Coloring and Afterthoughts of 24 Hour Comics Day!

I'm slowwwwwwwly starting to recover from the sleep deprivation and the body clock jarring experience of "24 Hour Comics Day".

It was SUCH a positive creative AND social experience I wouldn't trade it for all the good night sleeps in town, though.

I plan on commenting a bit more on it this week, as I catch up on coloring and FINISHING my entry...here's a preview BTW.

There was also the inter-active good time of rooting on fellow participants and being rooted by the same, through Twitter, Facebook and 24 HCD's own blog, that had a real creative feel to it.  I was able to draw elbow to elbow with people all across the country...no across the PLANET, in every major and not-so-major city you could imagine!!!

Coloring is a tedious process for me, but MORE tedious for keeping me from reading all those great new comics that got born out there on Saturday,

I learned a lot from jumping head first into this thing, and next year I'll be back with what I learned and be able to jump in feet first.

Thanks again to all of you for reading along, if you had even 1% of the fun that I had...well shit, you missed out on 99% of the good time!

Talk to you soon.

17 complete pages of 24 hour comic book day!

I headed on over to Kinko's to have my completed 17 pages scanned so you folks could actually read them if you wanted to.  INCLUDING 2 pages I didn't take pics of last night that YOU haven't seen yet!!

I am bound to finish the comic, I'm aiming for this week.

The concept for this is an old school children's comic a la Archie, Harvey (Casper, Richie Rich) and especially any number of Dell or Gold Key titles, which would have a main story interspersed with little 1 and 2 page unrelated black outs and even some activity/puzzle pages thrown in.  These types of things were originally done by comics companies as fillers, to have little mini 1 and 2 and 3 page items with which they could fill out a page count.  They always felt like bonuses to me as a kid, and they added to the personality of the comic.

Anyway, thank you all for rooting me on in my failed attempt.  I will be back and the experience is something I am soooooooooooo glad I took part in.

Until I add the extra 7 pages, finish the story and add a cover (and maybe some color), here's what all y'all were waving big "Team Jeffy" foam rubber fingers in the air about.

"Western Civilization Comics & Stories" issue #1

Main feature - "The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization" part 1: "The Seed"!

Time out for "Fun with the Development of Language" - from alpha to omega - " Behind the Scenes of Why Things Get Named the Way They Do!"

this one fell a bit flat when I was drawing it, but earlier when writing, it had me in stitches..hmmmmmm.  AT any rate, it adds a lot of running gags and cal-backs that get used a lot in the main story.  No one loves a "call-back" more than I!

"The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization" part 2 - "The Rise"!

"Western Civilization Comics & Stories Activity Page"! - Which of these Galilean drawings of the moons of Jupiter is NOT like the other three.  Answer upside down at the bottom of the page.  :)

This was an impromptu page I did while drawing.  It made me laugh really hard at 2 in the morning or so.

"The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization" part 3 "The Crest"!

"Western Civilization Activity Page" - Connect the dots and reveal Charles Darwin's eyebrows.

Another improvisation during the drawing process which made me laugh.  Another clue that the way to go with this is to NOT script ahead, just let the creative juices flow!

"The Rise and Fall of Western Civilization" part 4 - "The Fall"

Chapter the last!  After this was an epilogue and a 2 page letter from the editor (me...in cartoon form of course) I WILL complete these!!  Come back soon!

And that's when I approached the speed of sound in my dive and passed out.

I really did feel like I could feel a build up of carbon monoxide and nitrogen in my blood.  It was telling me, "Go to sleep you fucking idiot"!

So I did.

Talk to you soon.

24 Hour Comic Day FAIL!

OOOOOOooooooooh defeat.  Oooooooooooooh de AGONY!

I'm afraid I didn't make it to the end of the 24 Hour Comics Day challenge.

5 am hit, the 20 hour mark.  I posted here and stood back and looked at where I was.  17 pages done and 4 hours to go.  THAT was not discouraging to me.

I was ready to perseveir and push on.  Whatever got done, got done and I was going to make the 24 hour mark.

If I ever hear of anyone making fun of Jerry Lewis again, I'll kick their ass.  Say what you want about his comedic sensibilities...but staying awake all night is HARD!!!!

