Adventures of UniPig - comics by kids from Latitude to a DFDS Ferry

Never let it be said that Uncle Kev is capable of saying No when offered paying work. So if DC Thomson say we'd like you to do a comic art class on a DFDS Seaways ferry docked in Newcastle, what else can I do but leap at the chance?


Great fun it was, and lovely work was done by pupils from local schools. They took away their photocopied comics, caricatures and the works, and had great photo opportunities with Dennis, who was there in his full costumed glory. So then the call goes up: would you like to do your classes for two days in a series of tents in a field on the hottest days of the year so far?

So it was that I found myself at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk, working for Culture Works East, and teaching kids how to do comic art, while swatting off insects and sweating like a trooper. We didn't have a photocopier, so they didn't go away with a comic in their hands. But a couple of their teachers were there, so I might be getting return bookings out of the event (which was a well-paid event, might I add). Did I say two days at Latitude? I did, here's what else they came up with...

And I also managed a day working in a regular school last week, St James Primary in Rednal. Here were their comic creations. (Uonca Aveso was one of these titles suggested along the way - we pick the best from 30 suggestions - where the poor kid has tried to write something and neither it nor we could work out what they had in mind. Your guess is as good as anybody's.)

The celebrities these kids suggested for the demonstration strip were Simon Cowell, Dynamo, James Bond, Nigel Farage, David Attenborough, Lionel Messi and Barack Obama.

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. After a morning or an afternoon every pupil goes away with a photocopied comic containing a strip by every single one of them, and an individual caricature by Kev F. Please email for details, and follow him on Facebook and Twitter. View the promo video