The Ultimate Dennis the Menace Thread 3 3

[ComicBookGuy]

I'll be very interested to see your "Dennis on Safety."

 

Now, I've tried three times to attach a file according to the instructions you gave me. The file is a simple jpeg (30kbs). Each time I was told that I could not post because it was coming from an invalid host (whatever that means).

 

Any suggestions?

 

I'll try to find the safety giveaway by tomorrow. I'm getting ready to go out for the night right now.

 

I'm curious: Can you confirm that no Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine #96 exists? Overstreet says there isn't one, there are two different #95's, and I have never seen one. That would seem to confirm it as far as I can tell, but there is always that lingering possibility!

 

If you want to use the CGC boards as your host, I would make two suggestions based on past experiences:

 

1) Rename your files so that they include only numbers or letters and no symbols such as !@#$%^&*( ). This board rejects any of those symbols in file names for some reason.

 

2) If it still doesn't accept your file, rescan the comic at the lowest possible settings. I changed mine to 75 dpi (the lowest setting for my scanner) and the scans look every bit as good as the ones on the highest settings for some reason.

 

Good luck!

 

Joe

[adamstrange]

Do you know if there has been a feature on Dennis or on Wiseman-Toole in Comic Book Marketplace? That seems to be the main place where notable events or artists/writers get broken out for public consideration.

 

Tim, no, there has not been an article in CBM about Dennis. There is a certain snobbery in the comic hobby, I feel, where some titles are not deemed worthy of recognition. Many Archie & Harvey collectors I know feel the same way. It is an egregious oversight, especially considering Dennis has had numerous movies, tv shows, multiple comic series ranging across decades, and continuous worldwide syndication for over fifty years even after the death of his creator. Dennis is more of a household name in this day and age than Uncle Scrooge or even Tarzan. (If not for the recent Disney movie, I'm not sure any of today's kids would even know who Tarzan is.) It's a blight on the hobby that Ketcham could not see his creation on the cover of the Overstreet Guide or CBM before his death. The only homage I've seen paid toward Ketcham in our hobby is by Fred Hembeck and one of Ketcham's biggest fans, Matt Groening.

Joe

 

The certain snobbery in the hobby is the fixation on super-heros -- which I love -- but which aren't the be-all and end-all genre. There are no boring stories, only boring story-tellers.

 

Then again if Dennis weren't snubbed, you probably wouldn't be able to own all those cool Dennis issues as there wouldn't be enough to go around!

 

I'm impressed with the passion and commitment you demonstrate in seeking out every issue of such inexpensive books. I'm convinced that's one of the most stressful, hair-pulling exercises a collector can do.

[BillyBatson4360]

Can you confirm that no Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine #96 exists? Overstreet says there isn't one, there are two different #95's

 

I'd be happy to. It's a real treat to be able to share this research with other people. When I was doing it, my wife would frequently ask me "Why?"

 

There are indeed two #95's and no #96 in the Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine Series (very strange numbering with these giants. I hope their accountants didn't count this way.):

 

One is "Summer Games"

The other is "That's Our Boy!"

 

#97 is "Comicapers"

[ComicBookGuy]

Thanks for the confirmation! That's exactly how the run looks in my set.

 

By the way, here is a link to a Dennis Bonus Magazine 100 on ebay right now since I know you need this.

 

Dennis Bonus Mag 100 on EBAY

[ComicBookGuy]

Here's a great picture of Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham in 1951 posing with his real life son, whose name is Dennis. As the story goes, his wife, who is also seen here, came to Hank one day and said, "Our son is a menace!" Thus, the legend was born. Here is a publicity shot of all three:

 

[ComicBookGuy]

Given all the discussion and interest about Wiseman, I thought I'd post this playful picture with Fred Toole (left), Ketcham with the mop, and Wiseman cringing. This picture is from Ketcham's book, THE MERCHANT OF DENNIS. In it, he says Wiseman was a free-lance advertising artist. Does this mean he was NOT a comic artist before Dennis? Anybody know if he did work before OR after Dennis?

Ketcham was born in 1920 and this picture is from the early 1950s. Wiseman looks much older than Ketcham.

