According to WSJ, the average pay rate per page is $100 to $300, though artists with industry clout can pull down as much as three times that amount. While self-employed artists have to subtract from that the cost of health insurance, contracted artists often get benefits packages as part of their employment agreement. The title “artist” actually can be broken down into several roles; inker, penciller, or colorist—many artists get their start as one of the three before eventually taking on all three roles. Because it is such a tight niche industry, networking plays a crucial role in a comic book artist’s career. But there are many industry conventions held for this purpose, where artists can circulate their portfolios and make connections with publishers.  Sites such as DigitalWebbing.com and Coroflot.com provide the online component, featuring job listings specifically for comic book artists.

The hardest part of the job tends to be that it breeds obsessive perfectionism and requires constant production, even when inspiration does not strike. On the other hand, the best part, as stated by freelance artist Lou Manna, is that "you take a blank sheet of paper in the morning, and by the end of the day you've possibly created a whole world."

Read WSJ article