Friday, October 08, 2004

Oh Yeah! The 24-hr Comic.

Oh Yeah! The 24-hr Comic.

Who enjoys looking at things? You? Great! Do you enjoy seeing the results of a battle of wills, the human struggle against it's own limitations? Excellent! And do you wanna see an ostriche with a mustache? Really? Well, we have that to.

Awakefulledness: Man's Greatest Foe

The premise of the 24-hour comic (brainchild of Scott McCloud), to refresh your memory, is simple: sit down, start drawing a comic, and 24 hours later, stop drawing a comic. Of course, there are variations. Some say a person can do the work over a couple of days, but the hours total can't exceed 24. Our plan was to stay up as long as possible; if you can remain awake, you can keep working, even if you've surpassed the 24 hour mark.

Later on, that plan changed for me. I decided to work for 16 hours, bitch and whine, and then drive a half hour home where I would submit to the nagging succubus of sleep. Matt Sutter managed to make it the full 24 hours, and Pete Dalkner, in an amazing feat of ignoring the body's call to heal itself, stayed up for 32 hours. I think he even went to the movies that night.

An Extra-Delightful Twist

To add interest to the situation, we decided to rotate duties on the comics. How it worked was, the three of us started our own comics, writing the story and then pencilling. We then switched to a different person to ink the text. After that, we switched to a different person to ink the rest of the piece. So, consequently, all three of us worked on all three comics.

The nice thing about working this way, was we were able to dip into each other�s stories and bring something from another person�s tale into ours.

Wrestling with the Internet

So - when the last person finally finished their comic (let's not dwell on who it is - that's not important right? RIGHT?!!!), the .pdf was created, intended for dowloading and viewing. Here of course, is where one must compromise. A .pdf containing 60+ 8x10 pages at 150 dpi is at least 50 mgs. So be forewarned that these .pdf's are at screen quality - you can print them out, but they won't be near as crisp.

Even AT screen quality, the pdf would have totalled at 17 mgs; so I split them up into three separate .pdf's in the hope it would be less taxing to my bandwidth. Even so, please do not be surprised should I pull the plug on the download if I start to exceed my allotment.

So - now that all the gobbly-gook is out of the way, it's time to view these puppies! Enjoy the buffet of free comic art; I hope it even gets you to consider doing a little endurance test of your own...

The 24-Hour Comic Selections:

The Mustache Factory
Story pencilled by Matt Sutter, Text inked by Kevin Cornell, Story inked by Peter Dalkner.

War of the Curators
Story pencilled by Kevin Cornell, Text inked by Peter Dalkner, Story inked by Matt Sutter.

It's Good To Be at the Top
Story pencilled by Peter Dalkner, Text inked by Matt Sutter, Story inked by Kevin Cornell.

Comments on this Article

There are currently 12 comments.

[ Add one of your own! ]

wayne

it's nice to know that in this modern world of ours today, we still have a place in our hearts for pants-based humor.

remember: if you can't laugh at an ostrich with a moustache, the terrorists have already won.

Mike Perves

Totally hot. You might be interested to know that Pete hasn't slept a full night since you guys started this contest.
Someone should start a Stay Awake As Long As Pete contest.
Really funny work, you guys.

P. Dalkner

A few years ago I was conversing with a leading Biopsychologist who explained that a person does not physically require sleep. One theory is that sleep is a fabrication of the brain, a different type of consciousness. Another theory is that sleep arose as a cyclical rhythm established to keep humans dormant and safe during the hours they might be susceptible to nocturnal predators. The ultimate suggestion by these theories is that the evolved human could supersede the body’s antiquated lust for slumber.
The moral:
Kevin Cornell is a neanderthal!!!

P. Dalkner

P.S. -The movie in question was actually 3 films. A novelty night of rented Paul Verhoeven features. The event was dubbed "Verhoev-a-thon".

jeff

i dunno guys...a "pant's of napoleon" exhibit doesn't seem totally believable.
But pete, I did like the crushed dead kid and the use of "poppycock". nice.

Merritt

Nice work, guys!

So who's in for an eight-hour movable type challenge?

bearskinrug

Oh man - You think you got what it takes, double M?

I knocked out three hard returns today, before I even modulated my scripts!

Eric

Excellent work gentlemen.

One question though: were the stories written from scratch also, or did you prep those earlier?

Either way it's impressive.

(Note: sarcasm-free post)

bearskinrug

Stories were written from scratch :)

Which is actually kind of nice - it's easier to write a story when you have this big stretch of time devoted to it. Each hour you think about it without getting distracted lets the story grow much quicker than normal...

At least, I feel that way.

Christo

Great work!
I printed them all out and read them on my train ride on the way home. I got a few funny looks as I was snickering out loud.

Stephen Caudill

Just subscribed via RSS and was catching up on old posts and wanted to let you know the links the the 24 hour comics are broken.

Thanks :)

bearskinrug

Thanks Stephen - things should work, now...

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