Platform Comics just wrapped up their latest 10k Challenge, which featured a variety of comics creators and cartoonists. The 2022 10K Challenge gave contestants 10,000 minutes (about seven days, FYI) to make a comic from scratch. AIPT was happy to help sponsor the competition, which ended up with 12 creators featured in the new anthology that’s free to read right now.
The winners were selected by a treasure trove of creators, including Terry Blas, Tailor Esposito, Erica Schultz, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Along with sponsoring, AIPT is also featuring in-depth interviews with some of the finalists. Below, enjoy our chat with runner-up Christopher Gomez, who featured the dystopian story “All That’s Left.”
AIPT: Tell us a little about yourself. Where in the world are you located, and how long have you been making comics?
Christopher Gomez: Well, I’ve been drawing and making art since I was a kid. I started with just drawing my favorite cartoon characters and superheroes, but eventually, I really wanted to start telling stories, which naturally just led to me making comics and attending the School of Visual Arts for Cartooning. I grew up in Queens, NY and most of the comics revolve around that sort of City life.
AIPT: Who are some of your inspirations in comics or in art in general?
CG: When I was a kid in the 90’s, I was completely obsessed with the whole Image crew. Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, I really wanted to draw like them. As I grew up, and I sort of found other forms of art and other creators, I really started to get into comics that told other kinds of stories. Nowadays, I really love Chris Ware, Brandon Graham, David Aja, Babs Tarr, Cameron Stewart, Becky Cloonan. Mariko Tamaki. Obviously, I can’t forget to mention the OG’s like Jack Kirby, Will Eisner, and Walt Simonson either, the list goes on and on.
AIPT: Given you only have 10,000 minutes to complete your comic, did you prepare at all going in either by thinking up stories, sketching ideas for characters, or anything like that?
CG: Well the way the competition is structured, Platform Comics gives you a random genre to work in (mine was dystopian love story) and a phrase that every competitor had to use (this years was “Let it Burn”). It ensures that you really can’t prepare much for the challenge. What I did do to prepare was decide that I wanted it to be full-color, and I wanted was going to limit myself to 7-8 pages. Besides that, I decided that I wanted it to be a subtle story that relied on environmental storytelling, I wanted to push myself.
A page from ‘All That’s Left.’ Courtesy of Chris Gomez.
AIPT: Given the time restraint, are there any tips you might give a future creator who might submit for the 10K Platform Comics challenge or a similar time restraint comic competition?
CG: I would say that, unless you are a notably quick draftsperson, limit the amount of pages you will tell your story in, and really focus on clear and concise storytelling. Ask yourself what is needed to communicate to the audience, and draw in a way that gets all your ideas across. It’d be great to be able to draw bombastic panels and spectacle, but comics are about story, and it requires a steady hand to really get a story across when you have both limited time and space.
AIPT: With the time restraint of 10,000 hours, did you find yourself redrawing panels or entire pages, or is it about pushing forward no matter where you placed a caption or dialogue balloon?
CG: When it comes to drawing comics, I’ve found that the hardest part is the thumbnailing and planning stage. You work out all the kinks there with stick figures and blobs. It takes the most brain power and experience to get your ideas down and make sure that anyone can understand them. I made sure to plan out the complete story before I went in to draw even one panel. Once all that planning’s done, you’ll find there’s very little need to go back and redraw panels or pages, but even if I did need to, I drew this comic digitally. I wouldn’t say that drawing digitally is easier at all, but it definitely helps when it comes to the editing stage of comics. Being able to resize and reorient aspects separately is a godsend.
A page from ‘All That’s Left.’ Courtesy of Chris Gomez.
AIPT: What inspired your dystopian story and the angle you took on it?
CG: When I got the prompt for “Dystopian Love Story,” I was a little nervous. Mostly because love stories are the most common stories out there and I really didn’t want my story to come off as boring or rote. I had to ask myself what are the parts of love that are written about with less frequently and how that could be put through the lens of a dystopian story. For this story, I decided to focus on the small things you do for someone that you love: You go to work each day, you spend your time away from them doing menial things, you give up small creature comforts to ensure that they live a happy and safe life. Then I applied that to a situation where there’s barely anything around to survive on. What would that look like? How could that break bad? Once I had that overarching concept solidified in my head, I got to work.
AIPT: Do you have a dream job in mind when crafting comics? Would you like to create for DC or Marvel, or maybe Fantagraphics?
CG: It would be great to work for a large publisher like DC or Marvel, they’ve been steadily expanding the kinds of comics that they print over the last few years, and it’s exciting to see. As of right now, I’m working on my own personal graphic novel, which I’m hoping to see published soon so look out for that! It’s a supernatural adventure story that focuses on growing up in a city like Queens and all the things that come along with living and dying in the most diverse city in the world.
AIPT: Where can readers find you and your work? Give us the plugs!
CG: The readers can follow me on Instagram @chrisgomezart. I post sketches, drawings, and paintings with frightening regularity. You can also see more static work at Chrisgomezart.com, and you can always reach out and email me at Chrisgomezart@gmail.com.
Below check out some select pages from Gomez’s work .
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