Nestling inside Surrey-based auction house Ewbank’s upcoming Entertainment & Memorabilia Premier Live Auction on 14th December, alongside film, television, music and sports memorabilia is some incredible art by Leo Baxendale – test pages for a “Super Comic” that, sadly, never happened.
On offer across four separate lots are four original artworks by Baxendale, the art pages for a landscape format “Super Comic” – a title page, a two-page strip titled “Dudley’s Diary”, and a tantalising single page from a horror humour strip featuring a cameo by one of Baxendale’s best known creations for the weekly comic WHAM!, Grimly Feendish.
Cartoonist and British comics expert Lew Stringer notes of the artworks that in his autobiography, A Very Funny Business, Leo Baxendale spoke of creating a “Supercomic” (or “Super Beano”) for Odhams, that evolved into WHAM! “but he didn’t mention any pages like this.”
“‘Dudley’s Diary’ looks more like the stuff he was doing in 1969 when he sometimes had diary-type pages in ‘Swots and Blots’,” Lew observes. “I wonder if Super Comic is post-WHAM!, and he was hoping to develop it for another publisher? I see that all these pages are in the horizontal format. Perhaps it was intended to be a book, rather than a slim comic?”
Comics archivist Steve Holland noted in his 2017 tribute to Baxendale, as the artist’s two-year contract was coming to an end at Odhams in 1965, he began circulating the idea of a monthly ‘super-comic’ to publishers and his relationship with Odhams soured.
Could this be surviving pages from that “Super Comic”? If only Leo was still around to ask, but, sadly, he passed in 2017.
Born in Lancashire on 27th October 1930, Leo Baxendale was an inspirational figure in the world of British comics, rightfully described as “one of the genuine innovators of British comics” by comics archivist and author Steve Holland.
Most of his fans will remember him as the creator of The Beano strips “Little Plum“, “Minnie the Minx“, “The Bash Street Kids” (first published as “When the Bell Rings”) and “The Three Bears“, but for me it’s his work in the 1960s for WHAM! – particularly that superlative, wickedly funny character Grimly Feendish, foil to Eagle Eye, star of “Eagle-Eye, Junior Spy“, that I enjoyed most.
As the Comic Creators Project noted of his work of that time, Baxendale was free to experiment with page layout and full colour in the pages of WHAM!, and he attempted to break the mould of older strips by the use of bizarre humour, outrageous puns, and surreal plots. His joyful creativity that resulted from these experiments are clear to see on the page. He would take such mania even further with his later work – and it appears these “Super Comic” pages are a previously unknown example of this.
A specially-made Baxendale print – “Baby Basil Does His Bit” – is on permanent display in Kendal’s Brewery Arts Centre. The installation is a permanent tribute to an extraordinary and influential creator.
You can bid on the artworks after registering on The Saleroom here, here, here and here – or view the full catalogue here, or on Ewbank’s own website.
The auction also includes a wide range of James Bond items and Lord of the Rings film trilogy memorabilia, handwritten Oasis song lyrics, Doctor Who limited edition posters, film posters, The Simpsons art prints, animation memorabilia, and much, much more.
Ewbank’s are an international auction house based in Surrey. Specialising in the sale of Jewellery, Watches, Antiques, Memorabilia, Collectables and Cars. Ewbank’s are a family run business and adhere to the highest ethical standards, dedicated to giving clients and buyers and efficient and friendly service.
With buyers and sellers all over the world, Ewbank’s hold regular specialist live and timed auctions of Jewellery, Watches, Fine and Contemporary Art, Entertainment and Memorabilia, Vintage Posters, Antiques, Modern Design, Trading Cards and Video Games, Vintage Fashion and Modern and Classic Cars. Along with the monthly Pre-Loved, Vintage and Antique Auctions.
• Ewbank’s Entertainment & Memorabilia Premier Live Auction starts at 10.00pm 14th December 2023 Ewbank’s, Burnt Common Auction Rooms, London Road, Send, Woking, Surrey, GU23 7LN | Viewing dates: 11th, 12th and 13th December 2023 9.00 – 5.00pm | View the auction on The-Saleroom | Ewbank’s is online at ewbankauctions.co.uk
• Read our tribute to Leo Baxendale here
With thanks to David Roach for spotting these artworks
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
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