At event, every ’toon tells a tale

• Artists combine creativity, frenzied work at 24-hour comics fest

By MATTHEW GRAHAM

The Portland Tribune, Apr 22, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

ANNI TRACY / TRIBUNE PHOTO

Fueled with coffee and some wearing headphones to drown out distractions, professional and amateur cartoonists, like well-known artist David Chelsea (middle), attempted to create an original comic book in 24 hours as part of the recent Drawpocalypse.

Hunched over the long folding tables, about 24 cartoonists scribble away, some with controlled precision, some with practiced abandon, trusting the trained motion of their hands to adequately convey their stories.

Some guzzle coffee and drown out distractions with music mixes, some compare pages throughout the day, but mostly they sit, hanging over sheets of thick white paper, light blue tracing marks slashed over with bold black ink.

These participants – old, young, industry veterans and those with no prior experience – have gathered at Cosmic Monkey Comics in the Hollywood District for a 24-hour comic-drawing marathon. The challenge: With no preparation, write, draw and ink a 24-page comic book in 24 hours.

The Drawpocalypse, held April 5, is one of the first events celebrating Mayor Tom Potter’s declaration of April as comic book month in the city. The festivities culminate this weekend at the Stumptown Comics Fest at the Lloyd Center Doubletree Hotel (1000 N.E. Multnomah St.).

The convention will feature local and industrywide artists holding panel discussions and workshops, and many will have booths.

Stephen Wilber came to Drawpocalypse with no ideas for his story, and still seems a bit lost in the second hour. “I have no idea what I’m doing,” he says. “I got the first page done in relatively the right amount of time. It’ll come together, as things tend to do.”

But over the 24 hours that confused frenzy gives way to stories that reflect the quality and diversity of the thriving comic book scene.

“We always used to say if a nuclear bomb dropped on Portland it would wipe out half of comics,” says Brett Warnock, co-publisher of Top Shelf Productions.

He points to the multiple comics companies here, such as Periscope Studios, which has been prolific with popular comics like Batman and X-Men. Milwaukie-based Dark Horse is one of the largest independent comic book publishers in the nation. Top Shelf and Oni are two major independent publishers.

In addition there are noted individuals. For example, Jim Valentino, president of Berkeley, Calif.-based Image Comics, lives in Portland, as does Joe Sacco, author of the award-winning “Palestine.”

And there are those with aspirations, like Emily Block. Her intimacy and closeness to the subject matter are evident in the precision and detail in the comic book Block draws. The detail of a father’s sweater draped loosely over a young girl creates a texture, charged with the fondness and familiarity of childhood memories.

Block, an art major at Lewis & Clark College, started with an idea she had as a child.

“She’s going to put on her dad’s sweater and fly off a cliff, and I haven’t really thought beyond that yet,” she says of the girl in her comic after just two hours. “It might change.”

Eventually the girl uses the flying power imparted by her father’s sweater to save him from a storm on the sea. Block is a novice in the comic book world, but she’s hoping to have at least one book done by the Stumptown convention.

“I’m collaborating on a book with my boyfriend and hopefully that’ll be done before Stumptown,” she says. “It’ll be our first real comic, I think. We tried one in high school about our friend. We’re hoping this is the real deal, something we can show people outside our group of friends.”

Block, who sat a few seats down from Valentino and across from professional cartoonist David Chelsea, says the local scene is encouraging, and she’s happy to be in a city so supportive of the comics industry.

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