When given the opportunity to share additional information with the researchers, the majority of respondents chose to discuss work issues that they had encountered. Some of these responses took a broad approach to this, describing large-scale issues around the way comics work is understood. This is best summarized by a participant who stated: "I feel that comics have come a long way... the biggest problem is that people confuse the the two different [types of work classification] in comics: Freelance and Staff. When you are a freelancer, you have loads of risks, but at the same time an extreme amount of freedom that being Staff will never provide you". This statement notes an important (and often overlooked) distinction between the types of work that is available in comics - freelance work (which is more common among creators - e.g. writers, artists, etc.), and staff positions (which are more common for editors, marketing and sales staff, etc.). This distinction is significant, because only "staff" are full employees of the company - freelance workers are typically contracted, temporary workers, hired for a particular task.

While broad commentary on the state of comics work was present, it was far more common for participants to highlight a particular type of workplace issue. These responses fell into several categories of response, each described in detail below.

Finances

A wide variety of responses focused on clarifying the participants' finances, with many of these focusing on describing the ways in which comics work provides insufficient income for their labor. Some participants kept these descriptions simple, sharing things like "I have kept a low overhead and my wife has a good job so comics works for us. There are a lot of scenarios in which it wouldn't have..." and "My partner who I live with is the breadwinner. If he didn't have the job he has, I simply wouldn't be able to freelance". These brief responses typically centered around the financial support that those workers attained from their spouses/families/peer networks. These types of responses were regularly emphasized as a point of distress for the worker, a sentiment relayed by the statement:"I have only survived “in comics” for the past 5 years because of my spouse’s relatively well-paying, real job. That alone takes a huge toll on my mental well-being and how comfortable I am continuing without great success".

Others chose to describe how they supplemented their own income from comics work with other types of labor. This often resulted in complicated schedules and additional problems presenting themselves, and was best summarized by a participant that stated:

"I am only able to do the work I want within comics because I have full time work in another field... This pays my bills and rent and helps me with any and all financial needs I may have. I am able to then take breaks, only take the work I want, and work on things that might not be as commercially successful but creatively fulfilling. The trade-off is that I rarely have time for things that aren’t my day job or comics, so I rarely see friends or travel to see family because it’s all time away from comics. The main reason I still pursue comics is because I honestly don’t know any other way to be. It’s a part of me".

It was fairly common for participants to note that they held multiple jobs (including their work in comics), with many of these responses highlighting their motivations for doing so. One participant remarked that "It is also important to note the sliding scale of payment. Many companies pay late and low. Companies that pay more do tend to pay on time". Since payment for comics work tended to be characterized as stressful, it was also fairly common for participants to have a somewhat nihilistic attitude with regards to their finances from comics work. This was best characterized by a participant that stated "Life is depressing and unpredictable, but making comics makes it worth living even if I don't make any money doing it. I will always make comics regardless of how broke my ass is ".

Some participants noted that while they experienced seemingly stable work, their job security often depended on accepting inadequate financial arrangements for their labor. One participant recounted their work situation: "I have a really positive relationship with the publisher I work with, but it's probably partially because I don't let myself think about the amount of money I'm actually getting for my work. I also work without a contract and didn't invoice until a few years ago". While this scenario might be somewhat uncommon among participants, there were experiences which were highly salient and commonly shared by participants. These responses described feelings of being undervalued, and a sense of discomfort with negotiating for higher pay with their publisher. This was best articulated by a participant that stated:

"I’ve enjoyed a long term freelance relationship with my publisher that is probably longer than most and I’ve been treated with a lot of loyalty from them. I feel that my pay could and should be higher or that I should receive some kind of compensation for reprints, but I have been willing to accept the lack of that compensation for the longevity of my work. It may even be that my 'keeping my mouth shut' is the reason my publishers are happy to continue working with me".

Some participants described how their particular situation varied from the norm, speculating on the reasons why their financial arrangement varied from the norm. One participant stated: "I feel like the reason I get as much work, and am able to be more in control of my page rate/work I do, is because my style is WILDLY different than what's out there. My work is harder to replicate/replace, so I am able to throw some of that weight around. (so far, it seems)". While this particular response describes a generally positive arangement, that was not always the case. Others described the specific factors impacting why they made less than what is considered fair for their work, with one response describing how personal relationships impeded their success: "I went from $1600/month to $175/month in the blink of an eye because one art director departed and everyone else brought their personal friends in. I've been in a scarcity mindset ever since. I have nightmares almost every night about being homeless. I'm trying to get out of comics except for doing my own self published things because it is so painful". Favoritism among publishers was a fairly common theme among these types of responses, with workers expressing frustration with the discrepancies in pay and opportunity within publishers. This sentiment was best summarized by a respondent that stated: "Even though I am currently credited on the work I've done... I'm quite dissatisfied with my pay based on the care and effort that I put in, compared to others working for the same publisher. I have no opportunities to earn an increase in pay or become a full-time employee".

