Fireworks day, done best.

As imagined in 1964 by the legendary Leo Baxendale, who needs no introduction.  A large copy of this has been on the wall of my studio for many years.

What's his name

Once upon a time, the artist, illustrator or, my preferred term cartoonist, in comics was anonymous. then some weren't. It all depended on the publishers. Some had no problem advertising they had secured the talents of certain pencil and inkpot pushers.
But other publishers seemed to think that the readership preferred to imagine that the entire contents of a comic were by 'The Artist'.
You could see their point- DC Thomson allowed Dudley Watkins to have his name on the front of every Beano because they were proud of him (and he knew it- long story) but didn't allow anyone else (Allan Morely aside) to sign their work, seemingly because if the artist died or retired or - heaven forbid- sought work elsewhere, another illustrator would be needed, and they would have to draw as near as possible in the same style, and that would just be confusing- better not have ANY names at all. Fleetway were the same.
However, Odhams Press were clearly delighted to have obtained Leo Baxendale and allowed him to put his name boldly on every page he drew. Same with City magazines where Frank Bellamy's signature was emblazoned with panache across all his Thunderbiords spreads in TV Century 21.
And, back in those days, it was those two signatures, Baxendale and Bellamy, that impressed me- these drawings were by real people- they'd even signed their name!

When I started out in comics I had two pen names and my actual name, and would attempt to place one or other of them in the work. knowing that DC Thomson would erase them, and tried to hide it- I remember once hiding it in a downpour of rain which was blanked out, and in a patch of long grass, which wasn't spotted and blanked out- but then maybe it wasn't worth putting one's monicker on it if was so well-hidden that nobody had seen it, not even someone looking for it!
Other publishers were fine about it. (In the main!)

In 1998 when  back at the Dandy and Beano, I noticed nobody was signing their work, So, getting 'my own strips', Beaginnings and Owen Goal,  I put my name on them, knowing that they would be erased.

Except they weren't!

When asked, the editors said they felt the practice of obliterating signatures was a bit old-fashioned. Who couldn't be glad to see David Sutherland, toiling anonymously since 1962 on The Bash Street Kids, put his name on it eventually, as did many others. Nowadays, it's unusual not to see a signature.
Good.
I'm all in favour of putting the writers name on, and so on!

SMASH's Birthday

Britain's Brightest Comic it proclaimed, and it was. Almost every week something new would appear to intrigue, thrill, amuse and delight it's audience. And I should know, it was 'my comic' in 1966! This week is the 45th anniversary of it's debut, on the magazine shelf at Greens' newsagents, Queens Drive, where I first saw it and knew it was for me! Leo Baxendale did the first few covers, none finer than this one!

More More! By Request!

SMASH again. These full page Baxendale covers are a real treat. Back in February 1966 they were a newsagent's dream, making the comic fly off the shelf!
Ron Spencer and Brian Lewis drew later Man From BUNGLE covers (before Batman's sudden arrival in June 1966) which were great, but never quite had The Master's edge!









If you're wondering, the mid sixties were the height of the 'cool spy craze' which had originated with the first Bond movie in 1962, reached fever pitch when Cathy Gale joined Steed, boiled over when Kirby brought us Agent of SHIELD in 1965 and went ballistic with the part-spoof spy series The Man from UNCLE leter that year. Of course Leo Baxendale's own 'Eagle Eye, Junior Spy' was an earlier part of the trend. Within a year the spying part of the genre had given way to the parody part, and we got Mrs Peel, the Girl from UNCLE and Maxwell Smart taking it more and more to ludicrous extremes before the proverbail tin-hat was put on it by Sparky's own I Spy and the gadgetry and satire could go no further!

Even More Bax

A sensational centre spread from WHAM No 17, 1964, written, drawn and hand-coloured by Leo Baxendale (with a little help from Frank Langford drawing 'Kinky Boots' and R. Pierson doing the hand-lettering). The left hand page is partly obscured by a label in this former publisher's file copy, which details the contributors and their fees. Bax's £80 for this two page spread may seem meagre, but back in 1964 that was a lot more than the average weekly wage, and these were not his only pages that week!

More Bax

It's been a while since we enjoyed a page from Leo Baxendale, and I have been asked to include more, so here's his Grimly Feendish from SMASH no.2, with a topical theme!

Leo Baxendale Again

Leo Baxendale is best known for his work on DC Thomson's Beano and Beezer,  Odhams' Wham! and Smash!, and IPC's Monster Fun, but he worked on many other comics. Like this one, Lion, which generally didn't run 'funny' strips. But in 1965 these full page 'sporty' pieces graced its pages yet remain pretty much unknown outside of Bax Fans.

...and SMASH! again

While I've got SMASH! number 3 from 1966 out, here's another Baxendale page, this time the back cover, featuring the famous Big Creep Grimly Feendish. Look at the picture of the Black Maria hurtling in, stuffed full of policemen, squishing Grimly's foot. Know what? To me, this is another of the Great Pages- and twenty one frames!! I have a large copy of it framed on my wall to remind me how it's done!

SMASH!

Every time I draw a cover, the image in the back of my mind is this cool cover from 1966 by the legendary Leo Baxendale. It made a very substantial impression on me back on that snowy Saturday morning and still to this day for me it's the epitome of a funny, busy, friendly cover. In 2001 I told Leo it was my favourite cover, and asked if he recalled it. He said "I remember drawing the cover with Bad Penny in her fort - I was very pleased with it". Me too. I still am. It's great, isn't it?!