When I was a teenager and decided I wanted to draw indie comic books for a living, before the internet was fully available to publish and promote my work online on (ironically, computers are the primary way people are aware of my comic book and manga work now. As far as traditional shop and bookstore publishing goes, the more successful I got at paving the groundwork for a new generation of online comics in the new millenium, the more and more submitting my work to actual traditional publishing houses for editing and revision seemed futile. At the time I reconsidered traditional publishing and had developed somewhat of a reputation as a creative type online, I wondered if I really wanted to, or if I could really endure or even stand the publicity and celebrity of traditional publishing, in the future, or at all for that matter. I worked my ass off as an online comics artist in the last 5 years. Publishing and promotion through "sanctioned print" seemed like a big pain in the ass in some ways, whether it's being forced to attend conventions, or not being able to say whatever it is you want, or even just not having full control over my own career. For whatever reason, now that online publishing is kind of starting to take off a little, traditional publishing (not counting self-publishing and local distribution by hand, which I have done both of), traditional publishing just seems like a massive pain in the ass, especially if your books don't live up to expectations of the publisher and market. It's like there's no exit in that kind of career in some ways.), I was far from fully aware of what working in comics was really like.
One part of drawing comics I don't know if I ever could have prepared for would be the fact that drawing comics often feels like a fight. You're fighting to sell you're books, you're fighting critics and haters, some of whome wish you quite a bit of ill as active competitors, and you're fighting for acknowledgement. You get that kind of impression from some people online that they seem to just assume without any real provocation, perhaps blinded by the status of pros on the market, that if not everyone already knows who you are, you must be untalented and undeserving of ever making a living at comics if you're not already famous and have a built in now-online fanbased that just magically transferred in from the 90s and first half of this decade. Not exactly a level playing field. If you're starting from the bottom up in the comics profession, more than likely you're going to have a fight for recognition on your hands. Maybe even a war. Just ask Dave Sim.
