The Real Problem With Jim Lee’s Commission Rates

“Just a Reminder” is a feature when we look back at comic book history to remind people of the actual comic book history in the midst of whatever the current comic book controversy is. Today, we look at the bizarre fan outcry over Jim Lee’s commission rates.

Recently, comic book fans were made aware of something that Jim Lee’s original art agent, Albert Moy, posted earlier in the year, which was that, for the first time in 15 years, Jim Lee was accepting commissions to be delivered to fans at conventions that Lee was attending. Here is what Moy listed for Lee’s rates:

For the first time in over 15 years, Jim Lee will be taking commission requests to be delivered exclusively almost all shows he is appearing.

This offer is an exclusive for show attendees only and won’t be shipped out. There is a limit to six per show so act fast to get yours.

Penciled and inked by Jim Lee.

11 by 17 inches, full figure one character with limited backgrounds for $20,000, if more than one character or extra backgrounds or recreation of other covers not drawn by Jim will be $25,000 to $35,000

9 by 12 inches, waist on up figure with limited backgrounds is $9,000 to $15,000, will have backgrounds and more you pay can have other characters or scenes.

small head shot, sample is shown, $1000. Size is 3.25 by 7 inches and side profile only.

Blank cover comic, only bust shot with no background $8,000. And 12k if it a wraparound. Jim Lee will supply the blank cover comic but you can supply at the show if you like.

Jim Lee will ultimately choose which commissions request he wants to fulfill. Once chosen, payment must be paid in full before the show. He may choose to live stream the creation of the commissions at his studio or at the show.

Payment by Paypal or Credit Card only in US dollars with a 5% service fee.

As the internet is wont to do (even for things that it was months late on reacting to), people had some REACTIONS, and I think it is apparent in the responses that the real problem is just how little most comic book fans think about comic book artists.

Related

Revisiting All the Comic Book Appearances of ‘Classic’ Archie Character, Danni Malloy

The news about Danni Malloy being Archie’s first trans character made us revisit the comic book history of this ‘classic character’

Why the Jim Lee market makes so much sense

Back in 2022, we did our annual Top 100 poll, and that time around, it was the Top 100 Comic Book Writers and Artists. Of the top five vote-getters for the top comic book artists of ALL-TIME, the top two artists, George Perez and Jack Kirby, have passed away. The third artist on the list, John Byrne, has been retired for a couple of years. That leaves just two artists in the top five who are still actively working as comic book artists – Jim Lee and Alex Ross. Lee, of course, is also the president, publisher and chief creative officer of DC Comics. That’s a rather significant job for somebody, and obviously, as a result, Lee doesn’t really draw comic books that often anymore.

Although Lee, of course, still lends his skills to special projects, like brand-new covers for the upcoming collections of DC and Marvel crossovers, and also of Amalgam Comics…

In other words, Jim Lee is plainly in a unique position to demand a high price for a commissioned piece of artwork. He is one of the few remaining comic book artists that the world of comic book fans believe to be one of the top artists of ALL-TIME.

In addition, if Jim Lee wasn’t charging his current rate, he just wouldn’t be doing commissions PERIOD. In other words, him charging these prices does not impact you in any way. If Lee wasn’t doing commissions, then obviously you couldn’t get a commission from Jim Lee. And if Jim Lee is doing commissions at a high cost, then most people aren’t going to be able to afford it. In both scenarios, you’re in the same boat.

It doesn’t even make sense to suggest that Jim Lee charging these rates will cause other artists to charge similar rates. That’s not how this works. Now, could the costs of commissions be going up, as the original art drawn by the top artists becomes more and more valuable? Sure. But note, in the case of Jim Lee, the pieces he charges $25,000-$30,000 for are often re-sold on the secondary market, and guess what they go for? Around $30,000-35,000. So if Jim Lee were to charge, say, $18,000 for an 11×17 drawing, then the person could just flip it for $30,000, and make a $12,000 profit from JIM LEE’S work. How in the world would THAT be a better scenario than this?

Prices go up, and there might be a certain sadness that only rich people can afford to commission the top artists, but come on, folks, it isn’t like Jim Lee went from charging $100 for an 11×17 to $25,000, obviously his rates have been higher than most artists for some time, and, again, it is because he is JIM LEE, one of THE all-time most popular comic book artists EVER. My friend Zack Smith joked that it is like when people hear about a celebrity getting married, and thinking, “Darn, now I won’t be able to date them,” when, of course, you were NEVER GOING TO DATE THEM. Them getting married does not affect you at all.

