Blackshapes: 10/2007

Thursday, October 25, 2007

24hr Comics Day

Last Saturday was 24hr comics day, the aim being to write and draw 24 pages in 24 hrs. A ludicrous and impossible task you might say and indeed I only managed the meagre 4 pages below and cheated with whiteout a couple of days later. On the other hand I spent an agreeable part of the day with the bold Jason Turner who not only coloured his pages and squeezed in a nights sleep but managed to produce a terrific, lyrical and consistent story - all off the top of his head. I give up.

Observer Comic Competition entry

Its difficult to produce comics on deadline I find. The drawing part isn't so bad if the story is well worked out beforehand but if not, it can be a halting mix of procrastination and slapdash finishing. It's a struggle that has hampered many an anthology contribution in the past. With the worst outcome in mind I decided to enter the Observer Comic competion anyway and managed to slog in the page below on time with the help of a few late nights and the kindness of a posting pal east side of the Atlantic. Deadline met and with lack-of-sleep induced elation, I had convinced myself that it was pretty alright - a bad sign since my own comics usually grow on me. In the cold light of day I wrestled with re-formatting or redrawing it to bake it to completion anyway and make something of the effort but in the spirit of many of the other entrants I'll share it here instead.

The eventual winners and entrants were, pleasantly, not what I expected and to be honest I think there are better strips amongst the un-gonged. It was just good to see so many decent entries though I wish I could have seen them before I started my own - it might have given me the kick up the backside to make a proper job of it.