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British Comic Creators join in the fun of Hourly Comics Day

By John Freeman on February 2, 2015

Hourly Comics Day 2015 by Sarah McIntyre

One of Sarah McIntyre’s Hourly Comics Day for 2014. She’s posting her 2015 cartoons later today. Art © Sarah McIntyre

Hourly Comics Day took place online yesterday, as it does annually on every the 1st February. You can view the strips created by following the social media hashtag on places like Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook using the hashtag #HourlyComicsDay. (I use WebSta to search Instgram)

A deviation of Scott McCloud’s 24 Hour Comic concept, Hourly Comics Day is a web meme that was started back in 2006 by cartoonist John Campbell and there’s some history on how it has developed down the years here on KnowYourMeme. (JohnCampbell himself talks about how he came up with the idea here).

Here’s how it works:

1. Draw a comic for every hour you’re awake.

2. Load it onto your blog.

3. If you have access to Twitter, tweet it using the #HourlyComicDay hash tag (or Tumblr, or Instagram)

4. Browse around and see what other people have done! Leave comments, they’ll love it.

“Most people make it about what they’re actually doing in their day, so it’s a slice of life,” notes artist Sarah McIntyre, “but you don’t have to do it that way.

“It’s very informal, no one really runs it, but it’s great fun seeing the other contributions.

Some people tweet each hour as they go and other people save it all up to scan and post the next morning.

If Hourly Comics Day falls on a weekend, some creators draw their strips on the next available work day, which was the case in 2015.

Here’s some of this year’s entries by British and Irish creators we follow on Twitter… Note that we’ve just posted one of many cartoons by some artists, follow their Twitter accounts for all the entries.

Joe Decie

Final #HourlyComicDay comic, quiet now, let’s not wake the neighbors. pic.twitter.com/NIxUO407FR

— Joe Decie (@joedecie) February 2, 2015

Maura McHugh

The moon is not full tonight. Straying a bit. Drew the cartoon, composed a nonsense poem in response. #HourlyComicDay pic.twitter.com/PlA8zscckO

— Maura McHugh (@splinister) February 2, 2015

Tank Girl artist Warwick Johnson Cadwell

#hourlycomicday #hourlycomicsday 15 (and last I suppose) pic.twitter.com/Jaka1pw2aL

— WJC (@WarwickJC) February 2, 2015

Heather L. Sheppard

My #HourlyComicDay hours 8-9! I’ll rub out the pencil lines later today… It’s all smudgy 🙁 pic.twitter.com/HRTCZHzy6J

— Heather L Sheppard (@DinobotTwit) February 1, 2015

Neil Slorance

I’m done for #HourlyComicDay Thank you so much for all your kind words and I hope you enjoyed them! pic.twitter.com/vQoisUeFTO

— Neil Slorance (@osmart) February 1, 2015

Marc Ellerby

Here are my hourlies, although I got to 5pm and kinda lost steam/enthusiasm. #HourlyComicDay pic.twitter.com/IALcWXKdaK

— Marc Ellerby (@MarcEllerby) February 1, 2015

Hugh Raine’s final Hourly Comic Day cartoon of 2015

I drew my final #HourlyComicDay panel in really bad light… yet it’s probably the best! http://t.co/XmVMdNAlGx #24 pic.twitter.com/DjPAxLqsIj

— Hugh Raine (@hugh_raine) February 1, 2015

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.