Minnie the Minx illustrator Jim Petrie dies at 82

TRIBUTES were paid yesterday to the artist who drew Beano favourite Minnie the Minx for more than 40 years, who has passed away aged 82.

The statue of Minnie the Minx in Dundee, left, and a self-portrait drawn by Petrie. Pictures: Contributed

Jim Petrie, from Kirriemuir, Angus, drew more than 2,000 strips of Minnie the Minx in the Beano.

The art teacher took over from original artist Leo Baxendale in early 1961, and retired in 2001 with more than 250,000 readers enjoying his work each week.

His final strip, on 13 January 2001, consisted of Minnie meeting him and bidding farewell.

Mr Petrie said at the time: “Little Minnie has been very good to me. She has kept me in porridge all these years.”

He returned to publishers DC Thomson in 2011 for a one-off called The Tummy Returns featuring Fatty Fudge, another of his popular characters and Minnie’s nemesis.

Mike Stirling, the Beano’s editor in chief, said: “Jim had retired from his fantastic work on Minnie the Minx before I came to work on the Beano, but we were fortunate to persuade him to return to the drawing board and bring Fatty Fudge back in 2011.

“He came back by popular demand after the Beano readers voted for Fatty Fudge, and that became his final strip.

“But Jim was very highly thought of by everyone, and a real comics legend.

“He took over from Leo Baxendale and became, to many people, the definitive Minnie the Minx artist over 40 years and 2,000 strips in the weekly comic.

“Minnie celebrated her 60th anniversary last year and nobody drew her for longer.

“He’d been a teacher by profession, and became known as ‘the only teacher who could control Minnie the Minx’.”