Dennis the Menace: 70 Years of A Comic Book Icon
Created in Dundee by DC Thomson for the Beano, Dennis has become a staple to British comic book culture for 70 years.
The Beano is regarded as one of the best selling comic book series of all time, selling over one billion copies over the course of it’s history. This comic book series has become part of British comic book culture for over 80 years. However, the most prominent character from the Beano is about to celebrate his 70th birthday — Dennis the Menace.
Having initially been drawn on the back of a cigarette packet by his creator, artist David Law, Dennis went on to first appear in the Beano comic strip on March 12th, 1951, and instantly became a hit with readers.
His original design consisted of his signature spiky black hair, a shirt and tie and black shorts and it was only a couple of months later, in May 1951, that his signature red and black jersey was added. His pet dog and sidekick, Gnasher, then came running on to the scene in 1968.
Dennis gave a great example of a no-nonsense school kid who opposed authority and was someone who you wouldn’t want to mess with. He carried around a peashooter, water pistol and catapult and his mischief always ended up with him getting in trouble — however, winning and having the last laugh was something that happened on several occasions too.
What I love about his character though is that he finds enjoyment creating chaos and mayhem around the people he surrounds which makes the stories he has appeared in very interesting and enjoyable which prompts readers to love him even more.
The character has definitely been a staple of British comic book culture over the course of nearly 70 years. What is great though that even after nearly 70 years, the comic book star has continued to have significant presence after all that time.
Menacing over on the telly
Dennis has been so popular that he even has several television shows dedicated to him, The Beano’s Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Show in 1991, Dennis and Gnasher, two shows with the same name released in 1996 and 2009 respectively.
These were just some of the shows which featured Dennis and Gnasher together. It showcased Dennis in a completely new format. Dennis and Gnasher: Unleashed! which began airing in 2017, is the latest iteration of Dennis on television with Freddie Fox voicing the troublemaker.
A magnet in popular culture
Dennis the Menace has been so popular that his presence has been echoed in the realm of popular culture.
The most recent homage to the beloved troublemaker was during the opening episode of season two of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK which featured Ellie Diamond who is from Dundee, the queens had to create a look of them show the judges that they were the queen of their hometown and with Dennis being created in Dundee, Ellie based her hometown look off of him which received high praise from the judges.
Dennis has been the inspiration behind Dennis “The Menace” Priestly, a darts player, wears a red and black striped t-shirt which is a homage to Dennis’ clothing and also has red and black flights too.
“Private Eye also release parody comics called “Beano Boris” depicting Prime Minister Boris Johnson as Dennis.
Bart Simpson from The Simpsons, can also be influenced off Dennis the Menace in some form. Bart shows similar traits, weapons and attitudes towards the people who surround him. I remember watching an episode of the Simpsons: “The Secret War of Lisa Simpson” which sees Bart stack up megaphones in a line and shouting “testing!” which disrupts the people of Springfield.
That was almost identical to a strip in the Beano drawn by David Law in 1960 which showed Dennis using a megaphone to annoy the people of Beanotown.
Our Dennis the Menace has also been confused with the American character of the same name, which ironically enough, first appeared on the same day. Our Dennis is the first however due to the time zone differences in the UK and the US.
A comic book icon
There is no doubt that this character has made an impact on the world of comic books. Dennis is a great character, a comic book icon perhaps. He is unique and what is brilliant about how the writers and artists that handle Dennis is that there is always something new to give to the characters: new designs, new stories and new content — and this has managed to be effective as readers have continued to love Dennis for decades.
Happy birthday when it comes, Dennis! Here’s to 70 more years of menacing around Beanotown!
Biblography
- Cover photo: William Murphy via Flickr (distributed under CC BY-SA 2.0 license)
- Dennis the Menace via BBC News — https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12770341
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