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24 Hour Comics
The challenge: create an entire 24-page comic book in 24 consecutive hours. Hundreds of cartoonists have taken this challenge, turning out works that were amazing, amusing, or revelatory.
Four-time Harvey Award and Eisner Award winner Scott McCloud, comicdom's top theoretician and inventor of the 24-hour comic, explains the concept and presents nine of the best.
Includes stories by Neil Gaiman, Al Davison, and more.
Four-time Harvey Award and Eisner Award winner Scott McCloud, comicdom's top theoretician and inventor of the 24-hour comic, explains the concept and presents nine of the best.
Includes stories by Neil Gaiman, Al Davison, and more.
221 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2004
5 people are currently reading
666 people want to read
About the author
Scott McCloud
124 books1,568 followersScott McCloud (born Scott McLeod) is an American cartoonist and theorist on comics as a distinct literary and artistic medium.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
October 8, 2017
Always fun to see creativity under constraints. Good inspo for Nanowrimo.
All 9 comics in this collection were by white men. 1/3 of the comics featured penises. Sooooo...there's that.
All 9 comics in this collection were by white men. 1/3 of the comics featured penises. Sooooo...there's that.
December 9, 2013
24 Hour Comics collects nine of the earliest comics ever created under the rules of Scott McCloud's ridiculous challenge. The challenge is: write, pencil and ink a 24 page comic in just 24 hours- and the clock doesn't stop ticking if you fall asleep. These artists prove you can create a whole comic story in just one day, and also that as cartoonists get tired, the stories get morbid. A slightly mixed bag, but interesting to read.
October 3, 2014
It's a collection of comics written on the challenge to write a 24 page comic in 24 hours, so of course it is an uneven collection! And this is the best he had at the time… But it has some gems in it… including the self drawn Neil Gaiman story, one of the very best for sure… and one by Swamp Thing artists Steve Bissette. I like sketchy art and stories, vs polished, over-written and over-designed collaborations, so this was okay for me.
September 6, 2021
The sole idea behind this bizarre concept is beyond insane. And yet, in those uneasy hours, while the deadline is approaching fast, there is a human reaction, a desperate and glorious spasm of creativity that makes it all worth trying.
That, or nervous breakdown.
Or, most likely, both.
This book gives us all of the above, as well as editor's cool little introductions that help us better understand the authors and their work.
I loved it.
That, or nervous breakdown.
Or, most likely, both.
This book gives us all of the above, as well as editor's cool little introductions that help us better understand the authors and their work.
I loved it.
August 1, 2025
Quite a number of these are much darker than I would have expected for what feels like a fun concept. I thought most entries were decent, though of course not perfect. More than the individual comics for me was the reflection on the exercise, what it means to actually complete 24 pages in 24 hours. Reading the pieces while considering the process was pretty fascinating.
January 1, 2022
Media type: physical book
Comment: it’s nice to see comic artists challenge themselves the way writers do during Nanowrimo. However, I did not really connect with the cartoons themselves all that much.
Comment: it’s nice to see comic artists challenge themselves the way writers do during Nanowrimo. However, I did not really connect with the cartoons themselves all that much.
February 28, 2018
please access the permission to read book
June 23, 2022
I really liked the book, although it was hard for me to understand
January 7, 2013
24 Hour Comics is a mini-book about making comics in 24 hours. That's right, 24 pages in 24 hours ... idea, writing, penciling, inking, even coloring if you wish, in 24 hours or less! Interesting idea ("do it in one day!"), and here is the book to summarize its effects, 20 years later. Can it be done?
Scott McCloud had this idea in 1990, and he and Steve Bissette completed a first go around August that year; technically, Scott finished first. Since then, the "24-hour" or similar competitions have appeared for all media, from the popular gaming jam of Ludum Dare (over 5,000 submissions since 2002) to 24-Hour Plays (drama) and 48-Hour Film Project (complete film, over 40,000 submissions in all editions). This is the good part.
On the negative side, I was left rather disappointed with this book. There is very little information of interest in this book: very little background story to the idea, similarly little analysis of the idea's applicability (only some back of the envelope math about taking at most 10 minutes per panel), and only 1-page letters for each entry. I would have preferred to read more in this book about the relationship 24-hour vs full-format approaches; I would have also been interested in seeing some numbers from the industry (something in the vein of "takes about 350 hours to complete a commercial, award-grade 24-page comic"). I would have liked to learn more about the math of the 24-hour idea from one of the leading theorists of comics (see author's Understanding Comics and Making Comics). I would have also liked to see at least one author breaking down the process. etc.
