The Un-Iverse's latest issue (Lace Doilies #9 "47%" (Un-Iverse #65)) dropped on BlogSpot earlier today. Not an unusual occurrence. Except, the last issue dropped (F.I.S.H. #9 "One Shall Fall") was completed and posted a mere five days ago! And the one before THAT (Lace Doilies #8 "Bad Timing") was finished FOUR MONTHS AGO! What is going on?!
I get on drawing jags sometimes, and often do 20 pages at a time if I'm having a productive night of drawing. For me scripting is play, drawing is work. I tend to do the work in brief but sustained bursts. I wondered to myself if I could create an entire issue in under 24 hours. Crazy idea, and I thought I'd see if it was possible.
The script to "47%" was written May 13, 2023, so it's been in the can for over half a year. But I recall when I wrote it, the outline was already mostly filled in, and it took me about 4 hours to put the pieces in the correct order for the final script. Therefore if I attempted to create a comic book in under a day, I subtracted those four hours and only allowed myself 20.
It was a rollercoaster, but the fact that you are reading this essay means I did it. Interestingly, I was pretty clear to myself I wasn't interested in doing any sort of rush job with the artwork. It took about as much time and effort as it usually does. I just decided to do it all at once instead of spreading the jags out.
It took me about 13 hours to draw and then edit the comic. I also always get slowed down by the accompanying Linear Notes I always write (which will be available on BlogSpot after the saga is finished), and this essay took some time, I used a couple of hours to write and look over the supplementary material, an hour to scan the comic, an hour to post it online, and another hour to post this essay and other various posts alerting people it has dropped. So yes, I was able to draw and post this 23 page issue (including a fully inked and colored cover) in under 24 hours. I love challenging myself in weird and new ways.
For people anxious about how erratic The Un-Iverse's posting schedule is, they will be ecstatic to get this issue five days later after having waited for the previous one for four months. So the question remains, now that I know I CAN do this, will I do it more often?
Almost certainly not. This specific issue is the last one in the immediate future without overly taxing artwork. I was able to get out 22 pages with little fuss because the artwork itself didn't require TOO much stretching on my end. So there really isn't another upcoming issue that is a good candidate for this.
But even if there were, I think this is the only time I'll time-crunch in this specific way. Why? Me doing it once is a fun and fascinating story. If I repeatedly do it, suddenly I'm obnoxious and overbearing. This is a cute and interesting essay about a weird thing I tried. If I do it again, it stops being weird. And I like that it's weird and unusual and unlike any other Un-Iverse issue. So it's going to remain the only one I took less than a day to create. It's for the best.
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