import matplotlib.pyplot as plt axs = [] ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 1) axs += [ax] plt.plot([1, 2, 3], [0, 0.5, 0.2]) ax = plt.subplot(1, 2, 2) axs += [ax] plt.plot([3, 2, 1], [0, 0.5, 0.2]) plt.suptitle('Implicit Interface: save handles') for i in range(2): plt.sca(axs[i]) plt.xlabel('Boo')