24-Hour Comics

In 2001 I drew my first 24-Hour Comic, a challenge invented by Scott McCloud to draw 24 pages of comics during 24 consecutive hours.

It was such an amazing experience, the following year I vowed to draw one a year for the rest of my life. I kept this up for about 20 years before life's responsibilities caught up with me sufficiently to make me take a break. I'm not sure the last few years I did it would count anyway - I starting using this challenge as an opportunity to quickly make a first draft of various picture book ideas I had been developing.

Below you can read a baker's dozen of my favorite 24-Hour Comics. I have a lot of affection for these weird comics, created under sleepless duress. I hope to do this challenge again someday! If you are a cartoonist who has never attempted it, I highly recommend you give it a try!

  • 300panels 01

    300 Panels

    I drew my fifteenth 24-Hour Comic in 2015 from February 14th at 1:00pm to February 15th at 10:00am. First, I drew a panel structure in which each page has the same number of panels as its page number and each page's panels are equal in size. Then I filled it in with a story, which you can read here.

    If you would like to try out this panel structure yourself, you can download it for free (or with a small donation if you'd like!) over on Ko-Fi.com

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    Claire: Part Two

    I drew my thirteenth 24-Hour comic on December 31st, 2013 from 8:08am - 10:24pm. It is all about my wife Claire Sanders.

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    Claire: Part One

    I drew my twelfth 24-Hour comic on December 20th, 2012 from 7:03am - 6:30pm. It is all about my girlfriend Claire Sanders.
  • Elementary

    Elementary

    For my eleventh 24-Hour comic, I drew the art and came up with the story, and my girlfriend Claire Sanders did all of the watercolor painting.

    We made this in Montréal with a bunch of other artists, starting at 8:22am on May 21st and finishing at 2:07am on May 22nd, 2011. CLICK THIS LINK to read the entire thing over at Grandpapier.org

  • Cover Final e Book

    24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics

    This 174-page book collects six of my 24-hour comics: Scars, Crispy Ginger Crumples, Daydream #0007 (never-before released!), GCB!, The 2008 Phase 7 Summer Supplement, and The PAM Artist. There are also 24 pages of commentary comics, which were drawn, along with all of the endpapers and covers in one 24 hour period on March 21st, 2010. Read the first 8 pages of commentary

    Check out the collected book on the Phase Seven Comics website!

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    The PAM Artist

    My ninth 24-hour comic was drawn with Max de Radiguès on December 5th, 2009 from 12:00am to 10:41pm. You can read a bit about the process in this blog entry. (TBA)

    Reprinted in 24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics (see above)

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    The 2008 Phase 7 Summer Supplement

    My eighth 24-hour comic is all about my decision to move to Vermont, after living in New York City for four years... it also explains why I cut off all of my hair on August 1st, 2008 and decided to grow my hair and beard out! It was drawn on September 2nd, 2008 from 12:01am - 8:30pm and was originally sent out as a minicomic to the Phase 7 subscribers.

    Reprinted in 24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics (see above)

  • Gcb 05

    GCB!

    My seventh 24-hour comic is all about my friendship with my best friend Gabe. It was drawn from 12:01am on September 26th to 2:08am on September 27th, in 2007 (another Eastman Variation... agh!)

    Reprinted in 24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics (see above)

  • Crumples 01

    Crispy Ginger Crumples

    My fifth 24-hour comic was drawn collabratively with Aaron Renier. Drawn from 12:01am January 2nd to 12:51am January 3rd, 2006 (an Eastman Variation, alas!)

    Reprinted in 24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics (see above)

  • Scars 01

    Scars

    My fourth 24 Hour Comic, which tells the stories about each of the scars on my body in chronological order. Drawn on November 20th, 2004 from 12:00am to 11:57pm.

    Reprinted in 24x7: A Decade of 24-Hour Comics (see above)

  • Colors 01

    COLORS

    My third 24-hour comic explored the use of color. Drawn on July 6th, 2003 from 12:00am to 10:25pm

  • Superdream 01

    SUPER-DREAM

    My second 24-hour comic strings together a series of my dreams. Drawn on August 19th, 2002 from 12:00am to 11:30pm
  • Sleepless 01

    SLEEP-LESS

    My first 24-hour comic ever! A story about sleep (or lack thereof!) Drawn on December 19th, 2001 from 12:00am to 11:41pm