Why Do People Get Mad When Artists Make Money? 

It’s hard for people to wrap their heads around the difference between being paid for your time vs getting paid for your value you provide.

Lest we forget there are jackasses who bought 100x100 pixel NFTs for 10x of what Jim Lee is asking.

a ton of people don't see art as work, it's baffling

My Jim Lee story. I was at San Diego as a young man. My first time there as a pro. Jim was signing and sketching for FREE. It was close to the end of the show when I got in line. The dude behind me was the last one allowed in line. Jim stayed after the close of the show to make sure everyone in line got their signatures and free sketch. He drew a Grifter for me, outlined it and then asked me, in the interest of time, would I want ink the rest. He told me to sit down, handed me a sharpie and I inked the rest of the Jim Lee sketch sitting next to him. I've worked with DC for 9 years. The whole office has a very open, exciting vibe. I can't say it's because of Jim, but I wouldn't be surprised.

There is a strange perception that art is easy, hence low prices.

As an artist it is important to get paid for what you do just like anyone else. Art is one of the only professions where everyone thinks you should just give away your work for free. The pricing to me is right on its Jim Lee for god sakes he is a legend in the industry.

A certain subset of society hates artists specifically and doesn't believe they should be paid anything. I'm not kidding, it's a thing. They think artists are lazy and that they should get a real job. It's a bigger group of people than you might want to believe, too. These people never used to question where art comes from. Now they have AI, they feel even more confident about hating on artists.

Artists deserve much more than they get paid. I recently tried doing digital artwork and it was HARD! So I am also on the team 'go get that bag!'

I think that it all boils down to jealousy. When people who have to work a job they hate for a salary, see someone making their annual income or more with something fun, they get reminded that it's POSSIBLE to make money doing something that you actually like. But that's the thing, it's POSSIBLE, not EASY, becoming a famous artist is a lot harder than having a normal job, and riskier, and most people can't handle that, so they resort to bashing on those who could.

I understand being bummed out if you can’t afford an 11”x17” Jim Lee original. Get something at a price point you can afford, even if that’s just buying a comic book. The status of owning an original one of a kind will always come with a hefty price tag. However he is not limiting your access to his work. There is nothing ethically wrong with his pricing.

If you want it, you pay for it, if you don’t, don’t pay for it,

They get just as mad when athletes get money too... Look, you could make a lot of money just selling old junk as collectibles. People will always resent that

As an illustrator I get it. For years everyone has crapped on the artist. Jack Kirby didn’t get the love he deserved at the time. Ideas have been stolen from the artists at times and made the property of the big 2 for practically pennies while those companies made bank. It was the entire point of the start of Image Comics. Even writers all the credit and not the artists that brought the idea to life in living color. I have followed not only Jim, but Marc, Rob, Whilce and many more since the late 80’s and happy to see any of them succeed as they have more than deserved it. Many people feel that art should be free and I think that is why AI generated art is so popular now. I can never afford a Jim Lee illustration, but still support his success in every way. Illustrators should applaud when one of us makes it. Also, if i want a drawing, I put in the time and effort and learned how to draw it myself. There is no greater feeling than being able to pull an image from your head and put it on paper. Hell, I even taught myself basic procreate and am messing around with animation in toon squid. As much as I would love an original piece from an artist as great as Jim, it would not hold as much value to me as what i created myself🤷🏻‍♂️

I'm pretty sure Jim Lee's net worth is in tens of million dollars. Man was working his a** off, he is in his 60's his time worth a lot. Get that bag, Jim!

Imagine having people think they should get a cheap price on an original work from a living legend in an industry. Ironically, the same folks will be the first in line to auction off those pieces for more than the artist's asking price. Everyone but the person whose creativity and talent is being used deserves a paycheck, as fking always. The entire point of spending decades honing your craft and gaining recognition for your excellence is to increase the value of your creation and the worth of your time. But even at high levels, nontraditional artists still have to apparently continue the grind. It's Jim f-cking Lee.

Artist here The problem we're seeing is something you mentioned in the middle of the video. Removing the middlemen who are trying to bank off artists work are at risk of no longer making money. They don't want artists to know that they can sell their work for alot more, and are trying to get them scared of doing it by shaming them publicly. Or at least trying. Artists have to understand that they're worth alot more, the industry keeps treating them like dirt, giving them cents on the dollar. Most artists are scared to charge more, because they believe they'll recieve less. But we have to remember, art is a type of luxury, art can be fun for viewers. Don't sell yourself short, people who truly support art who have the funds will help you, because they truly believe in the creative process.

