Leo Baxendale facts for kids

Joseph Leo Baxendale (born October 27, 1930 – died April 23, 2017) was a famous English cartoonist and publisher. He was known for creating many popular comic strips. Some of his most famous works include Little Plum, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, and The Three Bears, all found in The Beano comic.

Leo Baxendale's Amazing Career

Leo Baxendale was born in Whittle-le-Woods, Lancashire, England. He went to school at Preston Catholic College. After serving in the RAF, he got his first job as an artist. He drew advertisements and cartoons for a local newspaper called the Lancashire Evening Post.

Working with DC Thomson

In 1952, Leo Baxendale started working as a freelance artist for DC Thomson. This company published comics for children. He created many very popular new comic strips for The Beano. These included Little Plum, Minnie the Minx (which started in 1953), The Three Bears, and The Bash Street Kids. The Bash Street Kids was first called When the Bell Rings.

Baxendale also helped launch another DC Thomson comic called The Beezer in 1956. To make his work easier, he moved to Dundee, Scotland, where the publisher was located. His time with DC Thomson ended in 1962 because he had too much work. He felt overwhelmed and decided to leave.

Creating Comics for Odhams

In 1964, Baxendale began working for Odhams Press. His job was to help create and design a new children's comic called Wham!. Two years later, he helped with its sister comic, Smash!.

In the early issues of Wham!, Baxendale created strips that were similar to his Beano work. For example, The Tiddlers was like his The Bash Street Kids. He also made new and original strips like Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy and Georgie's Germs. These new comics tried to be different by using silly humor and surprising stories.

Spinoffs and New Characters

Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy led to two new comic strips in Smash! in 1966. One was The Man From B.U.N.G.L.E., which made fun of a popular TV show. The other was Grimly Feendish, starring Eagle-Eye's most popular character. Grimly Feendish had many strange friends, like bats and spiders, who helped him try to take over the world.

Another strip Baxendale created for Smash! was The Swots and the Blots. This comic was about two rival groups of kids at Pond Road School. They were always trying to outsmart each other, with their teacher caught in the middle. This strip was a direct continuation of The Tiddlers from Wham!.

The Swots and the Blots became even better when Baxendale started drawing it himself in 1969. His drawing style for this comic influenced many other artists. It was known for its cleverness and unique look.

Baxendale also created a strip called Bad Penny. The character Penny was similar to his earlier Minnie the Minx character from The Beano. When he drew Bad Penny, his drawing style had become more developed. He focused on creating funny and exciting stories, while still showing the characters' personalities.

Working with Fleetway

Around 1968, Baxendale moved to another publishing company called Fleetway Publications. This company offered him better pay. Even though he moved, he still drew some strips for Odhams' Smash!, but he didn't sign his name to them.

For Fleetway, Baxendale created several new strips. One was Big Chief Pow Wow for Buster comic. He also created Clever Dick and Sweeny Toddler.

Later Career and Publishing

In 1975, Leo Baxendale left the world of regular British children's comics. He then created a series called Willy the Kid. Later, in the 1980s, he had a long legal disagreement with DC Thomson about the rights to his Beano creations. They eventually settled the case outside of court. The money he received from this settlement allowed him to start his own publishing company, Reaper Books, in the late 1980s.

Before he fully retired from drawing comics in 1992, Baxendale drew I Love You Baby Basil! for The Guardian newspaper for a year.

Leo Baxendale's Family Life

Leo Baxendale and his wife, Peggy, had five children. One of their children, Martin Baxendale, also became a cartoonist. He even worked on some of his father's comic strips.

His Legacy and Death

Leo Baxendale passed away from cancer on April 23, 2017, at the age of 86. Andy Fanton, a writer for The Beano who worked on some of Baxendale's creations, called him "the godfather of so much of what we do." This shows how much Baxendale influenced the world of comics.

Awards and Recognition

In 2013, Leo Baxendale was honored by being the second person added to the British Comic Awards Hall of Fame. He was praised for creating "a lifetime of original, anarchic, hilarious and revolutionary comics." People said his influence on children and other comic artists was "incalculable." His work was seen as a very important part of the history of British children’s comics. The BBC called him "one of Britain's greatest and most influential cartoonists."

Notable Comic Creations

Throughout his career, Leo Baxendale worked for many different publishers. He wrote and drew a wide variety of comic strips. Here are some of his most well-known creations. Besides creating new strips, Baxendale also worked on existing comics, like Lord Snooty in Beano.

For D.C. Thomson

The Beano

• Little Plum
• Minnie the Minx
• The Bash Street Kids (originally When the Bell Rings)
• The Three Bears

The Beezer

• The Banana Bunch

For Odhams Press

Wham!

• Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy
• The Tiddlers (later became The Tiddlers and The Dolls)
• General Nitt and his Barmy Army
• Georgie's Germs
• Grimly Feendish

Smash!

• Bad Penny
• The Swots and the Blots
• Sam's Spook

For IPC/Fleetway

• Big Chief Pow Wow
• Sweeny Toddler
• Clever Dick

Other Creations

• Willy the Kid
• I Love You Baby Basil