24-Hour Comics During Portland Comics Month

It was 24-hour comic day on Saturday. I’ve never indulged in this artistic test of endurance but I think it’s a fantastic idea. The concept is to create a complete comic book, drawn and inked, during a single 24-hour period. The excellent Cosmic Monkey Comics hosted a 24-hour comic event called the 24-Hour Drawpocalypse, so I swung by the store to check out the scene. Andy, the majority owner, was gracious enough to let me snap a few shots of the artists hard at work. I got there about 7:30 PM.They had been working since 10 AM, so the gang only had only 14 and half hours to go!

here they are drawing their stories. Nobody looked tired yet. That's Jim Valentino on the left with the star on his chest. I loved his Guardians of the Galaxy series. Maybe I'll have him sign my copy of the GOTG trade at the Stumptown Comics Fest... If I don't have to work that weekend.

One of the guys drawing away.

David Chelsea

David Chelsea's inking his work. He was using an interesting diagonally lined paper to create his comic.

I didn't ask this guy his name but I liked what I saw of his work. (following pic has a close-up)


I climbed the stairs to get this shot. I felt bad because they creaked loudly and everybody stared at me, and wondered what I was doing.

The Wacky and Wild owners of Cosmic Monkey Comics, Andy Johnson and Adam Healy.



Part of the time I was in the Cosmic Monkey, I roamed the trade paperback section, which is fantabulous by the way, when a 20 something gal asked Adam Healy who Jack Kirby was. He directed her to the Jack Kirby shelf and explained that he was called “King” because he was an innovator when comic books first stared out and that he co-created many famous characters like the Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Captain America. He handed her a copy of a Twomorrows book about Jack filled with tons of his art, and she began to leaf through it. In the picture above you can see her on the left looking through the book. I was intrigued. Why was this gal suddenly interested in Jack? I guess it makes sense that if you don’t read superhero comics you wouldn’t know who he was but what was going on? In a stealthy way, I followed her as she walked back to her friend/boyfriend (that was participating in the 24-comic event) and talked to him about Jack. I was trying to eavesdrop, to figure out her motivations, when the guy she was talking to mentioned the Mayor of Portland declared that April was Portland Comics Month. Was this true? Well sure enough when I got home and did a net search I discovered that Tom Potter did indeed make this pronouncement.

The Stumptown Comics Foundation is delighted to announce that later today, Mayor Tom Potter will declare this April Portland Comics Month. The proclamation officially recognizes both the cultural importance and creative influence of this vibrant art form on the entire city.

Portland has deep roots in the comic-book publishing world, as it is home to scores of comics industry professionals and to three of the nation's most prominent independent comics publishers (Dark Horse Comics, Oni Press, and Top Shelf Productions). Moreover, the local comics community has seen sizable growth in the past few years, further bolstering the Rose City's defining ties to the creative arts and industries.
To champion and support Portland Comics Month, the Stumptown Comics Foundation has catalogued a staggering number of comics-related events in the Portland metro area for the entire month of April.

(From here).

How amazing is that. I’ve been telling folks for years how special and unique the comic’s scene is in Portland and now through the hard work of many folks, including the Stumptown Comics Foundation, it’s official.

I never did find out why this gal became interested in Jack Kirby, maybe she’s an indie creator and she was trying to check out the origins of mainstream comics. Or perhaps she was trying to enter the world of her friend/boyfriend. I dunno… what I really wanted to know was her opinion of Jack's art. Oh well, if I hadn’t tried to listen in, I wouldn’t have learned it was Portland Comics Month.

I’m glad I popped into Cosmic Monkey Comics!


-Swinebread