I personally think it's jealousy: people wish THEY could command such price for what THEY do, and get snarky when they see someone command the prices that they can't. It's either that, or they truly don't understand the art market, or bespoke pieces in general: if some people will pay X for something you do, you should get X!! Just because someone ELSE doesn't want to pay you for your hard work, doesn't mean it's WRONG to get that amount of money from someone who does!

As an artist who also represents other professional artists, the thing that particularly drives me crazy is seeing fellow artists get upset at artists being paid well for their work. That sentiment among artists is unfortunately way too common. What is also too common is how many talented artists make next to nothing due to being worried about being perceived as greedy or delusional.

Many people lack hobbies or interests, which leaves them with too much time to get upset over trivial matters.

Art is only worth as much as people are willing to pay for it; there's nothing to relate price of art to, it's a luxury not a need. We can complain about prices of housing, water, electricity, food, that's a need that we should have easy access too; custom piece of art? Bro know your place, it used to be domain of the kings. +People will always complain, be it 20bucks or 20k bucks (I know from experience in with the 20$ lol)

I've been saying this for years, people want to consume art but don't want to pay for it. They feel entitled to it.

And there are people who buy/bought ugly and lazy "artworks" for exorbitant prices (NFTs).

They deserve all of it, Art nowadays is Brain Draining and Laborious task 😊

All I'm really gettihg from this is twitter is being twitter and getting mad at literally everything

If they discover Beeple made 40 Million $ with one NFT... Their mind's gonna explode!

I think a lot of people see making art as just something fun and resent people doing something they perceive as fun and getting paid large amounts for it. Your cooking analogy was spot on. I used to make jewelry as a hobby and really enjoyed it. People kept asking me about my jewelry and admiring it and started commissioning pieces. I was making pretty decent money at it, but it sucked all the joy out of it over time so I stopped doing it altogether. Work is work, and from my perspective, commodifying creativity really does drain it of a lot of joy. Artists earn that money and aren't just getting paid for playing around.

I could never afford to pay an artist that much myself, but like... this is their job. I don't understand why some people don't get that.

Fellow child of the 80's here, and working in animation. Even though I grew up in Europe, and had almost no direct contact with American Superheroes comics, I was at least familiar with Jim Lee's work through a workaround : The Capcom X-Men fighting game, and all the subsequent X-Men Vs Street fighters & Marvel Vs Capcom (which re-release have been announced very recently in a Nintendo Switch after having been in jail for the past decade, so it's the talk of the whole videogame industry right now !), some of the games that made me fall in love with videogames and animation, to the point I later got into my animation studies, then worked in the industry for the past 15 years (whenever I'm not unemployed, of course), and these games were HEAVILY inspired by Jim's artwork. So in a sense, even if I haven't read a lot of his comics, he was most certainly among the people who inspired me to become an animator, so I fully well know the impact he had on the art & comic industry as a whole, and YES ! Absolutely ! The more you advance in time and career, the more your art is worth. After all, there is this joke about Picasso being commissioned by someone to draw his dog, Picasso draws the dog in 30 seconds, charges $1M for it. Customer is pissed, says "hey, you just drew it 30 seconds". To which Picasso replies : "Yeah, and I drew 50 years prior so that I could draw it in 30 seconds". People don't realize they're not just paying for the time spent on the art, but time spent on the time, craft and experience acquiring said art to this level, which can only be exponential ! Imagine asking Miyazaki to make you a drawing for 20 bucks, the man will literally spit at your face (before chewing you out about how anime was a mistake and you're such a failure as a human and an insult at life for basking in it, making you shrink 'n' shrivel in your pants while you're reevaluating your life). So you go, Jim ! Also, the ragers who don't want art people to make big bucks are probably the same talentless Tech bros hacks who wish the death of all artists by starvation through the mass use of AI, so not much to talk with them.

This is a person that has been in the comics industry since the 80's and one of the most popular and influential artists in the industry. People have paid way more for his work through auctions and like you stated in your video by reselling on ebay to make a large profit. Keep in mind, some wouldn't bat an eye if this was a different type of artist selling work like Banksy, but because this is a professional comic book artist people automatically assume the level of work isn't "fine art" or high level work when in fact it's what people are willing to pay and clearly people are willing to pay high dollar for his work. Maybe the people are mad because they won't be able to cash in on his success by reselling the commissions.

It's Jim freakin' Lee.......

