Mazes can be fun. But when you finish, it can seem... like a non-accomplishment. Anyone can complete a maze by 'following the walls' and after I finish one, I don't feel specially satisfied.

This one is different. Once you finish, you may be pleasantly surprised. Or you would be if I hadn't foreshadowed the 'ending'.

I highly recommend you print it out, then fill it in with either a thick pen or brightly coloured pencil. Or, if you don't have a printer or want to save paper/ink, I suppose you could draw in it on your painting software package of choice.

300dpi printer-ready version here

1 - My name is BEhrooZ Shahriari. I was called 'Bez' in primary school when none of us would have known the Happy Mondays and that soon became how I introduced myself to non-Iranians. When a wee boy called me 'Bezman', I liked the sound of it and so started using it as my name in console games and then online.

2 - I like dancing but don't go clubbing often. When an excellent song comes on at college or at home, I find myself bouncing away to it, even whilst drawing or whatever. Sometimes I'll pause work for a minute or two, dancing rapidly just for a taste of adrenalin. I'm probably addicted to the drug, but seeing as my body supplies it naturally, hopefully it's all good.

3 - My favourite colour is purple. Or at least it was. I used to go to such lengths that Exploding Fungus and Skears (all the versions online anyway...) use no colours other than purple. That red? I 'improved' it by adding a touch of blue. And blue was similarly improved. God forbid something be green. Hopefully it's obvious that I've since started allowing other colours in my work and now I enjoy using the full spectrum. It's there to be enjoyed after all...

4 - I often hide or give up. If something seems like it's not good enough? hide. If I'm not sure if my song is good enough? I don't go to the open-mic night. If I was unsure if my e-mail was good enough? Delete it, write it again, then maybe delete it again and don't send it. I have more unfinished projects on my old hard drive than you'd believe. So many ideas that I never bring to life, just because I'm scared I won't do them justice or others won't appreciate them.

It is a stupid habit and I need to get out of it. If I were to psychoanalyse, I'd say maybe it's an egotistical thing - I wanna fail on my own terms rather than failing at all. Truth is though, when I actually play in the bars, go sketching folk in the street or finish a project, I normally get a good reception. I've got to start accepting the possibility of failure.

5 - I drew a 100-hour comic. After my nemesis took Scott McCloud's 24-hour comic idea to a new level, doing 72 pages in 72 hours, I tried to raise a bit of money for the post-2005 tsunami effort, drawing and painting 100 pages in 100 hours. I recently tried to revisit this challenge, spending 200 hours just drawing 200 pages (and essential stuff like eat/sleep) but it didn't work out, maybe because my head was in an awkward place. I hope to ready myself and do something this summer.

More notable stuff coming after I get front-page posting rights.

March 12th 2009.

March 12th 2009.

I have failed...

- to cycle from Glasgow to London (I got within 20 miles of my goal, when my last tyre burst).

- to finish 'Pico Jr Jr' with all the awesome rhythm-based action, tank-action and animation action originally intended for Pico Day.

- to make a 200-page comic within 200 hours (I gave up after a couple of days, realising I had too much other shit pounding through my mind)

- to find true love

- to finish 'Three Second Thunder'.

- to get my Electric Earth collab off the ground

- to piss my entire name in the snow

- to make games as awesome as the stuff jmtb02 can put on a pedestal.

- to lick my elbow

These are but a few of the things I have failed to do.

One or two may never happen. The others, though, will.

In 1990, Scott McCloud invented the 24-hour comic. The challenge - to conceive and create a 24-page story within 24 consecutive hours. In 2004,Mr. Ladyboy began his 72 hour comic and since then a rivalry has begun. 100! 168! 175! Today, as a matter of honour, I will begin a 200 hour comic.

That's 200 pages to be drawn in 200 consecutive hours. 8 days and 8 hours. I will sleep a bit each night, as well as doing other necessary stuff. But each day, I'll spend AT LEAST 14 SOLID HOURS with a pencil or a brush in my hand, sketching out ideas or putting them to paper.

I'm gonna do the best damn job I can.

As I need to ensure that the comic isn't just an idea I already made up (and also to help stimulate me) please send 4 words to: 200@aciddica.com. I'll try to incorporate these words, maybe using them as a title, maybe using them to spark an element of the story.

Don't worry about what words you send me - whatever you send, it'll help this record-breaking attempt.

P.S. Once it's begun, you'll be able to keep track of the progress on my site. Yep, I'll be using those 10 hours for sleep, toilet-using, eating, a bit of exercise and blogging.

Stay funky - Bez