Some participants expressed a feeling that their publishers considered them to be expendable. This sentiment was particularly common among letterers, who expressed a great deal of frustration with the ways in which their work was treated by their peers and supervisors. One participant summed this up nicely by stating "Letterers do not get treated as part of the team. They are seen as a cog or a necessary evil." Feelings of uncertainty around their longevity in the comics industry were not limited to letters, however, with one solo creator remarking"I’ve published 5 graphic novels in 7 years and they’ve mostly done well... but comics taught me long ago that even being decently successful doesn’t equal sustainability... so I’ve found other steadier places to work, while still giving comics my love when I can". The reason for this perceived lack of job security was nearly always tied to the inadequate payment processes for comics work, a sentiment best articulated by a respondent who said:"If I was not using my savings [to make ends meet], my life would be completely tanked because the money would not come through in time to support me doing the actual work. I had to strategize my own work life balance and income to return to comics freelance after working full time, and I still have no certainty in the future of my career. "

The general attitude held by respondents was that fair compensation in comics rare, and many respondents expressed that they had intentions of moving away from comics "by necessity" to avoid sliding deeper into poverty. For some, this included seeking out and engaging in full time labor outside of comics work. This was best summarized by a participant who stated "I do not make my living working in comics, but that isn't for lack of trying. I have a day job because it has steady pay and good benefits, and comics has neither so I've stopped really trying to make that my main income". The ups and downs of freelance work was a particular sticking point for most of the participants who planned to shift away from comics, with one participant describing their particular circumstances:

"This entire year has been spent either panicking about no work (and zero income), or being slammed into a project that is extremely late and the pressure is immense to fix something someone else screwed up. I spend hours working on projects of my own that are not going anywhere financially, and then hard emergency hours trying to work on comics for my publishers to get them back on track, only for the publishers to vanish when it comes to normalizing my work flow (either silence or “we don’t have anything for you right now”, followed by more emergency work a month or two later)".

Precarious working relationships were underscored in many of the responses which discussed financial issues within comics work. Even those who experienced relatively positive working conditions acknowledged the general precariousness of comics work - this was best expressed by a participant that stated "I am lucky to have finally found a job I love love love...so I want to protect it! I also see massive unfairness with the industry’s reliance on freelance creatives and want more people to have the benefits and relative job security I’ve got".

Exploitation

While many respondents articulated financial worries, a section of these respondents shared specific instances where they had experienced or witnessed exploitation. The majority of these respondents noted that "indy" publishers tended to engage in exploitation fairly regularly, with one participant remarking that "I've learned that in comics the amount of work you do does not equal your pay and it sucks". Another participant expounded on this, stating:

"I wish more people discussed the predatory nature of contracts, particularly from indie publishers. Many indie publishers prey on creators' lack of a track record and their desperation to be published - many provide little to no financial or creative investment into properties that creators must self-finance, while the publisher then extracts between 30 and 50 percent of all rights (often while neglecting basic responsibilities like publicity, advertising, sales calls to retailers, shopping and negotiating fair deals for multimedia, availability in major outlets such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble, or even timely and trustworthy financial bookkeeping). Furthermore, I have been told by numerous fellow indie creators that they have waited anywhere from 8 months to over a year to even get a contract on a green-lit project, all while said publishers encourage you to work on IP for them without even signing a sheet of paper".

While this response describes the general conditions of indie comics work in great detail, others described specific ways in which specific comics publishers had exploited their labor. One participant stated that they had"...only received royalties on one project, while [their] publisher reaps profits in perpetuity from all other projects without paying any royalties on physical or digital sales". Another participant shared that they were compensated "as little at $10 a page for a comic". This participant continued, stating that their art style relied on traditional painting techniques, so"pages take 1-2 days to create". Yet another participant shared that they had been financially harmed by unscrupulous publishers twice in the past year, paying out of pocket for lawyers fees to pursue payment for work they were never paid for. Others described how exploitation can begin before a labor contract is even negotiated, with one participant stating"I lost 6 months of potential work to unscrupulous publishers".

