Leo Baxendale, the creator of the Bash Street Kids, died recently at the age of 86. When I was a paper boy I read every comic in the bag – Beano, Dandy, Topper, Beezer, Tiger, and more. I loved the names created by Baxendale. In the Bash Street Kids you found Smiffy, Spotty, Toots and, my favourite, Pug. Elsewhere he introduced us to Clever Dick, Grimley Feendish and the amazing Sweeney Toddler.
It’s a lost world and one I have a lot to be grateful for. My granddad Bill taught me to read before I started to go to school by reading comics to me. He used to walk up from work for lunch, sit me on his knee and introduce me to the Bash Street Kids. Thanks Bill, and thanks Leo.