Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (known globally as Dennis and Gnasher) is a comic strip in the children's comic The Beano, published by DC Thomson, of Dundee in Scotland. The comic stars a boy named Dennis the Menace and his dog, an "Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound" named Gnasher.
The strip first appeared in issue 452 (dated 17 March 1951) and on sale from 12 March 1951. It is the longest-running strip in the comic. The idea and name of the character emerged when the comic's editor heard a British music hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice". The creation of Dennis in the 1950s had sales of The Beano soar. In issue 1678 (dated 14 September 1974), Dennis the Menace replaced Biffo the Bear on the front cover, and it has been there until issue 3961 (dated 17 November 2018). Coincidentally, on 12 March 1951, another comic strip named Dennis the Menace debuted in the US. As a result of this, the US series has initially been retitled Dennis for British audiences, while the British character's appearances are often titled Dennis and Gnasher outside the United Kingdom. In 2021, Dennis and Gnasher featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail to mark 70 years of the character.
Dennis is the archetypal badly behaved schoolboy. The main recurring storyline throughout the years features his campaign of terror against a gang of "softies" (effeminate, well-behaved boys), particularly Walter the Softy. Walter finds himself in unfavourable circumstances on many occasions, although he sometimes gets the last laugh. Author Michael Rosen states, "In most children's books, a bad child gets made good – but the great thing about Dennis is he never gets better".
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher was first drawn by David Law (1951–1971) and David Sutherland (1970–1998). David Parkins took over from 1998 until 2006, although Nigel Parkinson drew most of the strips after 2002, and Jimmy Hansen alternated with him in 2005–06. Tom Paterson drew some second Dennis strips for the comic's rear pages. Barrie Appleby did the artwork for the Beano Superstars series, which, toward the end of its run, resorted mostly to strips based on the TV series. In 2011, he took over as Dennis's main artist. In 2012, Nigel Parkinson was named the sole official Dennis artist. Dennis was returned to his previous appearance and personality. Nigel Auchterlounie began writing for Dennis a month later and gave Dennis (and the other characters) wider personalities. Auchterlounie has proven to be a very popular writer since taking over Dennis. Dennis and Gnasher have remained the mascots of The Beano.
History
Creation and concept
The idea and name of the character emerged when The Beano editor George Moonie heard a British music hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice". The character of Dennis was initially a struggle for artist David Law and then Beano chief sub Ian Chisholm to develop. Chisholm described the character to Law, but he was dissatisfied with every sketch the artist showed him. Out of frustration, Chisholm grabbed a pencil and quickly sketched out his creation to Law in the back of his cigarette packet. The drawing consisted of Dennis's trademark messy haircut, knobbly knees, and menacing scowl. Adapting Chisholm's doodle, Law set to work on the character in the strip, which would appear in the 17 March 1951 issue of The Beano. Two months later, Law gave the mischievous boy his distinctive red-and-black striped jersey, outsized shoes and devilish grin.
David Law strips (1951–1971)
Dennis's first comic strip appearance consisted of him walking into the park with his father and his dog, where a sign is planted informing visitors that they should "keep off the grass". Keeping in with his "world's naughtiest boy" tagline, Dennis makes many attempts to get onto the grass, much to his father's annoyance. Losing his temper, he takes the lead off the dog and puts it on Dennis, thus ending the menace's hijinks. This, like many succeeding it, only made up half a page. Dennis was deemed not popular enough to gain a full-page strip until around 1954. Many of Law's strips ended with Dennis being punished for his troublemaking with corporal punishment, such as a slippering or use of a cane. Throughout the years, Law's Dennis became taller than his debut appearance. It is unknown why Law did this, but many believe it was due to Law's perfectionist nature. In 1954, Dennis replaced Big Eggo as the character next to The Beano title, citing one of many changes of the comic during this period. The following year, Dennis became one of a few characters from DC Thomson comics to be featured in his own annual (the 1956 edition), which continued to 2011.
Dennis was also present in the first Dandy-Beano Summer Special, where he appeared in full colour. This strip featured Dennis begrudgingly selling flags in aid of the dog's home. Bored, he chooses to make this a perfect aid to his menacing. Dennis continued to gain popularity solo as time moved on. His trademark pet, Gnasher, was not introduced until 1968.
In issue 1353 (dated 31 August 1968), Dennis is informed by his father that "people always own dogs that look like themselves". Dennis dismisses this as being "a load of rot" and goes outside. Upon seeing many different owners looking just like their dogs, he begins to consider that it may be true. Upon being informed by Walter of a dog show at the town hall, Dennis decides to enter, but he also needs a dog to do so. This was when he found an Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound roaming the streets of Beanotown, naming him Gnasher. Menacing the dog show rather than attempting to win it, a dog fight breaks out, and the duo are eventually caught by Dennis' father, who had brought a retriever with him. Dennis's father punishes Dennis, and tells Gnasher to "go and join Pup Parade." Gnasher returned the next week and became Dennis's best friend.