For creative workers who are not seen as "essential" to a project, exploitation is built into core work tasks. Colorists often paid $10-$15+ per page out of their own wages for flatters so they could complete their work on the deadlines that were expected of them. Letterers expressed a degree of wage-capping occurring throughout the industry, with rough estimates of "$10 (cheapest), $15 (average indie), or $20 (standard professional) per comic book page". An average of 1-4 hours of work goes into a page of lettering, and participants suggested that the range for Letterer payment should be higher (in the $25-45 range). For some letters, the work situation seemed fairly dire. This sentiment was best expressed by a participant that stated:

We have no negotiating power, so health insurance, no security at all. Many of us need a day job to work as well to get by, or have the support of family members in order to consider freelancing full time. And for our work, many companies make it a policy not to include Letterer names on covers, metadata of the credits, nor in the information provided in Previews for distribution, so people continue to know very little about lettering and the letterers who are bringing their talent to comics".

Another participant relayed the severe conditions they experienced as a letterer quite simply: "I'm only making about $16/month for about 120 hours of work a month". Participants who engaged in pre-press comics work tended to share similar accounts of exploitation for their labor. These workers tended to be more vulnerable than others who work within comics, with one particular response sharing the precariousness of pre-press comics work:

"I worked a large part of my career in the industry as an uncredited finisher, where I did the lion's share of the work for no credit and not enough compensation. When I found myself in what I thought was a better position to argue for more credit (not even more money!), I was told I was expendable and to never bring it up again. This experience really soured me on the mainstream industry as a whole... They used to call artists like that 'ghosts'... Now they're just called 'interns'".

Exploitation in comics work is not limited to the creative workforce. This was made evident by a respondent that shared:"Bad working conditions in comics are not limited to the creative talent. My past employer ( a now defunct publisher) illegally classified employees as contractors, and contractors as interns, and we weren't even working on the books themselves". In addition to this being illegal, relegating workers who should be classified as permanent employees of the publisher to expendable positions which creates dynamics of mistrust and mistreatment. This was best expressed by a participant that stated:

"In theory, this should be an amazing place to work, but the CEO doesn't trust anyone to do what they were hired for and re-does or alters everyone's work to questionable taste levels. There is no proper communication about deadlines or where in the pipeline a project is. Artists have little to no input on the stories even when it would help make the projects more appealing to the target demographic. Everyone in the company feels completely powerless."

The overall sentiment around the exploitation present within comics work was best summarized by a participant that stated "I can't stress enough how terribly unfair this work is, especially in term of fair pay. It's not a lack of talent or effort on the artists side, it's the rich getting richer, just because they can". Others remarked about how much of a barrier this presented for creator success, with one participant stating"I love making comics - I'm a multiple award-nominated creator already, even early on in my career - but the behind-the-scenes business of dealing with disreputable publishers (even publishers and imprints you would think would be beyond such levels of nickel-and-dime scamming) really has made me question my long-term sustainability in this industry". While the level of exploitation present within comics publishers may serve as a deterrent for some workers, others have come to expect it - a sentiment best summarized by a participant that stated "Many times I have been provided the opportunity to leave comics and follow another path, some are even another creative field. But I can't. Not matter how broken, comics calls to me and I feel publishers take advantage of that". While exploitation was a common theme, a fair number of respondents who described how they were exploited by publishers also expressed that they were "lucky" to be able to work in comics - even though comics work regularly isn't profitable.

Gatekeeping

Some participants noted that comics work, in most cases, is fairly difficult to engage in at a professional capacity. One participant noted that"Breaking into [the] industry is not only impossible but doesn’t even provide proper compensation for how hard it is". This particular quote serves as a reminder that "success" in comics often boils down to industry longevity, rather than any level of payment or compensation. While finances serve as a barrier for this longevity, the location of comics publishers also tends to function as a means of exclusion from participating in comics work. This was best summarized by a participant that remarked "I think location is a big issue. Many publishers are located in expensive cities like New York, San Francisco, and Seattle. If I weren't from the area, I think I'd be stressed about the location". Similarly, entry-level work in professional comics publishing often relies on a degree of financial independence which may not be attainable by all who which to engage in comics work. One participant stated:"We have to examine who can afford to work on entry-lelvel salaries—at publishers and as freelancers". This sentiment was echoed by respondents who indicated that they needed to work outside of the comics industry to support themselves financially.

