Komiks Gladiators - 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge Participants (1 of 3)

Exactly 24 hours from now, the Philippine 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge begins. We've mentioned this event before, interviewed Jonas Diego, who is running this year's challenge, even listed a few writing tips to help creators prepare (without cheating by jumping the gun of course). At its heart, however, the challenge is all about the komiks and those who create them, so we decided to pose a few questions to a few of our intrepid participants, to gauge their state of mind (or their level of insanity). This is part one, and as we get closer to the event, we'll release the rest of the interviews.

So, the big day is this Saturday (July 17, 2010 9:00 AM). What made you decide to join this gruelling event?

Josel Nicolas: I hate myself sincerely, and knowing full well I have a flight for the US on the following day, I will subject my body to something that will rob it all of its strength so that I might have fantastic lost fever dreams on the flight to LA... Plus it seemed like a fun thing to do.
Norby Ela: Well, I haven't tried it yet. And I really wanted to enter the last 24-Hour Comic Challenge. But, I was too much of a chicken to join. But, since I've decided to make a komik with my officemates at work, I think it's time to grow some balls and do the challenge.
James Ryan Toledo: I want to challenge myself. When I read the first (24 hour comic challenge) compilation, I said: ”I want to be a part of this, I can do this!”. So here I am.
Kajo Baldisimo: I think it will be fun. Just that. Fun. I can’t think of any other reasons why.
Ammathorn: My friend invited me to join this competition along with his friends, and I figured this event will help me improve my skills.
Dexter Lira: I’m a nostalgic thirty-something who just wants to recapture his misspent youth. If I had kept on misspending it, perhaps I’d be writing comics today instead of… whatever it is I’m doing now... Personally, I just want to prove to myself that I still have something to share. If I only get one page done, I’ll be happy. But let’s not let it come to that.
Mary Ranises: I’ve actually done a 24 hour comic challenge before and it was a very memorable experience. I really felt that all my creative skill sets were being challenged. It’s kinda like extreme sports. I get a rush out of it.
Alex Cipriano: I wanted to test myself to see if I’m able to pull it off. It’s a way of testing my abilities. I kind of wanted to know where I stand in terms of my comics skills. Also, I want to beat John Amor! *clenchfist*
RH Quilantang: I just want to find out what kind of a 24 page comic I can do in 24hours.
Roelito Barreto: My friend, an artist, told me about this event. It came to my mind that this is a challenge so I decided to join. I had made my first comic entry to a contest for Komikon in 2009 8-pages in 8 hours. (You can read it on my website. It is an amateur work.) I hope I can make 24 pages in 24 hours also.
Teddy Pavon: I like doing comics and I am intrigued about whether this is something I can actually accomplish. I guess you could say it was the challenge of doing so much in so little time that made me join.
Jiggy Cruz: It was purely on impulse. I saw it on Gerry Alanguilan's blog and decided to join. I'm very passionate about comics and I think many Filipinos can participate in this medium. I think of it as my advocacy.
Lico Reloj: To test my limits and to gain publicity.
Michael David: This would be the first time for me to join a 24-comic book making competition. I’m really excited. It’s going to be a fun challenge.
Noel Cervantes: Well first of all I'm really excited about the Philippine 24 hour comics challenge, because it's my first time to join this very interesting event. What made me decide to join is the fact that I draw comics, I do comics, a self published ones, which just started last year here in Bikol.
Rodi de Asis: I decided to join to show my talent... maybe this is the right place and the right time.
Sherwin Marmita: I just wanted to know my limits, and my art, to know if I'm worthy to be a comic book artist. I may be new to this but it's worth a try: I love art, I love to draw…
Mel Casipit: I was wondering If I could do it myself, and I think this is the best time to take the challenge and also for me to have a new comic.
Freely Abrigo: This is my first time to join in this kind of event. I decided to join because I wanted to test my proficiency and capability as a comic artist.
Jemuel Bernaldez: To try out my skills to see how much I’ve improved in drawing, storytelling and composition.
Herman Gacosta: Perhaps the challenge of doing something under pressure, hehe.
Mikko Marcelo: Well, I love comics. I enjoy reading them and I want to share my stories, maybe through drawing/writing comics, so people might enjoy, and realize what comics really are--television, but on pages. I also discovered this event because I was watching Gerry Alanguilan's video in YouTube, and a Google search brought me to 24.jonasdiego.com.

