UKComicsCreators.org.uk, in collaboration with the Comics Cultural Impact Collective (CCIC), the Society of Authors (SoA) and the Association of Illustrators (AOI), launched the UK’s second Comics Creators Survey.
The UK Comics Creators Survey 2025, supported by Arts Council England (ACE) and Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) through a Knowledge Exchange Small Grant, was open to anyone over 16 who makes comics for public consumption professionally, casually, or as a student.
This nationwide, anonymous survey aimed to deliver ‘the most comprehensive picture yet of who is making comics in the UK, the challenges they face, and what they need to thrive in a rapidly expanding industry.’
Hannah Berry, who's leading the project following her tenure as UK Comics Laureate, says, “Comics are one of the UK’s most exciting cultural success stories, but creators are still struggling to make ends meet. This survey will give us the data we need to advocate for fairer conditions and ensure that this boom in readership translates into sustainable careers for those making the work.”
With the survey results expected to be released this month, Daniel Cox, Head of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange at AUB, explains the purpose of the survey:
“The survey’s designed to provide the most up-to-date snapshot of who’s making comics in the UK today, what obstacles they’re facing and what they need in order to thrive.
“While building on the findings of the first survey in 2020, the 2025 survey also explores the impact of AI, the cost-of-living crisis and Brexit on the livelihoods of creators. The project will provide valuable insights in order to ensure comics creators are better supported, included, and advocated for.”
The 2020 survey revealed that two thirds of respondents earned less than £5,000 a year from their comics work. These results were used to open dialogue with ACE and improve access to funding for comics creators amongst other things.
The 2025 edition aims to ‘empower creators, strengthen funding bids, and provide policymakers, funders, and cultural organisations with the evidence they need to support the comics sector.’
They'll also advocate for the creation of a dedicated infrastructure body to help the UK comics community grow and collaborate more effectively.
“We don’t have the production and retail infrastructures of the U.S.," says Hannah. "We don’t have the social and cultural acceptance of France; we don’t have the nationwide readership of Japan. What we do have is a flourishing scene that has regrown of its own accord in the last couple of decades, following almost no conventions and with very little precedent, shaping itself around its own interests and blazing its own artistic trail.”
To find out more, visit the UK Comics Creators Survey website.
