I think sometimes, its about how you say it. Like I've only got impressed gasps, that i can draw lmao.
but it can be kind of a strange direction when its my partners family line-up of Mathematician, Engineer, Scientist, Surgeon and then "does cartoons".
At some people are lucky that they can blurt out "I do comics". I can't- coz then people wanna start turnin the wheels in their heads and the next thing I hear is, "Can you draw me?"
I think the key here is to be confident in your brand and professionality. I've noticed that the more confident I've acted, the more people have trusted in the value of my content before even seeing it.
Do not give in to their prejudice, don't waver, don't lose your faith in your work.
Comics and art are valuable things and require a lot of skill, effort, practice and money for YEARS UPON YEARS in order to do in a successful manner. Have pride in what you've acheived because it's way more than what most people can even get close to making.
Don't be shy about the things you've made. It may feel like bragging, but if you've finished a certain amount of stories or chapters, don't be afraid to make that clear if they start doubting you. If they start the "it doesn't make money" or "noone cares about comics anymore" bullcrap, just refer to the comic artists that make $9k a month on patreon.
The main reason artists and comic creators aren't respected more is out of cultural ignorance.
I once was asked to draw one of my characters, on a napkin... with a blue ink pen... on one of my job interviews... could it be any worse than that? It's like, the whole room's eyes staring at me, probably judging me. I never felt so much like a sheep surrounded by a group of lions in all my life lol.
I wish I could have drawn a middle finger, because I got so nervous because he got me by surprise hahaha, and if came out SO BAD I'm not used to draw with pens on napkins lmao
Usually I get completely dominated or dismissed
Me "I'm working on a webcomic..."
Other person "oh i did a comic a few years ago!!! Here let me show you my first series that won xyz " talks for hours about their own art life story.
I kinda want to interupt them and say "wait didnt you at least want to know what my series is about?".
For me my family is very well aware that I work and make money off my comics and novels.
Though for relatives I don't often see much, it's more of a "You're still doing that? When are you going to grow out of that and do some real art?" while for people I don't know it's usually a "Oh so you work for MARVEL then????"
For the most part I just tell people I don't know that I work in sequential art, and they rarely pry further than that. While estranged family members, well nothing I can really do about that.
A lot of the time though it'll be on my end, I'll say I work on comics and the other party they will be really interested and ask me all kinds of questions about it... but I really don't want to go into it as it's not impressive since it's mostly just indi work unless I happen to land a contract, with even contracts all being indi work, and indi is something anyone can jump in on... so it's just not impressive at all. I got nothing to brag about.
Heads up in case ya'll want to continue the artists VS writers discussion I've made a new thread here:
I'm glad that this thread has gotten back on topic at this point :V But I feel like there's def more to be said on the other topic.
Other Artists: You need to pick a specialization to get into one of the bigger jobs and focus on that.
Family: Pfft. That's not a real job. You're a waste of talent.
Other people: THATS AMAZING. WHY ARE YOU WORKING HERE? WHY ARENT YOU WORKING ON MOVIES?!
I once saw my friend had webtoon, and I produced to ask if he new any comics about squared faces, and said no.
I never talked to him again,(that part was fake).
I don't tell many people but the ones I do are usually quite supportive and nice.
But I do present it as a learning aid, not as a comic.
I tend not to bring it up unless it comes up in conversation. I'm not against a bit of self-promo but I like to choose my moments. It seems to pay off.
Usually when I tell people that I make comics, They are surprised and they always ask if i also make the Donald Duck comics.
Then My face usually goes to squidward mode, and I show them my horror manga. Usually after that they tent to say thing like oh woah that is different or looks good. Or I didn't expect this.
SO the horror is kinda breaking the ice,...
Usually I just start doing other stuff or pretend that I get a text message XD
I have bumped into some of those. It can be really annoying. Usually I give them a minute or two to wrap it up, and if not I'll lead the conversation somewhere else.