Another negative point, albeit perhaps not so much the fault of this book, the lack of success of this idea in the comics community. Only about 400 comics have been reported so far (it's been over 20 years!). The quality of these submissions is, judging by the material present in this book, very low, even unexpectedly low. The graphics are of poor quality. There is very little story. There is a lot of shocking imagery or thought. All the things that mainstream Hollywood movies seem to be going for (claims Robert McKee in [Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting]). As others have found for other media blitz-projects, I find the 24-hour period too short for making a 24-page comic.
Overall, I liked the spirit of the "24-hour" idea, but did not really like this book and don't trust the idea makes sense in practice.
Scott McCloud had this idea in 1990, and he and Steve Bissette completed a first go around August that year; technically, Scott finished first. Since then, the "24-hour" or similar competitions have appeared for all media, from the popular gaming jam of Ludum Dare (over 5,000 submissions since 2002) to 24-Hour Plays (drama) and 48-Hour Film Project (complete film, over 40,000 submissions in all editions). This is the good part.
On the negative side, I was left rather disappointed with this book. There is very little information of interest in this book: very little background story to the idea, similarly little analysis of the idea's applicability (only some back of the envelope math about taking at most 10 minutes per panel), and only 1-page letters for each entry. I would have preferred to read more in this book about the relationship 24-hour vs full-format approaches; I would have also been interested in seeing some numbers from the industry (something in the vein of "takes about 350 hours to complete a commercial, award-grade 24-page comic"). I would have liked to learn more about the math of the 24-hour idea from one of the leading theorists of comics (see author's Understanding Comics and Making Comics). I would have also liked to see at least one author breaking down the process. etc.
Another negative point, albeit perhaps not so much the fault of this book, the lack of success of this idea in the comics community. Only about 400 comics have been reported so far (it's been over 20 years!). The quality of these submissions is, judging by the material present in this book, very low, even unexpectedly low. The graphics are of poor quality. There is very little story. There is a lot of shocking imagery or thought. All the things that mainstream Hollywood movies seem to be going for (claims Robert McKee in [Story: Style, Structure, Substance, and the Principles of Screenwriting]). As others have found for other media blitz-projects, I find the 24-hour period too short for making a 24-page comic.
Overall, I liked the spirit of the "24-hour" idea, but did not really like this book and don't trust the idea makes sense in practice.
September 9, 2010
I've had this book for a while. The designation of 24Hour Comics Day has inspired me to try it this year- October 2nd-3rd, 2010. I can't draw to save a lick, so my attempt will be a spectacular failure, but I'll learn.
This book has the first 2 24 hour comics in it- McCloud's and Steve Bissette's and a few others. It's got Neil Gaiman's and Adrian Tomine. It's got a wordless story.
It has a brief history of the 24Hour Comic, up to it's point. The book was assembled before the creation of 24Hour Comic Day. The 24 Hour Comic was an original idea. 24 Hour Stageplay and 48 hour Script were borrowed from Scott McCloud's idea, The stageplay one acknowledges the origin. Yay comics!!!
This book has the first 2 24 hour comics in it- McCloud's and Steve Bissette's and a few others. It's got Neil Gaiman's and Adrian Tomine. It's got a wordless story.
It has a brief history of the 24Hour Comic, up to it's point. The book was assembled before the creation of 24Hour Comic Day. The 24 Hour Comic was an original idea. 24 Hour Stageplay and 48 hour Script were borrowed from Scott McCloud's idea, The stageplay one acknowledges the origin. Yay comics!!!
May 11, 2009
This makes me want to write the comic. You can really see the insanity of the time lapse, the deadline. You can see these writers brains being wracked for ideas, their stuff just comes pouring out. It's mostly cockamamie, but there's a lot of truth to it, a lot of gripping mania. I love the idea. Scott Mccloud is a genius. My favorites were David Lasky's and Steve Bissette's.
September 28, 2010
Interesting collection
September 29, 2012
As with all anthologies, some hits and some misses. But the overall quality is consistently high, all the more amazing given the 24-hour time limit! Rather inspiring, in fact!
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January 16, 2013Cartoons,
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews