Kev F comic art: The Blue Boogdude

No sooner had we finished unpacking a tiny fraction of the boxes lining the three floors of the new place than I was off on my travels again, this time to North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Dudley. Just in time for the war in Ukraine, now in its second week, to send petrol prices soaring. Currently £1.60 a litre, if you're interested. (It was at the height of the lockdown, just 18 months ago, that I bought my cheapest tank of petrol this century, coming in at 99p a litre. How things change, eh?)

Burton Leonard Primary near Harrogate was a surprisingly easy 4 hour drive. At which point I realise I am obsessing about the most mundane details, I have no idea why. The school was of course smashing, and the kids came up with some inspiring titles, the results of which I'm quite pleased with.

These comics were the work of a cluster of years 3, 4, 5, and 6 from three schools so small they had to all join forces to be able to fill two classes. Winmarleigh Primary organised it, Melling Primary hosted it, and Tatham Primary was also there.

For my third school of the week I zoomed up to Blowers Green Primary in Dudley, the school that has the distinction of being the class that broke my duck after the first lockdown, way back in November 2020 (you remember? When petrol was 99p?), squeezing a live visit in just days before lockdowns resumed once more. This time it was delightful to have everything back to normal, with a group of year 6s in the morning, and a splendid group of Gifted and Talenteds in the afternoon. This took place in the school's Art Gallery, which is a portakabin that's been rather brilliantly decorated with reproductions of Old Masters, to give the kids the gallery experience that, given the area, most parents might otherwise not normally give them.

To top the weekend off, on Saturday I zoomed down to Bordon in Hampshire, which has been totally rebuilt since I was last there in 2014, the year before the barracks went, to be replaced by a massive new housing estate. The Phoenix Art Centre survives in the middle of it. Two lovely groups made two smashing comics.

The celebrities these eight groups chose to appear in my demonstration strip were The Queen (twice), Rick Astley, Bella Porch (a Tik Tok dancer, I'm told), Freddie Mercury, John Cena, David Attenborough, and Jack Whitehall.