CB Cebulski current EIC of Marvel (and big JB fan) is quoted as saying when people ask him about breaking into the industry - they should also think about how to STAY in the industry.

JB - any thoughts on how you have stayed in for decades?

Anyone else in the forum want to chime in?

Reading creator interviews I see that it is sometimes politics and/or your network. The great Roger Stern stated after being fired from Avengers no editors would return his calls. And after a while he did not know any of the new editors (until years later Marvel hired an editor or two that was a fan). Like any job I guess it depends on who you know and not just talent.

and then nothing..! I heard he moved into advertising (and recently wrote a DD mini for Marvel set in that era) and he has a newsletter where he talks about some new creator owned comics.

I just find it fascinating how someone like him collaborated with giants of the industry, had good sales on decent runs at Marvel, and then was gone from the industry.

Any more examples forum members can think of? I have a few more..

I mean, I'm talking about some great artists--better than most of the artists working at the Big Two today.  Same thing with writers--most of the best writers from the 70's and 80's (who did work the studios are mining for billion-dollar movies!).  Maybe there's a reason comics sell 20,000 copies today instead of 400,000--other than distribution changes and special effects movies and TV shows.

It seems you either are forgotten or become a legend.  There is no middle ground.

I was a big, big fan of his work (mainly on WILDCATS) and thought he was going to be an era-defining artist.

But he was slow and couldn't handle a monthly series. So he moved on to European comics and took on a Metabarons series for years that he couldn't finish and then he just vanished.

I googled him recently to see what he was up to and it's mostly private commissions, which he said in an interview are much more profitable to him than mainstream comic work.

I guess politics does play a part in it.

My go to example though is Roger Stern - I remember him talking about potential stories in his cancelled anthology Marvel Universe series that would be amazing to see (and sound timeless and could be published today) - we really lost out as readers. 

Stuff like the ancient one's first fight with Dormammu, Tut the cave boy discovers Attilan, etc..Stern really knows how to tie continuity in a fun way to his stories..but no one calls him (and many other as Eric pointed out)..it's a shame.

I also think JB was business savvy and knew when to pivot between companies, what collaborators to work with, when to go into creator owned, etc...good instincts.

Another name was Will Pfeiffer - I enjoyed his work - he collaborated with JB on the Demon, wrote 2 issues of Swamp Thing with Richard Corben (!) and had a 4 year run on Catwoman - you would think this pedigree in comics means you made it..but he faded away.

(some of these may be by choice of course - I dont know if he or others changed fields)

That said, specifically in comics, I think at this point a lot get into a regular series or two precisely to get well known/famous (speaking of artists, that is) and then use that to springboard to doing more lucrative work like commissions, as someone pointed out earlier.

I have also asked several superstars of yesteryear what they are up to now and they tend to be pretty sketchy in their answers, so I just let it alone. 

And yes agreed they are not irrelevant - in fact their work lives forever! A lot of it still in print and beloved by fans.

Mike Zeck is a personal fave of mine. I know he went into toy design which was more lucrative. And his work (covers especially) are legendary. A lot of classic work of his is perennially in print. I wish he would come back for a project or two - at least a cover run.