What Have I Been Upto?

Last year I had participated in the 24 Hour 24 Frames cartoon marathon (24 hours of comics) that takes place in Angoulême, Paris. A few participants are physically present there while others participate online.

This year too I decided to participate and there was much excitement around it. Before the event, the website had announced that there would be a surprise element announced at the commencement of the 24 hours on 25 January 3PM (7:30 PM IST). But when the theme was announced it seemed very disappointing.

The website said “Constraint: Create Between twelve (for the lazy) and twenty-two (for the living god) strips using Popeye the Sailor as main character, as well as “The cover & the back cover.”

I think of myself as someone who is bad at imitating characters and fail terribly at drawing portraits! Firstly, it is difficult to think of Popeye without Olive Oyl, Bluto & Spinach (if we exclude Wimpy & Sweepea!). And, secondly, copying Popeye was going to be difficult, how do I copy all the other characters! Thirdly, we got stuck to either Popeye meets terminator or Jack Sparrow or Incredible Hulk but all of it to eventually rescue Olive Oyl. This is the outcome of all the dilemmas!

http://www.24hdelabandedessinee.com/public/auteurs2011.php?id=10586
This link will remain available online for a year. You can see the works of other participants here http://www.24hdelabandedessinee.com/public/list2011.php

And here is what the website says post the marathon which ended on 26 January 2011 at 7:30 PM IST.

Nearly 400 participants celebrate Popeye during the fifth annual 24 hours of comics!

This year, nearly 400 participants created the event: 93 professional writers, 201 students and 103 schools of art lovers. 32 authors were physically present at Angouleme, in the Authors’ House – where reports were made at different times of the event – while other participants were working remotely through the Internet.

On 26 January 2010, I participated in a 24 hours of comics marathon. The aim was to finish 24 pages of cartoons – 1 front cover, 1 back cover plus 22 pages of story – in 24 hours. The theme given at the beginning of the 24 hours (3pm France, 7:30 pm IST) was “The story must be completely silent and revolve around pirates.”
Below is the link to my 24 pages of textless cartoon pages.
http://www.24hdelabandedessinee.com/public/auteurs2010.php?id=9934

This link is defunct since they carry it online only for a year. Please scroll down for the whole series of 24 frames.

Here’s a link to the website that held the competition. The text is in French so I have pasted the English version of it below. http://www.24hdelabandedessinee.com

Text in English (translated through Google)
A fourth triumph for 24 hours of comics!
Launched Tuesday afternoon January 26 at 15h, this marathon chart probably unique in the world this year brought together nearly 400 participants: professional writers, students of art schools and amateurs.25 authors were physically present at Angouleme, in the Maison des Auteurs, other participants working remotely via Internet.
That Blutch that the organizers have given the responsibility to disclose to 15h – in four languages, please – the constraint history made by each participant had to be completely silent and staging of pirates! The “race” has completed 24 hours later, tiring but rich in stories of all kinds.
Among the professionals who have played the game this year, fell by names such as Bastien Vives, Boulet, Jimmy Beaulieu, Sylvain Moizie, Natacha Sicaud, Morvan and Lewis Trondheim. And on the students, some schools specializing in artistic groups have mobilized large numbers, as the European School Supérieure de l’Image in Angoulême, the Academie des Beaux-Arts Tournai Ecole Emile Cohl in Lyon .

All boards are available online until the end of December 2010 on the site 24hdelabandedessinee.com.

You can hit on Edition 2010 in the bottom of the page to view works of other participants.