Richard the Lion was a fictional character in a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano, starting in issue 1678, dated 14 September 1974, and continuing for another few years afterwards. Drawn by David Gudgeon, Richard, a mangy lion and self-styled "king" of Lord Threadbare's safari park, managed the other animals for his Lordship. Other regular characters included Lord Threadbare's butler and his nephew Oswald. External links 1974 comics debuts British comics characters Beano strips DC Thomson Comics characters Lions in literature Fictional kings Comics set in Africa Jungles in fiction Male characters in comics Comics characters introduced in 1974