On Saturday, October 3rd, nine brave students journeyed back to the school they sought all week to escape. Equipped with only their pens, pencils, and as much fortitude as they could muster, the students embarked upon what would forever be known as the 8 HOUR COMIC KICKOFF!
What is the 8 Hour Comic Kickoff, you might ask? To put it simply, the Kickoff is a derivative of Scott McCloud and Stephen Bissette’s 24 Hour Comic Challenge, a challenge so unbelievably taxing that even comic masters like Neil Gaiman and Kevin Eastman have yet to beat it! The difference being, instead of 24 hours to do 24 pages, students were tasked with completing 8 pages in 8 hours (any more than that and I think we’d be drifting into child-labor danger zones).
Were they up to the challenge?
You bet they were.
I certainly was, at least.
Equipped with brimming imaginations and a desire to conquer, the students dove into the challenge with such an eagerness to succeed that even I had a hard time keeping up! Fueled by pizza and Gatorade, the students worked through their scripts and thumbnails, pencils racing across the page.
Things got a little collaborative.
As hour after hour ticked by and exhaustion began to set in, I realized the kids needed some inspiration. I turned on the Guttertalk episode featuring Stephen Bissette and, in the background, played the soundtrack to Lord of the Rings. The room felt like it was in the midst of an epic quest to conquer the unassailable fortress of Hand Cramps and Writer’s Block.
References and inspiration!
And conquer we did! With renewed vigor (and more pizza), the students broke out the pens and scribbled furiously, inking as fast as they could as the timer counted down. By the end, all students had finished drawing their eight pages, but only a few had managed to completely ink them (a carpal tunnel-inducing requirement of the challenge). However, I refused to tell them they failed the challenge, not only because I’m the coach and I can do that, and not only because they had shown an abundance of tenacity and strength (both mental and physical), but also because, in my unabashedly un-humble opinion, any creation of art is a success. They’d successfully written and sketched out eight pages of artwork. That’s eight pages more than anyone who didn’t accept the challenge. And that’s eight pages they can put towards one day telling the best story of their lives.
A moment of zen for the victors!
Now, I know you’re all dying to see the comics drawn by these amazing kids. And you will see them! I promise. However, there’s a little more to the story –
As the night drew to a close and supplies were cleaned up, a few students came up to me and expressed interest in continuing the challenge. “Continue the challenge?” I said with a gasp. “For all 24 hours?”
They grinned.
“Then Godspeed, young comic makers!” I called as they drove away into what would be a very long night.
Long story short, a few students wanted to take the full 24 Hour Challenge head on, so I let them keep their comics to continue working on them. It was going to be tough, but they looked eager to pull the dreaded all-nighter in pursuit of high art. Who was I to stop them?
That said, stay tuned for my blog post next week, where I’ll post everyone’s comics, talk about our pitch projects, and maybe toss in a few more fun goodies (can anyone say video?). For now, enjoy some pics from the day!
makingcomics.com