They did it to da Vinci.

OK, so I’ve often written of how working in comics is - and never has been - a guarantee of anything, and if you can’t do this full time it’s not just about you.

And if you don’t make it, it doesn’t mean a conspiracy of haters is out to get you.

Creators feel they’ve been unfairly shut out, they’ve worked on Big Two properties, there are gossips working against them, or the public simply doesn’t recognize how hard they work. In the end, they can’t make a living in comics and it’s off to a day job.

I get it. I know how you feel. We’ve all had those days.

Those weeks.

Those years.

But that’s the norm. And it always has been.

I also see pundits trying to make a point that creators having trouble making a living in this biz is some kind of new thing.

But it’s totally not.

Let’s take a look at The Legion of Super-heroes. Which used to be a Star Maker property.

I was just thinking of my old buddy Keith Giffen. The Legion of Super-heroes worked out great for him.

But how did it work out for everyone else?

Steve Lightle, Greg Larocque with over 300 mainstream credits. Tom and Mary Bierbaum co-wrote one of the most famous Legion storylines. Jimmy Janes got more than a few issues under his belt.

What happened to all of them? Did they rise to the top of the food chain?

They sure as hell didn’t stay there. In fact, most of them didn’t get much or any work after the 1990’s.

And yet, just the other day I saw someone who has no more than a dozen mainstream credits after more than THREE SOLID DECADES TRYING TO MAKE A GO OF IT IN COMICS, going on and on about how hard they worked, how they’ve been passed over, how they are a big truth teller and that is why people shun them, and that the industry is never going to treat them fairly and recognize their abilities.

Oh, really?

The industry was willing to dump Curt Swan, the quintessential Superman artist, when his style was no longer in vogue.

Past it. Time to bring in John Byrne.

What on Earth do you think it’s going to do to you, person who has literally never contributed anything to comics that could be identified on sight as yours and yours alone?

Look pal, once upon a time, Leonardo da Vinci’s star faded, and some joker cut a door in the bottom of the Last Supper mural because they didn’t think the part with Jesus’s feet on it was worth preserving.

In fact, da Vinci didn’t even really take off as a Big Thing until nearly 300 years after he died. No joke. Until some wiseacre stole the Mona Lisa, most people had never heard of Leonardo da Vinci.

How disposable is your art?

No major corporation has your back, fans love you one day and don’t love you the next, and there are no guarantees.

The only thing you can do is do your best work, know your business, and don’t get caught up in the drama of things that don’t serve your art.

Most people only get one shot at this. Rarely you get two.

And you only get one life.

Don’t waste art energy on resentment. Don’t waste it on coulda/shoulda/woulda. Make the art you want to make. You cannot control outside things. You can only control yourself.

I originally wrote this post on my public FB page in 2023, and boy, am I a prophet or what?