The most important thing in this business is your portfolio. People who hire care about one thing only: can you do the work? All the other stuff (are you reliable, how much will you cost, what degree do you have, etc.) are all secondary.
So the best advice I can give to your buddy is, get his book together and get some professional feedback on it. It is a highly competitive industry, so it's no surprise that he's having a hard time breaking in. He should also consider joining professional organizations and attending their functions (AIGA, Graphic Artists Guild, Art Director's Club, etc). Often times, they will hold portfolio review sessions where students can get professionals to provide them with feeback on their work.
Is your buddy more of an illustrator or designer? If he's interested in sequential arts as an illustrator/creator, he should look into the various publishers that he's interested in and send them his book (when it's at a level he believes will be sufficient to get his foot in the door with).
Good luck. I'd be happy to provide my 2 cents if he wants me to give an honest assesment of his work.
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