New Moon Comics: Little Falls, NJ Report

From The
New Moon Comics, LLC
Newsletter



The 24-Hour Comics Day Challenge was going to start at 11:00 AM on Saturday, but due to a NJ Transit delay our two participant-artists started just before noon – no fear, the challenge was to create a 24-Page comic in 24-Hours so the clock started a bit late for them. Once settled in, Jesus Marquez (long-time friend of ours from the faith-based comic book Megazeen) and his friend Daniel Ramirez dug right in and began working. Taking a few small breaks throughout the day. The real challenge came in the early hours of the morning.


I can say for myself, when I was younger, staying awake all hours of the night was a cakewalk. However, at over 40 years now, my body and mind just can’t do it without a fight. The paunchiness hit all three of us at about 4 AM, and the crashing an hour or so later. In an effort to stay awake, and after reading the 24-Hour Comics Day Blogs, I rushed to get our Blog up and running, since somewhere along the line I did not realize that we could post all on the official 24-Hour Comics Day Blog itself (with an invite), oh well, next year to be sure!
To give those of you not too into comics an idea of the magnitude of this events; a few years ago, New Moon Comics participated in the comic-challenge event “Comics Jam War” (you can see the CJW Photo Album here; and signed copies of the book are available in the store for a limited time!) which Jesus and the guys from Megazeen (Joe, Tom, and Keith) all took the bronze. That event called for an 8 page story to be completed in 12 hours, based off of a specific theme. At noon, we were given a picture of a guy in a comic shop with the caption “There’s An Alien In The Comics Shop” – our guys had to develop an 8-Page story, and complete all art and lettering within 12 hours.

24-Hour Comics Day is a SOLO project. You can work with others, but it defeats the purpose of the endurance-based challenge. The story, art, and lettering must be completed with a 24 consecutive hour period. Although this seems easy, it is not. During the CJW, the guys finished the 8-Pages with few seconds to spare, and that was a whole team of creators!

I am proud of Jesus and Daniel! They fought hard to get their work done, and make it professional and worthwhile. In the end; sadly, Jesus was unable to complete the challenge of a full 24-Page story, but did make a creative ending to his work; and Daniel, although finished, felt his work could have been better (every artist feels their work could be better, for what it’s worth). But, in the end, they fought through the fatigue, the late-night laughter over the poor dialog in the Star Wars prequels, and the need to scream to stay awake. And, they both dragged their tired selves’ home determined to do better next year, learning from the experience they just endured.

For me, and for the store – it will be nice to have more creators in the store for next year. We, at one point had 7 creators scheduled, but due to work or other obligations, all but two had to withdraw. However, we expect them and many others next year!

Digital 24HCD in Denmark

SLEEPLESS IN DENMARK

In Denmark, the 24 Hour Comics Day became an online event hosted by www.Seriejournalen.dk. Starting out on Saturday Oct 18th at 10 AM GMT+1, nine amateur and pro comics artists worked on their individual 24 page comic from different locations all over the country (and neighbouring countries – Anna worked from Norway!). Every one or two hours they uploaded their pages to a special thread in the discussion forums of the website, giving the audience an opportunity to watch and comment the work in progress.

Link: http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10261

Individual links to the finished comics:

PHOENIXX
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10324
FRANK MADSEN (“Kurt Dunder and the Nazi Gold”)
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10325
THOMAS NØHR (“Bread”)
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10323
ANNA GENTILI
http://vargie.blogspot.com

THOMAS “THOP” PEDERSENhttp://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10328
RIKKE LINDSKOV LOFT
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10261&p=89172

KIM LARSENhttp://serieland.dk/forum/index.php?topic=19.msg70#msg70
TORE SÆDERUP
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10261&p=89202
PEDER RIIS
http://www.seriejournalen.dk/debat/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=10261&p=89229

We plan to be back in 2009!

Venlig hilsen/Kind regards,

FRANK MADSEN
Editor
Seriejournalen

24 Hrs in Q-Town: Hours 23 and 24

Hi Kids!

Parents are showing up to collect their kids and things are winding down.

Michael finished “Stray Dog” and Paul has 13 pages in the can. He’s saying it has something with the hard uncomfortable chairs and Jake is backing him up. Michael says that he had to stand up a lot. That helped. Pete has six pages done but he has assured us he’ll finish it onaccounta he likes it.
BIG NEWS! Jeff has finished at 11:59! We are all in awe of his awesomeness in finishing so close to the deadline.

Michael and Jeff looking somewhat ethereal, no?

That’s it! We’re OUTTA HERE!

See youse next year!

Your pal,

Chuck

Santa Fe: Just About Wrapped Up

  

Just a few minutes left here before the cleanup begins. Folks have been wrapping up and heading home all morning, though a few were still sticking it out and trying to finish their comics. The rest of us are just reading them. We also had a visit from a photographer for the Journal North, so check out tomorrow’s edition.

We’re figuring that we had 25 “official” participants, with plenty of friends, family, and other assorted hangers-on throughout the event. Since the last post, we’ve seen the completion of Tony’s Enjoy the Show, Kirstiann’s Black & White (in color), Rafael and Conseulo’s Aliens and Heroes (Consuelo also finished four pages of her own story), Caitlin’s At the Edge of the Lake, Julie and Tonya’s Cowan’s the Best Character…, and Katie’s Marquis (pencilled, though not all inked). Dale and Chris left with their mostly-completed comics, and Jett, Ethan, Benjy, Emily, Evan, and Vanessa are still plugging away.

Thanks to 7000 BC, True Believers Comics and Gallery, and Warehouse 21 for the use of their awesome new space. Also, thanks again to our food donors: Upper Crust Pizza, Walter Burke Catering, Java Joe’s, and La Montanita Co-Op.