Because art is perceived as a hobby only, something that you only do for the pleasure of it. Now, it can be like that with regards to your personal work, but someone's gotta eat. Anyway most of the bad comments come from envy.

God forbid artist get paid what someone is willing to pay for their art 😱. "It's just kids stuff and we should die poor and be happy that we might become famous after we die." At this point, if someone isn't mad about what you're doing, you probably aren't doing it right.

Because people with talent are hated by those without.

A very thoughtful take on the subject. The monetary value of work is always defined by what people are willing to pay. If someone was willing to pay be $20k for a day's work, you better believe I would take it.

I wonder if the twitter people also realize that this is an investment with the possibility for larger returns for the buyer. They do this all the time with fine art, why not with a really well-known artist in the comic space. This is Jim Lee after all.

Furries have literally paid $20k for art before... Getting art from the artist was basically a "rich furry" status symbol. The art was cool, yes, but they really only bought it for the status. The bid started at $800 and then a bidding war broke out. They paid $20k for a digital art piece of a character that was pre-made.

Glad someone smart made a video about this. I can't believe there's actually some kind of controversy over this. Jim Lee can set those prices because he's worth that much. Did people forget he literally helped revolutionize the comic industry. That companies have used his art in merchandising without paying him for years. Now he is in position where can he sell his art for those prices. He should be charging that much. This is a dream for most artists. People are crazy and greedy. These aren't covers or just simple sketches. These are full private commissions.

If you're considered top of your game by the fanbase of your field, seems normal you'd get paid well. Top emcees get paid a lot to turn up and do their thing. Top football players get paid a lot to play a match. If this guy is too in the comic scene, not surprised his work can fetch these high prices. Those of us that dont have 20k just have to settle for his work in a published comic or a print. ....as typing this, it's basically the point you made at end of video anyway 😊 supply and demand. There are people who will, probably happily as they're rich, pay this for a collectable from someone they rate highly

Jim Lee deserves that and more. He has contributed so much to comics. He was my idol in the 90s and his story is so inspirational. So yes Jim Lee. Get that money. You are worthy!!!

Related / unrelated… I worked for DC very briefly and it’s when Jim Lee Launched Batman Hush & it got me hooked on DC comics. Was a long long long time Marvel fanboy. Free comic books every week was unreal + being paid

And also Jim Lee is the CCO of DC Comics! His time is money.

I've met Jim Lee at Comic Con He was so nice. He's my favorite artist, i love his art style. If it was a famous painter people would say they price is too low, but because its comics i think people dont see it as high end art for some reason

I wouldn't mind if Brad continues to cover art drama more often

I think the other factor of this is that if you want Jim Lee art and can't afford a commissioned piece (like most of us), you can buy $20 poster of Jim Lee art. It's not as if the average person is being priced out of the opportunity to appreciate and display his art. It's just the rarity and specialness of original, hand drawn work that's prized.

art is like language. we all can learn it and speak it, but each person has a unique way of speaking. Yes, you can mimic it, you can even be somewhat successful in perfectly saying the same words, but the individual will eventually morph to what they know best, and it's no longer the same language. So, in other words, no one can be the original since their upbringing, experiences, personality, beliefs, lifestyle, etc are what influence their language,, their art. And this guy is willing to sell his original, authentic hand-drawn art for a well-suited price. Cuz once this guy dies, those prices that so many are complaining, about are gonna skyrocket. I'm not saying buy as much as you can from the guy, but appreciate the man himself and all that he has done.

I hope you make that Jim Lee money someday Brad

I guess because comics are cheap and available people don't understand how much work and time went into doing one full panel sketch that looks like a final print.

Honestly as somebody who values their own time and work and charges what I think is an appropriate amount for my commissions, I hate when I see people who I think are far more talented than I am charging so little for their own work. I'm almost tempted to DM an artist if they are doing gorgeous full body pieces for like... $25. But at the same time, maybe they just like to draw for other people and money is beside the point? It's not my business. But I do get tempted sometimes to tell other artists to not devalue what they contribute to the world, whether it's beautiful landscape paintings or comics about Sonic getting pregnant.

Man, you wouldn’t believe how many times I said "exactly!" out loud while watching this video. You explained it so well. Jim is a very in-demand artist and only has so much time to dedicate to making art. Of course he's gonna charge a lot for it! Crazy how hard it is for people to wrap their heads around that.

