I first came across Ming Doyle's work when she illustrated a new Michael Moorcock Elric short story in Weird Tales #349, the series' 85th birthday issue. I'm something of a Moorcock nut, and prone to strong opinions about his artistic collaborators, but Doyle's work more than passed muster: Here was an artist whose progress I was going to have to keep a close eye on.

Since then, Doyle's career trajectory has been consistently upward, from the Star Trek-loving webcomic Boldly Gone with Kevin Church, to her current work on the Image comic Mara with Brian Wood. Every time some editor at DC Comics or Marvel claims he isn't employing female creators because there just aren't any out there fit for purpose, she's always one of the first names that pops into my head as I mentally compose a list as long as your arm of women one big gig away from comics super-stardom.

Anyway, it's convention season, that happy time when my favorite artists post lots of lovely sketches on their blogs, Instagram timelines, Facebook and the like -- y'know, that newfangled social media the kids are all talking about. The collective Doyle belongs to, Out of Step Arts, has posted several sketches done at last weeks HeroesCon, some of which can also be seen at her own site, along with more May's Phoenix Comicon. There's a selection of my favorites after the break, including probably the most smouldering-est rendering of Bones McCoy ever.

(Note: The headline has been changed to better reflect the intention of this post, which is to celebrate Ming Doyle's artwork. We apologize if our meaning wasn't clear.)