Leo Baxendale
Leo Baxendale (born 27 October 1930 in Whittle-le-Woods, Lancashire) is a British cartoonist, who was the creator of the classic Beano strips Little Plum (1953), Minnie the Minx (1953), The Bash Street Kids (created October 1953, began publication February 1954) and The Three Bears (1959).
Career
Baxendale was educated at Preston Catholic College.[1] After serving in the RAF, Baxendale took his first job as an artist for the local Lancashire Evening Post drawing adverts and cartoons.[1] In 1952 he began freelance work for the children's comic The Beano, drawing series such as Little Plum,[2] Minnie the Minx[2] (started in 1953, taken over by Jim Petrie in 1961), The Three Bears and The Bash Street Kids[2][3] (initially called When the Bell Rings). He left The Beano in 1962.[1]
Baxendale also co-operated on the launch of The Beezer in 1956 and Wham! (Odhams Press) in 1964. Baxendale worked for Fleetway (IPC Magazines), creating Clever Dick and Sweeny Toddler.
In the seventies Baxendale created the Willy the Kid series,[2] published by Duckworths. In the 1980s he fought a seven-year legal battle with D.C. Thomson for the rights to his Beano creations, which was eventually settled out of court.[1] In 1987 Leo Baxendale founded the publishing house, Reaper Books. In the same year he brought out THRRP!, an adult comic book.[1] In 1990 he created I Love You Baby Basil! for The Guardian.
Bibliography
The Beano
- Little Plum
- Minnie the Minx
- The Bash Street Kids(originally When the Bell Rings)
- The Three Bears
- Lord Snooty issues 691-718 [4]
The Dandy
- Dinah-Mite
The Beezer
- The Banana Bunch[2]
IPC/Fleetway
- Sweeny Toddler
- Clever Dick
WHAM!
- Biff
- Eagle Eye Junior Spy
- The Tiddlers
- Pest of the West
Smash!
- The Man From BUNGLE
- Grimly Feendish
- Bad Penny
- Sam's Spook
Other
- Willy the Kid
- I Love You Baby Basil
- The Encroachment Part 1 (Reaper 1988)
Further reading
Baxendale, Leo (1978). A Very Funny Business: 40 Years Of Comics. Gerald Duckworth & Co., London.
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Cadwell, Adam (29 November 2013). "Hall of Fame: Leo Baxendale". British Comic Awards. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Armitage, Hugh (15 August 2013). "Inspired: Playing Out's Jim Medway on Willy the Kid". Digital Spy. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ↑ Heartfield, James (2 June 2014). "A comically incomplete exhibition". Spiked. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
- ↑ The History of the Beano. Dundee, Scotland: D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. 2008. p. 316. ISBN 978-1-902407-73-9.
External links
- Reaper Books - Baxendale's own publishing company
- Leo Baxendale at Lambiek.net
- Video clip of Leo Baxendale talking as part of the BBC's Comics Britannia series (2007) (RealPlayer)