Becoming Leo...

[Peter Gray]

Leo Baxendale art style developed over the years...

Its amazing he nearly didn't make it as the first two strips were not very good..Charlie Choo he doesn't have a clue...a Chinese detective...Charile Chan it could be based on..
and Oscar Krank which I've not seen...which weren't drawn very well...But the two strip long Little plum looked much better...the style was very appealing..

jumping ahead a little the eyes became very doll like in 1956...

The Beano changed for the better when the Bash Street kids arrived in 1954..When the bell rings...a Casey Court type...But different locations...

1958 is when Leo's comic style is starting to form..

[Peter Gray]

1956 the start of a new crowded characters...the Banana Bunch and boy Leo was amazing drawing this..
Seeing some of the early coloured ones from the first few issues...he could easily been a jigsaw artist if he wanted!! Where's wally eat your heart out..

Also the first Beezer annual he did is so detailed and lots of great humour...printed recently in the Crazy about creatures book..

Its quite a leap from drawing Charile choo...

when the bell rings and the Banana Bunch really improved DC Thomson comics..

[Lew Stringer]

One of the interesting things about Leo's work is how he experimented with his style so much in the 1950s. The Giles influence was there pretty much from the start of course but I've seen some Bash Street pages where he went with a more rendered inking style and with more realistically proportioned figures.

[Peter Gray]

Also like Davy Law in the late 50's...his characters got very tall...

Little Plum...Minnie all got taller for a while..

[philcom55]

It's interesting to note that Leo says he first thought up the Bash Street Kids while walking along Fishergate in Preston on the 20th October 1953 - meaning that this year will see the 60th anniversary of their creation (though they didn't appear in print until 1954).

By contrast one of Baxendale's last creations was 'Baby Basil' who appeared in the Guardian newspaper. I wonder if anybody has any examples of these to share in order to show just how radically his style changed over the years? (Of course it's still possible to acquire a collected edition of the strip's first year via Leo's own website)

- Phil Rushton

[Phoenix]

By contrast one of Baxendale's last creations was 'Baby Basil' who appeared in the Guardian newspaper. I wonder if anybody has any examples of these to share in order to show just how radically his style changed over the years?

If you could let us know which months of which years you are referring to, Phil, I might feel persuaded to go up into my attic.

[Lew Stringer]

By contrast one of Baxendale's last creations was 'Baby Basil' who appeared in the Guardian newspaper. I wonder if anybody has any examples of these to share in order to show just how radically his style changed over the years?

If you could let us know which months of which years you are referring to, Phil, I might feel persuaded to go up into my attic.

A visit to Leo's website might be quicker:

http://www.reaper.co.uk/images/eve.gif

http://www.reaper.co.uk/main.htm

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I think he only managed 3 pages a week, tops, at one point, so a DCT Editor told me ---which is perfectly understandable considering his hyper-detailed period.

All that endless detail may have contributed to arthiritis later, when his style simplified dramatically.

I was also informed that towards the end of his tenure, his deadlines were becoming more unreliable.

It must have been really frustrating having all that endless inspiration, and having to go through all that painstaking work all on his own.

Apparantly his page rates were considerably higher than most other artists at DCT

All this comes through my endless questioning from one DCT Editor in particular, back in the 80s

[Phoenix]

A visit to Leo's website might be quicker

Why is that, Lew? Do you know something about Phil's procrastinatory tendencies that I haven't noticed?

[philcom55]

I think Basil started in 1990, but I'm not sure of the month.

As to my alleged procrastinatory tendencies I'd guess that Lew was simply referring to the fact that an example of Baby Basil can be already seen on Leo's website. On the other hand he might well have heard about my Hamlet fixation: personally I can't decide which is most likely!

- Phil R.

[NP]

I think he only managed 3 pages a week, tops, at one point, so a DCT Editor told me...All this comes through my endless questioning from one DCT Editor in particular, back in the 80s

In my experience, SOME DCT editors from the 1980s tended to downplay Leo's acheivements whilst exaggerating his flaws. For instance, regularly through 1957,58,59 and 60, he drew four and sometimes five full pages a week AND ocassionally ghosted Dennis or Lord Snooty. If he was becoming unreliable over 'deadlines', his work never diminshed in quality. And I would take a DCT editor's use of the term 'paid considerably more' with a LOT of salt- I was told by a DCT editor around 1998 that a special project I was working on would be paid considerably more than a regular page. It was £5 more. I think I may know who that editor you're quoting was!

[Phoenix]

In the Weekend Birthdays column in today's issue of The Guardian, we are informed that Leo Baxendale is 83 tomorrow. This thread seemed an appropriate place to post this information.

[Phoenix]

Leo Baxendale is 84 today. Many happy returns of the day, Leo.

[stevezodiac]

He's like the Steve Ditko of British comics - one of the last of the silver age artists still with us and keeping himself to himself. As a Mike Brown obsessive I wish he'd write a definitive guide to which strips were drawn by MB but I would think his memory isn't what it once was. Happy Birthday Mr Baxendale.

[Phoenix]

On perusing as usual the Birthdays column in today's issue of The Guardian I was reminded that Leo Baxendale is hanging on in there at the age of 85. I think that this year he deserves two congratulatory smilies. Many happy returns of the day, Leo.