The Ultimate Dennis the Menace Thread 3 3

[mica]

A slingshot vs. an URU Hammer.

Margaret could be lady Sif.... Joey could be Loki (black hair...it's a stretch).

And Mr. Wilson could be ODIN.

This is the book the above image came from. Dennis 151.

Notice how this guy has invisible legs below the knees. The Dennis comics need to be re-classified as Super-Hero related. Floating knee guy, Thor wannabe's, Dennis' strange mutant ability to cause "MENACE" wherever he goes. His dog is a krypto copy of Superboys dog. Joey is the kid sidekick. Hmmm.....

[BillyBatson4360]

I've actually put together a listing of the back-up features in Dennis the Menace for the first 60 or 70 issues. I will post that this weekend.

 

I'm curious to discover if Joey was introduced into the Dennis comic strip first or was he a creation of Wiseman/Toole that debuted in the comic book and then migrated to the strip. If so, it would be a significant addition to the Dennis lore for Wiseman/Toole as Joey quickly supplanted Tommy as Dennis' #1 playmate.

 

I'm pretty sure that Margaret and Gina were introduced in the daily strip and then made their way into the comic book.

 

Hmmm. More research seems in order...

 

[bTW still looking for someone who can tell me how I can sharpen up my avatar.]

[Scrooge]

Try to change it to this version and let's see if you think it's better.

 

[BillyBatson4360]

Thanks, that cleared up the problem. Now, what did you do to my original image to make it sharper (so the next time I want to change my avatar I don't have to rely on the kindness of fellow posters)?

[BillyBatson4360]

Before I get into listing the various back-up strips that ran in "Dennis the Menace," does anyone know the real reason for these back-ups? I seem to remember reading that comics in the 1950's and early 60's were required to feature at least one story that used different characters than the rest of the stories in the comic in order to qualify for 2nd Class mailing permits. These were the same regulations that required text stories.

 

Most single character comics all featured one story per issue that starred a different character. Uncle Scrooge had Gyro Gearloose, Popeye had O.G. Wottsnozzle, etc. Yet, Superman comics all featured Superman from cover to cover, so who knows? If anyone knows the reason behind these second bananas, I'd appreciate the information.

 

All right, now on to the listing of the back-up strips that ran in Dennis the Menace:

 

No back-up strips # 1-4

 

Pee Bee Kappa (Boy Genius) # 5

 

Chub # 6, 22 - This character was overweight, back when that was an accepted target for a kids humor strip (think Little Lotta). Mercifully, he only made two appearances.

 

Punky # 7-10, 23-30 - A forerunner of Joey's. A much younger kid than Dennis who got into all kinds of adventures that his parents remained blissfully unaware of.

 

Screamy Mimi # 11-21 - A female "Menace" whose main quality was shouting instead of speaking in a quiet voice. Even as a kid, I found her to be a one-joke character whose joke wore thin quickly.

 

Joey # 31-37 - Before Joey joined the main Dennis stories he spent a few issues as a back-up feature. He actually crossed over into the main continuity in issue # 34 and that may explain why his last solo outing was in # 37 (if the back-up characters couldn't apear in the main story or vice versa).

 

A Grandpa Story # 38-51, 53, 58-60, 68-70 - Appears to be the longest running back-up story. A grandfather tells some kids stories that the kids exaggerate or take too literally in their imaginations.

 

The above mentioned strips all were drawn by Wiseman if Wiseman did the art on the Dennis strips as well. The strips below I'm not as familar with because I don't collect the non-Wiseman issues.

 

Shorty’s Tall Tales # 52, 54-57, 62-67

 

Special Cowboy Coloring Section # 61 - Actually this one seems pretty self-explanatory.

 

Flags That Tell the Story of Our Country # 71 - Ditto.

 

Beany # 72-81, 83-85

 

Some Thrilling “Blue Angels” Maneuvers # 82 - The issue's cover story featured Dennis & Henry watching an exhibition by the Blue Angels.

 

If Joe or anybody else wants to complete this list, be my guest.

[BillyBatson4360]

Okay, did a little research and as near as I can tell Joey made his debut in the Dennis comic strip somewhere from mid 1957 to early 1958. He didn't make it to the comic book until issue # 31, cover dated November 1958 (which means it was probably on sale some time in the mid-summer of '58). This would indicate that the character was created for the newspaper strip.

 

Also, it looks like Joey went through a design change from the time he was introduced. Here's a panel featuring the early version of Joey. It comes from the paperback collection "In This Corner..." As these paperback collection don't contain every Dennis panel - nor are any of the panels dated, it's impossible to pin down the exact date of this cartoon or whether or not it represents Joey's first appearance.

 

 

BTW Margaret made her debut a year earlier.

[BillyBatson4360]

Just a few short months later, Joey had morphed into the character we all know. This cartoon is from the paperback collection "Teacher's Threat." It features cartoons from 1958 and 1959 and Joey is used in a lot of them.

 

[BillyBatson4360]

I'm pretty confident that this panel represents Gina's first appearance in the Dennis newspaper strip. It also comes from "Teacher's Threat," which would place her debut somewhere from mid 1958 to early 1959. Her comic book debut came in issue #39, cover dated November 1959. Again, this indicates she was created in the newspaper strip and then moved into the comic book.

