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Part 4: 20/20 Hindsight After about five hours of sleep, I crawled out of bed to inspect the damage. I wasn't sure if I was going to be proud or disappointed of the work. Fortunately, Carey assured me that she'd read it and she really, really liked it, which was a relief. I have mixed feelings about the comic itself. It's difficult for me to look at it and forget about how tight and clean and strange and beautiful I'd wanted it to be. If there's one thing that did surprise me, it's how straightforward the story turned out. As I began, I roughly envisioned how it would look, how it would be paced, where it would go, and how it would end. For the most part, I did exactly what I'd planned.
Checking online, I discovered that it's a relatively small percentage of those taking the challenge that actually finish 24 pages in 24 hours. Event locations reported in and the figures were sobering: "We started with 20, only 4 made it." "12 of us tried it, only 2 succeeded." I felt for those who didn't achieve their goal, but I also felt oddly vindicated. A 24 Hour Comic is hard... that's good. It should be hard. Later, I posted the comic online and the response was very positive. You never know how people are going to react to something you create. It's impossible to tell. I've had clients and friends do backflips over things I've hated... conversely, I've poured my soul into projects that have barely provoked a shrug. But people seemed to enjoy my predictable little tale of Wendy and Mags. Oh, and Erin really liked it too. After a few days, I illustrated a full-color cover as an introduction to this little featurette. Then, I mailed my submission off to the 24 Hour Comic Day people and that was that. During the 24 hours, I swore I'd never, ever do this again. Too hard, too painful. But now, I don't know. I'm really glad I did it. I may go for it again next year. I've already proven to myself that I can do it. But maybe next year I'll do it better. |
I was very strict with myself though. As glaring
as some mistakes seemed, this was a 24 Hour Comic, which meant
I wasn't going to add or subtract a single line. Promise.