Now, I truly don’t mean to give you a simple “It’s a free market, that’s it” speech. I don’t think anyone, even Lee’s harshest critics, believe that Lee should literally not be ALLOWED to charge what he wants to. Of COURSE he should be. The question is whether it is a jerk move for him to do so. For instance, when Wendy’s suggested that it had plans to raise and lower its prices using flexible prices (charging more for hamburgers when it was busier), people rightfully lost it on the company, because that’s a jerk move, and Wendy’s backed off, claiming it never intended to do that, only offer DISCOUNTS when it was slower (we shall see). While that would have been a jerk move by Wendy’s, it is also what you can do in a “free market.” In other words, “It is a free market” isn’t some catchall defense. You can still believe in a “free market while thinking that someone’s prices are jerkish.

Here, though, it definitely is NOT a jerk move. He wasn’t doing these specific types of commissions, and enough people were clamoring for them that he agreed to do a handful for each convention. It is not like Jim Lee is pushing these on people. Clearly, people have been coming to HIM (or his agent) and asking Lee FOR these commissions. So in this situation, not only are Jim Lee’s commissions part of a “free market,” but it’s obviously the CORRECT thing for him to do. If these pieces are selling for tens of thousands of dollars, why in the world would it make any sense for Lee NOT to charge that? Jim Lee is a total outlier as an artist in terms of his marketability (also, Jim Lee is one of the greatest ambassadors for comic books in the world, and the dude does PLENTY of charity work, so the guy is so obviously a nice person that it is silly to give any grief over this).

While there isn’t any problem with Lee doing these commissions, the fan reaction highlights the bigger issue, which is how little fans think of artists.

Related

G.I. Joe Has ALWAYS Been About ‘Social Justice’

With G.I. Joe debuting their new, female Snake Eyes, fans seem to be forgetting the long history of G.I. Joe being about “social justice.”

Nobody hates comic book creators than their biggest fans

We’ve already seen these discussions when it comes to generative “A.I” art, where fans would rather use technology that, in effect, “steals” the art style of artist, then actually pay the artist in question for their work. It speaks to this devaluation of the time and skills of comic book artists, while, at the same time, directly celebrating those artists by using them to create “A.I.” art. With “celebrations” like those, who needs attacks?

Of course, the amusing thing there is, as noted, original art keeps going up in value, so the proliferation of “fake” artwork has had the after-effect of people appreciating the REAL thing even more so. Of course, that “appreciation” only applies to the prices as they go up, not fans appreciating the artists themselves. The artists are “greedy” for expecting that the tens of thousands of dollars being paid for original Jim Lee artwork should go to, you know, Jim Lee.

Fan Expo Denver is coming up in a few days. There are a number of awesome celebrities who will be signing autographs and doing photo opportunities. Here is the list of available talent. The first person on the list is Brie Larson, who is obviously a huge “get” for the convention, as the Academy Award-winning star of Captain Marvel is one of the most famous actors working today.

She is there on Saturday. It appears as though there are just two photo ops still available with her. The price is $210 for a photo with Larson. Her autographs are $175, plus an extra $200 if you want a quote (of up to 8 words), and an extra $100 for a character name (I presume that means her signing “Captain Marvel?”). Larson obviously charges more than the others, but no one on the linked guest list charges less than $60 for you to take a photograph with them.

I have absolutely no problem with any of the celebrities doing this, but notice how these photo ops never seem to draw any ire. But when a comic book artist asks for a price we KNOW his pieces are selling for, he is “greedy.” It is absurd.

It seems like the feeling is that Jim Lee and his ilk are “just” comic book artists, and shouldn’t be asking to get paid what their work is clearly selling for, and yet fans also want all of these artists to appear at the conventions, even if things like photo ops with actors and reality show contestants soak up a great deal of the spending money that convention-goers have. Obviously, movie and TV actors are always going to be a bigger draw, and that’s FINE, but to de-emphasize the comic book artists at “comic” conventions, with rising costs for the tables for the artists (the prices at some of the bigger cons are going higher and higher, and that’s if you can even get INTO the show!), but then to also single out comic book artists for charging too much? It is an unreasonable standard for comic book artists, especially when we are talking COMMISSIONS here, we’re not talking about quick sketches or autographs (there’s obviously a whole other discussion on how much artists charge for autographs, which is somehow a terrible thing despite actors routinely charging a lot for autographs), these are pieces that require a good deal of time to complete. Comic book artists love to go to conventions and meet the fans. The conventions themselves are in no danger of seeing fans being unable to meet their favorite artists, you just might not be able to afford an expensive commission, and, well, why is that even a big deal? You don’t scream at the local fancy restaurant because you can’t afford to eat there. Why such little regard for the artists you supposedly are FANS of?

One of the things that I like the best about this Jim Lee scenario is that it HAS led to some artists realizing that they were totally underselling themselves at their current rates. No, you’re not going to suddenly start seeing a bunch of artists charging $10,000 for an 11×17, but it has reminded some of these folks that clearly their work DOES have great value to a lot of people, just not the people who like to complain about how much OTHER people are willing to pay for comic book art.