How Much Do Cartoonists Earn?

The money a cartoonist makes varies greatly. Many magazine cartoonists have to work a day job in order to survive, but there are comic strip artists and creators of animated tv cartoons that have become billionaires.

Charles Schultz, the creator of the comic strip "Peanuts" is said to have earned 1.1 billion dollars during his lifetime. His comic strip appeared in 2600 newspapers in 75 countries and ran for 50 years -- in fact, it is still running in reruns after his death.

Matt Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons", Seth MacFarlane, creator of "Family Guy", and Jim Davis, creator of "Garfield" are other notably successful cartoonists.

Many of the popular characters begin as comic strips and are later developed into television programs, feature films, and videos and DVD's. Added to this is the revenue cartoonists earn from character licensing for merchandise such as toys, books, games, clothing and many other items. Advertising is another source of revenue for a popular cartoon character.

Just the newspaper comic strip revenues can be significant if enough newspapers choose to run the comic. Typically a newspaper comic strip syndicate will sell a comic strip to several newspapers, charging each one from $15 to upwards of $100 per week, depending on the size of the newspaper. Under most syndication contracts, the cartoonist receives about 50 percent of this revenue.

"Garfield" ran in 2400 newspapers so you can see how much just the newspaper revenue could be. Other notably successful comic strips included "Frank and Ernest" by Bob Thaves (1300 newspapers), "Li'l Abner" by Al Capp (900 newspapers) and "Blondie" by Chic Young, which was the most popular comic strip in America shortly after it began.

Many comic strip artists start out drawing magazine cartoons. Mort Walker, creator of "Beetle Bailey", Hank Ketcham, creator of "Dennis the Menace", Bob Thaves, creator of "Frank and Ernest", and George Gately, creator of "Heathcliff", all worked previously as magazine cartoonists.

There have also been a few who started in the animation studios. Except for key jobs, most animation jobs are salaried positions, many of them covered by union contracts. Wages are good in this field.

Magazine cartooning is strictly freelance work and the pay is not generally that good but it is an excellent place for cartoonists to get their start and develop their skills. Magazines pay for cartoons, generally based on their circulation. A top national publication like "The Saturday Evening Post" will pay $125 per cartoon. Smaller trade journals pay around $25 to $50 per cartoon on the average. A successful cartoonist will generally sell from one to two percent of the cartoons he submits. If he fails to sell to one publication he will submit again to others. For those who are interested in magazine cartooning, I give more details about this field on my website.

To conclude a cartoonist's earnings are extremely varied. Most cartoonists don't enter the field with the idea of making money. They become cartoonists because they love the work and that is perhaps the first key to succeeding in what you do.