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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135721
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| Posted: 22 February 2026 at 2:49pm | IP Logged | 1
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Cost of LivingThe only time I ever knew what my father earned was 1962. $660 per month.
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Peter Hicks
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 30 April 2004
Location: Canada
Posts: 2104
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| Posted: 22 February 2026 at 7:15pm | IP Logged | 2
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Comics were 12 cents in 1965. Based on the US inflation rate, they should be $1.24 today. Something went wrong somewhere.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135721
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| Posted: 22 February 2026 at 7:44pm | IP Logged | 3
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Greed.
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James Woodcock
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 21 September 2007
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 8363
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| Posted: 22 February 2026 at 10:36pm | IP Logged | 4
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To be fair, after seeing so many of the creators that I grew up with end their
life desperate and in borderline or even actual poverty, I would say comics
were underpriced.
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Michael Penn
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 12 April 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 13128
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| Posted: 22 February 2026 at 10:57pm | IP Logged | 5
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I flash back to the astonished reaction in 1967's IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT when the southern cops learn that the black cop in Philly earns a whopping... $162.39 per week.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135721
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| Posted: 23 February 2026 at 5:17pm | IP Logged | 6
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Hadn’t thought previously to break it down, but my Dad’s 1962 $660 would be $165 a week!On that we had a three bedroom bungalow in suburbia*, a car, and never seemed to want for anything. *$13,000 new, with a thirty year mortgage!
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135721
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| Posted: 23 February 2026 at 5:26pm | IP Logged | 7
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To be fair, after seeing so many of the creators that I grew up with end theirlife desperate and in borderline or even actual poverty, I would say comicswere underpriced.••• On the other hand, there were fans who complained to me that the cover price wouldn’t be so high if my page rate was lower. These were people who did not comprehend how much of that per-issue cost was driven by paper, printing, shipping and the like.
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7564
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| Posted: 23 February 2026 at 6:42pm | IP Logged | 8
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It would be terrific if industries like comics offered creators a class or two on career management and money management. There are way too many stories of artists and writers who experience desperate poverty after work dries up.
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Andrew Bitner
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 01 June 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 7564
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| Posted: 23 February 2026 at 6:43pm | IP Logged | 9
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I was surprised (and pleased) to learn that the NFL has an extensive program for players who are leaving teams and transitioning to new careers.
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John Byrne
Grumpy Old Guy
Joined: 11 May 2005
Posts: 135721
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| Posted: 23 February 2026 at 11:08pm | IP Logged | 10
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It would be terrific if industries like comics offered creators a class or two on career management and money management. ••• No one would go.
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Dave Kopperman
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 27 December 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3931
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| Posted: 24 February 2026 at 12:07am | IP Logged | 11
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The house we live in turns up on the 1930 census as having sold sometime in the previous decade for $3,000; its first valuation. My parents bought it forty years later for $30,000. Unless the market goes kerflooey - or the HOUSE does - it could sell for north of $600,000. I can think of no starker proof that the expenses of a middle class life have far outstripped the means of earning.
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Evan S. Kurtz
Byrne Robotics Member
Joined: 04 July 2022
Location: Canada
Posts: 219
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| Posted: 24 February 2026 at 12:23am | IP Logged | 12
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Here’s the bank of Canada inflation calculator - very interesting to me. I speculate the bigger problem are all the things, like comic books, that blew past the rate of inflation. Especially the cost of home ownership. JB, I’d be curious as to how much a new house of similar size to the one your dad bought would cost in the same part of the country in 2026. Based on the inflation calculator, multiplying a dollar basically x10 - I have a feeling that today you’d be lucky to find a house for less than 500k.
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