I will finish my comic though...not today of course, today I'm sleeping.

But this week.

And I'll be back next year.

I met a lot of great folks on Twitter and through the 24 HCD blog and I want to enjoy going back and looking at what they accomplished in the challenge.

All in all it was a good way to spend a Saturday.

More details on my comic, legible scans that you can read and details on my crash and burn this week.

Thanks for rooting me on.  I may not have finished the race, but at least I didn't juice.

NO ROIDS!

Talk to you soon.

20 Hours down...24 Hour Comic Book Day!

I seem to be a tad off on my page count...and my story boarding at the end is a little rough (not what I would have said 16 hours ago)...I just have to push through and see what miracle I can pull out of m butt!

This first page of chapter 4 sounds a little like I'm about to take a right wing stance on things...trust me, quite the opposite...I'm a bare-footin', pot-smokin', porn-watchin' hippy from WAY back.

Stick with me, you'll see.

4 hours to go...so much work to be done.

I'm still havin' a bast.  This is the most creative adrenaline I've had goin' in a loooooooooooong time!

Talk to you soon.

18 hours DOWN! 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Starting to get a little shaky, work is getting fuzzy.  So close and yet so far.

Quit being a baby, Jeffy...you're only drawing funny pitchers!  Other people do real work for longer than this!

Going to take a shower, change shirts and maek some coffee...I'll be damned if I go down before the 24 is up.  I may not finish on time, but it won't be because I didn't try!

Talk to you soon.

8 Hours to Go! 2/3 of the Way Home - 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Wow...I got 4 done in 2 hours...of course 2 were fairly simple...but I'm gonna TAKE IT!

This takes it up to page 11 which means 13 more to go in 8 hours.  I've done 11 in 8 and I still want to get to Kinkos to scan these within the allotted time...it's gonna be a squeeze.

Stick with me!

I'll talk to you soon!

14 Hours In - Only 10 Left! - 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

This time I got 3 pages done in 2 hours and a fourth laid out!  Could I be gaining super powers?

I'm not sure, but I was GOING to take a power nap at 11...now I've got such a head of steam up, I'm not going to!!

If I crash and burn at least it will be at the safety of my drawing table!

Talk to you soon.

12 Hours In! 24 Hour Comic Day!

Things are going wayyyyyyyyyyy too slow for my liking, but I'm too deep now!

This is what I said earlier, that my comic will have a main story interrupted by featurettes like in Archie or Harvey or Disney or Dell comics of olden times.  Here's the third page of the feature...

Followed by the first of a two page featurette.  One that was funnier when I wrote it than when I drew it.  No time to go now though...and there are some running gags that work with the main story in it, so I'm leaving it be!

Kind of what Paul McArtney said.

Still 20 pages and 12 hours to go.  Getting nervous, but why look back now?

Talk to you soon!

10 Down, 14 To Go! 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

OK...hour 10 down and only 2 pages done!!!!!!

NOT panic time, but surely "gittin' down to BIDNESS" time!

Lost 1/2 hour because I wanted a different kind of pen...NOT something you do on 24 hour comic day!

I've just got to get some momentum going...like I said...no panic yet!

Talk to you soon!

Cartooning Begins at Hour 8! 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Ink finally hits the page!!

I can't be that tired yet, perhaps the adrenaline rush hit me, but you can see I've already made a typo which I'll have to fix.  "The Rise and Fall of WESTEN Civilization!"....ugh!

You can also see my excuse of why it took so long to script...that's a pretty hefty topic to tangle all at once.

Cartoonists are brave!

Talk to you soon.

Hour 6 Comes to a Close - 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Hour 6 has come to a close and STILL scripting and blocking.

annnnnnnnnnd being distracted by Twitter and Facebook about the progress of others.

annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd whatever shiny object I see.

Never fear though...I am feeling more and more confident on the way the comic is going.  For me writing is half (if not more of) the work...drawing comes easy.

In the meantime...Colonel Bleep roots be on from the TV.

The TV is behind me...keeps the distractions down.

slightly.

Talk to you soon.

Hour 4 Coming to a Close!

Hour 4 coming to a close and STILL no drawing getting done!

