A Digital 9-5

The comics medium is becoming increasingly digital and creators are now faced with increased distraction in their 9-5 job.

With the increased relevance of technology in the creation of comics some creators are faced with a new challenge, managing the 9-5 aspect of their career with the hassles and distractions of technology.

It’s a dangerous thing when your career is in your own hands, and we see newer creators falling to the wayside as stuff gets shuffled around and things get delayed. How many creator owned books could be huge if they released on time but cannot make the cut? Lady Mechanika from Aspen is a prime example, that book was getting a ton of hype and praise, multiple printing and now has been delayed for months, the same with Nonplayer.

You need to really be dedicated and professional if you want to succeed in the industry, that’s why many creators say they set aside a time and write every day. Artists get studios away from the distractions of home life, working on a page until its right and then moving on to the next.

With the increasing reliance on digital technology to complete ones job, the process of staying on track is becoming harder.

Writers need resources and references, those are available with a google search, they need to check emails and more, all on a computer. Years ago you would get a phone call about the book and that was it, you just had a type writer, now distractions are there for 80% of the resources you need for your job.

Warren Ellis lost months of work during a computer crash a few years ago and some books have never recovered. Creators are embracing technology in a way that could bite them in the ass. Brian Michael Bendis had some computer issues earlier this year as well, when all your references and scripts are on a hard drive you’re a system crash away from major setbacks.

Even artists are facing an increase in digital distraction, reference photos, use of Wacom tablets to create the art, digital manipulation and Photoshop. Few artist use paper and pen any more and it all adds to possible distraction and issues getting the work completed on time. How soon before a book is delayed because the art got corrupted? If you don’t save often enough, there goes a days worth of work, and there are the same crashing issues writers face.

There are tech setbacks as well as the various technological mediums to distract a creator, Twitter, Facebook, video games, YouTube, all of these just a click a way from your computer, phone, tablet, watch, whatever has a wi-fi connection.

Sure there are the steady work horses like Ron Marz and Brian Michael Bendis, but there are also some creators who are notoriously late, or unable to keep a schedule. It’s hard to look at this new generation and not worry that late books are soon going to become the norm. This is why DC is turning heads by creating a weekly schedule and sticking to it, X book is out in week 1, Y book in week 2, etc. And if a creator cannot do it they are having fill in issues created to release.

For all the good the digital age has brought to the industry, better communication, references, resources, conference calls, direct interaction, etc it also hinders the jobs of those involved because distractions and issues are everywhere. Creators need to, and try to, treat this as a standard 9-5 job because that is what it is, you have deadlines and responsibilities, you just have total freedom in how you get it done. It’s a new era of job performance and its interesting to see how they can cope with the fact that what was once fun is now their source of income.