☛ Why is it so hard to think about comics as labour?

This week’s survey update will be a little late, as I just flew back from a conference in Belgium yesterday and am having a great deal of trouble remembering what day/time it is. In the meantime, my guest post for the Comics Forum series on Comics and Cultural Work is now up.

This short essay describes some of the background thinking that went into the design of the Work in Comics survey, and about the curious lack of attention that work and employment issues have received from comics researchers so far.

As I try to stress, it’s not that no one is interested in the people who make our comics; it’s that we (scholars, fans, and creators alike) talk about them and their creative practice in ways that hide or suppress the work-like character of what they do, from what Charles Hatfield calls (in his book on Kirby, Hand of Fire) the Myth of the Marvel Bullpen to the Image “Experience Creativity” campaign I discuss in the post.

☛ “Why is it so hard to think about comics as labour?” – Comics Forum