A couple of years ago I decided to participate in 24 Hour Comic Day, a challenge for comic book creators to make a 24 page comic book in 24 hours, I succeeded (kind of) with time to spare. This I was not so lucky.
In 2011 I sat down at a table with a bunch of other comic creators and in about 20 hours produced a 24 page comic book about Geocaching. A comic book that due to exhaustion has never, and probably will never be published. My process is to draw in non-photo blue pencils, ink, and scan my comic. In 2011 I had decided that I would create a simple black and white comic. After completing it I then got talked into adding some spot color to my original art. For the “blueline” to work, you can’t really add other colors. I knew this, but I was tired and decided “Why not?” when I got back home I was too exhausted to fiddle with it, and have since moved on. I still have all the pages, but that’s about it.
Fast-Forward to this year- Same challenge, different location. I spent yesterday morning running around dealing with things for my school district’s “Magnet Fair.” The Magnet Fair is an opportunity for families to shop around and see what schools are offering. In a lot of cases the parents already know, but they are double checking their decision. From 1:30 to 4:00 I was helping to persuade parents that STEM would be a good choice. Actually I asked one kid a series of questions about what they really liked… and then told them they should consider another school. Then it was a quick stop back home to feed and comfort Hemi before heading out to the opposite side of town and be creative.
The 24 Comic Day event was held at Downtown Comics’ westside location and while it started at 5:00 it was recommended to get there around 4:30 to set up, I got there at 5:30… already off to a bad start, since when I first arrived there was no room at the table of creators for me. I began by just warming up for drawing with a pad on my lap. This was rectified when another a table was set up in the back.
As a participant part of the challenge is to start from absolutely nothing. I don’t think it’s possible to not have a kernel of an idea floating around in your head, but you should come with nothing written down. I had a few ideas: another Geocaching comic that could be sold to cachers at events, retelling the tale of Sue and my wedding from the proposal to the big day (to help the healing process), retelling the adventures of MINI Takes The States in a long form comic, or “something else.” So I started to work on a MINI Takes The States comic, since it would be pretty simple to plot out. I also decided to take the kid’s comics format used by Tiny Titans, Superman Family Adventures, and Little Hellboy. Have smaller stories that all relate and build on each other. Each story is a few pages, but the final piece links everything together. I plotted this out ending up with around 12 different mini tales and started on page 1 and hit a roadblock. After about 2/3 of the way done with the first page I just didn’t really know how to proceed. So I stopped and attempted to regroup. At this point a decided to try “something else.”
While not within the “rules of the game” I decided that I was going to use this time productively and draw, just draw. When I’m home there are always other distractions, so being locked in a comic shop for 24 hours gave me time to draw, and not do much else. I started working on some ideas that have been bouncing around in my head for a while, then I moved onto my notes for My Geek Odyssey. I always keep a running note on my iDevices giving me a place to jot down any thing that comes to mind. So I looked at this list, and started drawing. By sunrise I had penciled around 14 strips and my hand was starting to give out. I didn’t want to ruin what I had drawn so I stopped and decided I would not ink them until later. I have the advantage of having a school vacation coming up and decided that I would take care of finishing these over that break. I spent the next few hours drawing for some other projects and finally around 11:00AM decided to pack it in and go home.
So yes, I failed at the challenge, but I did get a lot done, and feel pretty good about what I have accomplished, some of it may work for the little projects I have bouncing around. WIll I try again next year? Of course. What will I do differently? A lot of things. I want to start with a single idea, worked out ahead of time (I know, breaking the rules- but this isn’t as much about the challenge anymore as it is about using 24 hours devoted specifically to creating a final product). Next- show up on time to get a seat at the table. I had a great time talking with Paul and Jeff throughout the evening, and was really productive considering my modified goal, but as one of the other participants said- he was there for “networking.” While this isn’t about networking for me, it is about a communal spirit that is hard to participate in when you are sitting at the “kids’ table.” Actually it was probably more the “adult’s table” but you get the idea- when you are separated from the main group you can be really productive, and yet miss out on some of the camaraderie of the experience. Being an introvert I’m not sure how much this is needed for me, but getting to know new people is part of the experience, part of the challenge.
A big thanks to Downtown Comics, Jeff Himes, and all the sponsors (Marcos Pizza, RAM, etc.) who helped make the 24 hours a lot of fun.
Besides the actual comic strips that you will see in time below are some of the other doodles I did.
