The acrid smell of ink and markers mingled with the more foody scents of chocolate and cheese as 25 or so young artists started the annual cartooning endurance event called 24 Hour Comics Day.

The group of Santa Feans, mostly in their late teens or early 20s, started at noon Saturday in the upstairs gallery at Warehouse 21 in the Santa Fe Railyard — with a goal of each creating his or her own 24-page comic book in 24 hours.

"This is fun," said Sarah Martinez, 19, a Santa Fe Community College student who came for her second year at the event. "It helps your drawing skills, your posturing and your writing."

Last year, Martinez wrote a comic in the Japanese animation style called Macabre Angel, about a vampire and a human and their adventures.

"They fight werewolves, other vampires, and then they work for an organization to keep order and allow humans to not be afraid," Martinez summarized.

This year, she plans to add a second chapter to their story, she said, pausing to take a bite on an apple before picking her pencil back up to draw.

The challenge, and the fun, of all-night cartooning is the sleep depravation, she added.

"It really comes down to how well you can draw," Martinez said. "At 4 a.m., it starts to get really bad. You're tired, your concentration is waning. But you also sometimes get really good ideas then, sort of like when you dream the answer to a problem."

The international event is sponsored in Santa Fe by True Believers Comics & Gallery, 7000 B.C., Upper Crust Pizza and Warehouse 21. The worldwide sponsor, ComicsPRO, used to publish some of the work from participants at the events, but it doesn't anymore, said Chris Diestler of True Believers.

Still, participants can and do sell their homemade comics at his shop each year after the event, he said.

And even if they don't sell anything or win any awards, the young comics creators still enjoy learning from each other during each Comics Day, he said. "Artists tend to work in a vacuum, so if you give them a chance to be social, it's a really good thing," Diestler said. "They like to be social and get out."

Bram Meehan, secretary of 7000 B.C., a local nonprofit group of comics makers, said he enjoys seeing the variety of styles and subjects that artists create each year. There's a lot more to comic books than just mainstream superheroes, he added.

"There's nothing inherent to comic books that says they have to be about superheroes," Meehan said. "Of course, that said, I make a spy superhero comic."

Other work at the event featured ordinary people, cats, vampires and, of course, superheroes.

And the styles also vary widely, including professional-looking stylish art, unskilled scribblings and everything in between.

In Martinez's case, she said she likes the Japanese animation style for her vampire comics because it lets her convey emotion more effectively. "It's easy and fun to overexaggerate the actions of certain characters," she said.

Martinez also brought her friend, Nicolette Espinoza, 19, to the event with her this year. Espinoza's cartoon featured a group of talking cats, which is something she tends to specialize in.

Asked if she only draws cats, though, she paused and rumpled through her pages. "No. I have a dog in here somewhere," she said.

Espinoza said she likes drawing animals because "I can make them look more silly."

When the event finishes at noon today, the artists will spend some time checking out each others' work. Meehan said he also plans to put much of the work up on 7000 B.C.'s Web site at 7000bc.org, although that might take a few months, he added.

A public display of the work might also be held at Warehouse 21 sometime in November, but so far, the details haven't been worked out, Meehan said.

Overall, Martinez said she hopes the event brings more awareness about comics to people of all types — whether they participate in making comics or not. It's an art form that's generally under-appreciated, she said.

"It makes me very happy to see so many artists dedicated to their work," Martinez said. "People should explore this art form. Even if you don't draw, even if you don't write, just read. There's so much talent in there."

Contact Sue Vorenberg at svorenberg@sfnewmexican.com.