Sweet 24-hour comic about a dangerously moody roommate

Zack sez, "24-hour comics -- comic books written, drawn and finished in 24 hours -- have been around for more than 20 years, but rarely have the results been as polished or charming as 'Darkness,' the 24-hour comic by the French cartoonist Boulet. The tale of a very, very moody roommate, the result is better than many comics the creators had a full month to finish."

This really is funny stuff -- a bit predictable, but fully sweet and extremely well-told.

The Bouletcorp » Darkness:Bouletcor (Thanks, Zack!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: Comics • Funny • happy mutants • webcomics

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jlargentaye

I was so pleased to discover he was getting his stuff translated in english. I think the BB crowd will like some of his other works (oh look).
Switch to the french version (flag upper left) to see all his stuff!

He’s also on G+

edit: added G+ link
- zombiebob
  
  I love the breaking bad one.
Adrien Briand

I am french, I read Boinboing daily and I follow Boulet’s blog since he starts it. I am very pleased to see him on Boingboing. This comics was drawn during the “24h de la bande dessinée” – 24h of comics book – which happens every year during Angouleme’s Comic book festival – please, visit http://www.24hdelabandedessinee.com for more information or to read all the comic book of 2012.
Targe

Wow. Boulet is stunningly talented – that’s an amazing thing to have whipped up in 24 hours. Loved it.
- http://twitter.com/chris23 chris arkenberg
  
  Agreed. Many kudos!
penguinchris

Ah, I was going to submitterate this. Saw it yesterday and thought it was fantastic. Typically when I read comics I tend not to look at most of the art, but just end up reading the text. I know I miss a lot this way, but I can’t help it – and as a result I don’t read very many comics (just a few favorite webcomics these days).

In this case, despite it having really rather messy drawing, I couldn’t not look at the art; it just flows so well with how the story progresses through the text.

And I don’t think “predictable” is too valid of a criticism here; not that this story’s never been done before in one form or another but the way the whole thing grabs your attention and pulls you through you don’t really have time to try to predict what will happen (up to the point where the final character is introduced, of course).
- zombiebob
  
  >In this case, despite it having really rather messy drawing, I couldn’t not look at the art; it just flows so well with how the story progresses through the text.
  
  I’d think it is either a stylistic choice or a limitation due to the time frame in which it was made, but either way it works and fits wonderfully.
Milo

Merci d’avoir partagé ça, Cory. Quel cadeau– quand je faisait les bande dessinées pour mon journal de l’université, j’avait besoin d’un jour juste pour avoir un l’idée!

I loved the subjective depictions of the characters. I don’t see that device used very much (then again, I don’t read many comics), but its effect here cinches what otherwise would have been a ho-hum story.
cservant

Great stuff. Even more impressive that it is done in 24 hours.
http://twitter.com/zaren Jim Schmidt

That. Was. (And I hate to use the term, but it fits here) EPIC.
BrianOman

Really enjoyable read!
http://twitter.com/pierrekerner Taupo

Want to be even more impressed about Boulet’s work? Try his timelapse videos drawing his amazing strips!! : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jL8gsWpMX_c
jimh

Just AWESOME.
Patrick Thompson

Oh, wow. Tell you what, I’d pay good money to see this sort of thing monthly. That, and I am staggeringly jealous of this work. 24 hours? Damn.
http://www.epinardscaramel.com TokenFrenchDude

Oh, Boulet ! Enjoy a great cartoonist.
BombBlastLightingWaltz

They bike couriers whom had (somehow) never meet before, in real reality.
Buck

I liked parts of this, the drama is excellent, but what’s with the promotion of rape culture? “And to make her last defense crumble: a glass of wine!” Also, “Maybe you’re just dating slutty girls,” ugh.
- BombBlastLightingWaltz
  
  Perhaps he needed the glass of wine for that bold adventure down brassies lane.
- blueelm
  
  heh. I didn’t even notice because IRL that’s just the kind of skeevy stuff an amazingly large amount of guys say and just the kind of cold distancing things that women say :/ So it just seemed… realistic.
  
  Hell I don’t even want to tiptoe around the guys feelings on this one. If I had a nickel for every time a guy around me cracked a joke about getting women drunk so they could have sex with them… and for every time a girl called those women sluts.
  
  Oy.
- zombiebob
  
  c’mon, really? If he had said ” and now to make her defense crumble: 30 mg of Valium in a glass of wine” you’d be on to something. Alcohol, drank in moderation and with consent, is a social lubricant, whether in the arena of Romance, social clubs, or Business lunches. Perhaps you are perturbed because there wasn’t a panel drawn showing him presenting her with a hook-up informed consent contract. Also, it’s written in France, where people are just not nearly uptight as North Americans. Apparently.
  - Buck
    
    Using language like “defense” regarding sexuality is part of the “war of the sexes” mentality.
    
    You don’t know about me or what I believe constitutes consent. And it’s bizarre that you would generalise from me, one person from one city in North America, to an entire continent of people.
    
    It is unsurprising to me that calling out rape culture is deemed “idiotic” and “ridiculous” given that we have a rape culture. Opposing the normalisation of rape and sketchy sexual behaviour is not uptight. You can ad hominem all you want, I’ll continue to oppose rape culture.
http://profile.yahoo.com/H5WQ4ZBFTW6MFXC5HDKM6YXR34 Walt

In fact, rape culture is running a promotion this week. Come on over, try it out! You know you want it.
- zombiebob
  
  What the heck are you talking about? I knew that there would be some sort of comment of that nature, because while BoingBoing is awesome, it is, like all things, imperfect. Really, I often think those sorts of ideological analysis are a stretch (though there are of course instances in which it is actually applicable) to begin with, but your judgement is absolutely insane. And you haven’t even tried to explain it! It’s as if all one need do is make such a pronouncement and it is so. Seek help, and a sense of humor, because you just missed out on an absolutely awesome comic.
  Edit: I realize now what you are referencing ( the wine comment), and I still can’t believe it. If thats all you have to say about the comic… sheesh.
  - http://profile.yahoo.com/H5WQ4ZBFTW6MFXC5HDKM6YXR34 Walt
    
    It was supposed to be a reply to Buck’s idiotic comment but went awry. As to the comic, I loved it
    - zombiebob
      
      Ok, thank God for that, At least there is only ridiculous such comment. I think someone should invent a sarcasm emoticon, it would really smooth things along on comment pages.
- Buck
  
  HAHA RAPE IS FUNNY
  
  Rape culture.
UrbanUndead

Hooray! What a great comic! <3
zombiebob

That was awesome and as another poster wrote: Epic. Awesome style, story telling, concepts, metaphors etc… A complete work of art. It was really fantastic.
http://twitter.com/dargaud Guillaume Dargaud

That was great. Although I’m french and a fan of comics, I’d never heard of him before. “He keeps blowing off my scented candles with his dark windblows” hillarious!
kittnkat

Heya, does anyone remember this comic posted a pretty long time ago about an artist growing up, and her muse was a gentle winged deer like creature who said “draw here” outside the lines….it was one long vertical panel and just beautifully done, it is still in mind and I’ve been searching for a looooooooong time for it…if you do remember the artist or link please let me know, I’d love to share it with my students!
Bryan

Brilliant. I have some modest drawing skills; it makes me want to take a swing at it myself…
Cefeida

Man, I’ve submitterated Boulet so many times, so glad to finally see him boinged. He’s amazing.
fontastique

Boulet is great, thanks for featuring him! He is such “en phase” with his generation and his humour is priceless. His full comics are definitely worth buying!! Give it a shot!