Hogmanay - Dec 30 & 31 1974

This is the first of my diaries to record the Sutherland family's legendary Hogmanay party. I say record, obviously being my diary it makes no mention of anything or anybody and devotes most of its space to TV shows and pop records. But we learn that the party started at midnight and I, aged 13, lasted till 1.15 in the morning. Lightweight.

The Star Trek pictures, which this chapter of my diary is peppered with, were cut from my weekly Valiant and TV21 comics, rendering them near worthless when I finally put them on eBay 45 years later.

My Records For The Day include something called Feet which, elsewhere in the diary, I discover was by someone called Mark Stephens. Researching this post I've heard for the first time since. It's not half bad.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest. 

Fold-out Osmonds - March 30 1975

A novel bit of page design from my diary of March 30th and 31st 1975, allowing me to squeeze the entire Osmond family into the page, coinciding with their TV special on the telly.

My diary suggests I did nothing but watch TV all these days, but clearly I was illustrating these pages while in front of the telly. Also, surrounding diary entries suggest, I was writing and drawing ongoing comic series, including my own version of Planet Of The Apes which seems to have run to more than 30 issues, and my superhero team the Galactic Union Of Superheroes, which you see references in those little squares at the outside corners of the pages. These are my versions of the Marvel diary panels that had been in recent comics.

I was also working on a movie, Blunderbirds, as other entries record, still to be blogged. Till then, let us enjoy again the faces of the Osmonds and those teeth which were, at the time, the whitest thing that had been seen on British TV. I remember Clive James commenting that, if you turned the brightness down on your telly, all you'd see are those teeth floating there. We took him literally and tried it.

My Records For The Day include the winner of the previous night's Eurovision Song Contest, a song I still love to this day.

Kev F Sutherland, as well as writing and drawing for The Beano, Marvel, Doctor Who et al, runs Comic Art Masterclasses in schools, libraries & art centres. email for details. Facebook, Twitter. Promo video here. 

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre will be touring near you sometime. Catch up with them on Facebook for the latest.