 

[tth2]

Here's a great picture of Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham in 1951 posing with his real life son, whose name is Dennis. As the story goes, his wife, who is also seen here, came to Hank one day and said, "Our son is a menace!" Thus, the legend was born. Here is a publicity shot of all three:

 

I seem to recall reading that things were not so good in the Ketcham household, and that Dennis became estranged from his father and was leading something of a hand-to-mouth existence in his later years.

[escape-migration]

Can you confirm that no Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine #96 exists? Overstreet says there isn't one, there are two different #95's

 

I'd be happy to. It's a real treat to be able to share this research with other people. When I was doing it, my wife would frequently ask me "Why?"

 

 

Thanks for the info, BB. I hope when time permits, you can post a complete list of the Giants/Bonus mags with the "cover titles".

[ComicBookGuy]

Adam, here is a comic that I found just for you. Looks like they had Dennis's mom in a tub shot after all! To be honest, I think this is a lot funnier than the cover to #5...

 

[ComicBookGuy]

Here's a great picture of Dennis the Menace creator Hank Ketcham in 1951 posing with his real life son, whose name is Dennis. As the story goes, his wife, who is also seen here, came to Hank one day and said, "Our son is a menace!" Thus, the legend was born. Here is a publicity shot of all three:

 

I seem to recall reading that things were not so good in the Ketcham household, and that Dennis became estranged from his father and was leading something of a hand-to-mouth existence in his later years.

 

You're right, Tim. Tragically, Ketcham became estranged from his son at some point. To hear his side of it, he admits being too caught up with his career, but he also says that his son was having lots of trouble at school when he was eight, saying he had learning disabilities. His wife's way of dealing with it was with alcohol and in taking young Dennis with her and leaving. That's his story. But there is a lot to consider here. Consider what it must have been like to be young Dennis, the basis for Dennis the Menace. Every kid in the school knows you and your "story." It had to be tough. How could the poor could ever go about creating his own identity? In the meantime, the dad can't just drop a franchise that is about to be launched as a prime time CBS tv show, that is syndicated internationally, that is being published in comics. Ketcham's biography doesn't talk about Dennis after his wife left; instead, HK talks about his travels and virtually everything else except his son and wife. I don't know much about what his son did later on, but I know he joined the military and did get closer to his dad before HK passed away. If you know any details, I'd love to hear more.

Joe

[tth2]

It would be good to hear that they did get closer before Hank passed away. I don't know anything else about the family situation, what I do know (and which I mentioned above) was all learned from an article in People magazine.

 

Actually, now that I think about it, Hank moved to Switzerland in the 1970s or so, didn't he? Which undoubtedly would have made it more difficult for him to stay in contact with his family (unless that was the point).

[adamstrange]

Adam, here is a comic that I found just for you. Looks like they had Dennis's mom in a tub shot after all! To be honest, I think this is a lot funnier than the cover to #5...

 

 

 

Would've been a heckuva cover!

 

Thanks!

[adamstrange]

It would be good to hear that they did get closer before Hank passed away. I don't know anything else about the family situation, what I do know (and which I mentioned above) was all learned from an article in People magazine. .

 

Glad you're keeping us up-to-date on the celebrity scence. How's Brad and Jen doing these days?

[BillyBatson4360]

Okay, I think I'm finally reading to start posting scans. I've got my fingers crossed (which is making typing very difficult.

 

I thought I'd start with two non-comic items. These are the first two collections of Dennis' newspaper cartoons. What makes them unsual is that they are the hardback editions, not the more commonly seen paperbacks. The first couple of Dennis collections were first published by Henry Holt & Company in hardback a year before paperback versions were available. They retailed for $1.00 (compared to 25 cents for the papaerback edition). I'm assuming these sold far fewr copies than the papaerback, which would make them rarer.

 

This is the first hardback published in 1952, simply titled: "Dennis the Menace:"

 

 

Despite the obvious discoloration of the once-white cover, the book is in amazing shape. The binding is tight and the interior pages are almost pure white. It is a joy to read these early strips when Dennis was a real menace, not the watered-down, greeting card "imp" he is today.

[BillyBatson4360]

And here is the second collection, "More Dennis the Menace." It's my understanding that the paperback versions of these books may also have been abridged - not containing as many cartoons as the hardcover editions.

 

Does anybody have any other hardcover versions? I really don't know when they stopped doing hardcovers and went the paperback-only route.