Sean Gordon Murphy also charges thousands of dollars for commission work for this same reason, he's also a super star like Jim Lee and has people willing to pay for it. It's ridiculous that there are people out there who believe artists, especially established veteran artists, don't deserve not just a livable wage but also a comfortable wage

As an artist who used to do conventions - the whole shebang of getting a table, setting my art supplies up, setting up prints and merch with my art on it, and taking on-the-spot commissions, as well as take-home commissions, I really relate to this, and.....sooooo many artists undercharge themselves, and undersell themselves. Yes, you'll get fans out there that will complain about such-and-such artist charging a lot for their work...BUT! There are also people out there who are ready and willing to pay for their work, because those people believe that artist's work is worth it. I've literally seen a crayon drawing by a well-known artist I knew years ago, must've taken him 5-10 seconds to draw up a stick figure, and it sold for $500. It was the talk of the convention, and probably is to this day. So many people didn't think it was worth it, but the guy who won that auction thought it was, and more to that artist for getting $500 for a simple crayon stick figure he whipped up in no time flat, LOL. That's more than I ever made at a convention weekend. Ever. I hear you on the burn out too. I tried raising my prices to accommodate getting better known in my fandom community, as well as trying to make it worth my time. I was on the opposite part of the spectrum, though...when I raised my prices (still considered undercharging myself at that time), people thought I was too expensive, but would be willing to toss hundreds of dollars to top-name artists because...why have one of *my* art pieces, when they can have one of *top-name artist''s* pieces? Art was beginning to feel too much like work for me. Add that, on top of doing the same things over and over with no real challenge, with not-yet-diagnosed depression and anxiety added to the mix, and...I burned out pretty bad. These days, I'm going back to school for art. I'm learning that art can be fun again, and I'm not worrying about wanting to sell art or take commissions. I'm happy to do art for a small handful of my friends, as well as make art in the current community I'm in, and I feel happier not charging for it. Will I ever get back to doing the convention scene? Maybe. I'm just not there yet, though.

A lot of people undermine artists, they view art as a career that isn’t supposed to make much money especially for comic artists, illustrators and animators. It’s a shallow perspective that has to be changed. Art is a very professional career and we as artists shouldn’t be looked down on, cause we bring people’s ideas to life, That isn’t something that it’s easy to come up with.

Artists, and definitely comic book artists, more often than not have gotten historically shafted by the industry, setting up Gofundme campaigns just to cover their medical bills. It's awful. Jim’s got the name, the cred and the pent-up demand -a position most every artist would be rightfully jealous of. It would be foolish on his part to not grab that bag. After all, likes don't pay your bills - cold, hard cash does.

Legendary artist sells gorgeous sketches that he draws live? $20k doesn't seem that strange. All that aside though. People need to realize that Jim Lee isn't the only person responsible for these prices. If the demand wasn't that high, I'd no one was willing to pay that amount, then no one would. The fact that he can set prices at $20k+, and still potentially have to pick and choose which ones he takes, goes to show just how high of a demand there is for his work and time.

The cooking analogy is pretty good

Jim has always been so giving when it comes to art. He has done livestreams, he’s done art education for free. He’s been in this industry for DECADES. Look at Alex Ross. He sells sketches, SKETCHES, for between 2-4k a piece. He sells his originals for five figures. These guys are MASTERS in their field. They deserve to charge what they want.

People are so dumb. Jim Lee is a comic book art superstar. Some of his comics sold millions of copies in the 90s. He's as close to a comic book celebrity we have. He has a right to charge that much because as others have pointed out some buy his art for hundreds of dollars then resell it for thousands. Jim lee is a legend who can command those prices. Regular celebrities who are worth millions charge hundreds of dollars for their autographs but Jim Lee can't charge a few thousand for a PRIVATE COMMISSION. I swear people just don't want their favorite artists making money.

This reminds me of that story about Picasso charging 10k for a portrait done in 10 mins. You are not buying a drawing, you are buying the blood, sweat and tears of a guy who gave what not everybody is willing to give to get where he's at. My respects to Jim and all the artists who are giving their all.

You always nail it! Great post. You do not only do reviews. You are a great analyst of what happens in the artist-illustrator world.

People are so used to artists to underselling that they can't wrap their head around this.

If haters think 20k is ridiculous, wait till they hear how much that banana on a duct tape was sold.

Life without The Arts is no life. There is no upper limit for talent.

I was at Dallas Comic Con back in the 2010s and he gave a live demo of his work and it was incredible. Jim is amazing, and I really am part of "grab that bag" too.

