Socks Crime show Rejected title 1 - Brighton Sock

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre's brand new show, for the Edinburgh Fringe 2015 (and then the world) is on the subject of crime, thrillers, murder mysteries, spies and more crime. But what to call it? They have finally chosen a title, but not before they'd rejected ten good runners up. What were those you ask?

Rejected title Number 1 - Brighton Sock.



So what title have they chosen? Stay tuned...

Piper Quinn And The Rainbow Burping Unicorn - comics by year 8s & 9s

This week in schools I was working with year 8s in Woking and year 9s at Portland Place School, and the comics they've produced clearly show the kind of ideas teenagers are likely to come up with, as opposed to primary school kids (of which you'll see more overall, in these blog posts). We have unicorns and rainbows galore, we have thinly disguised nicknames, and we have a Vine. How much more year 8/9 do you want?



My Name Is Jeff is a Vine (from 22 Jump St, hence my drawing of Channing Tatum*). A very 13 year olds thing. Freaky was definitely someone's nickname, and I'm pretty sure The Coco was, which is the kind of low-level borderline cyber-bullying at which year 8 and 9 excel (I'm getting pretty good at handling this kind of thing and I think I stay on the right side of the line. Fingers crossed, they all go away happy).

And the celebrities that year 8 and 9 choose for the "treads on a worm" demo? Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Beyonce, Mick Jagger, Simon Cowell (of course) and, for the first time I think, Jesus. Did I mention the kids were all great, and their comic strips were a delight.



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


*Shut up, yes it does.

Brand new HD Comic Art Masterclass promo video

As the year gets off to a busy start, with two days of Comic Art Masterclasses already under my belt, and an ever-growing in-tray of new requests, I've taken a moment to update my promo video, recording a brand new one. I hope you like it.

This new version is in HD, using the digital camera which I didn't have when I made the prvious video (in October 2013), with improved sound and new video clips (including my appearance on ITV News in September, and a class filmed a few years ago by Buzz Comics), and lots of updated comic strip excerpts - crediting Wayne Thompson for his Bananaman art, and Mark Buckingham for a 2 second glimpse of his Doctor Strange pencils*.



Now, if you'll excuse me, the nonsense I'm supposed to be scribbling won't make itself up.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing Bananaman in The Beano, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. 


*Though, for the record, those were layouts which I both pencilled and inked, from Doctor Strange 90, but there wasn't room to explain all that so I settled for "Pencils by Mark Buckingham", which is more representative of most of the work I did on that comic's run. - Fact Fan Kev

Diary Of A Wimpy Squid - first kids comics of the year

My Comic Art Masterclasses in schools got off to an bright and early start this year, with me spending the first two days of the school term teaching the Year 4s of Castle View Primary in Slough (since you ask, the castle you get a view of from the staff room window is Windsor). And haven't they produced a fine array of comics between them?

I've added the colour after the fact. Each of the kids goes home with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every one of them and an individual caricature by me.

The celebs they chose for the "treads on a worm" demonstration strip (see blogs passim) were Simon Cowell (ta-daa, the very first class of 2015 continued the trend of the last few years), Cristiano Ronaldo, and Pablo Picasso.



And as well as the year in schools getting off to a good start, the year ahead has started shaping up at quite a lick. I don't remember my inbox filling up quite so quickly, as I've been racing to reply to emails, all from schools and book festivals lining up dates for me to visit. (At the same time, I've been getting 2015's Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre into shape, about which more news very soon).



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing Bananaman in The Beano, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

Predictions for 2015 (and how'd I do predicting 2014?)

At the end of 2013 I wrote a blog having a stab at predicting what might happen in 2014. Let's see how well I fared then, and then I'll have a go at seeing how 2015 might shape up.

Here's what I wrote in Predictions for 2014:

1) Which classic TV show will be remade in 2014?
- Kev's guess(es): The Likely Lads, Doomwatch, Catweazle, Crackerjack, The Young Ones.
WRONG, 5 times over

2) Which TV shows will be cancelled in 2014?
- Doctor Who, The X Factor, Downton Abbey, Hollyoaks, Atlantis.
WRONG, 5 more times over

3) Who will surprise by getting their own hit TV series?
- Justin Lee Collins, Rolf Harris, Bobby Davro, Millicent Martin, Katie Puckrick.
WRONG 5 times - one WAY wronger than all the rest! (Can you tell which it is yet?)

4) What new movie franchise will be announced/made?
- Strontium Dog, Heros The Spartan, Captain Pugwash, Robot Archie, Tales From Tollgate School.
WRONG, another 5 times



5) How much will litre of petrol cost in Dec '14 (currently approx £1.30)? *
- £1.30 again
WRONG. The price has dropped to around £1.15

6) Who will win Edinburgh Comedy Award 2014?
a) Best act? b) Best newcomer?
a) Posh boy from Cambridge b) Posh girl from Cambridge
a) WRONG (John Kearns went to UEA) b) WRONG (Alex Edelman is a male New Yorker)

7) Celeb on the Slab?
- Piers Morgan
WRONG (there was a lot of wishful thinking and not a lot of common sense in these guesses, wasn't there?)

8) Who will win the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest?
- FYR Macedonia
WRONG, Austria

9) Who will put themselves forward to be Mayor of London?
- Rebecca Brooks
Thankfully WRONG. Though Jeremy Paxman looks like being right, who predicted that?

