On the first weekend in October something amazing happens, folks dedicate themselves (a lot of the time š ) to making a 24 page comic in 24 hours. They gather in comic book stores and libraries and youth centers and schools to push themselves and see what they are made of. I have done this challenge many times since my first one in 2005 and it’s a great way to see what you are made of in drawing and writing a comic. So, here is is my warts-n-all 24 Hour Comic Day comic for 2013!
For those who can do the full 24 hours, I salute you! Me, well I didn’t do the full 24-pages in 24-hours. For me it was 12-pages/12-hours since I have found that the doing the full 24 hours in recent years can wipe me out for longer then I care for. I have done 24-hour in the past and the 12-hour version is just as challenging for me (but with a less messed up sleep pattern).
For 24HCD 2013, I returned to one of the best comic stores in San Francisco’s Misison: Comics and Art where owner Leef Smith was a wonderful host. I set up my materials and at 11am we started our challenge. This year I decided to base my comic on photos I took on a recent trip to the Monterey CA area, which meant a very interesting story. Below is a time lapse movie of my whole 12 hours at the event to watch…
24(12) HCBD Time Lapse from Brian Kolm on Vimeo.
Video Highlights:
00:13 Plan my 12 page comic with some crude thumbnails, look at photos from my trip, character sketches. Wish I had done a bit more at this stage, but was raring to go.
00:16 Rough blocking and panel boarders in light blue col-erase pencil on pre-printed templates. I also ink the panel boarders with a fine point sharpie pen.
00:40 lunch break with food from home so I don’t have to stop.
00:42 Start inking from page #1
01:10 Half way with double page spread (7 and 8), a great way to get more comic done! Mine had the reader turning the book sideways.
01:21 Jump to ink the last page so I will do a better job then I would at the end my challenge. A good idea for folks doing the full 24 hours too.
01:26 Eat another sandwich and then start inking the last few pages. I am aware that I don’t have enough space for the story make sense.
01:33 Potato and Pesto Pizza from Escape from New York! Excellent.
01:46 Figuring out that my story needs more, I add two more pages and rearrange others.
02:04 touch-ups and white-outs and other last minute changes.
02:10 DONE! 14 pages of comic!
So, would you like to see the un-cleaned up version of my comic? Of course you would…(Can’t see it below, visit HERE)
My final comic ended up with one of my favorite common themes, awkward characters finding love. But this time I wanted to play with the idea that sometimes you may have to balance some conformity and transformation in order to get your hearts desire, represented by a strange, surreal (and short) journey. Not sure if that comes across, but that is fine with a challenge like 24hcd. I am really happy how the final work came out under the circumstances and love the brush and ink technique.
Next year:
– more practice inking with a brush before hand
– improved anatomy
– need to have a bit more details roughed/penciled out before inking.
– need explore other themes other then romance with some adventure thrown in for good measure.
About the only thing I need now is a NAME for my story, do you know one? If so, comment below or contact me on G+, twitter, of Facebook at the link on the top left of the website.
Note: I would say for anyone who is interested in the 24HCD challenge but is resistant do to the length, try the event for 12 hours and see how you like it. And for possible locations that are concerned about staying open for 24 hours to host an event, the halved 12-hour version might be a more doable start for you as well.
