So sad to hear of the death of Leo Baxendale, the celebrated cartoonist responsible for such Beano luminaries as the Bash Street Kids and Minnie the Minx. These Beano characters, and others that Baxendale didn’t create (Dennis the Menace, Lord Snooty), transcended childhood. As an adult, I was still referring to bouts of unattractiveness in terms of a certain handsome Bash Street devil (“I look like Plug from the Beano!”). Most posh males were instantly labelled Lord Snooty. Full disclosure: they still are.
The Beano’s cultural reach has always been vast – part of the fun of Viz in its heyday was spotting all the naughty overlaps. And while these days darker comic characters prevail, there’s still something about the innocence, charm and subversive mischief of those old-style strips that never dates.
Baxendale not only made a huge contribution to British culture, as a long-time Beano man, he was also connected to one of the major existential torments of my life. To this day, I yearn for one of those special hairy Gnasher badges. Everyone has their personal Rosebud and missing out on the Gnasher badge was mine. RIP, Leo Baxendale. The End.
