A 24 Hour Comics Day Recap

A friend of the comics historian, Scott McCloud, got into a discussion with him on how cartoonists need to be far more disciplined, considering how time consuming their chosen art form is. Essentially, if you are to draw every single day or at least an hour, that would be a very good step towards getting somewhere with your chosen profession. The more hours the better. Of course, human nature being what it is, a lot of cartoonists don’t end up putting in all that many hours of practice and yet they expect to get to Carnegie Hall. And, so the notion of gathering up a bunch of cartoonists and getting them to sit down and draw a 24-page comic within 24 hours took root.

The event is honored throughout the world. It just wrapped up this weekend. I coordinated an event in Seattle at the Phinney Neighborhood Center. I must have done something really really good because I should be drop dead tired after having stayed up all night, along with a crew of cartoonists, feverishly answering the challenge and attempting to put together our own 24-page comic. I feel entitled to announce a victory. I was able to construct a full 24-page story and at least pencil in all 24 pages, along with some partial inking. Some say that is just fine. Others can’t except anything else that total completion down to the last ink stroke.

So, everything, even something seeming as mellow as cartooning, at least to the general public, will have its extreme competitors. And, considering what dazzling effects you can get from this art form, it is understandable that it will attract some intense characters. I, for one, believe you need to find the right balance. But, at the moment, I am a bit off balance. I am quite giddy. I’ve never taken the 24 Hour Comics Day challenge before and now here I am putting together the event and coming out pretty good. Truth is, a lot of people burn out quickly. It’s all in the pacing. You try to organize as much as possible ahead of time. If you at least already have a premise in mind, you are ahead of the game. If you’ve gone as far as to right a script ahead of time, then you are intense and likely to do very well.

This is the official blog to 24 Hour Comics Day. It’s really cool to read the posts from all over the world. If you were wondering about comics and how they are made. Then you should learn more about it at their blog. And, if you want a really good video recap of the 24 Hour Comics Day in Seattle that I put together, then go here. Again, this is an exhilarating event. It depends a lot on chemistry and we had such a wonderful group of people. It depends a lot on timing and that worked out magically. I also took care of extra details to make this fun. I approached our fine comic shop friends here in Seattle, Comics Dungeon, and they provided generous sponsorship. I also approached one of our local businesses that make awesome frozen custard, Peak Frozen Custard, and we had one of the owners, Pete Wolfe personally stop by with plenty of delicious frozen custard. The vanilla latte flavor was incredible! So was the vanilla and the chocolate! And we got Seattle Folklore Society involved. They were having a concert down below from us. Keep in mind, this is a community center. And we got comped for the show. It was a beautiful bluegrass and mountain music program. It fit right in with a project that one of our cartoonists is working on, David Lasky’s work on the upcoming graphic novel, with Frank Young, based on the Carter family. So, with the right chemistry, magic and a little luck, we had ourselves an awesome 24 Hour Comics Day!!!