Storyboarding and script are about 1/2 way there physically though.  The concept is locked in and SOLID, something I would have doubted 4 1/2 hours ago!  This won't be a solid 24 page story, but rather multiple stories on the same theme.  A Walt Disney's Comics & Stories anthology but with a subject line of more gravity.  But funny!  Hard to explain, but the pages will show you when I get them going in a couple of hours.

Like I said before...I am a quick drawer and I'm not sweating having not put pen to paper yet.  In 2 more hours I may change my tune, but for now I am feeling good and feeling (probably) on schedule but more importantly, feeling good about the story!!!

And that's the toughest spot for me.

Oh, and Richard Greene in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" is keeping me company now.

Talk to you soon.

Hour 2 Ticking Past! 24 Hour Comic Book Day!

Got an idea for a comic...took over an hour of daydreaming to cement it.  Hour 2 coming to a close now!

Scripting going great.  Early morning synapses firing off dialogue that is making me laugh...only hope the same for the reader.

Storyboarding only done for the first 3 pages out of 24...UGH!

I'm a fast drawer though...I have confidence that once the writing's out of the way and solid, I can tear right on through this bad boy!

Silent Farmer Al Falfa cartoons flickering away in the background!

Worried that my dialogue only seems funny be the comparison of NO dialogue on the TV.

Talk to you soon!

24 Hour Comic Book Day Begins!!!!

As I write this, my participation in 24 Hour Comic Book Day begins in less than 4 minutes.

I have no idea what I'll write about.

I doubt I can stay awake that long.

I feel like Custer watching the Indians getting together at the top of the hill.

But it should be fun.  Here's my 1st update.  I'm having coffee and am ready to go.  Doing my best to NOT look as bleary eyed as I will at the end.

A lot of folks around the world got started yesterday and I was up a bit late following them on Twitter and rooting them on.  I hope they get some sleep soon, they were working hard.

If you want to follow the posts on Twitter and see updates by creative folks from here to Zanzibar, follow the hashtag #24HCD , you'll see a lot of creative and energetic stuff!

According to the old clock on the computer...it's start time.  I'll be updating my stuff right here and through Twitter as well.

Talk to you soon.

Dangit...I'm a minute late.  :)

Thank You for Your Support - 24 Hour Comic Day!

Tomorrow's the big day.  

When we test our mettle.  

When we run the gauntlet and count the survivors at the end.

When comic creators from around the globe, amateur and professional alike, to write and draw a 24 page comic in 24 hours.

I want to thank my supporters in advance for their help on the big day.

Usually here on my page I draw panels on 8.5 x 11 and you have to click on each one,  That's the quickest way that I can do what I do.  On 24 Comic Book day however, it's kind of assumed you will work in comic book format as above.  It doesn't matter what size...it's actually advised you work smaller...on 8.5 x 11 as the entire page or even 5.5 x 8.5.  I don't think I could draw that small and be readable though...not to mention, I can be a tad word balloony.

I'm gonna do my best to limit dialogue on whatever I do for the big day, but I know my style...and it ain't gonna like it!

I will be working on 11 x 14, like above.  Above was done with patching separate drawings together though, and I'm not quick enough on the math to figure out dimensions and proportions on the big day, so I will be drawings on full sheets.

This of course means I won't be able to scan them here at home either, so I'll take them to Kinko's to be scanned...and this of course cuts even more into my 24 hours.

There's going to be some interesting creative decisions made during the day...even MORE interesting as I get more sleep deprived.  

But that's the whole point.

I also won't be adding the time of coloring into the day.  I am a medium speed writer, an EXTRA speedy cartoonist (IF that's the style I choose to draw in) but a SNAIL at coloring.  My comic WILL be in black & white as most of the entrants will be...if I'm that into it when it's done, I may go back and spruce it up.

Typing that makes me just as anxious to see what everyone else is going to be doing for their comic as I am to see mine.  Should be fun.

Really, really fun.

To read more about the big day, click the below banner and read on about it and the tradition that's lasted a couple of decades now.  There are entrants who come back every year, and plenty of folks like me, doing it for the first time.

I plan on putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard at 0900 hours Pacific Time on Saturday and finishing before 0900 on Sunday.  See you along the day for updates.

Talk to you soon!