Leo Baxendale

Leo Baxendale (born 27 October 1930 in Preston, 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).

Leo Baxendale was at the end of his National Service days in the RAF, when he decided he wanted to be an artist. He got his first job as an artist for a local newspaper. Here he drew adverts and cartoons. In 1952 Leo Baxendale began freelance work for the comic magazine The Beano. This boosted his career. He became one of the most important artists of this magazine, creating series like 'Little Plum', 'Minnie the Minx' (started in 1953, taken over by Jim Petrie in 1961), 'The Three Bears' and 'When the Bell Rings'. This last series was later renamed 'The Bash Street Kids'.

Baxendale also co-operated on the launch of Beezer in 1956 and Wham in 1964. Later in his career Baxendale spent a few years working for the company Fleetway (IPC Magazines), creating the likes of 'Clever Dick' and 'Sweeny Toddler'.

In the seventies Baxendale created the 'Willy the Kid' series, published by Duckworths. There were three books in total between 1976 and 1978. The first book contains racist slurs that would probably prove unacceptable in today's more politically sensitive climate. (The 'unacceptable' words were from a racist bully, who was promptly and properly marmalized by Willy's pal Henry, a black lad. A moral tale.)

Other artists like Tom Paterson and Martin Baxendale (Baxendale's son), adopted the technique. These artists carried his technique into the 1980s. In 1987 Leo Baxendale founded the publishing house, Reaper Books.

He left The Beano in 1962, and created the short-lived "Wham!" comic for Odhams Press, before contributing his brand of cartoon mayhem to Fleetway's line of comics for many years.

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.

In 1990 he created "I LOVE you Baby Basil!" for the Guardian.

See also

Baxendale, Leo (1978). A Very Funny Business: 40 Years Of Comics. Gerald Duckworth & Co., London.

External links

• Reaper Books - Baxendale's own publishing company
• Leo Baxendale at Lambiek.net
• Peter Gray's Leo Baxendale comic fansite
• Video clip of Leo Baxendale talking as part of the BBC's Comics Britannia series (2007) (Real Player)