Q is for... Q and Q reading Q

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

This was based on a suggestion by Edwin Austin, who wanted to see Q (Desmond Llewelyn) and Q (John De Lancie) in a Queue to see Q (the winged serpent). I loved that, but the idea for this circular / infinite regress-y thing popped into my head, so here we are.

Thanks to everyone who suggested ideas for Q - given the relative paucity of both characters and verbs beginning with said letter, you guys really outdid yourselves.

The letters R-Z are still up for grabs, why not suggest something yourself: on the A-Z Facebook Group, on Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus!

P is for... Peter Parker Playing Ping-Pong with Pikachu

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness, a month-long project / challenge / bizarre act of artistic self-flagellation in which I draw a picture each day, for every letter of the alphabet, based on suggestions from You, The Internet.

This was an amalgamation of what seemed to be the most popular elements suggested by a bunch of people who, I'll be honest, I am too sleepy right now to go and check.

Hey, a bunch more people have been joining in lately, which just makes doing this all the more Awesome. We've got a good few letters to get through yet, so why not chime in with your own demented alliterative suggestions - you can throw them at me on the A-Z Facebook Group, on Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus!

More awesomeness tomorrow! And tomorrow is 'Q', so it promises to be extra tortuous!

O is for... Optimus Prime Obliterating Oompa Loompas

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

Hey, I can't believe it took that long for Transformers to show up, either. Thanks to Davey Candlish for his suggestion, over on the Facebook group, and to everyone else who voted!

Also, while I'm thanking people, huge thanks to everyone who's linked to the A-Z lately, it's very much appreciated. The more people join in, the more fun it is all round I think.

Why not go and join the Neill's A-Z Facebook group and suggest future awesomeness yourself? Or indeed, just do so here on the blog, over on Twitter, or at Comics Nexus. I need more ideas for 'P', as a matter of some urgency!

N is for... Nina and the Neurons Neutralising the Ninky-Nonk with Nitrogen

Here is today's entry in the A to Z of Awesomeness!

If you don't live in the UK and have small children, this will probably make very little sense to you. Sorry about that. I DO, and this is pretty much the CBeebies Action Movie Crossover I have always wanted to see.

There's something deeply malevolent about the Ninky-Nonk, I've always felt.

Thanks to my longtime collaborator and pal Jason Cobley for suggesting this one! You can join in and suggest future entries in the A to Z yourself over on the A-Z Facebook Group, on Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus!

M is for... M.O.D.O.K.'s Melancholy Mouseketeer Memories

Here is today's entry in the A.I.M to Z of Awesomeness!

M.O.D.O.K, in case you didn't know, is a Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. But he dreams of happier days.

This was suggested by Manolis Vamvounis of Comics Nexus. Thanks to him, and to everyone else who suggested ideas.

Why not suggest some awesome stuff for future A-Z entries yourself? You can throw ideas at me ideas on Facebook, Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus!

L is for... Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Lori Lemaris, Lasciviously Licking Lollipops at a London Landmark

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

Hmmm, is that sexist? Exploitative? Probably, but then again probably less so than that Joss Whedon pic from a few days ago, so that's... okay?

Thanks to the decidedly delightful Diane Cameron for suggesting today's image, anyway!

Why not suggest some awesome stuff for future entries yourself? You can throw ideas at me ideas on Facebook, Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus.... blah de blah blah, you know the drill.

More Awesomeness tomorrow! Prrrobably!

K is for... KISS King Kong

Here is today's entry in the Ape to Z of Awesomeness!

Also, you can't see them, but Kamandi and Kitty Pryde are flying the biplanes.

Thanks go to creator of awesome and funny comics Dave Goodman who suggested the idea for today's entry, over on the Facebook Group. I also really liked "Kamandi Kung-Fu Kicking Kite-Man Into King Kong's Knee While Kissing Kendra The Vampire Slayer", but unfortunately it came in slightly too late, and I'd already decided to go with the Super-Sized Simmonds Simian.

Why not suggest some awesome stuff for future entries yourself? You can throw ideas at me ideas on Facebook, Twitter, here on the blog, or over on Comics Nexus.... I do try to keep track of it all, honestly.

More Awesomeness tomorrow!

J is for... Joss. Just Joss.

Here is today's EXTRA SEXY installment of the A-Z of Awesomeness!

There was a landslide of votes for Joss Whedon, but very few suggestions for what, specifically, he should be doing, so I decided to read between the lines and give all you Whedonians what you really, really want.

Anyway, here is an important announcement: I've had a bit of feedback on the A-Z from a very important if slightly unexpected corner: my Dad. He writes:

"I am a little surprised that your A-Z of awesomeness has no dinosaurs, no Transformers, no characters from HHGG or LOTR; but early days yet, I suppose."

Well done, people. you have made my father disappointed in me. Well, more disappointed, anyway. Suggest more Transformers and dinosaurs, already.

