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Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist [1] who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy .
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Nigel Parkinson is a British cartoonist [1] who works for D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd and mainly draws for The Beano and The Dandy .
Parkinson is the official artist for Dennis the Menace in The Beano. His career in comics began in 1980. Over the following twenty years he worked for many British publishers including for example Fleetway drawing Thunderbirds, Stingray, Scouse Mouse and others, [2] BBC Magazines drawing strips based on TV shows like Grange Hill , Baywatch , and as a 'ghost' artist for many titles published by D.C. Thomson. His first work for The Dandy was in 1982; [3] his first work for The Beano was in 1996. [4] He started drawing Bea in October 1998. Parkinson also occasionally draws The Bash Street Kids, and was particularly active on that strip between 1999 and 2001. He also ghosted Mike Pearse's style for the spin-off strip Singled Out in BeanoMAX.
In 1998, Parkinson started work on The Dandy's then-new football-mad character, Owen Goal, redefining the strip and drawing it until Dandy Xtreme in 2007.
In 1999 Parkinson commenced drawing Dennis the Menace initially alternating his interpretation of the character with artist David Parkins, until 2003 and in 2010/11 with Jim Hansen, Barrie Appleby and Tom Paterson. In 2012 he was commissioned by D.C. Thomson to become the sole official Dennis artist. At the same time he was asked to draw Minnie the Minx in the Beano, which he both drew and wrote, often with Paul Palmer, before handing over the strip to him in 2016.
In 2003, The Dandy asked Parkinson to freshen up the look of the terrible toddlers Cuddles and Dimples, taking over from the original artist, Barrie Appleby and changing the appearance of the characters and the personalities of their parents. His foxy version of Cuddles and Dimples' mum has become a fan favourite.
Since 2005 Nigel Parkinson has also illustrated all of the Beano Jigsaw Puzzles and most of Dennis the Menace merchandise.
In 2008 he began drawing Puss'n'Boots and Marvo the Wonder Chicken for The Dandy and designed a new version of Lord Snooty - Lord Snooty the Third - for The Beano's 70th birthday year.
In 2010 he wrote and drew a comic strip based on comedian Harry Hill's TV Burp for The Dandy (with co-writers including Harry Hill, Sean Baldwin, David Quantick and Duncan Scott) and in 2012 a 12-week run of The Banana Bunch.
In early 2012 he asked fellow Liverpudlian Sir Paul McCartney if he would appear in the final print edition of The Dandy, as he had said in 1963 that his ambition was to have his picture in the comic; McCartney did, [5] and later claimed some of his friends and family thought it was a highlight of his career!
In 2013, a drawing of Mock the Week regulars Dara Ó Briain, Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Chris Addison alongside Dennis was shown (and commented on) on an episode of the series.
He has also drawn adverts for Milky Way, Wenlock & Mandeville, Lego, Nesquik, and Real Construction. He drew the record sleeve for Kaiser Chiefs's single "The Angry Mob" and Count Arthur Strong's Christmas CD.
He drew the stamps collection for both Isle of Man Post office in 2018 [6] and The Royal Mail in 2021 [7]
He is one of the few commercial cartoonists in the UK to operate a studio system with assistants. His colour artist since 2005 is Nika Nartova.
