Press Release approved by the 24HCD committee. Venures are welcome to participate and support The Hero Foundry during your event! Please contact The Hero Foundry directly for more details.

Drawing For Tomorrow: A 24 Hour Comics Day Event

On October 18, 2008 hundreds of artists and writers across the globe will take up pencil and pen and work for 24 straight hours to produce a complete 24 page comic book. Thousands of fans have participated throughout the years. Some have finished, many have not.

In 2006 a handful of participants were looking for a little extra incentive to get them through the late hours so they devised a plan to collect pledges for every page completed and donate the money to The Hero Foundry, a nonprofit charity whose mission is putting comic books into schools, libraries, and hospitals and with these comics inspire the youth of today to be the heroes of tomorrow. Together the volunteers earned a little more than a thousand dollars. This money went to endowments of graphic novels and comics to several libraries across the United States.

“The sense of accomplishment I had was immense, like I had been running a marathon and finally crossed the line. Honestly that was the point – to push one’s self artistically and see what is created under the tight time frame you have. The added incentive of raising money for The Hero Foundry gave me that extra boost I needed to make it through the challenge successfully,” said Hero Foundry President Brian Warthen, who participated in 2006 and 2007 at Titan Comics in Dallas, Texas.

This year The Hero Foundry is hoping to more than double the amount from previous years and is asking that any artists or comic fans that are participating in this year’s 24 Hour Comic Book Day volunteer to collect pledges for every page they complete.

“I didn’t think anything could beat the feeling of inspiration I had the first year I completed all 24 pages of my 24 Hour Comic. And then last year I not only finished the entire comic but, thanks to all the great people who responded so positively to our pledge drive, I was able to raise a lot of money for the Foundry which just made the whole experience that much more important to me,” said Paul Milligan, The Hero Foundry Secretary.

Pledge forms are available at: http://www.theherofoundry.com/images/pledgesheet.pdf

For more information on whom you can support with pledges or if you would like to participate please email The Hero Foundry at: Heroes@TheHeroFoundry.com. You can also check our MySpace page at http://www.myspace.com/theherofoundry for current updates on what artist are participating and what comic shops are hosting Drawing For Tomorrow events.

When the event is over and you have collected from those who pledged, you can send a check payable to The Hero Foundry to:

The Hero Foundry
1000 Lamesa Ct Irving, TX 75063

Or pay via Paypal on the front page on the left hand side of our website http://www.theherofoundry.com/

August 28, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Atom Freeman
Amanda Emmert

ComicsPRO is pleased to announce BAWLS Guarana as the Exclusive Energy Drink Sponsor of 24 Hour Comics Day.

24-Hour Comics Day hosts near a BAWLS distribution point will be able to pick up BAWLS energy drinks (www.bawls.com) to keep their cartoonists’ minds humming and hands drawing through their 24 hours of comic-book creating.

“As the drink of choice for comic book fans, gamers and geeks alike, BAWLS Guarana is thrilled to be fueling 24 Hour Comics Day!” said Marie Navarro, Marketing Manager. “Our refreshing taste and caffeinated kick is just what these comic fiends need to keep working through the wee hours.”

Registered 24HCD venues will be emailed details about picking up their free drinks.

24 Hour Comics Day is an annual challenge for cartoonists to produce a 24-page comic book written, drawn, and completed in 24 consecutive hours.

ComicsPRO, the comic book specialty retailer trade organization, recently assumed the organizational reins for 24HCD with the enthusiastic endorsement of the event’s founder, Nat Gertler, publisher of About Comics.

Register to host a 24 Hour Comics Day event here.

ComicsPRO will continue to add resources to the 24 Hour Comics Day website. Participating artists, host sites, and all other interested parties are asked to bookmark the site and check it regularly!

For more information, please continue to check the 24 Hour Comics Day site. For further inquiries and to inquire about how your company can sponsor this worldwide creative event please contact ComicsPRO’s Communications Coordinator Amanda Emmert.

Hello,
We are working on granting access to host sites to the blog so that they can post updates and information about their events. Look for this place to get very busy as soon as we do that.

If you have registered as a host site for 24 Hour Comics Day, please send your Blogger log-in email address, along with your host site name, to 24hcd@comicspro.org and we’ll set you up to post here.

Thanks!

24 Hour Comics Day FAQs:

When is 24 Hour Comics Day this year?
October 18, 2008.

Who can host an official 24 Hour Comics Day event?
Events can be hosted by any comic book shop, educational institution, museum, or comics club in the world.

What is required of me to host an official 24 Hour Comics Day event?

Before we can list you as a participating 24 Hour Comics Day event store, you must commit to hosting the event and all that it entails. This means that you can provide:

· A room to draw in, including chairs and tables.

· A sleeping area: a quiet separate area with cots or sleeping bags for those who feel they will they’ll be able to keep working after a nap. This should be open for the same period as the drawing room.

· A bathroom.

· Refreshments. We recommend having snacks on hand and providing plenty of water, coffee and maybe other energy drinks.

· Supervision. Someone who is not participating in the challenge should be on hand at all times to supervise the event. Consider doing this in shifts so that the supervisor is always alert.

· Drawing supplies. While the participants should bring their own drawing materials, it’s still good idea to have a supply of drawing paper on hand. You don’t need full-size comic book drawing paper; because folks doing 24 hour comics generally draw smaller. If it’s convenient, have some other drawing supplies as well.

· Copying and shipping. After the event, Ohio State University Library will be collecting and housing all of the comics created by the 24 Hour Comics Day participants. We will be sending out a cover page for each comic and information about where to send the copies. Host sites will need to make a copy of each participant’s comic and then mail them all to the Ohio State Library.

What do the 24 Hour Comics Day participants need to have?

· Art Supplies. Your artists should bring their own pencils, pens and paper, unless you advertise that you’ll provide all of the drawing materials.

· Transportation. Please make sure that the participants have a ride home after being awake all night making comics!

· Comfortable attire. Your artists will be working for 24 hours–remind them to dress comfortably!

· Enthusiasm! They will be exploring the limits of their imagination–and their endurance!–by taking part of this creative event.

How do I register as a 24 Hour Comics Day host site?

If you are able to provide the above materials for your cartoonists, sign up at with the 24 Hour Comics Day host registration form, and we’ll list you as a host site for this year’s 24 Hour Comics Day event!

Things are starting to come together nicely on this. The website has been updated with more updates to follow. The registration form is live now:

http://www.24hourcomicsday.com/registration.html

Anyone with questions can just send them along to us and we will reply asap. Thanks!

Hello,
We are now accepting registrations for host sites for 24 Hour Comics Day 2008. We are still working on the final paperwork but wish to move forward.

If you are planning on hosting an event, please send the following information to 24hcd@comicspro.org.

Host site:
Address:
Website:
E-mail:
Contact Person:
Date/Time of event:

We will send everyone the official paperwork as soon as it is finished.

On related topics, we are working on some benefits for host sites that we hope to announce soon. Thanks for everyone’s patience on this. We want to get things done right, which in our case means slowly but surely.

Rick Lowell
ComicsPRO