Comics Packager

Comics packaging is a publishing activity in which a publishing company outsources the myriad tasks involved in putting together a comic book — writing, illustrating, editing, and even printing — to an outside service called a packager. Once the comics packager has produced the comic, they then sell it to the final publishing company.

In this arrangement, the comics-packaging company acts as a liaison between a publishing company and the writers, artists, and editors that design and produce the comic book. Comics packagers thus blend the roles of agent, editor, and publisher (as distinct from syndicates, which perform a similar function in the comic strip industry).

Comics packagers, often operated by notable artists such as Will Eisner and Jack Binder, formed in the 1930s to supply cheaply produced material to the burgeoning American comics industry. Some comics publishers used packaging services in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s as well. Comics packagers and art studios also played role in the British comics industry. Although not as prevalent as it once was, comics packaging still forms a segment of the modern comics industry.

Business model

There are two main reasons for utilizing a comics packager: a publisher new to the comics industry that does not have an in-house staff or access to a network of freelancers; or a business outside the comics industry that decides to produce comics for advertising or informational purposes. In these latter cases, the comic is first conceived as a marketing concept, and the packager is then hired to write and produce the comic on a work for hire basis. Some packagers only provide art for the comics, with the writing done by in-house talent.

Eisner & Iger, one of the first packagers, had 15 writers, artists and letterers on staff, according to co-founder Will Eisner: "They were working for me full-time, on salary. I tried to avoid dealing with freelancers on a per-page basis." At the same time, Eisner & Iger charged publishers $5 to $7 per finished page.

Historically, comics packagers (such as the Chesler shop, the Sangor Studio, and Eisner & Iger) were set up as physical studios. As explained by comics historian Hames Ware, however, Lloyd Jacquet's Funnies Inc. "was distinct from the other major shops. It was set up more like a clearinghouse than a conventional shop. While at the other classic shops, there were actually buildings and offices housing... many artists who often collaborated on jobs, most of Jacquet's artists worked from home and did solo work."

Remuneration and credit

While the comics-packaging sector is little-known outside the publishing world, it provides employment to many freelance authors and illustrators. Most packagers pay a flat project or page rate. Packagers do not pay royalties, which means that even if a package-produced comic becomes a bestseller, the creators do not receive additional payment.

Artist Joe Kubert recalled Harry "A" Chesler paying him $5 a week, at age 12 (c. 1938) to apprentice at his studio after school.Abstract
accessed on January 17, 2012. Similarly, artist Carmine Infantino remembers that, 1940, he was paid by Chesler "a dollar a day, just ostudy art, learn, and grow. That was damn nice of him, I thought. He did that for me for a whole summer" while Infantino was in high school. Joe Simon said that his Funnies Inc. rate for a completed comic-book page — written, drawn, and lettered — was $7. For comparison, he recalled that at Eisner & Iger — where Eisner wrote the features and created characters, hiring novice artists — the page rate was approximately $3.50 to $5.50. George Tuska, who worked for a number of packagers in the late 1930s, notes that he made $10 a week with Eisner & Iger, and then, with the Chesler shop, $22 a week, increased to $42 a week within six months.

In the early days of comics, creators working for comics packagers worked anonymously as ghostwriters and "ghost artists", under the packaging company name, or under an alias. (It's worth noting, however, that most comics stories produced during this period didn't contain credits, making individual attribution difficult.) In some cases, a creator's work would be credited to someone else's name, such as a celebrity, who was paid to be listed as the credited writer as a way of increasing sales. Historian Hames notes, however, that at Funnies Inc., most artists "got credit for whatever job they did. (Jacquet also allowed writer credits from time to time)."

History

Golden Age of Comic Books

The first packagers to emerge were in the late 1930s, supplying comics features and complete comic books to publishers testing the waters of the emerging medium. As early packager Will Eisner noted at this time, around 1936,

The most prominent packagers during this period were Harry "A" Chesler, Eisner & Iger, Funnies Inc., and the Sangor Studio, all based in New York City, like the publishers they served. Packagers provided early work to such notable artists and writers as Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Jack Cole, Jack Binder, Otto Binder, Charles Biro, Mort Meskin, George Tuska, Nina Albright, Toni Blum, and many others.

Packagers were responsible for the creation of a number of notable comics titles and characters. Funnies Inc., for example, founded by Lloyd Jacquet, supplied the entire contents of ''Marvel Comics'' #1 (cover-dated Oct. 1939), the first publication of what would become the multimedia corporation Marvel Comics — not to mention featuring the debuts of such legacy characters as the Sub-Mariner, the Human Torch, and the Angel. Funnies Inc. employee Joe Simon is also credited with creating Blue Bolt (for Novelty Press). While with Eisner & Iger, Eisner is credited with co-creating such characters as Doll Man and Blackhawk for Quality Comics, and Wonder Man and The Flame for Fox Publications. Eisner & Iger also created Sheena, Queen of the Jungle.''Wags''_[UK
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By the late 1930s, the packaging business was flourishing. Chesler, who also acted as a publisher, recalled in a 1976 profile, "besides about 75 of my own titles, we produced comics for some 50 different publishers. At one time, there were 40 artists working for me and I had 300 comic titles on the newsstands."

As the comics industry took hold, alumni of the packagers "went on to form the nuclei of various comics art staffs" for a number of different early comics companies. They also started their own studios; in the years 1942–1945, a number of artists became packagers in their own right, including L. B. Cole, Jack Binder, Bernard Baily