[quote name='Brak']He wants me to be the character designer / illustrator of other peoples' stories. That's a bit of a turn off, because, 1.) I hate creatively working with other people (unless we're on the same wavelength, and I have some sort of control

), and 2.) people with "business" minds view this as grunt work.
And to prove that he viewed it as grunt work, he said that he'd pay me based on the work I did (kind of like an agency), but he'd own my work. Sure, someone else created the character... but if I create a physical manifestation of the character, I
created it, too.
I don't give a shit about getting paid, but I absolutely hate the idea of someone making money off of something I created.[/quote]
People who are into art have no business sense. If you're working for someone else, you get paid for what you did and the rights to it. If you want to create and profit off your work, why don't you write your own book and illustrate it?
Or maybe find a writer and collaborate with them.