David Sutherland strips (1970–1998)
In 1971, David Law took ill and retired from the strip, leaving Dennis in need of a new artist. David Sutherland, who was already the artist of Biffo the Bear and The Bash Street Kids, was chosen. Dennis made a cameo in a Biffo story in 1972, citing his wish to be on the cover. This dialogue proved to be almost prophetic, as he became the cover star of the comic in 1974 (issue 1678, cover date 14 September 1974), a position he held until 2018. His first cover story consisted of him using the issue's free gift, the Happy Howler, to torment people, including his Dad and in an opera house, who gives Dennis's dad a free gift of his own, a slipper.
Dennis's popularity was emphasised in 1976, when he was awarded his own fan club. Members would get a membership card, a club wallet and two badges. This became the foundation of The Beano Club years later. The club was well known for being popular amongst celebrities, as well as Beano readers. Phil Lynott, Mark Hamill, and Linford Christie were among many to join. A strip promoting an all-new Dennis T-shirt for club members emerged in 1978. It featured a guest appearance from Minnie the Minx and consisted of the two fighting over to whom the red-and-black jersey image truly belongs.
The Beano turned 40 in 1978. To celebrate, Dennis's weekly comic strip this week featured him celebrating his birthday and his menacing antics with his brand new cowboy outfit.
In 1980, The Beano reached a landmark 2000th issue. The front cover depicted Dennis offering to show readers the first issue of the comic. Incidentally and fitting well with the character's menacing nature, the comic was at the bottom of the pile. The character was then featured in one of the first Beano spin-off comics The Beano Comic Libraries. He was one of the first Beano characters to get a feature-length story, which in turn was called King Dennis. Dennis was also a character present in the most successful Beano annual to date in 1983.
In 1986, one of Dennis's first story arcs appeared. Gnasher, his faithful companion, had gone missing. Distraught, Dennis asked readers to join him on a "Gnational Gnasher Search". At first, Dennis's dad was far happier without the tripehound, but as the week wore on, he found himself missing the dog. The story lasted seven weeks before Gnasher was returned by a father with his six daughters and son, Gnipper, who later became a key character.
On The Beano's 50th anniversary, Dennis's strip consisted of him saving The Beano's birthday cake, which had begun to float away after the rope in which the sailor was pulling it along with the cut by a nearby crab.
A landmark issue for Dennis appeared in 1991, as The Beano announced they were to change his image. The news received much media attention throughout the United Kingdom and it was later revealed to be a publicity stunt in the very strip the image was introduced. Dennis's new attire consisted of a blue tracksuit, sunglasses and headphones connected to a walkman. The tracksuit bottoms ripped due to Dennis's knobbly knees and he ditched the jacket as his father could catch him easier after he had menaced. The end of the strip showed Dennis returning in his trademark jersey and shorts and pea-shooting his nemesis Walter. Dennis also played a vital role in the storyline in which The Beano was turned into colour. The front cover of the famous 2674th issue of the comic depicted Dennis spraying other famous Beano characters with a hose of paint.
In 1993, Beano editor Euan Kerr was becoming concerned at the direction David Sutherland's depiction of the character was taken, with Dennis becoming ever stockier and larger. Kerr, feeling that Dennis was beginning to resemble a thuggish teenager rather than the naughty boy he was intended to be, told Sutherland to make Dennis look younger in appearance. As a result, Dennis was made shorter, with a smaller chin. He retained his familiar outfit but he started to wear trainers. These changes were also made with the intention of making the character easier to animate for the forthcoming Beano Video.
In 1996, the first animated series Dennis and Gnasher was released on the United Kindgom station CBBC, with a second series following in 1998.
After The Beanos 60th anniversary issue in 1998, David Sutherland stopped drawing the strip, and was replaced by former Billy Whizz and The Three Bears artist, David Parkins.
David Parkins (1998–2003)
One of David Parkins' first Dennis strips featured a storyline that formally introduced Dennis's younger sister Bea into the comic. The story lasted three issues and consisted of Dennis's fear that a younger sister would ruin his reputation as the toughest menace in Beanotown. It turns out that Bea was as much of a menace as her older brother and it gained a spin-off strip drawn by Nigel Parkinson (who would frequently ghost the main strip during 1999–2004), which Dennis would sometimes cameo in.
Dennis kicked off the new millennium with a strip of him charging 50 pence to access the Menace Dome, a more 'menacing' version of the Millennium Dome. He also starred as a villain in a feature-length Bash Street Kids strip in which he, alongside Minnie the Minx and Roger the Dodger, raced against the Bash Street Kids to find the treasure which was apparently buried underneath the Millennium Dome. It ended with Danny, the Bash Street leader, outwitting Dennis and his cronies and Dennis angrily blaming it on Roger. Whilst a rivalry with The Bash Street Kids was touched on before in other strips, it was this story that made the rivalry far more well known. Several succeeding feature-length strips after, usually drawn by Mike Pearse or Kev F. Sutherland, further depicted the rivalry even to the point it would get violent. He also made other appearances in the spin-off Bash Street Kids - Singled Out, where he would take on a similar role.