Jim Petrie

• Born 1932-06-02 · Died 2014-08-26

Active 1961 to 2001. One-off return in 2011. Petrie had been an art teacher at Kirkton High School, Dundee for 10 years when, in June 1961, he was asked to ghost for Leo Baxendale on Minnie the Minx in the D.C. Thomson comic The Beano. He took over full time in 1962 and drew the strip continuously (save for a few weeks off for illness) for nearly 40 years in the comic, annuals, summer specials and libraries. He retired in 2001, the final strip appearing on the 13th of January. He was persuaded out of retirement in 2011 for a one-off strip featuring Fatty Fudge, a character in the Minnie strip. Other Thomson strips he illustrated in The Beano were "Says Smiffy", "Fatty Fudge" and "What to do with a Sleeping Dad". For companion comic The Dandy he drew "Sneaker" and "Billy Green and his Sister Jean". For Sparky comic (latterly absorbed into The Topper), Petrie drew "We Are The Sparky People!" from 1969-79, a series set in a semi-fictional office with staff who produced Sparky itself. In The Topper he drew "Freddie Stare" from 1979-80. Petrie also drew "The Incredible Sulk" for Jackpot comic, from rival publisher IPC, from 1979 to 1982. After retiring Petrie continued to paint in acrylics and occasionally in oils.