It is never too late to join in the suggesting-things-that-are-Awesome fun. Suggestions now being taken for 'K', 'L' and 'M'. You can chip in your ideas on Facebook, Twitter, here on the blog, over on Comics Nexus... hell, you can probably just go out in your garden and shout really loudly and I'm sure one way or another it'll get onto the internet.

I is for... Indiana Jones Inching Away from an Inebriated Iron Man

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness, an ongoing project in which I draw a picture each day, of stuff that is Awesome, for the letters A-Z.

This was suggested by Davey Candlish on the Facebook Group. Seemed like a lot of people wanted to see an Inebriated Iron Man, so I hope this is satisfactory. Look, he's got all sick on him, ho ho ho.

I'd been worried... well, I say worried. Not VERY worried. Mildly aware of, perhaps... the heavy Marvel focus but there's been an influx of suggestions from Whedonesque via Comics Nexus, who are now running these pics in nice biweekly digest-sized chunks. So I suspect things will now balance out a bit.

More suggestions please! Go to the Facebook group or Twitter to suggest ideas for J, K and L! Thank you.

H is for... Hagar the Horrible Hacking Hello Kitty in Half

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness, an ongoing project in which I draw a picture each day, of stuff that is Awesome, for the letters A-Z. It's pretty high concept.

There! This is what you wanted! Are you happy now?

This was suggested by Edwin Austin on the Neill's A-Z Facebook group, and it seemed like a bunch of other people wanted to see it, so here you go. I started out with a version where Harry 20, Hellboy and Harry Potter were holding Hello kitty down while Hagar Hacked Her in Half, but it had a weird mysogynistic vibe and I kind of creeped myself out, so you get the more actiontastic version above.

You will note that Hagar is drawn in my own usual style, whereas Hello Kitty just looks like Hello Kitty. The reasoning for this is that if you take away the iconic abstraction of creator Dik Browne's style from Hagar you are left with a grumpy fat smelly-looking viking, which is a fun thing to draw in itself, whereas if you take away the iconic abstraction of Hello Kitty from Hello Kitty you are left with precisely nothing.

Haven't decided what to draw tomorrow for 'I' yet, so why not suggest something Awesome yourself? Here in the blog, on the Facebook Group, or over on Twitter. The more suggestions, the higher the probability of Awesomeness. That's just SCIENCE.

G is for... Galactus Geeking out with his Glove puppets of Gundam and Godzilla

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

Now, I realise that what with the pics for D and F, we've now had an awful lot of entries featuring characters from Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four. I would defend this apparent limiting of scope by pointing out that Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's Fantastic Four, taken as a body of work, achieves a degree of Aweseomeness almost unparalleled in western popular culture. Also, I just totally wanted to draw Galactus.

Anyway! I promise tomorrow's will be something completely different.

Remember, these drawings are based on suggestions from You, the Internet. Why not join in and suggest topics for future entries - you can put forward your asonishingly alliterative ideas on the A-Z Facebook Group, in comments here on the blog or over on Twitter.

F is for...the Fantastic Four saving the Finnish Ambassador from Fred Flintstone, who's Flinging Flaming Fajitas at his Ford Fiesta

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

Yeah. It's all gone a bit strange.

I broke my own rules for this one - the 'only one or two characters' rule, and also the 'don't go over 2 hours per drawing' rule. Just couldn't resist the sheer logistical challenge involved in Sarah McIntyre's suggestion.

I'm like Marty McFly in Back To The Future Part II, in that I find it very difficult to walk away from a challenge. I am also like Marty McFly in Back To The Future Part II, in that that is my one and ONLY identifiable character flaw. No really, it is.

Anyway, it was fun! Managed to colour it while my son had a nap, so that all worked out nicely.

If you have any suggestions for further Awesome Alphabetical Things for me to draw - well, we've still got the letters G through Z to do, so why not join in? You can post ideas here on the blog, on the A-Z Facebook Group, or over on Twitter.

E is for... Evil Edna Evolving Emu into an Educated Erudite

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

I was going to attempt to explain this one, but I barely know where to start. Mitz Loki suggested it, so blame him.

More Awesomeness tomorrow! Don't forget, if you would like to suggest Awesome Things for me to draw beginning with G, H, or indeed any of the rest of the alphabet, you can do so using the comments on this blog, the Neill's A-Z Facebook Group, or in replies on Twitter (I am @neillcameron)

D is for... Doctor Who Defeating Doctor Doom in a Deadly Disco Dance-off

Here is today's entry in the A-Z of Awesomeness!

Yes, I knoooooow his name is not actually 'Doctor Who'. It just scanned better this way.

Anyway, this was a melange of suggestions from members of the A-Z Facebook group, including Jay Eales, David Goodman, Jenni Scott and Jeremy Dennis. Thanks, all!

It was a very tough call between this and 'Dr Doom Dissing Dr. Dre', a suggestion from my esteemed co-reviewer James. It would have been Doom in full dramatic Jack Kirby pose, pointing at a cowering Dre and shouting "MAN, YOUR LAST ALBUM WAS WACK!!!"*, in case you're interested.