Most artists go to great pains to avoid deadlines and yet here you are volunteering to work in a very short time frame. Do you think deadlines can be beneficial to artists?

Mary Ranises: Yes and no. I think deadlines are important because they make an artist’s goal more concrete, and personally I work better under some pressure. But I also think deadlines can affect the quality of a story and the artwork if they are rushed.
James Ryan Toledo: I work with deadlines, I’m used to deadlines. My work entails deadlines. If somebody gives me a deadline I make sure I am up to it. How can this be any different?
Josel Nicolas: Very much so.
Alex Cipriano: I think that deadlines push the artists to the best of their abilities. Sometimes artists need that extra push in order to finish something. And most of the time artists learn techniques they can use if they’re under pressure.
Norby Ela: Yes, I do think so. It develops artists to be more creative and to work faster.
Kajo Baldisimo: I’m not very good with deadlines. You can ask Budjette and my Glasshouse agent about that. I can barely finish a page in one day. I think I will screw this up. Deadlines are beneficial to artist in the way that a funnel is advantageous when pouring mango juice into tiny little plastics to create mango ice candies. Less mess, More ice candies.
Jiggy Cruz: I guess it eliminates Filipino time? But I know it's hard for so many artists because meeting deadlines can mean losing your social life...
Freely Abrigo: I'm one of those people who is actually inspired by a deadline. I might not sleep for many days on end, it may not be good for my health, but it definitely helps. As other people have said: “A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it's better than no inspiration at all.”
Teddy Pavon: Yes. Especially when it comes to doing personal projects. There’s a tendency to never finish a project as they want it to be “perfect”, deadlines teach artists to be decisive and quick on their feet.
Sherwin Marmita: It won't be this time… hehehe while I've observed that doing a 24 page of comics takes 31 days to finish--lots of details needed--this is a great challenge to me and to all new comic artists. In Tagalog: “trip lang, malay natin kaya pala”.
Roelito Barreto: Sometimes deadlines are an advantages, because I know most of the artist have manyana-habits. But for me, a longer time would give the best result.
Dexter Lira: Ha! Artists do keep deadlines… just not everyone else’s. If you live in linear time, you can’t really avoid deadlines. If you live in a city, you feel their looming presences more. If you work in advertising or in the service industry, they make themselves felt with malignant force. They’re part of life. Are they useful? Of course: who’d get anything done without them?
Ammathorn: Yeah I guess they can be, if you do this for a living.
Mikko Marcelo: "Yes", because it will force artists to strive do better and work faster--but "no" at the same time, because when they work faster they don't get to make their work as detailed, since that takes more time.
RH Quilantang: Deadlines are stressful but they can also bring out the best in an artist.
Herman Gacosta: Yes. Not that I consider myself a “true” artist but I find it beneficial to me when I write. Many artists tend to produce their greatest works when pressured by deadlines. The pressure makes the creative gears click into place.
Lico Reloj: Yes, but only for some artists. Other artists perform better in situations with no deadlines. That’s my honest opinion.
Michael David: Deadlines are a great way to gauge your skill. It also forces the creativity out of you--not just in terms of what you put in your work ,but how you alter your workflow to meet the deadline.
Jemuel Bernaldez: Hell yes, no pain no gain!
Noel Cervantes: Yes! Deadlines are good… but when we talk about art , there is a degree to consider, some art needs a lot of time to achieve the most beautiful quality output. But we cannot escape the fact that we need deadlines and professionalism.
Rodi de Asis: For me, as a freelancer artist, sometimes we need to rest for a while and afterwards we need to work hard over and over again. The most exciting about every challenge, such as a deadline, is that it makes me move... challenges are my bread and butter.
Mel Casipit: Yes, I think so. If you don’t give yourself a deadline, you tend to leave the work hanging until it ends up being delayed for a long while. When you meet your deadline, on the other hand, you feel a sense of achievement.