There are times when the backlash is warranted, like the infamous Butch Hartman commissions from back in the day (where sometimes he would just trace other artwork, but would charge hundreds lol)

Like you, I have been a fan of Jim Lee since the 1990s. I met him at a Comic Con, which I went to because he was there. He is the nicest person. He takes the time with each fan who comes to his table and gives his undivided attention. You are buying art from the artist, not a reprint. I see those rates, and all I think is that they are well deserved. He is an icon in the world of comics.

Meanwhile, I'm still struggling working as digital artist, and think about how to be wealthy by working as an artist.

Jim Lee is a comic legend. His work is amazing. He should charge whatever the hell he wants. If you can't afford the price, oh well!

I think people love art and appreciate it but they don’t appreciate the artist. Normal folks I think don’t consider how much effort, commitment, and tears it takes to grow as an artist. Jim Lee is one fantastic example of this. The guy has been at it since he was very young, developed his skills, his style, and as such developed his worth, and has been in the industry a long time and is known. Normal people have seen his work even if they don’t know his name. So in my mind him charging that much seems about right. Yes, it’s a lot of money, but it isn’t just the art you’re getting, it’s the name behind it too.

To to quote Matt LeBlanc, "If you're in a position in any job, no matter what the job is -- if you're driving a milk truck or installing TVs or an upholsterer for a couch -- if you're in a position to get a raise and you don't get it, you're stupid," That applies to commisioned artists too, if you can get $20k for your work, outstanding. But you're buying the drinks tonight. Beside if I had $20k to commision Jim Lee I absolutely would, I'd take some of his work over half the paintings in the National Gallery.

I grew up reading comic books and Jim Lee was one of the artists that made me want to study comic art at The Kubert School in New Jersy... didn't end up going and went to Sheridan College instead... because of the costs, it was in the USA... and New Jersy on top of that.... But always loved comics and animation. 😊 I think the same as you. He has a busy life and he wants to limit how many he does.

You’re not paying for the art; you’re paying for the artist’s skill, ability, and reputation. As well you should!

100% agree. So long as people are willing to fork over hundreds of thousands of dollars to have someone "play a game" (looking at you pro sports) then why can't some of the most talented artists make profit from those willing to pay for the privilege? I can understand people scoffing at the price of art, I do it all the time as someone who is capable of replicating it for minimal to no costs, but like you said, "It's Jim Lee, an icon in his field."

These people are freak out as if Jim Lee is raising all of the price of his works up to ten thousands dollars, while in fact, you can still got his comic book in a relatively normal price, this commission artwork is one of a kind that client specifically ask him to draw, it is a priceless piece to be fair

Very well said sir.

@Brad Colbow can you make a review on "one by wacom" pen display ? (I've watched your review on chrome os but there is not much info about the tablet like the line test or if the fine line is just a bug in chrome os.)

It doesn't help that most creatives have a terrible relationship with money and genuinely think that they are supposed to do work for the lowest possible value cause it's "not about the money" or "I'm not good enough". Also, some artists are so insecure about their low self-worth that they shame other artists for daring to make real money off their work. If most of us don't take ourselves seriously, then how is society supposed to?

I feel like the clarification that the price is for finished art and not a quick con sketch is very important. These aren’t 5 minute scribbles of Wolverine, you’re getting like actual put-it-in-a-gallery art (but of course taste is subjective).

My favorite artist is Jim Lee and his value as an artist is high. People are willing to pay alot for his work and an artwork by him that was bought by a fan in the 90s sold for over half a million dollars i believe. I actually won one of his drawings at a comic convention for free. It was just a sketch but other people tried to buy it off of me the same day lol.

Totally agree with all your points, Brad.

I commission artwork all the time for work. Mr. Lee is welcome to charge whatever he wants for his pieces - no questions asked. I am also free to not shell out $20,000 - no questions asked. Nobody is being forced to buy his work. He produces "want" items, not "need" items, and it's working pretty well for him. If he can find people with the requisite disposable income for a big picture of Wolverine, then I'm not angry, I'm *envious*. :D

I constantly see people under-price their rates because "people won't pay higher than that" and it's because people don't understand how much time and work drawing really is. It'll take me hours to finish a piece and if I only charged $100-$150 it'd work out to less than minimum wage. Original art is a luxury item and should be priced accordingly.

There are a lot of people out there who just don't make very good money at their jobs. So when they get a peek into what someone who's at or near the top and what they're being compensated, it's shocking. Same goes for movie stars, pro athletes, CEOs, etc.

