You know what, I’d still give it a try.
MEGA ROBO UPDATE
Basically: I’m nearly there! At time of writing I am three weeks out from finishing Mega Robo Bros. I just did a quick bit of maths and, in terms of completing this book, I’m at:
Although, considered in terms of the series as a whole, I’m at:
I dunno, I just felt like I needed to see some progress bars to cheers myself up because, honestly, it has been a bit of an emotional week at the drawing board. Please don’t read anything into this in terms of story content or spoilers, but - well, look. It’s the climax of an eight-book series. If it WASN’T a bit much, something would be wrong. And it’s just a lot, for me, for lots of reasons. Coming to the end of things. Last week I drew the biggest, craziest action scenes I will ever draw. This week I drew the most emotionally intense scenes I will ever draw. And now, the end’s in sight, and I’m just bracing myself and getting ready to say goodbye to these characters. And I’m finding it really, really hard.
DAMN, NEILL. THIS NEWSLETTER GOT SUPER MAUDLIN.
Yeah, sorry! Please, enjoy the emotional intensity…
Anyway:
New event announcement! I’ll be at Stratford Literary Festival on Sunday 5th May! You can find details and book tickets here, or check out the TOUR page on my website for a full list of places I’ll be over the next few months! Come along and say hello! I am less weird and maudlin in person I promise.
The boy is thoroughly enjoying - with slight trepidation - the new run of MRB. As usual, I'm also thoroughly enjoying it.
Something that always strikes me about your work is how legible it is, including when read aloud between parent and child. Even comics I absolutely LOVE fall apart if you try to read them out loud and to a child, often because the panel flow is waaaaaay too complex and it turns into a structural exercise. Your work in MRB is always super clean and easy to follow, with a great sense of timing - especially in the action.
Even the more complex layouts in some of your non-MRB stuff, like the diorama action sequences in Daughters of the Demon, still flow so effortlessly.
Anyway, I'll stop gushing before I embarrass both of us.