One participant recounted trying to "break into" the comics industry, highlighting a number of barriers they experiences:

"If I did not work full time as a retail associate at a local Staples, I would be unable to sustain myself and my spouse. I have been trying to work in the paying comics industry for 5 years, but have found it near impossible to break into. Similarly, submitting my original work to publishers often feels like hitting a wall. This industry is growing and growing, and yet the gatekeeping only seems to get more and more severe. Submissions are never open, artists are never looked for, and inquiries are left unanswered. It can be like that for a lot of work places, sure, but for a job I specialize so well in, finding a way in the door without knowing someone already IN the field to rep for me makes getting myself in near impossible! "

In addition to a generalized gatekeeping process which excludes a large number of potential workers, biases against certain types of potential workers are a pervasive force within comics publishing. One participant relayed their experiences with such bias, stating:

"I'm transitioning out of trying to do comics full time as a freelancer as I have received so many copy pasted responses to submissions, when I even get them, that shows the person never even reviewed my portfolio, merely saw my female presenting name and just instantly said no to me. "Your style is not what we're looking for" in response to being a colorist on a comic done in flats with a few gradients. That's clearly not a "style" issue, and I had examples of the exact same kind of coloring that was right there. It's unsustainable and exhausting".

While bias in hiring and promotion is common throughout most work industries, workers in comics expressed a fair number of concerns regarding the gatekeeping of marginalized workers - women, sexual minorities, disabled workers, and people of color in particular.

Diversity and Inclusion

When it comes to concerns around diversity and the inclusion of marginalized workers in comics, responses tended to speak broadly - expressing discomfort with the interpersonal and institutional dynamics present in mainstream comics publishing. One participant expressed this succinctly, stating: "It is harder and harder to find publishers that pay fairly and on time and AND doesn't have a reputation for treating marginalized employees badly". Another simply stated: "The sexism, unprofessional behavior, and terrible pay is leading me to seek a career in a different field". This concern was not limited to the experiences of women in comics - one participant recounted general trends of marginalization, stating: Any minority in this industry or any industry, is always pushing themselves SO hard to been seen, heard, recognized. It's dangerous and harmful to the person and I know this because I hit that rock bottom".

Another participant simply stated: " Am I going to get any respect as a woman for my work?" Another participant elaborated on how processes of marginalization worked within their publisher:

"I've been with my current employer for three years and am barely making more than minimum wage, and even though I am taking on vastly more responsibilities than when I started, they also will not promote me, which is hindering my ability to move to another publisher that might pay me more. My female colleagues are leaving in droves while male colleagues who don't put in half as much work or are belligerent to other colleagues get promoted. Attempting to work on stories with marginalized characters, particularly queer characters, is a constantly uphill losing battle. It's exhausting."

While it was generally understood that diversifying the comics workforce is a project that is largely still in process, gatekeeping was not limited to formal processes within comics work. Marginalization from the comics community was also framed as a gatekeeping mechanism for comics work. One participant summarized this succinctly, stating: "Dealing with death threats, etc, make this industry more exhausting than others I've worked."

Goals

A portion of the responses discussed professional goals that the participant held for their comics work. Many of these responses indicated an interest in working in creator-owned arrangements with publishers. This was best summarized by a participant who stated:"While I'm looking for work for hire comics work to replace the animation work for hire, my main goal has always been to do creator comics, whether through a publisher or self published and Kickstarted". For some, this goal was expressly tied to the poor working conditions of work-for-hire publication agreements. This was expressed best by a participant that stated: Lately I have felt very jaded about the comic book industry and see myself trying to run exclusively independent rather than taking up freelance projects... I feel like those jobs either paid too little or expected me to work under extremely tight deadlines with little wiggle room even when writers have had their own personal delays". Overall, the goals held by participants tended to revolve around the notion that creator-owned comics labor was financially lucrative (or at lease more lucrative than work-for-hire comics labor), or that they could attain financial independence in a different sector of the comics industry.

