Jim Petrie

Jim Petrie (born in 1932) was a British comic artist. He is most notable for drawing 2,000 episodes of Minnie the Minx,[1] a comic strip featured in The Beano, after taking over from the strips original artist Leo Baxendale in 1961. Jim Petries first Minnie the Minx strip appeared in The Beano dated 6 June 1961 and featured Minnie destroying her mother's feather duster to make a red indian headdress and taking her friends captive this strip ended with Minnie being caught by her father and being spanked by her father with a slipper,[1] a common end for a comic strip from this era.

As well as drawing Minnie the Minx, he drew a Minnie the Minx spinoff featuring Fatty Fudge a recurring character from Minnie the Minx. This strip featured Fatty Fudge in food based parodies of popular films such as a parody of The Hound of the Baskervilles entitled Hound of the Picnic Basket.[2] These strips ended in 1991 and have recently been reprinted in the Beano's Retro Beano section.[3]

Other than these two strips Jim Petrie also drew The Sparky People in the comic of that name, Sneaker for The Dandy, Says Smiffy and What to do with a sleeping dad for The Beano.[4] He also drew Billy Green and his Sister Jean, which appeared in the Dandy annuals of 1993 and 1994. Petrie eventually decided to retire with his final strip (a Minnie the Minx strip) appearing on the 13th January, 2001.[1] The story consisted of Minnie meeting her former artist and bidding farewell. The strip was Petrie's 2000th and last, a tally for one artist drawing the same strip in the Beano only surpassed by David Sutherland on the Bash Street Kids. In August 2011, DC Thomson asked him to come out of retirement to do a last strip, for the chance to see a "legend"'s strip again. They asked the Beano readers to send in their ideas for the strip. In the end it was "The Tummy Returns" suggested by William Clyde that got the one-off strip place. However, Harry Rickard (or Wizzkid97) and Oliver Forde (or Cowhizz) both had multiple strips that Jim found good, Harry with Iron (stomach) Man, A-lard-in and Harry Scoffer and the order on Phoenix Street, and Oliver with Currynation Street and The Fat in the Hat. Oliver also suggested Strictly Bun Dancing, Sweet the Nation, Fatman and (I) Scream! (William's was a pun on The Mummy Returns. Harry's ideas were based on Iron Man, Aladdin and Harry Potter and the order of The Phoenix, and Oliver's were inspired by Coronation Street, The Cat in the Hat, Strictly Come Dancing, Beat the Nation, Batman and Scream!.

References

  1. ^ a b c http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1106186.stm
  2. ^ Beano issue 3599 dated 20 August 2011
  3. ^ Beano issue 3595 dated 23 July 2011
  4. ^ The History of the Beano. Dundee, Scotland: D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.. 2008. pp. 345. ISBN 978-1-902407-73-9.