[dc]A[/dc] new convention season is here, which means it is time to get my butt in gear and crank out new items. I plan on making a new coloring book (hopefully in time for my Free Comic Book Day appearance¹), but also a new comic book: a collection of my 2016 Hourly Comics.
Coming soon! Via my Instagram.
Hourly Comics Day is every February 1, and the idea is, you draw a comic for every hour you are awake. That’s really the only rule. Draw a simple, one panel comic, or a full-page. It doesn’t matter. 2016 was my first time making Hourly Comics, and I went the simple, one panel route (which is pretty common). I enjoyed going the slice of life/auto-bio route, and I found it was a good creative exercise (what do I draw from the hour, how do I make a joke).
Now, my Hourly Comics are not online (at least not yet). It took me longer than I hoped to finish inking them all (life happens), and by then Hourly Comics Day was long over.
I decided to make a collection of my Hourly Comics into a booklet and sell said booklet at my appearances, as a show exclusive. I like selling new, and unique, items each convention season, so a collection of my Hourly Comics made sense.
On Sunday, I printed a test copy of the final book, and while there are some changes I need to make, I’m happy with the result. I like making books, but the mental gymnastics required for laying out a book is something I’m not an expert yet, but I’m learning.²
I messed up the page order for my test copy. Which is why it was a test copy, to see how everything looked in the final form (especially after folding and stapling). It’s an easy fix though, I just need to flip where certain panels are on different page files. More importantly, everything was within the print safe range, and I learned how much each copy would cost to make.
I might tweak the cover you see in the photo above, but I want to keep it simple.
I also plan on making this a limited run, but I’m not sure how many I’m making yet (likely at least 20). Each booklet will be individually numbered (EX: 1 of 25), and when they are gone, they are gone.
This Hourly Comics collection premieres at the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE) in a few weeks (where I will pick up my 2015 Webcomic SPACE Prize).
Someone wake up my Long Reach Stapler, it’s gonna be really busy.
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¹ Details soon. I will for sure be at Summit Comics and Games (formerly Clem’s) in downtown Lansing on Free Comic Book Day, I’m waiting for my official time.
² Ex: pages must be divisible by four, how to arrange pages for double-sided printing, knowing how to fold pages so they flow correctly. All of it makes my head hurt.
