Leo Baxendale - rare books

Over on Book Palace they've had some rare Leo Baxendale books up for sale recently and I thought it was a good opportunity to see what there is out there by the great man. Further examples of his self-published books very welcome!

Was for sale here - this is Baxendale's autobiography

Was for sale here, Reaper books, 1993 - In "On Comedy", Leo Baxendale brings into close focus one decade; from 1953, the year of his creation of Bash Street, Minnie the Minx and Little Plum, to 1962, the year he left The Beano 

Is for sale here, 48 pages, Reaper books, 1988 - This is the study of a process of accumulating power and control. It describes the physical means of that process of control, and their material consequences for the lives of the people. It also examines the ideologies which determined, and determine, those means and those ends.

I've only ever seen a paperback version (priced at £3.95 apparently) but there was also a hardback version (with dustwrapper) for £8.95

This was for sale here, Gerald Duckworth & Co, 1978, 136 pages 

UPDATED: Leo Baxendale's 'Supercomic'

Update...Ewbank's have ANOTHER page of Supercomic art coming up for sale soon. Lot 256 (here) of their sale on 9th April 2025 features this piece....

bidding opens at £120 and there's been one bid so far. A similar piece (see below) fetched £240 previously.

Top left corner it says (in pencil, and mainly hidden by the frame) "page 1 front cover"

Boom! sells for £460

Leo Baxendale's proposed Supercomic is surely one of the great lost British comics. As he says (on page 86 of his autobiography A very funny business)... 

I conceived the idea of a monthly comic - Supercomic. Monthly comics are common enough in America, but not in Britain. My intention was that four week's work poured into one issue would produce a truly super-comic. I circulated publishers with the idea, and Odhams took it as an affront.  

It looks like (to me anyway, please tell me if I'm wrong!) that auctioneers Ewbank's have another 2 pages of Supercomic coming up for sale later this month in their comics auction on Wednesday 29th May at noon.

The very first lot (lot 4001) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100. This is the first page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

The 2nd lot of the auction (lot 4002) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100.  This is the second page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

All previous pages (and hammer prices) sold by Ewbank's are recorded below...

I've never come across any of the art from Supercomic and was not aware that any even existed until I spotted the art below at a recent auction (24th August 2023, Ewbank's Entertainment & memorabilia auction).

Lot 1043 (hammer price £950+fees) - the introduction by Spotty mentions Supercomic and the (c) note says Leo Baxendale 1967 - which is exactly the right year for this to have been produced

Lot 1044 (hammer price £200+fees) - this follows on directly from the previous image - more mention of Supercomic and the characters who'd appear in it.

Lot 1045 (hammer price £500+fees) - again, another mention of Supercomic and what's going to be in the comic next week.

If you won the auction congratulations to you and if anyone else out there can shed any more light on the art of Supercomic I'd be delighted to hear about it.

More pages from Supercomic were recently (14th December 2023) sold by Ewbank's at their Entertainment & Memorabilia Premier Live Auction sale. Here are the lots and the hammer price...

Lot 7141, £170

Lot 7142, £180

Lot 7143, £240

Lot 7144, £360

Leo Baxendale's 'Supercomic'

Just a reminder that these 2 Baxendale pages go under the hammer later today, I'll update with prices realised post-auction.

Leo Baxendale's proposed Supercomic is surely one of the great lost British comics. As he says (on page 86 of his autobiography A very funny business)... 

I conceived the idea of a monthly comic - Supercomic. Monthly comics are common enough in America, but not in Britain. My intention was that four week's work poured into one issue would produce a truly super-comic. I circulated publishers with the idea, and Odhams took it as an affront.  

It looks like (to me anyway, please tell me if I'm wrong!) that auctioneers Ewbank's have another 2 pages of Supercomic coming up for sale later this month in their comics auction on Wednesday 29th May at noon.

The very first lot (lot 4001) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100. This is the first page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

The 2nd lot of the auction (lot 4002) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100.  This is the second page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

UPDATED: Leo Baxendale's 'Supercomic'

Leo Baxendale's proposed Supercomic is surely one of the great lost British comics. As he says (on page 86 of his autobiography A very funny business)... 

I conceived the idea of a monthly comic - Supercomic. Monthly comics are common enough in America, but not in Britain. My intention was that four week's work poured into one issue would produce a truly super-comic. I circulated publishers with the idea, and Odhams took it as an affront.  

It looks like (to me anyway, please tell me if I'm wrong!) that auctioneers Ewbank's have another 2 pages of Supercomic coming up for sale later this month in their comics auction on Wednesday 29th May at noon.

The very first lot (lot 4001) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100. This is the first page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

The 2nd lot of the auction (lot 4002) is here with an estimate of £200 - £400 and starting bids at £100.  This is the second page of the Fort Fumble strip.

sold for £260 (plus commission etc)

All previous pages (and hammer prices) sold by Ewbank's are recorded below...

