24 Hour Comics Day

Some coverage on the recent Portland event here.

I can’t help but note that my official pal Mike notes that he has found an article about 24 Hour Comics Day in Greek (which is nice but not surprising, they’ve had some strong 24 hour comics activity there!) in the back of an issue of Batman (which from this US perspective is a mite surprising and kinda cool.)

The next 24 Hour Comics Day will be October 18th!

And with that, the main blog for the day switches from this blog to this ComicsPRO-run blog. I’m not sure how much longer 24HourComics.com will remain in its current form.

Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to doing my second 24 hour comic on October 18th, and doing it at some nice gathering. No, I don’t have a place picked out yet. But after years of running this event, I’ll be glad to finally take part. Thank you to everyone who played a part in making the past four years so amazing!

A French group took advantage of the start of Daylight Saving Time to have a twenty-three hour comics event, pulling in 63 enthusiastic folk. More details (in French) and the finished comics (also in French, but with pictures!) are available here.

24 Hour Comics Day founder Nat Gertler will be making an appearance at Austin Books (where they have huge 24 Hour Comics Day turnout) on Wednesday, April 16th, starting at 4 PM. He (by which I mean “me”) is looking forward to chatting with everyone!

Coming up April 5th. If you don’t believe me, watch the video!

The Lubbock (TX) Sketchclub is putting together their own 24 hour comics creation event, starting this Friday night at 9:30 PM. More info is available on their website if you want to join in (perhaps to get one more project ready in time for May’s Lubbock Comic Book Expo)– or if you want to help out by volunteering some time, some snacks, or something else of use.

A precise date will be announced shortly, but ComicsPRO (the new organizer) has stated that this year’s 24 Hour Comics Day will be in the fall.

so, nearly 5 months after the 24hour comicday 2007, the results from our event here in berlin, is now printed ‘n out there for you happy consumers to invest y’r hardearned ca$h in. the book is compiled by mr.jens schmitz & have a nice colourful cover drawn by mr.danny reinecke. inside you’ll find comix from the following cartoonists:
oska “wald” hassler: die abenteuer von jean-pierre dem löwen (7 pages)
josh baumann: mr.scraps (26 pages)
danny reinecke: keule’s ABC (26 pages)
doc knightfield: sesam p. (3 pages)
comicgraf: no title (7 pages)
jens schmitz: wie ist das ohne ich? (25 pages)
vincent zurwesten: island of violent lovers (8 pages)
toni storch: no title (7 pages)
lili konishchev: brainstorming (7 pages)
kriss, kross & das wiesel: ringos requiem- noch bevor du messer sagen kannst (20 pages)
crippaXXXalmqvist: part 3- fade to grey death (25 pages)
annabelle dorn: no title (1 page)

= 163 pages of magnificent bizarre comix! this we will probably sell for around 6-9 euros, ‘n you can make inquiries to “bibliothek@renatecomics.de”.
if you surf to this link here under, then you can even have a li’l peak of what you can expect from this book:
http://www.viele-leute.de/jens/bilder/2008/24hc2007.pdf

R’n'R,
crippaXXX

Invincible artist Ryan Ottley is offering his 24 Hour Comics Day 2007 comic through Image. It’s being toned, and is a “noble failure”, clocking in at 21 pages - but if that’s “failure”, may everyone find such failures! I’m looking forward to seeing this on the shelves.

(And yes, this is still Nat posting. I figured I’d keep the blog going with any 24HCD-related news until the transfer of the domain to ComicsPRO is worked out.)

It’s finally time to announce the new organizers of 24 Hour Comics Day — and it’s ComicsPRO, an American organization of comic book retailers. It’s a fairly new group, but I’ve the folks behind it are some of the finest comics retailers going, including a number iwth experience hosting 24 Hour Comics Day events.

It’s been a gas organizing this thing, and I wish ComicsPRO the best of luck with their efforts (and I will be there for advice and other assistance, if they need me.) Here’s their press release:

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In a move that furthers its mission to expand the comics’ market, the board of directors of the direct market retailer trade group ComicsPRO is assuming the organization and facilitation of 24 Hour Comics Day (”24HCD”), the annual comics creation event started by About Comics publisher Nat Gertler.

24HCD is a scheduled challenge during which single artists attempt to create a full 24 page comic story in 24 consecutive hours. Past 24HCD events have seen comic pros and aspiring cartoonists participate at special events in comic book stores and other venues around the world. ComicsPRO is taking over the administration of 24HCD as a way to support the creation of new comics’ material and also to promote and support comics’ retailers. Past 24HCD events have generated substantial press coverage for participating cartoonists and retailers. The event also gives retailers a creative way to get involved with public schools, libraries, universities, and local art communities.

Additionally, Ohio State University will house all of the submitted 24 Hour comics’ entries, providing a permanent home to 24HCD archives within its Cartoon Research Library, which already boasts a large collection of original art and regular comic art exhibits.

ComicsPRO will announce the specific date of 2008’s 24 Hour Comics Day soon.

ComicsPRO board member Rick Lowell (Casablanca Comics, Portland ME) said, “Our store has participated in 24HCD since its inception, and the event has always generated a great amount of local press as well as national press. We’ve partnered with arts venues in the city to expose comics to a much wider audience. The opportunity for stores to reach out to the public with such events is important for the continued health and growth of the comics market. With ComicsPRO’s involvement in managing this event, that opportunity should continue for years to come.”

“I have a lot of respect for the individual retailers who founded ComicsPRO. The participation of comic book retailers – including many ComicsPRO members – has been key to 24 Hour Comics Day’s success,” said Nat Gertler, founder of 24 Hour Comics Day and publisher of the About Comics line. “We had a number of fine people and organizations eager to help 24 Hour Comics Day continue to grow, and I’d like to thank FX International, the Minnesota Cartoonist Conspiracy, and Pittsburgh’s Toonseum for their willingness and passion in supporting comics creation. I’m proud of how quickly this event has grown, and look forward to seeing it continue to grow with the additional abilities that ComicsPRO brings. But the best part of not having to manage 24 Hour Comics Day is that now I’m free to participate in 24 Hour Comics Day!”

Nat Gertler’s About Comics is a small but diverse comics publisher and packager, best known for publications including a series of 24 Hour Comics trade paperbacks, collections of the work of creators ranging from Kurt Busiek to Charles M. Schulz, and Panel One and Panel Two, books of comic book scripts by top writers.

ComicsPRO, the Comics Professional Retailers Organization, is the only trade organization dedicated to the progress of direct market comic book retailers. ComicsPRO represents a membership of more than 100 comic specialty retail companies comprising more than 140 storefronts. Retailers interested in helping to secure a stronger future for the comics specialty market are encouraged to join.

More information and membership applications are available at http://ComicsPRO.org

It looks like the University of South Dakota will be having a 24 hour comics event, a contest, on February 29th. After all, if you have an extra day in the year, you might as well take advantage of it!

The folks in Denver put out their own, local book of 24 Hour Comics Day comics, and had a reading event to celebrate its release. Here is a nice write-up of the event from an impressed non-participant.