At the beginning of the year, cartoonists Dave Kellett and Brad Guigar made their predictions for the coming year — and set goals for themselves. Now, as the year comes to a close, it's the brutally honest follow-up episode where they grade themselves — and sometimes discover that Past-Brad and Past-Dave were wildly optimistic. Or deluded. Or both.

2025 PREDICTIONS

DAVE: Business planning for cartoonists is gonna be filled with a lot of anxiety. Trump will be a chaos agent.
BRAD: the “winners” of 2025 will be the cartoonists and businesses that help people *deal* with anxiety.
DAVE: Bluesky will be at 50M users by the end of the year (we were at 23M when he made that prediction)
BRAD: Substack: will gain in prominence. They’re going to have a user base in the same league as Patreon, Kickstarter, or Twitter.
DAVE: “We will all be playing reactionary, whack-a-mole with our life decisions in the first two years of the Trump administration.”
BRAD: AI will start to gain a foothold among writers and artists, as an assistant to their writing or their process or their brainstorming. Dave concurred. <— again, not saying we like it or promote it!
DAVE: Pickstarter and Patreon will continue as market leaders in the next 12 months. (Brad: I concur, provided Patreon doesn’t issue their IPO).
BRAD: You’re gonna see publishing take a huge contraction. From Random House to the Guigar House, you’ll see it all shrink, due to tariffs. (Note: We didn’t know about the tariff exception to printed matter.) Dave: Agree! My hidden hope is for incompetence.
DAVE: YA and kids books will continue to dominate cartoonists who have *gone to publishers*.
DAVE: Webtoons *might* begin to fall apart in the US market. This was more of a “curious” prediction than an “I feel strongly about this” prediction.
DAVE: I’m gonna have to raise prices or lower features in my books.

2025 GOALS

BRAD: My big goal is to “just survive” in 2025. It would almost be counterproductive for me to make goals. It’s like writing my goals in the sand at the shoreline.
DAVE: I also wrote down “survive”!
DAVE: run ANATOMY OF DOGS Kickstarter.
BRAD: Kickstarter in the first part of the year…but "I don’t know what it’s gonna be”. Worried about the risk of a NSFW book under Project 2025
DAVE: gonna triple-down on Bluesky for the next 1-3 years. Gonna focus on it and build it out. Brad co-signs.
BRAD: will use and pay for Buffer.com
DAVE: wrongwayshow.com will launch as a project, after a year of planning. It launching is the goal. We did it!
BRAD: build Spice Rack into an example of what loose collectives can do, and what they can bring to our businesses.
DAVE: If I get burned on this first book KS in 2025, I will switch to smaller Quickstarters that are more nimble and more financially manageable.
BRAD: Dave says he’s pulling back from KDP. Brad will lean in on KDP.
DAVE: second half of 2025: launch on Substack?
DAVE: focus on the things that I can control in 2025. Focus on my health, my family, my creativity…and not let them steal my joy, and outlive the fuckers.
BRAD: show up every week and record ComicLab.

HUION

Our multi-week partnership with Huion is nearing the finish line. Huge thanks to them for supporting the show. If you’ve been thinking about upgrading your tablet or dipping your toes into digital art hardware, now’s a great time to check out their lineup.

Huion is sponsoring today's show, and they're offering additional discounts on the following products when you use the discount code: COMICLAB

Kamvas 22 Plus — A luxurious large-screen, high-resolution digital pen display with an etched glass surface that simulates the texture of paper while it protects your eyes from harmful glare.

Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) — With a large 13.3-inch screen and an FHD (1920X1080) resolution, this model ensuring seamless collaboration with your laptop. The durable back cover also offers superior protection while ensuring interface stability.

Huion Note — You found your new on-the-go brainstorming tool. With writing synchronizing, offline storage, document management, one-click PDF sharing, and portable A5 size, Huion Note will redefine what a new generation of notebooks can do.

TAKEAWAYS

The hosts reflect on their goals for 2025 and the importance of survival in the creative industry.
Anxiety has been a significant factor in business planning for cartoonists this year.
Dog humor has provided a universal joy amidst the chaos of the world.
AI tools are becoming more accepted in creative processes, even if not openly discussed.
Substack is rapidly growing and may surpass Patreon in user numbers.
Competition among platforms like Substack and Patreon is beneficial for creators.
The publishing industry may have experienced a contraction, but anecdotal evidence suggests a strong demand for printing services. Tariffs impacted smaller publishers more than larger ones.
Young adult graphic novels are a strong market for cartoonists.
Webtoons' business model may face challenges in the US market.
Creators should prioritize owning their careers for long-term success.
Sponsorships can provide valuable tools for creators.
Setting realistic goals can lead to unexpected successes.
Social media scheduling tools can enhance productivity.
Collaborative projects can be rewarding but require careful planning.
Evaluating different publishing platforms is crucial for profitability.
Moral dilemmas in business are complex and often unavoidable.

You get great rewards when you join the ComicLab Community on Patreon

$2 — Early access to episodes
$5 — Submit a question for possible use on the show AND get the exclusive ProTips podcast. Plus $2-tier rewards.

If you'd like a one-on-one consultation about your comic, book it now!

Brad Guigar is the creator of Evil Inc and the author of The Webcomics Handbook. He is available for personal consultations. Dave Kellett is the creator of Sheldon and Drive. He is the co-director of the comics documentary, Stripped.

2025 in Review — Predictions and Goals