Tom is probably best known for his work at Fleetway/IPC Magazines since the mid seventies, where he took over Shiver And Shake's Sweeny Toddler from Leo Baxendale.

In 1984, incoming Beano editor Euan Kerr commissioned him to create the character of Calamity James, the walking misfit. As Kerr explained to me, "Tom Paterson has a drawing style... I greatly admire."

Paterson's style has since matured to the point where it is starting to resemble Baxendale's early work, best demonstrated by his occasional work on the Bash Street Kids summer special. In the mid-nineties he adopted the Numskulls when they were rescued from the defunct Beezer. More recently he has continued to act as a surrogate Baxendale, drawing a brief run of Little Plum adventures for the 60th anniversary, and, in 2001, being the ideal artist to take over Minnie the Minx from Jim Petrie.