The 8th annual 24-Hour Comics Day is Saturday, Oct. 1

The eighth annual 24-Hour Comics Day is Saturday, and the comic book specialty retailer group ComicsPRO is again organizing the event.

24-Hour Comics Day is an annual challenge for cartoonists to produce a 24-page comic book written, drawn and completed in 24 consecutive hours. Comic book artists, whether professional or amateur, young or old, are invited to check out a local venue or try the challenge on their own.

ComicsPRO’s Executive Director Amanda Emmert said the all-volunteer project is free to participants.

“We get to work with creators from many different countries, and the main thing they have in common is a love of comics,” she said. “Many hosts use this event as an opportunity to teach their communities about comics and about how anyone can make them. And making comics, or comic strips, or mini-comics, or Web comics, even at an amateur level, increases your understanding and appreciation of this amazing medium.”

The nearest official site to Oklahoma City is Lone Star Comics in Arlington, Texas.

But Emmert said Oklahomans are free to participate on their own and can sign up at www.24hourcomicsday.com as an individual online participant to share their work with others and be recognized.

“That means that you’re agreeing to post your pages online, as you go, so that you can show you’re creating the comic in 24 hours. You can blog or tweet your experience to keep in contact with other individual participants, too,” she said.

There are about 150 host locations around the world, in more than 20 countries.

All venues and individual participants are invited to post updates at 24hcd.blogspot.com. Some venues post live coverage to Web TV stations, as well. This year, ComicsPRO hopes to promote the event via a twitter hashtag as well.