Leonard Keith Lawson (1927 – 29 November 2003), was a notorious criminal who was sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for rape and murder. He died in prison in 2003. Previously, he had been a

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Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

comic book creator developed specialized terminology. Several attempts have been made to formalize and define the terminology of comics by authors such as Will Eisner, Scott McCloud, R. C. Harvey and Dylan Horrocks. Much of the terminology in English is under di ...

, successful

commercial art Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...

ist and

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. Lawson first came to prominence as the creator of ''The Lone Avenger'', an Australian comic book hero, whose first appearance was in the second issue of ''Action Comics'' in 1946 (unrelated to the American comics of the same name), running for thirteen years, eventually taking over the entire comic and selling up to 70,000 copies. The series was heavily influenced by ''

Lone Ranger The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture. He first appeared in 1933 in a ...

'' and other

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comics. Lawson also created another masked Western vigilante hero ''The Hooded Rider'', as well as ''Diana, Queen of the Apes'' and ''Peter Fury''. In 1954, Lawson took five young models to bushland in

Terrey Hills Terrey Hills is a suburb of Northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 25 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Forest District and ...

to take swimsuit photos for a calendar. He bound the women and sexually assaulted them, raping two. He was sentenced to death, which was commuted to 14 years in prison when the death penalty was abolished in New South Wales later that year. Lawson asked to continue producing ''The Lone Avenger'' in prison, but it was handed to another artist. Due to the publicity from the case, the Australian comics industry received heavy scrutiny, with many engaging in

self-censorship Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own discourse, typically out of fear or deference to the perceived preferences, sensibilities, or infallibility of others, and often without overt external pressure. Self-censorship is c ...

practices, and adopting the practices of the US

Comics Code Authority The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of American comic book, comic books in the ...

. The comic was subsequently banned in Queensland and withdrawn by its publisher. Lawson was released from prison in 1961 after serving seven years, half his sentence. On 7 November 1962, Lawson sexually assaulted and murdered 16-year-old Jane Bower, whose portrait he was painting in his apartment. The next day, he took several hostages at the Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School at Moss Vale, killing 15-year-old Wendy Luscombe in the ensuing siege while a teacher attempted to wrestle away his gun. He was sentenced to

. While at Parramatta Gaol, Lawson attacked female dancer Sharon Hamilton, who was performing as part of a dance group for inmates. This was seemingly part of an escape attempt. Hamilton was reportedly traumatised by the attack and killed herself six years later. He died in

Grafton Correctional Centre The former Grafton Gaol, later called the Grafton Correctional Centre and then Grafton Intake and Transient Centre is a heritage-listed former medium security prison for males and females, located in , Clarence Valley Council, New South Wales, ...

in November 2003.

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* * * * * 1927 births 2003 deaths Australian comics writers 20th-century Australian illustrators Australian comics artists Australian advertising artists and illustrators Australian people convicted of murder Australian people convicted of rape Australian people who died in prison custody Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Australian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New South Wales Prisoners sentenced to death by New South Wales Prisoners who died in New South Wales detention {{AUS-crime-bio-stub