The Ultimate Dennis the Menace Thread 3 3

[313-migration]

...and two of the interior pages.

 

[ComicBookGuy]

 

What a great entrance, 313. Welcome to the boards!

 

I love the scans of that Dennis rarity. It certainly is shocking to see Dennis in an authorized book saying something like that. At some point, when I move into posting the late 1960s and 1970s stuff, I can show you some stuff even racier than that. So racy, in fact, that I would be afraid to scan their interiors. First off, I'm thinking about the super rare Dennis Tijuana Bible. That aside, how many of those love books have you seen? Trust me when I say that there are many items I know for a fact exist that have NEVER appeared on eBay, and many that have popped up once only, to my knowledge. (I have been on eBay since late 1999 and started purchasing in January 2000.)

 

Anyway, it's great to see a new Dennis fan, and I can't wait to see more scans and hear more about Dennis and other things from you.

 

Joe

[Jon-migration]

Two members of this board, escape and Jon, have posted many Dennis issues to a.b.p.c. that I probably never would have seen otherwise, thanks guys! And Jon, I have Dennis #43 and will put it on top of the scanning stack, OK?

Jim

 

Welcome, Jim, and thanks in advance for the scan.

 

Jon

[Jon-migration]

And "Escape" thanks for posting #17. Do I recall you have #25 as well?

 

Jon

[Allen Ross-migration]

I finished reading The Complete Dennis the Menace on Sunday. Definitely a good book with lots of funny cartoons.

 

I did find it interesting how much of it I had read before, presumably in the old Avon paperbacks Dennis the Menace and More Dennis the Menace (MDTM). I thought I'd do an analysis to see what was reprinted.

 

Unfortunately my copy of Dennis the Menace is buried somewhere in the basement right now, and I won't have a chance to unearth it for a while (got to get ready to attend the Baltimore convention this weekend). But I did have a copy of MDTM handy. This copy is the 7th printing, May 1955. The 1st printing is listed as August 1954, and the book is copyright 1953.

 

The first interesting fact I found was the cartoons in MDTM are not printed in chronological order; each page jumps around. So here's what I found: Starting with the first cartoon in the book (page 7), here is the date for each page (all from 1952):

 

6/24, 7/26, 8/5, 8/6, 8/20, 8/13, 8/25, 8/18, 9/4, ?, 6/18, 6/13, 6/11, 10/8, 10/2, 10/3, 9/16, 9/22, 10/20, 10/17, 10/29, 10/23, 11/15, 11/6, 6/6.

 

Then there's a gap from pages 32-47 where I don't recognize the cartoons as being in the first volume of Complete Dennis; I'm guessing they are from 1953 (same with anything indicated with a ?). But, starting again on page 48:

 

12/31, 12/29, 12/8, ?, 11/26, 11/14, 11/19, 12/12, 12/20, 12/19, 12/25, 12/27, ?, ?, ?, 7/16.

 

Then the rest of the book (pages 64-127) I don't recognize either (again, likely from 1953). The back cover is from 11/14.

 

What does this show? I don't know, but I still found it interesting.

 

I'm assuming the Dennis the Menace book contains reprints in the range of 1951 to around 6/1/52. I'll verify that (much) later.

 

What I would like to see is a separate Complete Dennis the Menace Sundays book. I don't think I've EVER read any of the Sundays from the 1950s.

[ComicBookGuy]

Very interesting. I've always seen the previous 48 paperback collections as "best of" collections, so the chronology, or lack of one, makes sense. I will say that I got the copy yesterday, walked inside, and read it cover to cover. My review: It rocks. Some of the funniest Dennis cartoons I have ever seen, and many I've never seen reprinted for their obvious adult humor. (Scans will be coming soon. ) It is clear to me after reading this that the strip started out as more of a cartoon for adults, and I believe Bill C. pointed this out before when I was showing the cocktail napkins and matchbooks from the early 1950s and wondering why such products would be promoted by a kids' cartoon character. At some early point, I imagine, Ketcham must have realized that the strip would be even more successful if aimed at a purely kid audience. This cleaned up Dennis and made him much less of a menace, clearly, and the reprint books filtered a kid-friendly Dennis to us from the time of the tv show on. It's interesting to note that even those first two Avon books were the only Dennis books not perpetually in print like the others for decades since they were not the kid-friendly, finalized version of Dennis. So, having read this, I will say that this early Dennis has more in common with Bart Simpson (an intentional troublemaker) than the contemporary Dennis (an unintentional troublemaker).

