Thor's Hammer Squashed My Lunch - comics by kids

This bumper bundle of comics was created by kids from the four corners of the globe. Admittedly I only travelled as far as Switzerland, the Isle Of Wight, Milton Keynes and Birmingham to meet them, but that felt like far enough to be getting along with. The above pair were from my annual two-day visit to Colmore Juniors in Kings Heath where I do classes with all four groups of their Year Fives.

The second batch from Colmore, and a wonderfully eclectic range of titles, comics strips inside. I never show you those here on the blog, do I? Well, for every cover you can see, there are up to 30 individual comic strips by pupils in there. Count your blessings you don't have to see some of them, but a whole lot are works of genius. I have quite the unique archive here on my shelves.

This pair of beauties are the fruits of my most recent journey to Beau Soleil College, up in the alps in Villars Sur Ollon in Switzerland. I was there two weeks ago, visiting the school down the road, Aiglon, and here I was back again, at the school whose annual fees are €100,000. Yes, dear reader, this time I did charge more.

This one comic from Shenley Brook End is more by way of a byproduct, from the ongoing work I've been doing with a series of schools in Milton Keynes which I'm collecting up into an environment themed comic for the Milton Keynes Islamic Art and Culture programme. On the right you can see how, on the flipchart, I help the pupils to visualise their story ideas. To be honest, I don't get the chance to do this often enough, and it's most worth doing with the most able pupils. Which is what I was working with today. I had a whole day with one group of year 12 and 13s and they did the best work you've seen. It's going to look good when it's printed (and given away at Art In The Park in June).

This comic, and flipchart, came from my class at the Hullabaloo festival in Sandown on the Isle Of Wight. I was there for two days, spending the first day just drawing caricatures and whipping up interest in the class on the Sunday. The flipchart was a result of that extra amount of time on my hands, I hope the kids appreciated it.

The celebrities these eight groups chose for my far-famed demonstration strip were Kim Jogn Un, Stephen Hawking, Beyonce, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Prince Harry, Dan TDM, and most original of the year so far: Geoff Nutkins (he's an aviation artist who one of the kids has a jigsaw by, apparently).



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video here.