24
Thanks (or maybe blame) goes to Andy Jewett for successfully convincing me to go through with it, but on Saturday, I'll join hundreds of cartoonists participating in the now-International phenomenon: 24 Hour Comics Day.
The challenge: a full, 24-page comic... concepted, written, pencilled, inked and lettered... in 24 uninterrupted hours. No prep work, no character sketches, no nothing. Go in cold, come out with a comic 24 hours later. You have to do it alone, too. No help, no "team-ups". Just one frenzied cartoonist.
It might not seem like such an incredible feat, but believe me, it is. Most comic book professionals can rarely average more than a single page in a given workday, much less 24.
From what I've heard and read about the experience of pure, ad-libbed, graphic storytelling for 24 straight hours... it's some sort of weird nirvana. It's a comic book mountaintop experience. I'd be lying if I said I weren't a little nervous about it. I have enough difficulty focusing on one specific thing for five straight minutes, I can't imagine what this'll be like.
The only thing that could stand in the way of this endeavor would be my friggin' health. As it turns out, I've got a kidney stone stewin' and a 24 hour comic ain't gonna happen if I'm forced to add bladder irritation to the mix. Fingers crossed.
Hoofah. Wish me luck, man. Same goes for Jewett. We'll surely need it.
