Sutherland got his start in the world of British comics fandom, contributing artwork and humour columns to fanzines like BEM and Fantasy Advertiser in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
From 1999 to 2004, he was the producer of the UK's Comic Festival[2] in Bristol. Beginning as Comics 99,[3][4] it included the National Comics Awards[5] which he co-founded in 1997.[6] For Comics 99, Sutherland produced The World's Biggest Comic[7] which featured the work of 100 of the world's leading comic artists,[8] auctioned to raise money for Comic Relief.[9]
His debut graphic novel Findlay Macbeth was published in 2020,[11] followed by The Prince Of Denmark Street,[12] The Midsummer Night's Dream Team, Comic Tales From The Bible, and Richard The Third.
Since 2003,[23] Sutherland has presented his Comic Art Masterclasses[24][25] in schools and colleges,[26][27] and festivals[28] educating students from seven years old to adult[29] in the art of the comic strip.[30][31][32] He appears regularly in the media as an authority on comics.[33] He has spoken about the use of comic art in education at a number of Boys Writing Conferences,[34] in 2009 he helped devise a unit for a Creative & Media Diploma course,[35] in 2011 he presented the first of the Stan Lee Excelsior Awards in Sheffield,[36] and in 2012 he helped open the new gallery at the BRIT School in Croydon.[37]
Performance career
From 1994 to 2004, Sutherland was a regular compere at Bristol's Comedy Box, where he developed the audience interactive game show Win Some Beer.
Toxic – Hot Rod Cow (a character which has been referenced in Sutherland's Beano strips)
The Beano – Parents Evening in Beano Annual 2007; Pluggy Love & Billy The Cat vs General Jumbo in Beano Annual 2008; Roger The Dodger's Reservoir Dodge in Beano Annual 2009. Notable stories in the weekly Beano include Ickle Bitty Werewolf on Bash Street (3320–3322), School's Out (3316–3319), The Night Before Christmas (3310), Invasion of the Beano Snatchers (3421–3424), At Her Majesty's Pleasure (3335), The Ofsted Inspector (3366–3369), Scary Story (3353–3356) and The Bash Street Zombies (3410–3412)