I've never come across any of the art from Supercomic and was not aware that any even existed until I spotted the art below at a recent auction (24th August 2023, Ewbank's Entertainment & memorabilia auction).

Lot 1043 (hammer price £950+fees) - the introduction by Spotty mentions Supercomic and the (c) note says Leo Baxendale 1967 - which is exactly the right year for this to have been produced

Lot 1044 (hammer price £200+fees) - this follows on directly from the previous image - more mention of Supercomic and the characters who'd appear in it.

Lot 1045 (hammer price £500+fees) - again, another mention of Supercomic and what's going to be in the comic next week.

If you won the auction congratulations to you and if anyone else out there can shed any more light on the art of Supercomic I'd be delighted to hear about it.

More pages from Supercomic were recently (14th December 2023) sold by Ewbank's at their Entertainment & Memorabilia Premier Live Auction sale. Here are the lots and the hammer price...

Lot 7141, £170

Lot 7142, £180

Lot 7143, £240

Lot 7144, £360

UPDATED: Leo Baxendale's 'Supercomic'

Leo Baxendale's proposed Supercomic is surely one of the great lost British comics. As he says (on page 86 of his autobiography A very funny business)... 

I conceived the idea of a monthly comic - Supercomic. Monthly comics are common enough in America, but not in Britain. My intention was that four week's work poured into one issue would produce a truly super-comic. I circulated publishers with the idea, and Odhams took it as an affront.  

I've never come across any of the art from Supercomic and was not aware that any even existed until I spotted the art below at a recent auction (24th August 2023, Ewbank's Entertainment & memorabilia auction).

Lot 1043 (hammer price £950+fees) - the introduction by Spotty mentions Supercomic and the (c) note says Leo Baxendale 1967 - which is exactly the right year for this to have been produced

Lot 1044 (hammer price £200+fees) - this follows on directly from the previous image - more mention of Supercomic and the characters who'd appear in it.

Lot 1045 (hammer price £500+fees) - again, another mention of Supercomic and what's going to be in the comic next week.

If you won the auction congratulations to you and if anyone else out there can shed any more light on the art of Supercomic I'd be delighted to hear about it.

More pages from Supercomic were recently (14th December 2023) sold by Ewbank's at their Entertainment & Memorabilia Premier Live Auction sale. Here are the lots and the hammer price...

Lot 7141, £170

Lot 7142, £180

Lot 7143, £240

Lot 7144, £360

Leo Baxendale's 'Supercomic'

Leo Baxendale's proposed Supercomic is surely one of the great lost British comics. As he says (on page 86 of his autobiography A very funny business)... 

I conceived the idea of a monthly comic - Supercomic. Monthly comics are common enough in America, but not in Britain. My intention was that four week's work poured into one issue would produce a truly super-comic. I circulated publishers with the idea, and Odhams took it as an affront.  

I've never come across any of the art from Supercomic and was not aware that any even existed until I spotted the art below at a recent auction (24th August 2023, Ewbank's Entertainment & memorabilia auction).

Lot 1043 (hammer price £950+fees) - the introduction by Spotty mentions Supercomic and the (c) note says Leo Baxendale 1967 - which is exactly the right year for this to have been produced

Lot 1044 (hammer price £200+fees) - this follows on directly from the previous image - more mention of Supercomic and the characters who'd appear in it.

Lot 1045 (hammer price £500+fees) - again, another mention of Supercomic and what's going to be in the comic next week.

If you won the auction congratulations to you and if anyone else out there can shed any more light on the art of Supercomic I'd be delighted to hear about it.

Ka-Boom - the art of creating comics (part 2)

Currently running at the Story Museum in Oxford is "Ka-Boom - the art of creating comics" - details here. There's plenty of original art featured in the exhibition. 

I showed an initial selection here

And here's some more...

Some David Law Dennis the Menace art from 1952

Leo Baxendale art for 'When the bell rings'

Minnie the Minx - by Leo Baxendale - from the Beano 3rd March 1962

27th December 1969 Dennis the Menace artwork by David Law

more Minnie the Minx artwork

Ka-Boom - the art of creating comics (part 1)

Currently running at the Story Museum in Oxford is "Ka-Boom - the art of creating comics" - details here. There's plenty of original art featured in the exhibition, here's an initial selection...

Here's Minnie the minx as drawn by Laura Howell

Here's more Minnie the minx as drawn by Laura Howell

Here are some pages for The Phoneix by Zak Simmonds

Here's Leo Baxendale drawing the Bash Street kids

Here's David Law drawing Dennis the Menace

Beano @ Somerset House; Leo Baxendale

If you've not yet made it to the current exhibition at Somerset House, Beano: The art of breaking the rules, I thought I might try and tempt you with these examples of the Leo Baxendale original art that's on display...