After last year spending over an hour in the queue and just managing to squeeze in for a sketch, I decided to get in line early for Mark. That said, I think it still took me 45mins to get to the front. Since my last sketch was from Fables, I thought it would be good to find something else the Mark had drawn to provide inspiration. I'm always keen to try and find designs that the artist has created themselves, rather than just have their interpretation of Spider-man or Batman. In this case, Mark had illustrated a small book that was written by Neil Gaiman and published as part of World Books Day in the UK. Called Odd and the Frost Giants, it was a Norse-inspired tales about the adventures of a young boy and Mark's illustrations were particularly evocative. I think I foxed him slightly by asking for this particular sketch and it was lucky I had the book there to be signed and provide reference. Luckily, though, he rose to the challenge and drew a frame from a particularly important point in the story. Thanks Mark! (Birmingham International Comic Show 2008)