Health

In addition to the various work issues identified by participants, a large number of responses focused on describing the participants' health, healthcare situation, and/or experiences where comics work impeded their ability to lead a healthy life. Some described their situations succinctly, with one participant stating "I work a job in the animation industry and would switch to making my own comics full time in a heartbeat if it were at all sustainable... main reason I stay in the industry is for health insurance". Another participant noted how their healthcare situation had shifted throughout the duration of their comics work, stating: "My situation has changed entirely since selling a book to a traditional publisher for a living wage. If I were still doing freelance work for indie publishers, I would be much more anxious, financially stressed, and my tennis elbow would be acting up worse". Others recounted how their health limited their participation in comics work, with one participant summarizing this trend by stating: "Working as a comics freelancer while dealing with a chronic illness is very difficult, in part due to work/life/health balance problems and in part due to the industry itself. With how little comics pays for an enormous amount of work over long periods of time, I find myself trying to do more short-term illustration work instead of comics". Each of these approaches were fairly common, with participants generally expressing discomfort with the current impact of comics work on the health of workers.

A portion of these responses specifically recounted negative experiences within the comics industry that centered around their health. One participant went into detail on their particular treatment by a publisher, stating "I have been told, explicitly by writers and editors that my health and family aren’t as important as my comic. After having lost a close relative I was told ‘sounds fake but ok’ and ‘reorder your priorities’ as I was pressured out of planning the funeral and they tried to get me not to attend said funeral. I had an editor tell me it wasn’t his problem I was getting [repetitive strain syndrome] and that I needed to just shut up and put up". Another recounted the toll that their publishing agreement took on their mental health, stating: "I worked nonstop for 3 years for [small press publisher] and it took me a solid year to attempt to fix myself and do another comic after the draining hell they put me through".

Some participants described how their health situations impact the trajectory of their careers in comics. For participants with mental health conditions, comics work was daunting and seemed like a somewhat fleeting experience. This was best summarized by a participant that stated: "I suffer strongly from mental illness and comics have only made it worse and harder to get help and also manage the career. Plus I am extremely nervous about the lack of health care once I am off my parent's plan. Overall I see myself engaging in comics in a very different way over the years because of my health and what is important to me". Others expressed interest in stepping away from comics work, in an attempt to prioritize their health. One participant stated: "I do okay but I am struggling, and have developed health problems from constant stress... I find myself bending over backwards to make a small paycheck that I have to wait a month & a half to even see. I love comics with my whole heart, but it feels like I need to make it a hobby eventually & find another way to support myself, or I will not survive". For some participants, comics work was seen as incompatible with chronic health issues. This was best articulated by a participant that stated: "My work in comics has been put into hold due to my health issues - I was at a point where I was starting to make some small profit from comics when I had to stop in order to take care of my health and focus on more profitable income sources. The comic world is not very accessible for disabled artists, as it is already hard enough to break in and make profit with good health".

Unions

A small number of responses offered their thoughts on the possibility of unionizing the comics workforce. These responses varied greatly, with some displaying great support for unions and others displaying a strong distrust of unions. Some of these responses indicated that the participant saw unions as essential for their creative success. This attitude was best characterized by a participant who stated:

"In order to continue doing comics, for the past year and a half I have had a day job working in animation. That affords me financial stability and benefits -- both due entirely to a union. Comics is what I want to do with ALL of my time, not a fraction of it and not at the cost of my health and mental well being... Even though I have been working on comics this entire time, every evening and weekend, I still feel like I have to start from scratch. I fully, entirely support unionizing comics".

Some of these participants expressed an urgent need for the formation of a union specifically oriented around comics work. This was best characterized by a participant who stated: "I think comic creators are in desperate need of some kind of unionisation or guild representation to safe-guard creators... A code of ethics and behaviour would also be valuable in keeping our beloved artform accessible to all with creators that embrace all audiences regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation". Similar sentiments were commonly shared, with one participant stating: "It's way past time for the industry to unionize... I've heard that when it comes to [major publisher]'s digital comics, the creators are not even given royalties... It comes across as 'I got mine, so I don't care'. Disgusting". While it was clear that there was a degree of support for a comics worker union among these participants, some recognized that the dominant narratives and expectations around comics work do not necessarily support the unionization of the comics workforce. One participant discussed this plainly, stating: "We’ve tried to get a union of sorts off the ground a few times in my 30 years as a professional... Never took off". Another expounded upon the reasons why unionization of comics work hasn't been successful:

"Most of us don’t and won’t get paid for this. We are warned throughout our younger years that art will leave us in poverty—and it’s true. I don’t think a union is the solution, as it mistakenly assumes artists can tolerate each other, especially when they all share a field. The personalities in comics, especially, are toxic and jealous, and one does not believe that even if a union existed, that artists would sign up. We are too dedicated to individuality to join a mega group claiming to work in our best interests".

