6 Nuns Fight A Fiery Inferno - a week of comics by kids in Ireland

I've just completed a marathon run of Comic Art Masterclasses in Ireland, and what a splendid array of comics they've all completed between them. So good, in fact, I've coloured them all up individually (lots of nights in hotel rooms, what else you gonna do?) so here they are in all their glory. And, studiously avoiding all Irish cliches, Enniscorthy came up with 6 Nuns Fight A Fiery Inferno. In Wexford they gave the cliches an even wider berth...

I worked with two classes a day in Dungarvan, Waterford, Wexford, Enniscorthy and Clongowes Wood, almost all First and Second years (that's year 7 & 8 in old money), and they managed to avoid all the usual cliches those years normally come up with.

I can't promise to add colour to every comic that's produced, and to email them to the schools, but this week's were a fun bunch that more than merited it. The process actually began on day one when, with a longer than usual lunch break, I took the opportunity to show one of the more eager comic fans how to do Photoshop colouring, as I had my laptop with me. The librarian printed out the finished result before the next class, and it was fabulous to see how impressive a 10 minute bit of colouring can be. Here was that first effort...

Actually that was the most cliched title any of this week's groups came up with. Usually you can rely on First and Second years to come up with "Lol", "Yolo", "I Don't Know" and "Your Mum". There's also a lot of in-jokes and name-calling. The closest we came to that was this...

Only after I'd produced the cover and printed out the group's copies of the comic did I learn that Soup Bowl Luke was the nickname of the cousin of one of the pupils in the class. And, worse, that the pupils in question are from the Traveller community. I was assured that neither they nor anyone is worried by this. Ireland is another country.

Possibly the sweetest, most childlike title of the week. Like I say, they avoided cliches this week, and came up with some corking ideas.

Of course they had to come up with celebrities to tread on a worm in my far-famed demonstration strip on the flipchart. A Simon Cowell-free week, I'm pleased to say. They chose instead Rihanna, Joey Essex, Morgan Freeman, Ant McPartlin, Ariana Grande, Benedict Cumberbatch, Beyonce, Barack Obama and, for possibly the only time, Jimmy Bullard out of I'm A Celebrity.

In Me Mum's Car is, I learned after the fact, was based on a Vine. Oh, ask the kids. I don't know.

Thankyou the wonderful kids of Ireland for a smashing week of comic book creativity. The challenge is now on for anyone to come up with such great ideas as you lot.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

Thought Bubble thoughts + travels with my art

I wish I was able to give my thoughts and observations on the excellent Thought Bubble comic festival in Leeds this weekend, but having spent a whole day behind my table full of comics, drawing faces and chatting to the public, and not being able to stay for the Saturday night or the Sunday, I really hardly saw a thing.

I managed to make the Friday night drinks, and got talking to a few people (good to speak to Rich Johnston for the first time in yonks, and meet some new faces), but realised there were so many more I didn't get to see.

Comic festivals have exploded in size and number since I stopped running the Comic Festival in Bristol 10 years ago, and there's an entire new generation of independent self-publishers, many of whom seem to be making a good living from this business. I come away from this weekend's event wanting to make more of my comics, and to get myself back into the thick of the business.

En route to Leeds I did a Comic Art Masterclass day near Harrogate, and if I return next year I'd like to add more classes in the area to fund the weekend. As it was, I broke even on the hire of my table, and would have probably doubled that had I been able to stay for the second day. I'll need more titles to sell if I'm to return, but I'm certainly not short of inspiration now. I think, recently, I've been a bit clueless as to where the comics market lies, being so focussed on the old-school newsstand market of The Beano, which seems to hardly exist now. But new and alternative markets, from online through festivals to bookshops, seem to be the way to go.

I'm now writing my blog from a staff room in Dungarvan, at the start of a week in Ireland which will see me visit Waterford, Wexford, Enniscorthy and Naas. Yes, you should be jealous.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

Suddenly Pineapples - brand new comics by kids

Here we have the front covers of a brand new collection of comics created by kids in my Comic Art Masterclasses in schools from Devon to North Yorkshire via Wiltshire. And I'm delighted to report that Doctor Who is enjoying a resurgence of popularity with my pupils (though, after a week in Ireland, where Doctor Who can't get arrested, it's a relief that they've even heard of it).

An interesting feature I've found over the last term, which has coincided with Peter Capaldi's first season as The Doctor, is that older pupils (year 5 and upwards) are evenly split between wanting me to draw an older Doctor (mostly Matt Smith, with a small fraction of David Tennant), whereas it's the younger pupils (year 3 and 4) who are devoutly Peter Capaldi fans. Seems you never forget your first Doctor. (Below we can see the flipchart drawings from Kentisbeare in Wiltshire, whose year 4 pupils wanted a Capaldi drawing, and Darley near Harrogate, whose year 6s wanted Matt Smith).

