Mission Acomplished

24 Hour Comic Day was incredible, in the literal sense that it defied credulity. I sat in a chair from twelve noon until nine the following day and produced 24 pages of sequential art, which I think makes The Best of All Possible Worlds the longest work I have ever done- Neon Moon and Contradiction were probably both about sixteen pages.
At first I was really not into it: I thought my artwork was terrible, which it probably was, and the many many hours looming ahead of me were discouraging. It seemed like an impossible task. Round about the fouth hour, however, I started hitting a groove. I giggled at my own jokes and listened to music on my headphones. I felt like I had a shot. I was also moving very quickly- by seven, I had picked up an extra hour, some of which I used to eat the really delicious spinach pizza the comic book guys ordered us.
There were probably twelve people when we started, counting me and Kate, but as the hours stretched on I think we lost a couple. There wasn't much talking among the artists, but Kate and I whispered back and forth from time to time, checking the spelling of different words and cracking jokes.
Around 9 I wrote in my notebook, "What are we doing here? This is INSANE!" But I kept going. Towards the wee hours of the morning my ideas got stranger and my plot- yes, it actually has a plot, this one- started to wander a little. By four I was feeling like I had been born in the comic book store, and I wasn't bored or tired because drawing comics was what I had been born doing. There was nothing else one might do. All was comics.
At six they brought in bagels and orange juice. At around nine I finished my comic and packed up my stuff. I left it there so they could make a copy to send to Scott McCloud, and now I feel bereaved. I feel like I gave birth and they took the baby off to the nursery and I can't see it. I wish I'd read the whole thing straight through. Probably when I get it back I won't like it anymore.


I think it's fair to say that I met the 24 Hour Comics Challenge, because the words of the challenge are "To create a complete 24 page comic book in 24 continuous hours." It doesn't say "or less," [or fewer?] but I think it's okay, because it's primarily a challenge about comic book creating, not a challenge about doing yourself neurological damage. I stayed up for just about 23 hours all together- I went to bed until one once I got home- and that's a long time, so I'm okay with my results.