An unfortunate situation has affected the industry, particularly those in visuals or animation. There is no shortage of stories about artists being overworked, dealing with unreasonable deadlines, and overall mistreatment from higher-ups. Though these aren’t the facts for every studio, they are common.

An article written by Codega outlines how the bidding process causes problematic issues at all stages of production. Like almost every major film production company, Marvel hires studios to handle the Visual effects, also called VFX work for them. And, like most contracted work, the company accepts bids from several studios. It’s in the commissioning company’s best interest to get the lowest price while ensuring quality work.

According to one source, studios are so eager to get Marvel Studios contracts that they constantly undercut one another’s bids, ending on a final number that will only allow them to break even financially, if that. Several artists and technicians feel that when working with Marvel in particular, too many “bosses” oversee each part of the pipeline. “I’ve had entire sequences get blasted apart by someone who shouldn’t even be a part of the feedback process. Like, why do you get an opinion on this?” said one responder. While many of the interviewees in the article had fond memories of working on Marvel projects, they all agreed that the initial luster had long since worn away.

It might burst some bubbles, but the comics industry is notorious for mistreating creatives, and it shouldn’t take people overworking people for the conditions to change. People shouldn’t be scared to pursue their passions because they fear mistreatment. Time and time again, people have spoken out, and more often than not, they are silenced, especially if they are part of a marginalized group. It’s the same, if not worse, for Mangaka (a formal term for manga artists) and the countless instances of abuse and mistreatment.

An example is the comic book writer and artist Ian McGinty, who passed away. He was only 38 and had worked on big-name properties like Adventure Time and Invader Zim, as well as his comic, Welcome to Showside. On Twitter, McGinty’s mother has spoken out and urged people to support other cartoonists. While the cause of McGinty’s death isn’t public information, others in the industry have expressed concern knowing how hard he was pushing himself to work. As more and more stories come into the spotlight, one can only hope that we will see some changes in the industry. There is hard work these various artists are putting into these films, shows, comics, etc. It’s unfair that they should be burnt out and lose motivation to work on their craft.