The 24 hours of the comic book is an innovative event, inspired from a constrained creative principle as originally defined by American cartoonist Scott McCloud. This coproduction of the International Comics Festival and the Maisons des Auteurs consists of a genuine "graphic marathon" as all the competing authors have to conceive and achieve a 24-page comic book, including front and back covers plus 22 drafts, within 24 hours' time.

 

In 2007, as a prelude to the Festival, twenty-six authors took up the challenge (Alex Baladi, Christophe Bataillon, Boulet, Marie de Monti, Lisa Mandel, Tony Neveux, Antoine Perrot, Mathieu Sapin or Lewis Trondheim, among others), all of them hosted by the Maison des Auteurs in Angoulême, except for two of them working through the internet. An additional constraint had been disclosed at the very last minute: the contestants were required to include a snowball in the first and last panels, as a wink to the bad weather in Angoulême at the time. The works resulting from the 24 hours of the comic book were then partly collected into an album entitled Boule de neige (Snowball) (published by Delcourt, Shampooing collection).

Lewis Trondheim, the 2007 President of the Jury, instigated the 24 hours of the comic book which got an excellent reception from the public: 32 000 net surfers checked the drafts as they were gradually drawn and uploaded on the site dedicated to the event. Hence the initiative shall be renewed between the 22nd and 23rd of January 2008, as a prelude to the Festival, with new authors and constraints. The Maison des Auteurs will host once again 24 authors, but the new website, which has been improved for the second edition, will allow all professional authors as well as amateurs to take up the challenge from a distance.

Entry (from 4 December to 8 January included) and rules available on www.24hdelabandedessinée.com and on the Festival and Maison des Auteurs web-sites, respectively www.bdangouleme.com and www.maisondesauteurs.com.

 

THE 24 HOURS OF THE COMIC BOOK
Maison des auteurs, 2, Bd Aristide Briand and on www.24hdelabandedessinee.com 22 to 23 January 2008

Coordinated by:

Pili Muñoz
Produced by:

Maison des auteurs

The International Comics Festival