Allen, you said you are attending the Baltimore Con this weekend. I will be there for the Saturday evening forum dinner and all day Sunday. If you are around during either of those times, let me know as it would be cool to hook up.

Joe

[Allen Ross-migration]

Yeah, it looks like I'll be there on Sunday afternoon. I'll send you a private message.

[ComicBookGuy]

Here's one I thought was hilarious:

 

[ComicBookGuy]

I can't imagine waking up one morning and seeing this one in the paper. This original Dennis is REALLY a menace...

 

[ComicBookGuy]

Looks like Henry's got some explaining to do!

 

[BillyBatson4360]

I love that panel as well, Joe! Not only wouldn't Henry be going to a strip club today - but the fact that he took his 5-year old kid along shows you how much our ideas of good parenting have changed.

 

Of course, it's no surpise that Dennis soon caught the fancy of kids. How many other strips on the "funnies" page had a star that young? I know he was the first comic character that I paid attention to.

 

I'm taking my time working my way through the book as it will be a few more months before we get Volume 2.

 

My first observation is the predominance of sharp angles in the early character designs. Yet, by the end of 1952, we see the designs becoming softer and more rounded.

 

In the very early days, Dennis' height seems to fluctuate. In some panels he looks like he could be 7 years old based on his height.

 

We also see quite a bit of the "evil" eyebrows - where Dennis knows he's being bad. As the strip progressed his mayhem would become much more unintentional.

 

The first appearance of the classic Dennis outfit appears in panel #3, but it takes several months before it settles in to become his regular uniform.

 

It also looks to me like Tommy is the first member of the supporting cast (besides Henry & Alice) to appear in the strip - predating Ruff and Mrs. Wilson. There are several strips where Dennis' playmate looks like an early version of Tommy and then on 4-27-51, Dennis calls to Tommy from a window (although Tommy is not seen in the panel). Ruff shows up on 7-16-51. Mrs. Wilson debuts in the panel on 3-12-52.

 

There are plenty of other great non-PC cartoons. If I get a chance, I'll try to scan a few of my favorites.

[313-migration]

One more scan that depicts Dennis a bit "out-of-character"

 

Joe, glad you enjoyed the scans. The back of the book mentions Ketcham designed a series of notecards, books and calendars for Character Imprints, so maybe those will turn up someday.

 

I spent several hours over the weekend updating my list of all Toole/Wiseman stories, or at least stories written by Toole. Joe, your Giant 1-100 index you posted awhile back was absolutley invaluable to me, it really helped fill a lot of gaps and find out where these reprinted stories came from. Thanks much. The list has over 900 stories, and even though I'm not finished it still understates their output because themed books, like Dennis Goes to Mexico, are just 1 entry. What's more amazing is out of that tremendous body of work, it's hard to find a "sub-standard" story.

 

Jim

 

[ComicBookGuy]

Jim, glad you found the index useful. You mentioned my 1-100 index, but I hope you realize I did all the way up to #194 as well, just in case you're in search of that info. The reason I did it is cause the info isn't really available elsewhere, and I wanted to do it for myself, so sharing it is not a big deal. I'm still working on the regular series index. I really wish there was a way to put the info in the Grand Comic Book Database, but someone has it reserved, so no one else can enter it. It has allowed me to enter scans of the comics, though, and I've been working on that as well. One day soon all this info will be complete. Hopefully before we all die of old age. My plans are as of now to continue compiling data and scans and launch the Dennis website next summer. It will be devoted just to Dennis stuff so will be much more appealing than sifting through the GCBDB anyway.

 

On another note, the Dennis books published by Character Imprints are as follows:

 

1978: Dennis Talks About Love Stuff

1979: Dennis the Menace Hopes That You Get Well

1979: Dennis the Menace Finds New Ways to Say Happy Birthday

1979: Dennis the Menace Sheds Some New Light on Friendship

 

These books were sold as gift books through places like Hallmark. They don't turn up too often on eBay at all and are yet another whole unexplored and undocumented facet of the Dennis Universe, which never ceases to amaze me in terms of how much stuff is out there.

 

Joe

[ComicBookGuy]

Here's another interesting review of the new Dennis collection, which I post for posterity:

 

Reprinting recaptures perfection of cartoonist’s line

 

By Burl Burlingame

bburlingame@starbulletin.com

 

Singers reach for their note, guitarists struggle for tone, writers work on their voice, athletes go into the zone. Now, with cartoonists, cartoonists try to find their line.

