been an increasingly frustrating situation but I’ve been told the books are printed an en route to the Zoop fulfillment center. I should never have relinquished control of crowdfunding to a third party, but we’re stuck until fulfillment is complete. Andrea and I thank backers for their extreme patience and promise the next round of SHITKICKERS funding will be smoother. Textbook definition of “if you want something done right, just do it yourself.”

MADAM — Getting the ball rolling on building out a crowdfunding campaign for this one that will hopefully get a spotlight next month! Fingers crossed.

THE PEDESTRIAN  — As I mentioned earlier, the Eisner for Best New Series went to the awesome ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman, deservedly so. It was an honor to be in that room, and we got a Road Warriors Pop when they showed THE PEDESTRIAN up on the big screen. Surreal.

PROJECT SALT — Taking this one off the board for now. This story is very important to me but it’s become apparent that this will be a Soup Dad Comics jam. That’s okay. It’s a punk rock story that will be done in a punk rock way.

Thanks for hanging out. If you have any suggestions or questions, please feel free to drop me a line at [email protected].