That's such a specific question??? Why Donald Duck comics of all things?
I feel that, my comic is this weird campy psychological horror thing, I think people have trouble wrapping their heads around what it is and so that tends to get me a bit more good-will once i show it to them.
In the netherlands, Everyone... and I litteraly mean... EVERY-FRIGGIN-ONE. Grew up with the Donald Duck comics.
They were the entertainment for people back in the day with no ipads and shit 
So... when I yell COMICS. everyone will remember their childhood and their Donald Ducks...
( me on the other hand I grew up with W.I.T.C.H, cause... gurlstuf.... ) XD
I have the same thing. Usually people have expectations when seeing my work. But when the great plot twist or the event occurs, people are sort of.. shocked.. to see that there are comics that are definitely not for children.
Aye, it's the same thing in Finland(the bit about Donald Duck comics). I think it might be a Scandinavia thing in general, too.
That's super interesting, I feel like so much of comics-history is america-centric that the experiences and cultures of other countries comic scenes kinda gets lost. (I guess that goes for A LOT of history but whatever).
Maybe this is another spin-off thread topic.. Who knows.
Ya just need to get them interested about the story.
Don't even say it's yours.
Then at the end of your big description, ask;"Do you wish someone drew it? Yes? Because I did."
Just change up your words~
Huh, it honestly pretty interesting hearing all these stories. I'm in a fairly non-artsy region but I almost always get positive feedback even before showing my stuff, especially to coworkers or new friend groups. Like they'll say, "What, really?? That's so cool!" Sometimes with a variant of, "Many people aren't able to make that work, so that's awesome." I wonder if some of it is due to the kinds of job people have here. They're mostly production, warehouse, call center, construction, that sort of thing. Lots of working class people. But instead of looking down on it, they like to see variety.
If anything, the least enthusiasm I get is from my family. And it's not that they're not supportive, they just don't really "get" it and don't ask for more info besides the general, "how's your comic going?"
I can only really remember one time when people didn't take me seriously or it was awkward. Oddly enough, it was at a friend's party with a lot of other nerds. I had just met this one guy and was exchanging basic pleasantries with him when I was like, "Oh, hang on, I think I have a business card." And handed it to him. He basically laughed in my face and was like, "LOL what?? Who carries business cards around? No thanks." I was really taken aback and was like, "Umm, okay..." and walked away. Way to be an ass.
The other one was another girl at the same party. I told her that I made manga because I figured it wouldn't be a loaded term around anime fans. She just kind of brushed me off though, which was whatever--but later when we friended each other facebook she was like, "OH MY GOD YOU WEREN'T KIDDING, YOU ACTUALLY DO! You're actually really good!!" Uhh, thanks for assuming I wasn't, I guess. XD;
I think Vincent is right though in that it really depends on how confident you are in what you're saying. They're not going to treat it like a joke or something shameful if you don't, at the very least it'll happen less.
That's like the reverse of how things go in my family. I tell the others that my little sister is an artist(not a comic artist, although she's talented enough to be).
I don't really understand the question. "I make comics for fun...for a living...for what?'
What is the question? I'm assuming you don't make your living off it so could you delve a little deeper into this topic? Thanks.
The point of this topic is the reaction most people get when they say "I make comics"
It's not a question on why you make comics. It's a question of "what kind of reaction do you get when you say "I make comics"?" More of a conversation starter 
oooh try showing them Happy! too, it would be fun to show them something that weird/gore and heartfelt XD
To be completely honest, I have started saying Graphic Novel instead of comics. As comics can be any gag comic and I want to be known for something less comedy and more art work, it has more respect 
Altough gag comics are huge and reach millions of people, nothing bad with a gag comic, clarifying
People get impressed when showing them, they're like "how do you do this?" And I'm like "In the computer" and it's quite cool ^^
If I say comics instead of graphic novel I get that response @dawgofdawgness showed XD
reminds me of how people don't take "video-games" seriously but do take seriously "Interactive media" XD