From 2015 he began attending Comic cons regularly (having refused all but one offer in 2008, until then) with Nika Nartova where they do sketches for attendees, give interviews and talks and demonstrations. Together and separately they have visited nearly 50 different British towns and cities including London (12 times), Edinburgh (twice), Cardiff (three times), Belfast, Manchester (4 times), Glasgow (4 times), Birmingham (4 times), Brighton (twice), Newcastle, Bristol (3 times) York, Kendal, Blackpool (5 times), Exeter (four times), Reading (three times), Leeds (three times), Cambridge (twice), Liverpool (6 times), Bolton (3 times), Wigan (twice), Weymouth, Southport, Walsall, Dundee (twice), Loughborough, Bradford, Norwich, Nottingham, Shrewsbury (twice), Nantwich (twice), Buxton (twice), Blackburn, Bath, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Enniskillen (three times), Telford (4 times), Hull (twice), Northwich (twice), Macclesfield (three times), Carlisle, Harrogate, Warrington, Morecambe, Derby, Eden Project, Kenilworth, Oldham and Sunderland as well as Comic Cons in Ireland, Greece and Malta. [8]
The main strips that Nigel has drawn are:
| Comic Strip | Dates | Comic drawn for | Notes |
| The Banana Bunch | 2000–2004, 2012 | The Dandy/Dandy Xtreme | |
| The Bash Street Kids | 1998–present | The Beano/BeanoMAX | Drawn regularly between 1999 and 2001, and occasionally since then, filling in for David Sutherland |
| Bash Street Kids - Singled Out | 2007–2013 | BeanoMAX | |
| Beaginnings | 1998–2008 | The Beano | |
| Cuddles and Dimples | 2004–2010, 2012–present | The Dandy, Dandy Xtreme | Took over from Barrie Appleby when The Dandy relaunched in 2004. Axed when Dandy revamped in October 2010. Returned in January 2012, as reprints |
| Dennis the Menace | 1999–present | The Beano, the Beano max, Dennis the menace and Gnasher's epic mag | Drew about half of all Dennis's between 1999 and 2009, became Official Dennis artist from 2012. |
| Lord Snooty the Third | 2008–2011 | The Beano | Lord Snooty's grandson |
| Marvo the Wonder Chicken | 2008–2012 | Dandy Xtreme, The Dandy | Returned in August 2008. Casualty of 2010 Dandy revamp. Returned again in issue 3515. |
| Owen Goal | 1998–2009. 2014–present | The Dandy, Dandy Xtreme | Replaced reprints of Cannonball Kid |
| Minnie The Minx | 2012–2016 | Beano | Became regular Minnie artist |
| Harry Hill's Real Life Adventures in TV Land Featuring Knitted Character | 2010–2012 | The Dandy | Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Mag |
The Beano is a British anthology comic magazine created by Scottish publishing company DC Thomson. Its first issue was published on 30 July 1938, and it published its 4000th issue in August 2019. Popular and well-known comic strips and characters include Dennis the Menace, Minnie the Minx, The Bash Street Kids, Roger the Dodger, Billy Whizz, Lord Snooty and His Pals, Ivy the Terrible, General Jumbo, Jonah, and Biffo the Bear.
Roger the Dodger is a comic strip character from the comic magazine The Beano. He first appeared in his eponymous comic strip in 1953, and is one of the longest-running characters, characterised by his tactics for avoiding responsibility and his parents rules, or simply making chores easier, usually with the help of instructional "dodge" books.
Gnasher is a fictional comic strip character that appears in the British comic magazine The Beano. He is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace, who meets him in 1968's issue 1362, and is also the star of three spin-off comic strips. Gnasher is considered just as iconic as his owner as both have been the stars of many children's television programming and are the unofficial mascots of The Beano. Gnasher reached nationwide news in the 1980s after he disappeared from the magazine for seven weeks, returning with his six newborn puppies, but usually interacts with his son Gnipper.
David Law was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
Nutty was a British comic magazine that ran for 292 issues from 16 February 1980 to 14 September 1985, when it merged with The Dandy. Published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd, Nutty was an attempt to create a more lively and chaotic comic compared to many on sale at the time.
Minnie the Minx, whose real name is Hermione Makepeace is a comic strip character published in the British comic magazine The Beano. Created and originally drawn by Leo Baxendale, she first appeared in issue 596, dated 19 December 1953, making her the third longest running Beano character behind Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger.
Lord Snooty is a fictional character who stars in the British comic strip Lord Snooty and his Pals from the British comic anthology The Beano. The strip debuted in issue 1, illustrated by DC Thomson artist Dudley D. Watkins, who designed and wrote Snooty's stories until 1968, but the stories would continue featuring in Beano issues until 1991, with occasional revivals and character cameos.
