Look and Learn

Leonard James Matthews, (1914-1997) was an editor, writer and sometime illustrator of comics and children's magazines and arguably his greatest claim to fame was that he was the founder of this renowned juvenile magazine. In his capacity as editor of all juvenile publications at Fleetway Publications, he hit on the idea of a new magazine, having seen continental rivals in the form of the Italian educational magazines Conoscere and La Vita Meravigliosa. His board of directors eventually gave the go-ahead in late 1961. On January 20th 1962 the first edition was launched. It was to run for two decades. Its content was strong on educations ranging over a wide variety of subjects as varied as the history of towns, famous dogs, the Loch Ness Monster and volcanoes. Each edition was lavishly illustrated in full colour and featured the work of the very best of comic illustrators and artists of the day. They included Fortunino Matania, Graham Coton, Gerry Embleton, Clive Uptton, Cecil Doughty, Ralph Bruce, Peter Jackson and many more. The magazine closed with its final issue number 1049 on April 17th 1982.