http://24.toddverbeek.com Todd VerBeek's 24-Hour Comic attempt Sun, 24 Apr 2005 14:48:24 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en A “24-hour comic” is a complete 24-page comics story, produced entirely in 24 consecutive hours. It’s an exercise in creativity and productivity, and has been attempted - successfully and not - by many professional and amateur cartoonists. 24-Hour Comics Day is an event designed to encourage more creators ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/welcome-to-my-24-hour-comic-log Tomorrow’s the big day, so I’ve been doing what I’m allowed to do in preparation. This morning I checked to make sure I had enough paper to draw on. I’m planning to do two pages per sheet of 11″x14″ bristol (keeping the art small, so it’ll go faster), ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/twas-the-night-before I’m about to get started. I’m rested, I’m showered, and I’m fed. I’m not fully dressed, because there’s no point in that really, now is there? My strategy is as follows: Start with the theme song. Then put together an outline of the story. I have a ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/and-so-it-begins OK, here’s the theme song, merged from the opening songs from the three TV shows, along with panel descriptions for the pages it’s going to cover. It’s a little clumsy in places, but I think it works pretty well… as long as you don’t try to sing it, because ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/the-theme-song I have four pages penciled so far. Very roughly, by my standards. Which means I have only an hour to letter and ink them if I want to meet my goal of 4 pages by noon. Could happen. Here are some quick and dirty scans of ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/4-penciled-pages OK, so I have 4 pages completely finished, and it’s after 1:00pm. Definitely running behind schedule already. Not good. Especially since from here on out, I don’t have anything scripted (just general ideas of what bits I want to tell). But it’s not hopeless yet, so ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/4-finished-pages Seven hours and only 5 pages done. Definitely not an improvement in my speed. Plus I’ve got a headache, probably from Sharpie fumes. But I’m still going to try. A new, more realistic goal: page 7 by 5pm. http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-5 Page six. More than 8 hours in. ‘Nuff said. Back to work. http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-6 This is definitely not an improving trend, with page 7 finished just before the 10-hour mark. But I’m not about to give up. http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-7 I’m taking a quick break to scarf down some supper, and doing a little math. Based on my current progress, the best I can hope for is that I’ll finish page 24 about 24 hours from now. Which means that at best I’m in the running for “noble ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/revised-overall-goal This page means I’m technically 1/3 finished, and the time is nearly 1/2 gone. Unless I switch to Sharpie stick figures, there’s no bleedin’ way I could possibly finish the full 24 pages on time. But I’m having some fun with this, as you may be able to ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-8 This is semi-officially the half-way point for me, since I revised my target page count downward. Meanwhile, I’ve spent 13 hours and have 11 left, in which to do 9 pages. Since I’m still taking a little more than an hour for each page, that means… I have ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-9 You know, if feels like these pages are going more quickly. But the clock suggests otherwise. So, can I do another 8 pages in the next 9 hours or less? I’ll try. http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-10 I decided to skip ahead to the final scene, because I want to have an ending on this thing come tomorrow morning, regardless of how far behind I am. This page will eventually be page 23, and the next one will be page 24. Even though they’re really ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-18-24 OK, so that’s the end. Ha ha, so bloody clever. They’re characters from the current TV show “Lost”, which is based on the same damn premise as the other shows. Which means they’re really on Gilligan’s Living Island of the Lost, and that Witchiepoo is the reason ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/page-24 Although I could still soldier on and keep working until the 24-hour period is over, and possibly get a few more pages done, I’ve decided to call it a day (so to speak). I’m really tired, and - I admit it - I’m too hung up on producing Quality ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/ignoble-failure Well, it’s official now: I’ve failed. Up until now, my going to sleep for the past six hours has just been a strategic disadvantage, and theoretically - with the benefit of super speed powers - I could still finish the assignment on time. But not anymore. The reasons for ... http://24.toddverbeek.com/the-morning-after