Superfocus. Superprocastination. Sometimes there’s things I’m so desperate to put off I will literally ink an entire comic to get out of doing it. i mean, I need to do both jobs, but drawing is just, fundamentally, the easier of all the jobs.

So I become hyper focused, yesterday I finished four pages of inks. Granted, one was mostly done the day before, two finished during the day/evening and the final one came in around 1am – so strictly speaking, I completed inks on two pages (or three if I’m being generous to myself).

But I wasn’t half aware it was because I was hyperfocused on it, to the point that anything taking me away from it was annoying and I could think beyond those pages. It’s not terribly healthy, is it?

Inking though, (and especially if the pencils are super tight) I’ll sit down, stick on something on netflix (or, actually, more likely at the moment Disney+) and just start inking.

I’ve pretty much thrown my lot in with digital drawing, my clip studio process is now hyper tight, I’ve reprogrammed all the basic function keys and when you’re in that zone…

Galadriel turning bonkers mad is still one of my favourite, most used call-backs from the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy.

At some point I’ll have to write up my entire clip studio experience, it’s extraordinarily flexible.

Anyway, procastination, you’re now a party to it.

And if you’re here, why not share the worst kind of procastination you’ve done…?

(My wife preys on my weakness though, she knows I hate doing dishes, so she’ll suggest a chore she’s not keen on for me to do in exchange for doing the dishes. Walk to the shop to buy milk…? and you’ll do the dishes instead of me? Brilliant, you’re on…)

Prog 1544 to Prog 1630 July ’07 – April ’09 (the written label is a mess, and has the wrong progs, I’ll fix it…)

For the record, these volumes hold 27 progs which means this is averages about 14 progs per year.

This volume pretty much finishes up the 86ers, completed by Arthur Wyatt (originally written by Gordon Rennie). I think Gordon had felt he couldn’t do much more with the 86ers (he hadn’t entirely finished with the Rogue Trooper universe though and would turn his attention to the much more successful – and certainly much better drawn – Jaeger). Between the 86ers, futureshocks and odds and sods, I didn’t get another bite of a series until Al Ewing and I did Dead Signal in prog 1581 – set in two universes, one I greywashed the other drawn in more solid black and white (a trick I’d use to better effect in Numbercruncher with Si Spurrier). We had big, bonkers plans (well, Al did, I was content to go along for the spin) but sadly, this was another series that didn’t get the chance to go beyond one part.

My luck with series with 2000ad has always been pretty grim, there were strips I was originally talking to the writer to draw and didn’t (and then, sometimes would actually end up back on the art as another artist went off). And I’d generally figured my luck with getting a series was so awful even if someone proposed one I’d often tell them “this sounds cool, but honestly, you might be in a better position to pitch this without me first”. More than likely some parts bad luck some parts just a little paranoia on my part, but certainly in this period I felt like a reliable hand on the tiller, but not someone who could get a ship launched.

Of course, this has turned slightly, Chimpsky took off (though I put that down to the strength of the writing, anyone can draw a chimp) and Dept K – a fun little series Rory McCulloch and I came up with for the 2000AD regened progs went down so well, the editor has commissioned a series (sadly, I’m up to my eyeballs, so I couldn’t draw it – boo!)

So volume 2 done and I’m stuck a little as I’ve run out of the 2000ad “Thrill-Power Containment Units”. Need at least two more (maybe three?) to finish what I’ve started and room for the next few years.

Finally got the first of the 2000AD “Thrill Power Containment Vessels” (ie Binder) filled up – from Prog 1233 (March 2001) to Prog 1522 (Jan 2007) one entire volume of about six years worth of work. Doesn’t look like a lot. I’m not even sure I remember what else I did, between it. I had a day job – started a new one in January 2000, after that got married in 2003, then our eldest son, Nathan, was born in 2004. The binder holds about 28 issues, so averaged 4-5 issues a year. But… 2008 is ahead and that’s where it gets interesting, because, fact fans, 2008 is when I gave up my day job…

This first volume, as I said, starts with my Dredd, then Rogue Trooper (mentioned in previous post) after that it’s on to the 86ers, then a little period where I became 2000ad’s oh-my-god-someone-else-has-ballsed-up-their-deadline-can-you-do-it? go to guy, then more 86ers and a fill in Dredd.

And it’s on to Volume 2.

Because I’ve been published by 2000ad for quite some time now (about 20 years and counting) I’ve built up rather a massive back log of back issues. Right now I’m in the process of taking one copy of each and shoving it in a thrill power containment unit (or a magazine holder, to your average Terran).

Right now I’ve archived up to 2004 – not a lot between 2001 – 2004, couple of fun dredds, couple of future shocks and then – what I considered my big break – Rogue Trooper real politik. I got offered that job while I was on honeymoon in Barbados.

I used the hotel’s rather crappy dial up to check my email – iirc we were either about to head home or we were heading out for the day, and man, such an exciting email for me! YES! OF COURSE I wanted to draw a six part rogue trooper – I’d be delighted.

I don’t think I nailed Rogue in that strip, bar on panel, which, ironically, was the first one with him I drew – usually I’ll draw a strip in sequential order, but Rogue was such a big part of why I loved 2000AD that I decided I needed to do the last page first, as it was the first time Rogue appeared in the strip.

And it was … ok. I think it alleviated my worry about it all. But for plot reasons, that final page didn’t feature Rogue’s helmet. And that stupid thing turned out to be my undoing.

Anyway, if you’re interested in reading that Rogue, it’s available in the Rogue Trooper volume 4 from 2000ad.

One last note, my mum died while I was in the middle of drawing the Rogue Trooper. There was a bit of a gap in the schedule of it anyway, and so it’s always had a weird mix of associations, joy mixed with grief.

I mean I don’t want readers to ever judge the work on anything other than the work, but I think, you’ve got to remember behind the lines there are people.

Last Christmas my wife gave me a sketch a day book, and, of course, I didn’t use it. Part of that was my general rubbishness at doing any sort of do-this-per-day part it was because … well, covid happened and all bets were off.

I did do four entires, over the span of a few months, 26th December (a drawing of Baby Yoda) and… 14th March. In which I wrote:

Corona Virus. Calm before storm. There doesn’t feel like a good way to prepare. Think we’re all taking it seriously (esp Nathan) Tom should be ok, my dad is fine now, but he won’t survive it. And neither will Annette’s dad. [I’ve] lived through the fall of the Berlin Wall, Thatcher going, Blair landslide, 2008 collapse, Brexit and now this. Feels like it’s the biggest thing since WWII and yet, right now, NI feels nothing. 28 deaths so far. Dad off to wait it out in Newcastle. Feeling overwhelmed but know it’ll get worse. Trying to get stuff done before it starts. Will amazon stop?

Sadly we lost Annette’s dad – he hadn’t been well for a long time and passed away. Covid simply made the whole dreadful experience much much worse.

So one year and two days later and a little glimpse of optimism, as I had the first of two vaccine shots today. It was the oxford AstraZeneca one, which – as of right now – is suffering a cloud over questions about whether it’s causing blood clots (two/four reported deaths in italy and they’ve halted its use). Could be. Could be a bad badge. Could be the deaths (awful as they are) are not significent given how many people die of blood clots anyway. In the UK – at least – 11 million shots of the Oxford one have been given with nothing bad reported.

I’m an athiest, but these vaccines are the closest thing to a miracle I’ve ever seen. They’re the moon landings, Martian Rovers and … god, I dunno… the internet … all wrapped up in a little tiny bottle.

Anyway, I’ve had my first shot. Take yours.

(also: Amazon never stopped)