''Sweeny Toddler'' (sometimes titled ''Help! It's Sweeny Toddler'') was a British comic strip by

Leo Baxendale Joseph Leo Baxendale (27 October 1930 – 23 April 2017) was an English cartoonist and publisher. Baxendale wrote and drew several titles. Among his best-known creations are the ''The Beano, Beano'' comic strip, strips ''Little Plum'', ''Minnie ...

, which originally appeared in the British magazines ''

Shiver and Shake ''Shiver and Shake'' was a British comic magazine published every Monday by IPC Magazines Ltd. It ran from (issue dates) 10 March 1973 to 5 October 1974, when it merged with '' Whoopee!'' As often happens with British comics, many names of stri ...

'', ''

Whoopee! ''Whoopee!'' is a 1928 musical comedy with a book based on Owen Davis's play, ''The Nervous Wreck.'' The musical libretto was written by William Anthony McGuire, with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Gus Kahn. The musical premiered on Bro ...

'', ''

Whizzer and Chips ''Whizzer and Chips'' was a British comics magazine that ran from 18 October 1969 to 27 October 1990, when it merged with the comic '' Buster''. As with most comics of the time, ''Whizzer and Chips'' was dated one week ahead of the day it actu ...

'' and finally '' Buster'' between 1973 and 2000. It was a

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

about a little mischievous

toddler A toddler is a child approximately 12 to 36 months old, though definitions vary. The toddler years are a time of great cognitive, emotional and social development. The word is derived from "to toddle", which means to walk unsteadily, like a child ...

. The name is a play on

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

Concept

Originally drawn by

, Sweeny was a two-year-old 'toddler from hell'. With his pet dog Henry, he caused havoc around town, the outcome of which would usually involve being caught by his parents and punished with the

slipper Slippers are light footwear that are easy to put on and off and are intended to be worn indoors, particularly at home. They provide comfort and protection for the feet when walking indoors. History The recorded history of slippers can be traced ...

Tom Paterson Tom Paterson is a Scottish comic artist who drew characters for Fleetway in 1973–1990, and D.C Thomson from 1986 to 2012. As of 2013, he currently draws strips for Viz. He lives in Leith, with three children, and is a Hearts supporter. Tak ...

took over from Baxendale quite early on, Paterson becoming easily the most famous and longest running artist to draw the strip.

Publication history

The character first appeared in issue 1 of ''Shiver and Shake'', dated 10 March 1973 in the "Shiver" section. Always a popular character, Sweeny survived ''Shiver and Shake''s merger with ''

'' in 1974. The early 1980s saw Graham Exton become the writer, and in 1984 (issue dated 7 April) Sweeny became the cover star of ''Whoopee!'' for a second time (after being replaced by Snack-Man for a short period). When Whoopee merged with ''

'' in 1985, the first merged issue featured Sweeny hijacking several of the pages asking when his strip was going to appear. When it finally appeared on the back page, he said that "Rotten ol' Ed will pay for this", managing to work his way back onto the cover from the next issue, and becoming a Whizz-Kid. Before the demise of ''Whizzer and Chips'', Tom Paterson left Fleetway in favour of

DC Thomson DC Thomson is a media company based in Dundee, Scotland. Founded by David Couper Thomson in 1905, it is best known for publishing ''The Dundee Courier'', ''The Evening Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Post'' newspapers, and the comics ''Oor Wull ...

. Graham Exton would take over artistic duties as well as writing. ''Sweeny'' also managed to survive the merger with '' Buster'' in 1990. The strip was drawn by

Jimmy Hansen Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * Jimmy (2008 film), ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * Jimmy (1979 film), ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melat ...

and

. As with all strips by the end, around this time it became a reprint, and continued being so until the comic's last issue at the beginning of 2000. As with several other ''Buster'' strips, it was included on the last page of the final issue (How It All Ends), drawn by

Jack Edward Oliver Jack Edward Oliver (19 June 1942 – 26 May 2007) was a British cartoonist. He is more usually known as J. Edward Oliver (or JEO, or Jack). Biography JEO achieved fame in the 1970s with a long-running strip in the UK music paper '' Disc (an ...

. Explaining what eventually happened to all these characters, Sweeny was seen saying that he now likes everyone, and that "me going to be nice to everyone from now on".

Rebellion revival

In 2021, Rebellion Publishing announced that they would be reviving ''

Monster Fun ''Monster Fun'' was originally a weekly British comic strip magazine for children aged seven to twelve. Published by IPC Media, it ran for 73 issues in 1975–1976, when it merged with '' Buster''.

'', and that Sweeeny Toddler would be included in the new issues. A ''Monster Fun'' Halloween Special issue ("Halloween Spooktacular") was published in October 2021, and a new Sweeny Toddler story ("Ghosties", with script and art by

) was included.

References

British comic strips Toddler, Sweeny 1973 comics debuts 2000 comics endings Toddler, Sweeny Gag-a-day comics Comics set in the United Kingdom Toddler, Sweeny Toddler, Sweeny {{comic-strip-stub