My two cents. Random kid tracing art usually charge 15-35$. A little more experienced and talented kid charges 50$. People who can do some neat drawing but still not to a publishing level ask 100-150$. Well-known published comic book artists charge around 350$-500$. Now why a legend like Jim Lee shouldn't charge 1000$ as a starting tier?

I, for one, became a lot happier personally when I took the stance that any artist making money is a good thing & stuff like crazy commission rates not necessarily reflective of skill or artistic value are a good thing because hey at least the artist is making money & not another bloody corporation. Like, getting mad at another person securing the bag is such a strange thing to do. It’s not a zero-sum game, everyone should be able to make money from their art, that’s the ideal!

I think it's hard for people to wrap their head around the time and effort it takes to make something, not just a drawing but just making stuff in general. Creatives have throughout history have been underappreciated and this is coming to a head with AI content. It's a huge revelation for me that so many people don't see the issue with plagiarism, not just AI-generated content but just people stealing other's work.

I find that once the advertised price of making art goes above what's needed to live off of, it generally means at least one of two things. One: They don't have enough time to do the work, so they raise prices to reduce the number of requests. Two: They don't actually need the money or really want to do a commission so they put a price high enough to ignore what they want. Especially true for works that are hard to duplicate, an original traditional medium work falls under that. Jim probably checks both. If he was selling 11x17 prints for 20k, I'd probably be against him, but those things value is pretty much at vendor price + shipping.

Here's the thing naysayers who spoke very terribly about Jim Lee asking for this amount - This was the SAME guy who gave us the most comic books sold of an ISSUE of a beloved Icon of Marvel that has inspired not only the movies and video games based on IP but also inspired the SAME 90's cartoon that spawned the sequel 'X-Men 97' Not to mention, there was a reason why DC gave him work like Batman: HUSH and others and he's now running DC Comics. Heck, I'd pay 30k (if I got the money) to give Tadayoshi Yamamuro to draw me a SSJ3 Goku fighting Janemba and Buu at the same time because he was the guy who gave use the style to the Buu arc from Dragonball as an example. That's how HUGE Jim Lee is.

It’s a simple concept: supply and demand. Match the demand with an adequate value for the supply.

I wonder if you could do a video about Jim Lee or another artist you enjoy. I actually didn't know who he was until this video. Love your videos! They are so measured and calm, especially when everyone else is trying to be outrageous.

This is what artists are truly worth, but if you see that someone is actually working to the true value it can make the always mistreated artist feel envious.

15 years as a graphic designer and illustrator taught me that MOST people do not want to pay a skilled artist what they are worth. It’s a sad fact.

I think (mind U i have the smoothest of brains) that "If ppl worried as much about themselves as they do everyone else, the world wud have a lot less problems and who has so much time on their hands to actually complain about what other ppl are doing.!?" 🤷‍♂️ [.......but what do i know about knowing stuff] THANX for this bit 'O Drama' in the art world (as stated above) i have a life and even if i had time to be upset about a "Professional getting 'paid for their work'... (the actual DEFINITION of the word 🤦‍♂️), I'd spend it doing Anything Else, other than what 'Those Ppl' chose to do. Great Vid Brad, C U N the next 1! 👊🖍

If I have 30k lying around, I'll get a Jim Lee commission in a heartbeat. I have a career because of him.

Jim Lee is top 10 to top 5 living comic artists of all time. He can charge whatever he wants. The market will decide whether it’s appropriate

Jim Lee was definitely one of those who inspired me to become a professional artist. If he can make 20k per commission, then more power to him.

Being a good artist is a rare and valuable skill. I work in IT. I sell my time and expertise for money. Artist is selling their time and expertise for money. But if you're really good and a pinch of luck, people can make insane money. If you look at my PFP, I spent $250 for the custom art to be made to my requirements. Someone who is a great artist and famous, of course it is going to command a higher price. They're not doing it for charity. And if they were actually doing it for charity, they would want to do it for even more for the charity to make more money.

I absolutely love the explanations here.

"I'd buy a car" True, indeed. I think people sense an imbalance when a professional bedmaker charges 10x the price of an amateur bedmaker, though the results look similar.

Artists deserve what they earned as much as musicians or doctors for the quality work they do. Those people critizing him are just jealous.

Trust me, Jim Lee knows what his craft is worth. $20K is a bargain, but also the $1K option is also available and much more affordable for the vast majority of his fans. However, beggars can't be choosers. I wonder how many of the detractors are also of the "I can make my own in AI" crowd.