In addition to interpersonal dynamics which present complications for the possibility of a comics union, others discussed the difficulties in organizing such a labor force. One participant noted the strong distinctions present between the types of comics production, and the nuances that these distinctions require:

"I think there's a pretty sizeable professional divide between folks working for the book market via book publishers (big 5 & scholastic), folks working for the book market via comics publishers, and folks working for the direct market, at least in term of income, etc. Book market folks, with representation, generally tend to fare better than our indie comic brethren. I think any discussion of unionization needs to analyze these divides and make sure that they're reconciled; plenty of folks have toes in both (or all three) pools".

Others highlighted the sheer size of the workforce, with one participant saying:"Consider forming local chapters of this possible union, to protect international creators from exploitation". While this particular statement emphasizes the complications for union formation, it underscores business practices which were commonly cited as reasons why unionization of comics work may not succeed. One participation stated: "Any unionization/guild that happens with regards to colorist the word is that [major publisher] will dump all talent and seek cheaper over seas talent". In addition to potentially outsourcing unionized labor, some responses suggested that it would hinder the possibility of publishers staying in business. This was best characterized by a participant who stated: "While I am a supporter of unions and a member of some, I am doubtful that it could work in comics when the spectrum of publishers is too spread in income and budget in ways film & TV isn't (based on basic budgetary realities of the different mediums)". Another stated simply: "I know our company would shut down our comics [production] if unionized, but I still support it".

The fragility of the comics industry and overall precariousness of comics work was a common theme among respondents who expressed hesitation around the formation of a comics union, with one participant remarking on the strength of mainstream comics publishing, stating: " I am down to join a guild like Hollywood writers and filmmakers do, but with hopes of strengthening the understanding of the industry, not to make demands that could crush a fragile industry. And I say fragile, because outside of [major publisher], it is. You have to love comics to be in comics, otherwise it is (and I believe always been) not worth it".

A small portion of the responses expressly stated that they did not want a union for the comics industry. For most of these responses, interpersonal dynamics were highlighted as the reason they did not want a union - "SJWs" and "Comicsgaters" were both mentioned as reasons why participants did not want to unionize (with participants not wanting to be associated with these groups). This resulted in anti-union responses tending to draw upon divisive rhetoric as the basis for their argument. These types of responses were best characterized by a participant who stated: I do not want there to be a comics union... My accomplishments are because I draw every day and work to perfect my craft. When I land a job, it's because of merit. Not because I "stole" an opportunity from someone else... I will not be responsible for [other people's] ignorance and failures". This divisiveness among segments of the workforce was addressed directly by a participant who stated: "I wish there was more industry support and solidarity... the way money is made in comics is a crisis and unionization is crucial ".

Overall, participants expressed a high degree of ambivalence about the possibility of forming a comics worker union. For many, the introduction of a union was not desirable - either due to interpersonal dynamics or the perceived reactions of comics publishers. Others recognized that while they offer an imperfect solution for the various issues identified for comics workers, unions are a step towards rectifying them. This attitude was best expressed by a participant who stated: "I'm a public school teacher as a full-time job. I'm a member of a union - a strong union. I understand the power that a union has, but I also know some of the drawbacks. On the whole, I'd rather be in a union than not". Another participant noted that there would likely be a larger call for unions within comics work as time progresses, stating "I think it'd be amazing to establish a comic artist union now more than ever as I believe demand is going to grow rapidly in the next decade".

Discourse

A small portion of responses emphasized the discourse surrounding comics work, particularly the ways in which comics work is contextualized in relation to the broader comics community and transmedia landscape. Some participants expressed a sentiment that their labor isn't valued enough by the broader comics community, a sentiment best expressed by a participant that stated: "Comic work isn't taken seriously in many cases and some people view comic related work as just a hobby. And comic creators are taking a backseat too often at comic conventions that are saturated with celebrities and movie themed attractions". Others expressed that their treatment by readers and community members varied, with certain communities being more respectful than others. This sentiment was best expressed by a participant who stated: "Interactions with fans in person at cons and signings are always wonderful. Interactions via social media are 80% toxic and hostile. Staying offline increases enjoyment of the job tremendously ". For some, the negative discourse on social media was not limited to fans and community members - it was perpetuated by other workers. This was best summarized by a participant who stated: "Every day I see too many people in this industry sabotage their career by prioritizing arguing on social media [over] honing their craft. The ugliness is a big part of what is wrong in the industry. I love creating artwork and interacting with my audience, but I feel too many people in the industry devalue it. I don't want to be associated with them... This industry does not build others up like it should".

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