Max Riffner
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Go Easy, Bro!
I survived the 24 Hour Comics Day event of 2007, and now you can read the fruits of my overcaffeinated labor. Go Easy, Bro! is about a werewolf with taste issues, and a sea creature barman who wishes he could just get back to his writing.
I’ve read through it a few times now. It’s weird, looking at it outside of an insane production pace. I feel like I could probably re-tell this story in about 7 pages with more backgrounds and less big panels. Overall, though, I’m happy with the excercise. I worked out the plot first between 12pm and 1:20pm on Saturday (with my handy-dandy copy of 20 Master Plots), then the first 7 pages (the best 7, in my opinion) were all done in about an hour a piece. As it became more clear that I needed to speed up, I started just penciling the pages so I could get the whole story down on paper at least. I didn’t get done with that until about 7am, which was mainly from trying to figure out my pacing and plotting. After 7am, it was a mad dash for lettering and inking. I finished at 11:57am on Sunday; I had only three minutes left.
I did it though.
Every so often I think I get into a rut, where I start letting myself feel bad about the sort of work I do. Eventually I spiral out of doing anything, making me feel worse. This excercise helped get my back on track, let me feel good about my art again. I’ve impressed myself with such a rushed effort, and I’ve been telling myself “just imagine what you can do when you have time?”
DanOct 23, 12:24 AM
Nice little autobiographical piece… I’ve seen you as both the bartender and the wolf!
Wow! Um… thanks for organizing the entire global event, Nat! :)
Seriously, you’re right. It was a good exercise to get me moving again. An event like this is a perfect opportunity to not make excuses and just do it.
(For regular Parlor readers – Nat Gertler organizes the 24 Hour Comic Day event and [literally] wrote the book on creating your own graphic novel – it’s good.)
@Dan: C’mon. C’MON! When have I talked about going after older ladies? :)
Tim LenonOct 23, 02:18 AM
It was very odd, had the feel of some demented waking nightmare, but I really liked it.
Shawn BeachOct 23, 06:46 PM
Well done!! It sure did come down to the “proverbial” wire didn’t it?
Favorite line is “Old ladies are hella salty.”
You sure knocked one out the ball park Max.
Nice Work. Best, most cohesive 24- hour comic I’ve ever read. It’s obvious you really put some thought into this going into it, which I think is something most 24-hour comics lack.
Really enjoyed the sexual subtext to the whole thing (which is the subtext to most great horror mythos from vampires to werewolves, after all). You really did a great job paying homage to this and putting your own unique and pretty hilarious spin on it.
I think that you have the groundwork for something really great here. I’d love to see you punch up the dialogue and refine the art just a little. I think that if you did that, you could definitely submit this to a horror anthology.
The way horror comics are these days, you’ll probably have to add a zombie or two, though!
Max, your 24 Hour Comics is simply awesome.
I really enjoyed working there with you at the shop, and i know it was hard, but i think it was entirely worth it.
BTW, my 24 Hour Comic will be up soon … i have signed up for a WebComics Nation account and will post my entry “The Last Late Show” there. I am awaiting them sending me a confirmation letter though … dammit!
All i know is that should you be crazy enough to do it again, count me in … i love working with you, bro!
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Oct 23, 12:18 AM
And that’s why we do it! It’s not to make better comics, it’s to make better cartoonists!