It would be immodest of us to show off our high calibre, smudge-laden, wonky-fest of a sketch.
Read on, true believer!
So, Neil, what made you want to become a comic artist?
I think Ive always done it.
And thats what started me on the road for drawing.
And Ive always loved to draw.
You know, Id been in a dream all the time, thinking that Im going to make it.
I didnt give up, I was still doing it, but I wasnt really trying.
Mr. T chose it?!
[laughs] So, from there, I started doing that.
It was just small press, not big Marvel stuff.
And it took off from there, I worked onStarship Troopers… Then thered be the odd little Marvel UK job that Id get.
They took me offSquadron Supremeto work onFantastic Four, to help Bryan Hitch out.
And Im now a rotating artist onFantastic Four.
So that was your break, then?
So Ive done three DCs, and five Marvels.
So youre gaining other work as well as doing the comic stuff.
No, a lot of pencillers are doing that, because its regular work.
I certainly wont if I can help it miss deadlines.
Because I love doing it, and I just want to make it the best I can.
Because you know theres 101 artists out there that can do it better than you’re able to.
You just say yeah!
Its that sort of scale.
And for them to have trust for you to do a full issue.
It really means a lot.
I was just dumbfounded, I couldnt believe it.
Maybe for a full issue?
Maybe because of the childhood thing, but Id love to do the Hulk.
Im doing it inFantastic Fourat the moment, because its the Hulks son.
And Thors another one.
Thors lovely to draw as well big muscles and stuff like that.
Its quite nice to draw, rather than buildings all of the time!
Its that more epic sort of storytelling.
I just did it straight, I didnt even do a prelim for that.
I dont know, really.
I like the real-life stuff.
Who are your influences when it comes to artwork, personally?
I love that style, and Ive always loved Bryans artwork, [especially] whenUltimatescame out.
Ive always loved detailed work, and it really pushed me to do better.
and theres people like Olivier Coipel and Alex Ross.
Ive always loved the more realistic style.
Other than them, I love the pre-Raphaelite work.
And real life, I just love looking at real life.
And its completely different, how I was drawing it.
And I think it worked really well.
Its nice to relearn stuff, just from life, really.
And I feel like, I want to draw the stuff Id like to read.
Looking back at thisFantastic Four, now [flicking through comic].
The bits Ive done look dreadful next to Bryans.
They look almost amateurish, really.
I wouldnt dare do that now, so it shows youre improving all the time.
Yeah, and theres ways of working, as well.
Like, doing very tight prelims before you actually do the finished work.
Make all the mistakes earlier on, as opposed to on the actual page.
What comics are you reading at the moment?
I dont generally read a lot.
I dont generally go for a lot.
Its nice to see your stuff in print.
I still get a buzz out of seeing something in print.
Do you think thats something that will be fundamentally different, when or if digital distribution takes over?
Because it will just be like getting a PDF, then, wont it?
I suppose it all depends on how its done.
They look great, to be fair, theyre almost interactive, you could move stuff about.
I thought that was great, such a different way of looking at it.
And you get the full comic, as opposed to just the finished product.
Well, comic geeks probably do, but thats such a hardcore community.
What projects do you have coming out in the near future?
Youre working on a newJSAbook, right?
Yeah, Ive got that.
All the artwork got sent off this week for that.
And theresJSA vs Kobra.
I think thats it for DC at the moment.
Its kept under wraps for the moment.
Ive started it, Im about halfway through it.
I got the back end of the scripts the week before last.
Thats a 12 issue series, and Gary Erskine is doing the inks on that.
Thats great, that was.
And they sent it over and it was just like a page from a novel, outlining the character.
And each page was done by a different artist.
Theres some really nice stuff in there, theres nobody really the same style.
They wanted me to be more Marvel-y, so thats why they gave me the Rock-throw in character.
And that was nice to do, because it allows you to play with the layout a bit.
I cant wait for that to come out.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2is out now.
Read more about Neil at his blog,thebristolboard.
