Dunno. Might as well be his wife. She's the one who got the idea of that promotion.

"get a job"? "if the comics were that good he'd be making money with them"?

did you look at the site? he IS making money with them. people are donating. and frankly, whether or not a comic is good has nothing to do with whether or not they make money. of the webcomics i read, the artists only ask for money when they need it. webcomic artists come from all walks of life, you know, and of the walks available, most of them can get rough sometimes.

that said, the membership drive with the $25 fee has just enough of a corporate feel to be uncomfortable. that might just be me though, and they are saying they'll refund it if they don't make their mark.

i rather hope they meet their goal. i get absurdly happy every time a web cartoonist gets the go ahead to just stay at home and draw.

Looks like this fan is also sending unsolicited mail to certain comic authors asking for donations.

You can tell some people are really pissed off at him.

--RPin

Same here. I've also got that famous message on one of my comics-related e-mail accounts. The situation is a little strange, if you want my opinion. Of course, thanks to the coverage Comixpedia did, I was already aware of this issue. At first, I thought that the people behind this initiative had... well... an extremely optimistic approach at how things work on the Internet, and thus the whole stuff seems more like daydreaming rather than being a real support scheme.

First, the goal is to have -at least- 4000 subscribers, each paying $25 per year, to enjoy the strip in a daily basis. That means that the expectances are to make 4000 x 25 = 100,000 US Dollars.

That's QUITE an income, even if we deduct the money required to run a webcomic, with hosting, bandwidth and all the stuff. Just imagine it, with, say, $20,000 per year, you could have a helluva server with lots of shiny things, with a helluva bandwidth and helluva custon-made services. And you would still make $80,000 per year to have a MUCH more than decent life.

But that's not all. Leaving those calculations aside, I took a look at http://www.thenorm.com/subscribe/ and found that's not the only way to contribute to the site.

$25 = Access to the full site and 10% discount at the Store
$50 = One copy of THE 12 STEPS TO MARRIAGE (!)

$75 = Greeting Cards Ð set of nine (!!)

$100 = One year subscription to THE NORM MAGAZINE (six issues). (!!!!)

$250 = One Signed Museum Print in color (!!!!!)
(...)
$1,000 Professional Sponsorship = Free advertising in THE NORM MAGAZINE (!!!!!!!)
(...)
$5,000 Executive Level Sponsorship = Official sponsorship of the TheNorm.com and TheNormStore.com (! x 150)

So, uhm, apart of the subscription system... we've got a store... obviously with merchandise... that is supposed to make money too. And not only that, but there's also the chance to sponsors to come and lend their money too... even if, by my calculations... by getting 4000 subscriptors is -enough- to have the site running and have a decent life. Could somebody please explain it to me?

I highly praise, and understand, the efforts of the wife of the comic's author to give the strip a second chance on the Internet. I also understand some fans' concern to keep the strip alive. Hell, I'd love to dedicate 100% of my time to draw comics and pay rent, food, bills and shinies with them.

But... drats... hoping to cash 100 frigging thousand dollars -per year- out of a relatively unknown and obscure strip... sounds a little...strange... don't you think?

I'll be expectant to see what happens in January 1st. And I wish the best of lucks to Michael Jantze, either if he succeeds or if he doesn't. But, drats, next time try to be a little humbler on your wishes... and, of course, do not spam me with requests to collaborate. :b

Well, to be fair, he is asking for 100 000 dollars the first year. I agree that it probably isn't a good way to ask it all in advance, but I'm guessing that he is simply cautious. Perhaps he is testing to see how many are willing to pay 25 USD to subscribe a year.

I got one too. I didnt mind. Someone has been collecting quite a list

Listen. I have 3 kids, cars, bills, blah blah blah-- and it doesnt take 100k to get by.

Ok, 20-30k for overhead? OVERHEAD?? ON drawing a comic strip?? You're friggin overhead is pen and ink, bristol, and then hosting it online. Come on now. Now, if he had a brick and mortar store, MAYBE. But come on--

It does depend on where you live. Yup. But maybe if you want to be a cartoonist and make that much, you should be looking to live some place else or get a corporate gig.

Keep Tentacle Rape Alive!

You know gang. None of this changes the fact that I still haven't got my $100K USD. Less bickering, more PayPal donations. Chop chop!

From the current post on the Norm's frontpage it sounds as if they have decided they got enough donations to keep running next year, but I can't tell for certain.