Get It Out There

Nerdvana presents Small Press Saturday – aka, Lessons Learned Self-Publishing Comics

Steve Ditko isn’t a household name, but many of the comic book characters he created, co-created, or influenced ARE – like Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and Blue Beetle, just to name a few. Like many cartoonists of his generation, he lived and died in obscurity, while the superheroes from his drawing board became global icons. Unlike actors, musicians, or pop sensations like Warhol, Lichtenstein, or Stan Lee, mainstream audiences seem to have little interest in the lives and personalities of cartoonists. Cartoonists are famous to OTHER artists, and that’s about it – and, even then, how many cartoonists could pick Charles Schultz out of a line-up?

At least for Ditko, his anonymity was his own fault. In his old age, he became all but a recluse. Occasionally, a fellow cartoonist might’ve managed to establish some correspondence with Ditko, or even to catch him at his apartment (and introduce Ditko to his mom – you know who you are), but otherwise Ditko was an introvert, at best. Anti-social, more likely. His “The Hollywood Reporter” obituary reads, “He is believed never to have married.” No one really knew!

But can an artist REALLY be an introvert? Some artists may feel uncomfortable in a social setting, but they’re driven by expression, which is, in itself, a form of interaction and communication with other people. In some ways, art acts as an emissary of  thoughts, feelings, and opinions – the art goes before the crowd so the artist doesn’t HAVE to.

Despite his reclusively, Ditko self-published comics until the final years of his life. With collaborator Robin Snyder, he engaged crowdfunding platforms and modeled a lesson I’ve learned countless times over the years, regarding making comics – and art, in general:

Get it out there.

Making art without a plan for distribution is like singing opera in the shower – it may be the most beautiful thing on earth, but if no one else is there to experience it, it’s mere frivolity. It’s the dreaded word, to any professional – just a HOBBY.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been presenting a threefold creative time management strategy – education, production, and distribution. I propose that each of these tiers should be pursued in equal measure; in other words, a third of your creative time should be spent on each of them.

Often, distribution is the most overlooked – probably because it must follow production, and production boasts the misnomer that when the work is done, the work is DONE. Distribution demands otherwise – when I finish a comic book, as in, it’s printed and in-hand, it’s really only half done. I’ve altered my mentality – a comic really isn’t DONE until somebody READS it. Similarly, a song isn’t done until somebody listens to it. A movie, until it’s seen, and so on – otherwise, you’ve just felled a tree in the forest with no one around. Distribution requires an audience’s consumption of your work – at their EXPENSE.

This is an important distinction: marketing is a part of distribution, but marketing ISN’T distribution. Marketing is generally an audience’s exposure to your work, for free. We don’t pay to see commercials – in fact, we pay NOT to see them – so anything an audience can consume without SOME monetary exchange is purely a marketing effort, as far as I’m concerned. In the comics world, that includes digital and webcomics. If your entire 100 page graphic novel is online and available to read for free, without at least the potential for ad revenue, I propose you haven’t really distributed it. You’re just marketing yourSELF, as a storyteller and a cartoonist, and that’s totally cool – but, remember, something for free is either priceless, or WORTHLESS. 

Here’s how distribution benefits time management: When the new project suffers from a writer’s block, let the OLD stuff benefit from a renewed wave of distribution. If you’re stuck at the drawing board, get up and figure out new ways to get the LAST thing out there AGAIN, or MORE. Research cons, expos, or shows where you can table, or organize one yourself (which we’ll talk about soon). Inquire with local businesses and venues about the possibility of selling your work there. Restock the shelves. The adrenaline of distribution fuels the need to create. Comics — and, as I insist, all art – isn’t a one-and-done field. It thrives on consistency and continuity – not just in its content, but in its availability. When you KNOW people are watching, it inspires you to keep creating.

That’s what this entire miniseries on time management has been about. Whether you’re an artist that can commit eight to twelve hours a day to your creativity, or a 9-to-5er that manages a few hours at the drawing board after work a few days a week, using that time most effectively is key to success. If you don’t have the juice to produce, education and distribution are waiting to make those hours equally beneficial. Many artists do each of these things naturally, anyway – but when you add intentionality to the mix, you’re that much closer to being – and feeling – professional.

I don’t think Steve Ditko was an introvert. I think he was just particularly picky about who he talked to. Maybe he was exhausted by an industry that STILL barely acknowledges the talent that created its very culture and language. Whatever Ditko felt, he channeled that energy into making comics, until the very end. I’m inspired and fueled by his legacy. The guy just told a lot of stories. Was he trying to reach a certain number of issues? Who knows . . . but he made the MINUTES count.

Russ Kazmierczak Jr.

Russ Kazmierczak, Jr. is a Phoenix-based cartoonist and the creator of Amazing Arizona Comics, a mini-comic book that satirizes local news, history, and culture with superhero adventure. He was the Phoenix New Times’ 2018 Best Storyteller and one of The Copper Courier’s “9 People Who Are Making A Difference in Arizona” in 2023. Russ has taught comics classes at Bookman’s in Phoenix and Mesa, Phoenix Art Museum, Gilbert HD South, and other venues throughout the Valley. Follow his work and inquire about his classes on Instagram @amazingazcomics.