Bermudian teacher and musician Kevin Maybury is drawing on all his talents for his new role as cartoonist for The Royal Gazette.

Mr Maybury is excited about the new post, but will take a different approach to the late Peter Woolcock.

He said: “I really liked his work, but I don’t look at it like I am trying to fill his footsteps.

“We have different styles. Everyone has their different style and approaches.

“Peter Woolcock was more trained than I am. I have only recently resurrected my style, and it can only improve over time.”

Mr Maybury first delved into drawing cartoons in the 1970s.

He said: “My first article was in the Bermuda Recorder when I was 14, based on my artwork, which was on display at City Hall.

“I was self-taught — I got my O levels, but I didn’t go for higher training. I used to do portraits of the various singers or whoever else. “I kept on doodling. I don’t recall exactly how I got into cartoons, but I think it was through the usual route of comic books. I would sketch Archie and stuff like that.”

Eventually, he moved on to the style of syndicated comic strips.

He said: “It was simpler; less colour with shorter panels and it progressed from there.

“As time went on, when The Royal Gazette moved from Reid Street, I tried to get back into it.

“I produced a month-worth of a strip — I liked how the stories continued in the syndicated comics and I thought I could do that with my own characters.”

He said the strip never found its way into the paper and he turned his focus to his teaching career and his family.

Mr Maybury recently began to consider what he wanted to do next and his mind turned back to his interest in drawing cartoons.

He said: “I am a musician, I love to teach. I thought it would be great if I could also spend time working on my drawings.

“Music, cartoons and teaching. It sounds like a good combination to me.

“I don’t know if I want to call it a bucket list — more like a retirement plan.”

Mr Maybury said readers can expect comics about local politics alongside the day-to-day issues of Bermuda life, but he has no interest in taking sides.

He said: “It is going to be political, and there will be political characters portrayed. Hopefully, nobody will get insulted.

“There’s no intention of siding with the OBA or the PLP. It’s not about that. I have no intention of giving any perception of bias.

“I think it’s needed, it’s timely.”

• Kevin Maybury’s cartoons will appear in The Royal Gazette and online on Wednesdays and Fridays, unless exceptional circumstances dictate