10) Who will play The Master in Doctor Who?
- Tom Hiddleston
Soooooooo WRONG! It was Michelle Gomez, best Master ever.

11) Result of the Scottish Independence vote?
- Stay in. 75%.
My first RIGHT answer. Percentage was 55%

12) Who will be Labour leader at end of 2014?
- Chukka Umunna
WRONG. Still Ed Miliband, bless him.

13) Will any countries leave the Euro? If so who?
- Yes, Portugal, irreconcilable differences.
WRONG. Mostly likely was Greece, but not yet.

14) Surprise country to have a revolution/uprising? 
- Yes, Qatar.
WRONG. Ukraine would have been a better guess. And no-one predicted ISIS

15) What will be surprise invention/technicological advance?
- A clamshell smartphone.
WRONG. Probably microwave engines for spaceships, wasn't it?

16) Will average UK house prices rise or fall by Dec '14?
- Rise.
RIGHT. In London they'd risen 19% by June.

17) Biggest scandal
- Ted Heath child murderer.
WRONG. Although this one gets closer to being uncovered, it would appear.

18) Band to split up?
- One Direction.
WRONG. More of that wishful thinking. It was rumoured in August but didn't happen.

19) Biggest weather news
- Most average year on record.
WRONG. Warmest year on record.

20) Christmas Number 1
- Band Aid 30
 WRONG. I was half right, in that they did make the record, but it was the least successful of the franchise and was knocked off the number one spot in November. Ouch.

2 out of 20, not so good. So to 2015, what do I think will happen? 20 more questions and answers:



1) Which classic TV show remake will be announced in 2015?
The Avengers
2) Which TV show will be cancelled in 2015?
Newsnight
3) Who will surprise by getting their own hit TV series?
Selina Scott
4) What new movie franchise will be announced/made?
Ally Sloper
5) How much will litre of petrol cost in Dec '15 (currently approx £1.15)? 
Up to £1.30
6) Who will win Edinburgh Comedy Award 2015?
a) Best act? b) Best newcomer?
a) Funz and Gamez  b) A Cambridge Footlighter
7) Celeb on the Slab?
Prince Philip, doing Top Gear's Star In A Reasonably Priced Car
8) Who will win the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest?
Ukraine
9) Who will put themselves forward to be Mayor of London?
Mike Read
10) Who will be confirmed as showrunner for season 10 of Doctor Who?
Still Steven Moffat
11) Who will be a surprise candidate in the 2016 US Presidential Election?
 Oprah Winfrey
12) Who will be Labour leader at end of 2015?
Still Ed Miliband (or, wild card guess, Ed is assassinated before the election so Chuka Umuna becomes new leader and Labour win by a sympathetic landslide)
13) Result of the 2015 UK General Election?
Labour party in coalition with SNP, Greens, Sinn Fein and Liberals
14) Surprise country to have a revolution/uprising?
Norway
15) What will be surprise invention/technicological advance?
Silicone chips inside our heads that switch to overload
16) Will average UK house prices rise or fall by Dec '15?
Rise by 5%
17) Biggest scandal
The Guardian turns out to have conspired in big cover-up in the 1980s
18) Band to split up?
U2
19) Biggest weather news
Wettest summer in 20 years
20) Christmas Number 1
The last ever X Factor winner

See you back here in 12 months to see how I did. Here, should you be interested, is how well I did in predicting 2012, and here's the same for 2011.

The US Country Music chart's grisly secret

Have I just uncovered a crime? Chancing to read the Billboard American Country Music chart of the bestselling country records of 2014, it looks for all the world like someone's spent the whole last year leaving a series of subtle clues.

January to March's number 1s, in order, read like a night out with the Good Old Boys and a little lady in a Southern bar:

"Stay"
"Drink a Beer"
"Chillin' It"
"Bottoms Up"

In fact this whole first act is summed up by the summer's big number ones:

"This Is How We Roll"
 "Play It Again"



 In July our story starts to take a dark turn with:

"Somethin' Bad"

Oh no, do we have to dispose of a body or something? How on earth would we do that? Perhaps July to September's number ones have some suggestions of where we could take it, what we'd dig down into, and then how we'd destroy any remaining evidence?

"Beachin'"
 "Dirt"
"Burnin' It Down"

Then we have to make our getaway. But, as November's big number one suggests, we've left a clue:

"Leave the Night On"

...or two:

"Something in the Water"



What a dreadful crime? Who's going to come along and solve it? Let's ask December's number one:

"Shotgun Rider"

It will be exciting to see how this plot is resolved through 2015's Country number ones. Stay tuned, y'all.

My comic strip review of 2014

And here, in its illustrated glory, is my comic strip review of 2014, which I present now for your pleasure.



It's always a challenge to produce one of these before the year is out, I think it sums up the year quite nicely. Should anyone be interested, here are my similarly styled reviews of...

2013
2012
2011
2010

-->

	2014	2013	2012	2011	2010
School days	120	97	82	124	109
Flights (return)	14	18	12	23	?
Socks shows	71	76	110	64	?
Caric gigs	8	20	8	13	?
Nights away	79	74	123	?	?
Socks vids	37	55	81	36	?

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing Bananaman in The Beano, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries and art centres - email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. He's been writing and drawing comics for 25 years, he must know something.