The Dandy was a Scottish children's comic magazine published by the Dundee based publisher DC Thomson. The first issue was printed in December 1937, making it the world's third-longest running comic, after Il Giornalino and Detective Comics. From August 2007 until October 2010, it was rebranded as Dandy Xtreme.
Billy Whizz is a fictional character featured in the British comic The Beano, first appearing in issue 1139, dated 16 May 1964, when it replaced The Country Cuzzins. Billy, the title character, is a boy who can run extraordinarily fast. His speed often causes chaos yet at the same time his ability can prove useful. He also has a younger brother called Alfie Whizz of similar appearance. Alfie is usually shown as a normal boy but occasionally he is shown to be just as fast as his brother.
Cuddles and Dimples is a British comic strip published in the comic book magazine The Dandy. It was first published in 1986. The stories' protagonists are two toddler brothers who like to cause double the trouble wherever they go. The artist when the strip first started was Barrie Appleby, who continued until 2004 with a strip by Gordon Bell in the 1994 annual and a sole strip by Nigel Parkinson in 2003, who took over the strip next year as part of the revamp at that time.
Wee Peem was a British comic strip character in The Beano, first written and designed by James Jewell. He starred in two comic strips between 1938 and 1957, and would get up to various forms of mischief in a similar way to later Beano strips such as Dennis the Menace and Minnie the Minx.
Puss 'n' Boots was a British comic strip which ran in the UK comic magazine Sparky from 1969 to 1977 and later appeared in Topper and The Dandy. Most of the strips were drawn by John Geering. Some scripts were written by Morris Heggie, later to become editor of the Dandy.
David Sutherland was a Scottish illustrator and comics artist with DC Thomson, responsible for The Bash Street Kids (1962–2023), Dennis the Menace (1970–1998), Fred's Bed (2008–2012) for The Beano, and the second version of Jak for The Dandy in the early 2000s.
Paddy Brennan is an Irish comics artist who worked mainly in the UK, drawing adventure strips for D. C. Thomson & Co. titles. He was a freelancer, working six months of the year in Dublin and six months in London.
The Fun Size Beano and Fun Size Dandy were small-format, full-colour children's comics, originally published four times monthly by DC Thomson and Co. Ltd between 1997 and 2010. They replaced the Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries, originally printed in red, white and black and published from 1982 to 1997. The Beano Comic Libraries lasted for 368 issues and their Dandy counterparts lasted for 344 issues. There were also comic library specials, The Beano Comic Library Specials being puzzle books and lasting for 87 issues (1988–1994) and the Dandy Comic Library Specials being cartoon books, featuring a number of single page comic strips and these lasted for 88 issues (1987–1994).
Marvo the Wonder Chicken is a character in the UK comic The Dandy. The strip first appeared in 1990, and continued in odd issues until 1999. He returned in 2008 to tie in with the planned DC Thomson TV series. The strip is "silent", with only words such like "Crash" and "Bang", and ending with Marvo saying "Ta-da". Marvo's sidekick and biggest fan, Henry Thrapplewhacker XLIX, also appears.
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by DC Thomson, of Dundee, Scotland. The comic stars a boy named Dennis the Menace and his dog, an "Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound" named Gnasher.
Barrie Appleby is a British comics artist who works mainly for Scottish publisher D. C. Thomson & Co., drawing strips such as Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger for The Beano since the 1970s. He has also drawn Cuddles and Dimples for The Dandy, as well as strips for Nutty, Hoot, Monster Fun and Buster. He also drew Bananaman in the BEEB comic. In 1999, he took over Bananaman in the Dandy from John Geering. He returned for a short time to do Bananaman in 2008.
David Alan Parkins is a British cartoonist and illustrator who has worked for D.C. Thomson, publisher of The Beano and The Dandy. Now based in Canada, he illustrates children's picture books.
