A cyborg detective in a dark futuristic city. A stressed-out freelancer coping with COVID-19, deadlines and a new baby. A lone swordswoman in a ruined, monster-filled world. Each living parallel lives, yet mysteriously connected.
The year... is 2020.
X365 is an original, experimental graphic novel by comics creator Neill Cameron (Mega Robo Bros, The Phoenix)
THE IDEA
So I had the bright idea, halfway up a motorway one New Year’s Eve, to make a new comic. I am a full-time comics creator already - I write and draw the award-winning all-ages graphic novel series Mega Robo Bros, as well as a bunch of other stuff for weekly children’s comic The Phoenix - but apparently that still isn’t enough comics for me, because I suddenly had this idea for a whole new one. The idea was that, starting the very next day, I’d write and draw one panel a day, every day, for an entire year. No plan going in, no preparation. I’d just make a story up and see where it took me. It would be a chance to play, to experiment. To make something just for fun, for myself and for anyone who felt like reading along on twitter or wherever.
I was conscious of how much work it would be, but felt that one panel a day ought to be manageable, whatever happened.
And so, on January 1st, I began.
The year… was 2020.
THE BOOK
So needless to say, some stuff happened in 2020. If I had known going in how crazy that year was going to be, I would probably not have attempted to do this Fun Yet Demanding Creative Project on top of everything else. But, somehow, I managed to stick to it. And what’s more, I ended up being really grateful for it. For the sense of routine and commitment that sticking to my panel-a-day schedule gave me, and for the feedback from readers that it meant something similar to them. To be, in my tiny little way, a thing that people could rely on through it all.
And you know what, I think it ended up being a pretty good comic. I didn’t really have any expectations going in, but I think it’s fair to say that the end result ended up being richer and stranger and wilder than anything I could have expected.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
It’s about…
It's about the contrast between the future we were promised and the one we ended up living in.
It's about living through terrible times, and finding the connections that keep you going.
Also, it’s about 100 pages.
The book collects the complete X365 story - 12 chapters, 365 panels, a complete yearlong story. It also has new artwork, covers, title pages for each chapter, and as bonus material at the end, an interview about the project that academic, strategy & foresight practitioner Matt Finch conducted with me back in October 2020. I've tried my best to make this a really nice-looking book, and I think it's turned out great.
WHO'S IT FOR?
I'm aware that most of my usual work is for children, and this book... isn't, exactly? As I say I was really just making a story for myself, and so I felt like I had free reign to get as weird as I liked. What I would say is: it's not specifically a comic for children, but there's nothing in it that would be too alarming to, say, a pretty cool 12-year-old. There's some violence, maybe a couple of mild swears, some... general unsettlingness, but you know what? When I was a kid, I was reading Nemesis The Warlock. I think the children will be okay.
Basically: parental discretion is advised?
