University of Gloucestershire tutors, graduates, students and professional illustrators have been working together to produce a comic book in 24 hours.

The challenging relay, which involved six teams of four artists each working six hour shifts, has resulted in a 144 page comic called Tales of the City.

It’s the first time the University of Gloucestershire has embarked on such a project - one which was inspired by award-winning illustrator Scott McCloud, who first introduced the concept of the 24-hour, 24-page comic created by a single cartoonist in 1990.

The illustration department at Frances Close Hall Campus in Cheltenham decided to host its own version as part of Festival Fortnight, which acts as a showcase to celebrate the achievements of both university staff and students whilst engaging with the local community.

Published graphic novelist and university tutor Fumio Obata who helped head up the 24 hour relay explained: “Each team member worked a six hour shift and was asked to produce six pages, taking on some element, a character or theme left by the illustrator working before them. I gave each of the teams a different colour to work with as well as black and white.”

Each team’s 24 page comic will be produced as a separate booklet and ultimately all six comics will be bound together in a special 144 page version, which will be sold at the university and prestigious book fairs.