 

[BillyBatson4360]

Finally, this doesn't have anything to do with Dennis' supporting cast, but in my research I came across this cartoon and thought those of us who are comic book fans (especially of 1950's "Seduction of Innocent" era comics) would get a kick out of it.

 

[tth2]

Seeing this cover reminds me that there was a travel issue to England too. But I can't remember if it was a Wiseman/Toole production or a later work. I guess it wasn't a giant, since it wasn't mentioned in any of the earlier posts. Joe or Billy?

[tth2]

Billy, thanks for a great summary of the back-ups. The ones I remember are: Punky, Screamy Mimi (I share your ambivalence for this character), Joey (of course), and Grandpa (I really liked those stories because it was fun to see how young kids projected images from stories).

[BillyBatson4360]

No it was not a Wiseman issue. I'll let Joe look up the issue number. I think I have it somewhere. I picked quite a few non-Wisman issues buying Dennis comics in lots when I was assembling my collection. I haven't looked through most of them. But I seem to recall a Dennis Visits London cover somewhere in there.

[tth2]

Finally, this doesn't have anything to do with Dennis' supporting cast, but in my research I came across this cartoon and thought those of us who are comic book fans (especially of 1950's "Seduction of Innocent" era comics) would get a kick out of it.

 

Great comic strip! And thanks for posting all of the others, Billy!

[ComicBookGuy]

Seeing this cover reminds me that there was a travel issue to England too. But I can't remember if it was a Wiseman/Toole production or a later work. I guess it wasn't a giant, since it wasn't mentioned in any of the earlier posts. Joe or Billy?

 

Tim, you are correct, there was a Dennis the Menace in London that came out in January 1971 and was reprinted many times "by popular demand," according to the publishers. It was written by Fred Toole but drawn by Frank Hall who took Wiseman's place for all the big projects like this and the Dennis in Paris issue. The first printing of the London issue is in the Bonus Magazine Series #88, which, I believe, Bill posted on his list of the giants that went to #110. I am in the process of indexing this entire run, which is why I haven't been posting much lately.

By the way, I am very envious of Mica's Dennis books! Since they are well read he can open them to any page and scan them for all to enjoy, while mine sit in mylars unopened! And I am not being sarcastic -- I'm 100% serious and thinking of purchasing a low grade run of some issues just so I can scan the stories.

Joe

[ComicBookGuy]

Okay, did a little research and as near as I can tell Joey made his debut in the Dennis comic strip somewhere from mid 1957 to early 1958. He didn't make it to the comic book until issue # 31, cover dated November 1958 (which means it was probably on sale some time in the mid-summer of '58). This would indicate that the character was created for the newspaper strip.

 

Also, it looks like Joey went through a design change from the time he was introduced. Here's a panel featuring the early version of Joey. It comes from the paperback collection "In This Corner..." As these paperback collection don't contain every Dennis panel - nor are any of the panels dated, it's impossible to pin down the exact date of this cartoon or whether or not it represents Joey's first appearance.

 

 

BTW Margaret made her debut a year earlier.

 

Bill, thanks for sharing!

 

You're doing a great job of tapping into various aspects of Dennis I wouldn't have thought of. In Ketcham's bio he mentions the creation of the various characters but does not elaborate much on Joey in terms of where he came from or when he first appeared, so I would say your information is probably as close as we can get to the truth at this point. If and when the Fantagraphics series due out in Sept. prints EVERY daily panel from 3/14/51 on, then we can see for sure when the first appearances of each character occurred for sure. An interesting story is that Ketcham asked his son Dennis what the dog (the cartoon dog, that is) should be named, and his son said, "Ruff!"

 

The list of Dennis spin-off characters is interesting. You are quite the Dennis scholar! As a kid I was always annoyed by those other clearly inferior strips filling out the comic I had bought with the idea that the comic was all Dennis from cover to cover. None of them were even remotely entertaining for me. I will note their appearances as I index, but that's about the extent of my interest in these characters personally. As to why they appeared, you may be correct about the mailing rule. For example, now items that contain ads cannot be sent media mail. I would also think that since Dennis was such a popular comic that the publishers wanted to launch other characters from it to perhaps create another comic universe like that of Disney or Warner Brothers. It wouldn't have been a bad idea in that it would have been all kid-based instead of cartoon-based stories, much like Harvey and Archie created, but the problem seemed to be that the executions of the stories weren't that great, with the possible exception of the Joey strips.

 

Joe

[escape-migration]

I'm just overwhelmed by the fantastic wealth of scans here in the past couple of days. BIG hello and welcome to Mica, thanks for sharing your scans as well. I loved the CBM article posted (thanks Buttock!), and look forward to all the stuff Joe and Billy are sharing with us, as always. You guys rock!