Anyway! I have a large and inordinately weird list of suggetions for 'E', from facebook Twitter, Blogs etc, so I had better go and try to wrap my head round them by tomorrow.

* Note: Dr Dre's last album was NOT wack. Dr Doom just knows shit-all about hip-hop.

C is for... Captain Britain Cuddling Cerebus

Here is today's A-Z entry!

See, drawing that has just put me in a lovely mood for the day. Many thanks to Mark Bickley who suggested it, on the Neill's A-Z of Awesomeness Facebook Group. Why not head over there yourself and suggest some awesome things beginning with E or F (or indeed whatever you like)?

Captain Britain is one of my favourite characters in comics, for a number of reasons, a large one of which being that he had the good fortune to be often drawn by Alan Davis, one of the most talented chaps ever to gracefully wave a pencil at a page of comics. One day I will compose a proper long blog entry about my deep and abiding love for Alan Davis. Suffice to say, he is firmly ensconced in my personal Pantheon.

Cerebus is.. an aardvark. I am ashamed to admit I have never read it. I hope I drew his tail right?

B is for... Buffy Bravely Battling Beelzebub

Here is the second letter in our A-Z of Awesomeness!

This was suggested on the Neill's A-Z Facebook Group by my good pal Emma, who is kind of like Buffy herself except instead of fighting vampires she fights gender-based pay inequality. Which when you think about it, is possibly even cooler.

I'm going to go draw 'C' now, and it promises to be... interesting. Suggestions still welcome for D, E, and indeed the rest of the alphabet!

A is for... Aztecs in Atomic Armour Attacking Anomolous Amphibians

The A-Z fun begins! Here is our first letter:

This was kind of a conglomeration of suggestions from James Turner (via the Neill's A-Z of Awesomeness Facebook group) and Matthew Allen Smith (via twitter).

I think I know what B is going to be, but suggestions are now being actively welcomed for what I should draw for C and D...

Coming Soon: Neill's A-Z of Awesomeness

I have been feeling the need lately to just draw some stuff that is fun, for my own amusement. And so I am going to spend the next month doing just that: drawing STUFF that is AWESOME. And the best part is - you get to tell me what.

This is - patently - inspired by Garen's A-Z of Comic Strip Characters from last year, because.. well, because that was fantastic and looked like a lot of fun to do. I'm widening the remit for my attempt, from comic strips to the wider world of pop cultural entertainment. You may suggest characters from film, animation, TV, literature... anything, really, so long as it is AWESOME.

(And yeah, I actually kind of hate the word 'awesome', but it's the best I could think of to encapsulate the general aura of geeky thrills I'm going to be aiming for here.)

So for each letter of the alphabet I am going to let people suggest a character, and I will then draw that character, on a daily basis. Got it? You are also allowed to suggest what that character should be doing, with bonus points awarded for imaginative alliteration.

So for example, for B:

Batman = good.
Batman Beating up a Bear = better

No rules, really, I would merely ask that people keep their suggestions (relatively) clean and keep it to one or at a push two characters in each drawing - no requests for an army of Daleks Destroying Davenport, please.

I have set up a facebook group to keep track of it all, although suggestions are also welcome from non-facebook members, either in the comments here on the blog or via twitter.

The first drawing shall, touch wood, be posted on Monday, 15 June, so you've got until, say, Sunday, to get your suggestions in for 'A'.

New URT Podcast!

Hey, we recorded a new episode of Unified Review Theory! If you want to hear two grown men talking about robots and Elvis, why not go and do just that?

In other audiovisual fun, here's what I used that Mary Jane pic from a few days ago for:



...yeah, a TAPE. We roll pretty old-school round here, let me tell you.

You'd be surprised how hard it is to actually make a tape these days. For starters you have to, you know, find a tape.

While I'm here: a bunch of other folks took up the Garen Ewing Moustache Challenge - check out the spectacular profusion of face-topiary over on Sarah McIntyre's blog!

Happy 40th of June!

Today is Garen Ewing's 40th birthday, and to celebrate, here is a drawing of him sporting a Lord Kitchener Moustache.
Garen, of course, is one of the most talented cartoonists in Britain. The drawing above is by Sarah McIntyre, who as it happens is also one of the most talented cartoonists in Britain. The moustache is scrawled on top by me. I am... um... one of the most talented cake-consumers in Britain.

Why not visit Sarah's blog and have a go at giving Garen a moustache yourself? I went for the period-appropriate Lord Kitchener, but I think he'd also look great with a Handlebar, a Franz Josef or even a Salvador Dali.

Garen's book The Rainbow Orchid is being published this summer by Egmont UK! I have of course been telling people how great it is for many years now, so am looking forward to this tremendously. You can pre-order a copy from Amazon now, and I recommend in the strongest possible terms that you do so.

Happy Birthday Garen!