Test of Manhood

	Sign In Sign-Up

Seno's Soapbox

#3: Test of Manhood

   --T Minus 24 Hours: The other day while I was surfing the web, I came across a neat little concept that I've decided to try out. I got it from fellow cartoonist Mike Woodson, who in turn got it from Scott McCloud --
    Shit. I'm making this sound like some sort of weird venereal disease; let me start over.
    The idea I came across is the so-called "24 Hour Challenge". It's really quite simple: you sit down for 24 continuous hours and try your damnedest to finish drawing, inking, writing, etc. an entire 24 page comic story in that time. Technically, you aren't supposed to have any preparation going in; I guess I'm cheating a little bit, as I do have a vague notion of what kind of story I want to tell.
    No matter. I figure I've got my work cut out for me anyway.
    What follows is an account of my first attempt to conquer the Tour de Comics. All entries will be written during the trial period, and no salient details will be left out. So, with no further ado:

--T Minus 10 Minutes: Ok, just got out of the shower, threw a load of laundry in, and finished having lunch. All my pencils and pens are ready to go, along with some new pseudo-bristol board paper I bought the other day. If the inks look a little funky for the first few pages, well, you know why now. Hopefully, twenty-four hours from now, I'll be the proud papa of an entire 24 page story.

--01:32 Hours: Just finished the first page. I'm running a little behind already, but morale is high. The new paper makes inking much, much easier, and it looks good too.

--04:47 Hours: Three pages done. Needless to say, I'm behind. The funny thing, though, is that it's the writing that seems to be taking longer than the drawing. I already have my first major flub; I forgot to write in the word "was" while lettering the third page. Oh well. I think I'm going to grab some food and then start on page four.

--06:54 Hours: I'm starting to get bored with the whole thing. It's been almost seven hours and all I've got to show for it is four pages. I've just cracked my first Mountain Dew of the day; hopefully it'll help.

--09:25 Hours: Finished two more pages, bringing the total count to six. I believe that puts me on pace to complete about 16 pages or so. Going to have to maintain this pace if I want to keep this respectable. I think my roommate just retired for the evening, so I'll have to turn my music off. Shit.

--10:43 Hours: Seven pages done. My right wrist is starting to hurt ever so slightly. Luckily, my roommate is still up after all, so I can turn the television on again. I'm not physically tired yet, but the mental wear and tear is beginning to kick in.

--12:27 Hours: Over half of the time has elapsed. My page count now totals eight. My wrist is seriously starting to throb, so I'm going to take a break for awhile. There's no way in hell I'm going to hit twenty four pages, but I feel like the story I have left to tell is a doable amount.

--13:01 Hours: My wrist is still being a bitch, and I'm tired now (It's pushing 3 AM). My new plan is to get a short night's sleep and finish up tomorrow morning.

--19:43 Hours: Damn. I slept longer than I intended.

--20:59 Hours: Got another page done, but I'm going to have to fish out some reference in order to do the next one . . .

--22:01 Hours: The page count is now in the double digits for the first time. The story should be done after this next page. Not going to even hit twelve pages, but at least I'll have a somewhat coherent story to show for my efforts.

--23:33 Hours: The eleventh, and final, page is done. I also went through the whole thing, just to brush up the inks and look for errors. It's a remarkably disjointed little story, but not bad considering the circumstances under which it was created. I was hoping to draw up a title page for it but there's no way that's going to happen in under half an hour. I'll probably do one later, though.

Epilogue: Well, it was definitely an experience. I'm going to have to make it a point to try this a second time over Christmas Break; I was worried about throwing off my sleep schedule during a school week, which is why I didn't even try to suck it up and pull the all-nighter. If nothing else, I feel like I made a good start towards my recently self-prescribed goal of fleshing out Johnny and Suzie into something more than just a pair of flat, one-trick-pony, two-dimensional characters (I feel like I've slighted Suzie in particular; up until now, she hasn't been a very likable person). Anyways, enough with my yakking. Here it is, my very first 24 Hour Comic. Enjoy.

OFF CAMPUS: When Johnny Met Suzie

Seno
7/22/01

Today's Question: Actually, it's not a question this time around; it's a contest. This fall, I'm planning on debuting an all-new female character. Problem is, I can't think of a last name for her. So what I'd like for you guys to do is send in potential last names (in the tradition of Rachel McFoxy, Suzie Sexpot, and Anita Spankovic) for this unnamed character. The winner, who will have to agree to forfeit all legal rights to this name (sorry, but them's the breaks), will receive an original sketch of this brand-new character from yours truly. Contest ends whenever I declare a winner, or whenever said character makes her first appearance. Good luck.

Good Shit: Go see the new film Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (at an IMAX, if you can swing it). The animation will blow you away, and I didn't think the story was half as bad as it's being made out to be.