 

The following thumbnails are the first half of Dennis #1 from 1953. I picked it up recently and decided to scan and share with anyone who may never get the chance to read the stories contained inside it. As with the Joey story I posted a few weeks back, just click on the thumbnails, and you'll be directed to a larger scan of the page. (If you chose to save the images, just delete the the last 3 characters of the filename; ImageShack, my image host, adds them on automatically. Just remove them if you choose to save the files to your computer).

 

I realize 18 thumbnails in one post takes up some room on this page, but I really didn't know any other way to share these. Hope its ok.

 

And Joe? Could you PM me your email address? I want to let you know which issues of the regular series I own and will be able to help with. Thanks!

 

And now, Dennis the Menace #1! I'll post the rest of the book this weekend hopefully.

 

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[ComicBookGuy]

An awesome feat, Escape! Thanks for scanning the Dennis #1 for everyone. It's not like anyone can just go and get one very easily to read, so I'm sure everyone is very appreciative. This looks like the one that sold on ebay back in March for about $300 if I recall. Whether it is or not, it looks like a sweet copy - congratulations! It is the grail of the Dennis books.

 

By the way, speaking of eBay, I came across something AMAZING on eBay, a giveaway I have never seen ONCE on eBay or anywhere. It is not listed in the guide, and I assume no one here knows about it -- or you guys were just too nice to tell me I missed it when I did my supposedly "thorough" cataloging of the Dennis giveaways. I will provide the link to the auction, which I won for a paltry sum. Thank God people are not that fanatical about Dennis cause I put a bid on this that you wouldn't believe to be sure I secured it. I will post it here on the boards when I receive it in the mail. Here is the link:

 

An EXTREMELY RARE DENNIS GIVEAWAY???

 

Has anyone seen or heard of this? This is the first I have ever seen or heard of it. I will run it by Doug Supila to see what he thinks. As far as I'm concerned, this thing makes Dennis & the Bible Kids #10 look like Hulk 181.

 

Joe

[ComicBookGuy]

Who saw THIS auction? A guy puts a near complete run of Dennis the Menace on eBay as a one day auction. Why one day? You'd think he would have wanted some exposure. This may be the biggest run of Dennis books I've ever seen together at once for sale. I thought about bidding on it to resell, but I just don't have the time. I'm sure I could have made some money on this too, especially if I filled in the missing issues and sold it as a complete set.

 

137 issue run of Dennis on eBay

 

Interesting to note that the missing issues are primarily at the very beginning and very end of the run, confirming what I have believed: that those are the most difficult to find. He did have a #3 though, which is impressive in any shape.

 

Joe

[BillyBatson4360]

First, Joe, congratulations on the rare giveaway. I've never seen it either.

 

Second, I agree that the guy who put up that Dennis collection on eBay made a major mistake by only offering it for one day. I also notice that his # 3 was pretty beat up as well. Does anyone own a copy of # 3 in Very Fine or better? Does one exist?

 

I think the early Dennis books are so rare (especially in nicer grades) because Dennis was a "starter" comic. He was the very first comic I bought regularly. And it was quite a few years before I graduated to the super-hero books. As such, I think the Dennis books got read and re-read by a very young clientele. I know my original collection got beat up.

 

I have also never seen the early issues (# 1 - 20) go for less than Guide and usually for considerably more than Guide. I think very, very few copies of the early issues are bought and sold by dealers in any given year. The copies that I obtained, I got from collector-to-collector sales and from eBay auctions. I'm hoping that the Guide gives some serious re-evaluation to this title in the near future as I think the earliest issues have a market value that is considerably north of the values stated in the Guide.

 

BTW, I'm beginning to think that issue # 2 is even rarer than # 3 and maybe even as rare as # 1. Which makes it all the more incredible that the first issue I bought when I began to rebuild my collection was # 2.

[tth2]

I think the early Dennis books are so rare (especially in nicer grades) because Dennis was a "starter" comic. He was the very first comic I bought regularly. And it was quite a few years before I graduated to the super-hero books. As such, I think the Dennis books got read and re-read by a very young clientele. I know my original collection got beat up.

Billy, that's exactly right. And, because it was viewed as a kid's book by the "serious" superhero collectors, few people in the mid-60s and 70s started preserving issues of Dennis from the 50s and early 60s. I think the same holds true for almost all kid's books that were targeted for a younger audience.

 

If you think about it, the number of Ducks and Harveys in HG would be miniscule but for the discovery of their respective file copies. Actually, even the number of GA HG superhero books, including the mainstream DC and Timely titles, would be miniscule but for eccentric collectors like Edgar Church and odd historical circumstances like the Tom Reilly collection. As you get into the period from the late 40s to the early 60s, when there are fewer pedigree collections of consistently high quality, it's incredibly difficult to find HG copies of even the mainstream superhero titles. This period, of course, happens to be the era when Dennis came out, so it's not surprising that HG issues are hard to find and perhaps don't even exist. The only pedigree we've seen containing Dennises is the Bethlehem run that Joe has, and Bethlehem is notorious for its lack of consistency in terms of grade. So unless there are file copies of Dennis out there, or copies of Dennis in the White Mountain pedigree or other pedigrees that spanned the 50s, or unless new pedigrees containing books from the 50s (including Dennises) surface, I don't have high hopes for HG copies being found.