Oct 27 2008
24 Hour Comics Day
Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Today is Monday, October 27th, 2008. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Are you interested in a comic book but not sure if you want to shell out the cash? Let me know and I’ll review it for you - letting you know if it’s worth your hard earned money!
Today’s Issue:
Well… not so much an “issue” as an event. 24 Hour Comics Day to be exact.
Premise:
So I imagine you’re probably asking yourself “What exactly is 24 Hour Comics Day?” Well random person who mysteriously stumbled upon my comic book review blog - I’m glad you asked. 24 Hour Comics Day is an event held once a year where comic book creators answer the challenge of completing 24 comic book pages in a single 24 hour period. I know what you’re thinking, “That’s crazy! It can’t be done! And all the comics produced in such a manner probably suck!” Well, you aren’t necessarily wrong. But it’s still grand fun and an excellent creative challenge. If you’d like more information, check out the official website at:
http://www.24HourComicsDay.com
Awesome Parts:
I can only talk specifically about the event I attended at Empire’s Comic Vault in Sacramento, California. (Check out their website at http://www.empirescv.com/ ). We started at 9am Saturday October 18th, 2008. Some people brought their computers. Some brought their pencils and papers. Others had all sorts of crazy art equipment (like colors and ink! Who even understands those crazy artists people?) Some of us were writers worried about how ugly our comics would be. Others were artists having a difficult time coming up with a viable story. But we were all there for a common purpose - and what a great purpose it was! The greatest part for me was the comradery between fellow comic book creators. All day the room was filled with so much creative energy it was practically tangible. Also - what better inspiration could you ask for than being trapped inside a comic book store all night? Having free coffee, soda, and pizza was definitely a plus. I finished with a scant hour and a half left to go (though my art is THE worst art you can imagine - not having standards will do that to you.) A few of my friends finished Sunday morning with mere seconds left before 9am. (Tomorrow I’m going to review Jeremy Rathbone’s comic “So I Didn’t Destroy The Universe?”). Overall, it was a grand ol’ time.
Less Than Awesome Parts:
The thing is - for me - anything that might be considered a negative is just part of the experience. Some people might not enjoy the lack of sleep. Others might find the time restriction stifling. Some might not like having to create the entire comic themselves. But I didn’t mind any of that. Part of the comradery was keeping each other going through the hardest parts of the night. The time restriction makes it all that more challenging. It’s like a haiku - creative restrictions often lead to something beautiful that never would have been conceived of in a free form setting. And creating the entire comic book by yourself helps give you a better feeling about what all partners in a comic book creative team go through. In no other situation would I even TRY to have drawn my own comic - so this event helped me get inside an artists’ head better than ever before.
My Recommendation:
I absolutely positively recommend this event to any creative person. The 24 Hour Comics Day website has a listing of all the locations hosting the event. Of course - you’ll have to wait about a year until the next one rolls around. If you don’t fancy yourself a creative type, but are interested in the process of creating a comic book, I still recommend the event. At least at Empire, everyone there was welcoming of anyone who wanted to come in and sit with us. Even if you have no idea what you’re doing this could be an incredibly fun learning experience for you.
That’s all for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time. And don’t forget to let me know if there are any comic books (or conventions/ events) that you want me to review for you - I take requests!
-Searnold, SuperSearnold@yahoo.com
