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Have you been a part of the 24 Hour Comics Day? If you haven’t, why haven’t you? If you have, you know why you did it, and doesn’t it feel great? Started in 1990 (technically) by Scott McCloud and Steve Bissette, the 24 Hour Comics Day is a rite of passage for anyone who’s serious about making comics or just challenging their artistic and time management abilities. Starting at noon on October 20th this year, participants have 24 hours to create a 24 page comic book from scratch—one person to plot, draw, ink, color and letter it all. It’s exactly as grueling as it sounds, but, for those who accept the challenge, the bragging rights and pride go on and on and on.

So, who are our brother and sister ninjas of the page? Who creates the panels that dare not show their word balloons? Is there GLBTQ representation among these Iron Artists? I went to the Austin Museum of Art’s Laguna Gloria and found out there were Friends of Color Kid participating in this year’s event. No real relations, just "friends". Looks like the real queers will have to make a stronger showing next year!

First, I met Katy Riggs, a University of Texas RTF major who works at the local comic book shop. Her entry was about the rise of a punk rock band, which features a bisexual lead singer and gay drummer who performs gigs in women's clothes, from obscurity to fame. The name of this band? “Punk Rock Band.”

“They’re not creative,” Katy chuckles.

But Katy is. Her initial foray into comics happened when she was a Girl Scout trying to earn her Gold Award. Instead of doing the same projects as everyone else, she made a 16 page comic book on skin cancer. She gave copies to the library and to her dermatologist, who loved them. The other Girl Scouts were reportedly ambivalent about her success. Nowadays, Katy does a strip for the Daily Texan called “Twist of Lime” You can see her collection on her website.

Katy’s big concern about 24 Hour Comics Day was being able to make it to the end. “I can’t stay up late because I have 7 am classes. I’m usually in bed by sundown,” she quips. But she says her art will keep her going. “I’ve never fallen asleep drawing.”

Regan Johnson was the other lady of the day I met. She is a professional illustrator working in art direction for Blooming Tree Press. In January, her graphic novel, Letters from Camp Lizard, will be printed under Blooming Tree’s Ready Blade imprint. Regan said that she’s always liked comics and wanted to be an animator.

Though she is straight, Regan’s 24 Hour Comics Day offering, Darting Around, features a same-sex frog couple, The Leucs (as in, “I’m your father, Luke.”). Set in an aquarium, several species of poison dart frogs eke out their existence, sometimes with violence, sometimes by just chilling. Regan says that the Leucs are “perfectly happy” even though they “were bullied by gang of Tincs who go native and start to claim other people’s territories. [The Leucs] are side-characters, but I think it’s important to know that there are all kinds of different people out there. And everyone has their claim to territory.”

Regan even threw in a cultural reference Prism readers would like—one from Midnight Express. “One of the frogs is under quarantine because his tongue was bit by a Venus Fly Trap. The Luecs visit him and one of them was like, ‘Oh, Billy!’” she explained, laughing.

Like everyone else, Regan was worried about making it through the night, but she said that 24 Hour Comics Day “has the appeal of getting into a shark cage. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Her final comic can be found through her blog or at We Comic Nation.

Sean McGrath is a resident of Austin, Texas and an associate professor of English as a Second Language for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students at Austin Community College. He writes the comic book Frater Mine on the side in addition to cooking, reading, customizing Mego action figures and swilling apple sour martinis at local gay watering holes. Sean can be reached at stseanoftheknife@austin.rr.com should one have any etymological questions or job offers in Columbus, OH for him.

Prism Comics promotes the works of the LGBT community in comics. It does not implicitly endorse any other material or products associated with those works. Any opinions expressed are those of the author(s).