The celebrities they chose to tread on a worm in my demonstration strip were Simon Cowell (twice), Cheryl Cole, Taylor Swift, Bradley from The Vamps, and most imaginative suggestion of the week, Mick Jagger.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

Faththth - more new comics by schoolkids

From Coventry to Somerset, these comics are the work of pupils in years 4, 5, 7 and 8, the front covers thereof. And here are some of their delightful little faces too. Delightful as primary schoolkids title suggestions always are, the saddest thing about this selection was the reminder that, of the group that suggested Spider-Pig, hardly any of them realised that the Spider-Pig song (from the Simpsons Movie) was a parody of the Spider-Man theme. It's not the first time I've found kids who thought Spider-Pig was an all-new character and not a parody, reminding us all not to over-estimate the geeky cult references that normal people and kids will be familiar with.

My Comic Art Masterclass draws on my 25 years working for everyone from The Beano to Doctor Who & Marvel comics and teaches everyone in the class, of whatever ability, how easy it is to write and draw comic strips. I can work with two groups in a day, maximum 30 in each group, and I need a minimum of two hours for each. Age 7/8 (yr3) or older only. By the end of each session they'll have produced a comic with a strip in by each of them, which I run off on the photocopier and they each take a copy home, along with a caricature I'll have drawn of every one of them.

The celebs they chose for the demonstration strip were Simon Cowell (twice), Kim Kardashian, Ant McPartlin and, most original of the week, Edina Menzel.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

2-Pac & the Mutant Killer Dinosaur - comics by kids in Dublin

This week I enjoyed three days in schools in Dublin, working with high school kids from Crumlin, Tallaght and Finglas, teaching them how to draw comics. Here are some of the results.

The Minecraft comic (The World That Nobody Thought Was Real) was an interesting project where, rather than do my usual practiced introduction to comic art, I worked with pupils who'd already had my class and we tried to turn the resolutely narrative-free Minecraft into comic strip stories. This was a challenge as, when you remove the movement from animation, the characters and objects don't look like very much, and they don't speak. Amazingly we found a way, and my efforts will form part of their coursework.

The eponymous heroes of The Adventures of Leek & Charline began life as Lee and Charli - a common feature in teenage comics in my classes is that the pupils will choose their classmates as the subject (these were 1st & 2nd years, that is year 8 & 9, the hormonal minefield years). However Lee went on to not want his name on the comic, hence the addition of some extra letters and a pair of specs.

The 2-Pac comic was originally entitle 2-Pac Eats an E, and that was one of the more tolerable titles. Did I mention this week's pupils were first, second and third years, with a group of sixth formers thrown in for balance?

The celebrities they chose for the demonstration strip were Mrs Brown, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Johnny Depp and Cristiano Ronaldo.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

Dennis in the Christmas Beano - behind the scenes

How chuffed am I to have written the lead story in this year's Beano Christmas special? And for it to be drawn by Nigel Parkinson is even better. A six pager starring Dennis, Minnie and sundry other Beano stars,  it's worth the entrance price on its own. But how did it look when I scribbled it out to send to the editor? I'm glad you asked...

On balance I think I prefer Nigel's version. (The rest was a typescript, I just provided a, probably unnecessary, layout sketch for the first page). Buy the Christmas Beano, on sale from all good newsagents now!

The last time I wrote a Dennis script for someone else to draw was way back in 2008 when I wrote a series of cover stories which were drawn by the great Tom Paterson during his brief stint as Beano cover artist. It was some nonsense about a mummified cat and, sadly, my name doesn't appear on it. If I ever find it in the files, I'll let you see it.



Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing Pansy Potter, Bananaman, Biffo The Bear et al 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. 

November in the Socks calendar - two artists

Not one but two artists fill the November slot in the Socks' 2014 art calendar, but can you identify them? Either it's our choice of artists, or the way we've done them, but nobody seems to guess these two first time. Go on, have a guess, answers below.

ızzoןoɐd opɹɐnpǝ puɐ uoɔɐq sıɔuɐɹɟ : ɐ

To see all 12 entries, plus the front cover, click and look at the free preview of the calendar. And you can see 2012 and 2013's calendar (cult icons and sci-fi respectively) on the website.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are on tour... NOW!

Sept 26 - MAC, Belfast Comedy Festival
Oct 10 - Heron Theatre, Beetham Cumbria
Oct 11 - Leamington Royal Spa Centre
Oct 16 - Ormskirk Civic Hall
Oct 31 - Lichfield Garrick Studio