 

"Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1952"

(Fantagraphics Books,

624 pages., $24.95)

 

Where the ink hits the paper is like where the rubber meets the road. Is it smooth? Will it clot? Will it swoop in graceful curves or get all jangly and skritchy-scratchy? It's all OK, mind you. It's just that the line on paper is how the cartoonist communicates, it's their craft and reason for being, and finding the right, balanced scramble of ink-and-paper interface is a lifelong dream for most cartoonists.

 

Hank Ketcham, though -- that boy could draw. To this day, cartoonists are not only in awe of his economy of line, but of his cinematic perspectives and compositions. That attention to pedestrian detail. The suburban characters and neighborhood of Ketcham's classic "Dennis the Menace" is likely the most complete world ever rendered in the fewest amount of lines.

 

And he did it without even creating a comic strip. Ketcham's forte was the single "gag" panel, a daily one-shot, and one that rarely works with continuing characters and story lines.

 

Dennis' character was spun off into comic books, animation and even a live-action TV series and movie, and the characters laid down by Ketcham were so indelible that they survived mostly intact.

 

 

COURTESY FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

Hank Ketcham worked wonders with the daily "gag" panel of Dennis the Menace.

 

 

 

I'LL COME CLEAN here and reveal that when I moved to Hawaii in the '60s, my primary guide was a tattered copy of "Dennis in Hawaii." It remains a surprisingly accurate introduction and beautifully drawn by Ketcham protégé Al Wiseman, published in 1958 to coincide with Hawaii's drive for statehood. I've just discovered that it is also likely the best-selling comic book of all time, as well as the first to send its creative team "on location."

All this bubbles to the surface because Fantagraphics, the publishing company dedicated to preserving the best in American cartoon art, has begun a massive project of reprinting every "Dennis" panel ever drawn. Yikes. The first volume begins on the first day of syndication -- Ketcham had no trouble placing the project, and his sample drawings became the lead-off gags -- on March 12, 1951, and then covers the next two years.

 

"Love and Rockets" comic book illustrator Gilbert Hernandez, commenting online, noted that Ketcham's work was an inspiration because "among all the American newspaper cartoonists who could draw people that LOOKED like people, Ketcham was far and away the best. ... (He) captured real folks in a naturalistic environment the way no on else could. A perfect blend of slickness and warmth."

 

The book makes it clear that the style was there from the beginning, and is quickly refined within a few months. Dennis isn't a bad kid, he's just enthusiastic and mischievous, and the gags use a sophisticated, sly wit that often rides on the perfection of the drawn panel to make its point.

 

And they were funny from day one.

 

The package is designed by Jack Covey and includes a forward by "Mutts" master Patrick McDonnell, another cartooning genius who has found his line in life.

[Allen Ross-migration]

We had a discussion on "Dennis the Menace and the Bible Kids" earlier in this thread (back around the week of March 20th).

 

Now that I've got a scanner, I finally dug out my issues, and added the covers to the GCD. Check out the entire cover gallery here: GCD DTM Bible Kids covers . Those are all my copies.

 

Here's a larger view of #10, that Joe mentioned is (apparently) hard to find, never mind in nice condition:

 

 

(I've also added scans for the digest issues of DTM Friends Series, #38-42 and 44-46 (I'm missing 43).)

[Allen Ross-migration]

Two (unrelated) questions:

 

1. I'm gathering info to update the GCD's series information on "Dennis the Menace and His Friends Series". It changes formats several times, going from 36 pages to 52 pages back to 36 pages, then 148 page digest, and finally to 132 page digest. That last transition occurred between issues 42 and 44, but the problem is I don't have issue 43. How many pages does issue 43 have?

 

2. Did anybody get the new Fantagraphics version of "The Merchant of Dennis"? I have the original hardcover from several years ago. Are there any changes from that version? It's apparently out now, as Steven Grant's Permanent Damage column at CBR has a mini-review of it (but given he couldn't even take the time to spell Ketcham's name correctly, I'm not going to link to it).

[BillyBatson4360]

I'm sorry to hear that. Believe it or not Steven Grant was my college roommate and is a very nice man. I'm sure he meant well.

[joe_collector]

Believe it or not Steven Grant was my college roommate and is a very nice man.

 

 

Or not.

[BillyBatson4360]

Or not what?

 

You don't believe he was my college roommate...

 

You don't believe he's a nice man...

 

You don't believe he meant well?

[joe_collector]

He's not a nice man. Maybe in college, but not now.