 

 

You aren't going to believe this, but I picked up both copies in an eBay auction a few years back for about $4 (if memory serves) - almost as cheap as when they were first published! I don't think the seller had a great title for his listing as I stumbled on these by accident and no one had bid on them!

[BillyBatson4360]

Now, could someone explain to me why one scan is posted in a much larger space than the other??? I went through an identical procedure. And both original scans were the same size.

[ComicBookGuy]

BB, here is the data I've collected on the 12 Dennis hardbacks. I have fully indexed them, counted the cartoons in them and the paperbacks, and I will post the other ten hardbacks if you don't. Great idea for a "next step" in this thread. I was going to post all the giveaways, but I will do that after doing this. The early books, specifically the first one, are far more common than the later ones. Condition is tough on all, first for condition, and second for lack of "spots" and discoloration. There were 12 total cartoon hardback collections and 48 of the regular-sized paperback collections (to be discussed later).

Joe

 

Dennis the Menace Hardbacks

* The following are the only 12 hardbacks I have seen.

* The ones with the same year copyright, like 1955, I listed in the correct order according to the info on the back covers. For example, WANTED mentions that RIDES AGAIN is available, and VS EVERYBODY mentions the previous two. In 1958, I assume TEACHER‘S THREAT came out after IN THIS CORNER cause of a higher cover price, and Ketcham copyrights the book for 1959 and the cartoons for 1958, whereas IN THIS CORNER has both copyrights for 1958.

* I double-checked all cartoon counts. I was surprised to see the cartoons in the hb don’t coincide with the paperback counts.

 

1) Dennis the Menace (white cover) 1952 62 cartoons

 

2) More Dennis the Menace 1953 62 cartoons (paperback has 121

cartoons - the hardback has some the paperback doesn’t have &

vice-versa)

 

3) Baby-Sitter’s Guide 1954 - a mix of cartoons & text

 

4) Rides Again 1955 62 cartoons (old version of pb has 123 cartoons; new version has 124 cartoons)

 

5) Wanted 1955 62 cartoons (pb has 124 cartoons)

 

6) VS Everybody 1955 62 cartoons (pb has 124 cartoons; I have a 1950s pb edition and a 1970s pb edition, and they both match up)

 

7) Household Hurricane 1957 62 cartoons

 

8) In This Corner 1958 ($1.00 cover price) 62 cartoons (pb 124)

 

9) Teacher’s Threat 1958 ($1.25 cover price) 62 cartoons (pb 124)

 

10) A.M. Ambassador of Mischief 1959 62 cartoons

 

11) Happy Half-Pint 1961 62 cartoons (pb 124)

 

12) Who Me? 1962 62 cartoons (pb 124)

[BillyBatson4360]

All right. Back for a few more scans. There was some interest in seeing some of the early issues of Dennis in my collection. Obviously, I'll start with # 1. I don't think the condition is as good as CBG's, but I also, don't think it's bad either.

 

BTW, after going years and years not even finding one copy of Dennis # 1 - I now own two. Bought them both on eBay several months apart. Found a copy in worse shape and then upgraded when I found a better condition copy with that relatively few people were bidding on. (So if any of y'all need a # 1, send me a personal message):

 

[BillyBatson4360]

Also a quick word about my collection. I don't really believe in slabbing. The thought that the interior of a comic book - the real "meat" of the object, is sealed away, never to be looked at again, seems infinitely sad to me. I always buy my comics to actually read and look at them. So these early Dennis' are kept in the thicker Mylar sleeves. They were scanned after I (gasp-shudder) removed them from the sleeves.

 

To quote another comic strip hero of mine, Li'l abner: I always was a little sporty with money."

 

CBG, thanks for the information on the Dennis strip collections. I never realized the paperbacks had more strips. By the way, my edition of "Dennis Rides Again" (14th printing - 1959) claims it has 127 cartoons - do I need to count them?

[tth2]

Wow, CBG and BB, you guys are the masters of the Dennis universe!

 

I'd never seen Ketcham's early Dennis strips before, being a kid who only came of reading age in the early 1970s, so it's interesting to see that his early style was much tighter and clearly influenced Wiseman's depiction of Dennis. My memory of the Dennis comic strip by the time I started reading it in the early 1970s was a much looser style, which perhaps not surprisingly was mimicked by the much looser post-Wiseman depiction in the comic book. Was this Ketcham himself getting lazier through the years, or the result of ghost artists taking over the drawing duties?