Johannes Leak will publish daily in The Australian "inheriting" the position left by his father, Bill Leak, following his death in 2017 at the age of 61.
The newspaper announced (Text on paywall) in early November published this cartoon in which Bill Leaks hands his son his clown shoes, warning him: "You'll grow up with them".
Johannes studied at the Julian Ashton School of Art (1999 - 2005). He took up figurative painting for a few years before moving on to digital illustration.
Since then he has worked as a freelancer specialising in vignetting, cartooning, storyboarding and advertising graphic design. His clients have included various advertising agencies, television and film production companies in Australia.
He is a regular contributor to the surf magazine "Tracks" and published weekly in The Australian. In addition, his illustrations have adorned music albums and he has illustrated the "Grover McBane Rescue Dog" series of children's books.
Johannes, who inherited his father's passion for drawing, will now have to face the shadow of Australia's most controversial and award-winning cartoonist. In his later years, he provoked angry responses from various groups that had international repercussions.
Latest controversies
In 2016, he angered the indigenous Australian community who protested this cartoon as racist. Read story
The image, prompted The Australian and the cartoonist to be warned of a possible investigation by the Human Rights Commission for breaching section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act. The case was closedin November 2016 without investigation.
In September 2016, he again stirred up trouble and mobilised the LGBTI community against him when he compared gay marriage activists, and by extension the entire LGBTI community, to Nazis.
The cartoonist depicted them parading as members of the Waffen-SS. Dressed in the colours of the LGBTI flag and carrying a spiked bat over their shoulders. He also added the caption "SSM", same sex marriage, in reference to the debate on the possible national referendum on same-sex marriage.
The consultation was being considered in 2017 in Australia. Read fullstory .
