Learn how to draw Minnie the Minx (and more!) thanks to MCM Birmingham and Beano artist Laura Howell

Imagine, for a second, that you could get a personal lesson in how to draw a comic book icon from the artist currently responsible for drawing that comic book icon. Attendees to last December’s MCM Birmingham had that pleasure, and now, so can you.

As part of last year’s convention, audiences were given a guide in bringing DC Thomson’s Minnie the Minx — who’s been starring in groundbreaking kids’ anthology The Beano for more than 70 years — to life from the woman who’s been doing that on a weekly basis for the last six years.

For those unfamiliar with the character — which is to say, Americans; it’d be only a slight exaggeration to suggest that the majority of people in the United Kingdom are particularly familiar with The Beano and its cast of characters — then here’s a quick history lesson: Minnie was first introduced to the world in The Beano #596, released December 19, 1953, described as being “as wild as wild can be.” She followed in the footsteps of fellow Beano characters like Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger by being another kid wish-fulfillment character who’s “naughty” and rampages throughout the world doing whatever she wants — usually involving making fun of the uptight or snobbish people around her — before inevitably being brought to heel by the forces of order and karma. (She’s also canonically Dennis’s cousin, which is one of the few pieces of series canon to stand without contradiction in her 71-year career; her father has had several names, for example.)

The character was created by beloved British cartoonist Leo Baxendale, who stayed with the strip for its first decade; he was then followed by a parade of top-class cartoonists, including Jim Petrie, Tom Paterson, and current artist Laura Howell, who has been responsible for the strip since 2018. Howell is a mainstay at MCM shows in the UK, not just interacting with fans at her table, but teaching them the skills to bring Minnie the Minx - and other characters, including Sonic the Hedgehog! - to life by themselves, as can be seen in the video below, filmed at MCM Birmingham Comic Con in December 2023.:

You can watch more videos from MCM Birmingham 2023 right here.

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