New Dennis the Menace book

Diversity is the key in the British comics industry today. Solely relying on the old 'business model' (hate that term) of traditional comics in newsagents isn't enough. Using the characters in other formats is a good way to reach more readers, whether it be graphic novels, digital comics, or whatever. 

Case in point, the new Dennis the Menace and Gnasher book The Golden Catapult by Cavan Scott and Nigel Parkinson. On his blog, Cavan says "The Golden Catapult is a bit different. It’s part novel, part comic, part puzzle, and stars loads of Beanotown favourites including Dennis, Minnie the Minx, Roger the Dodger, Calamity James and the Bash Street Kids".

The book is to be published by Puffin on 1st October and they describe it as:
"STONKING STORY! COOL COMICS! AWESOME ACTIVITIES!

When Dennis, Gnasher and the rest of the infamous Menace Squad find out about a rare and legendary artifact, they set off on an amazing adventure to track it down. Only the most menacey Menace will get to it first!

Read the story and complete the puzzles to find out who will reach . . . THE GOLDEN CATAPULT!"

For more info keep an eye on the blogs of writer Cavan Scott and artist Nigel Parkinson. 

Menacing revelation

Here's a story ripped from today's headlines; the current Dennis the Menace is the son of the 1980s version! It's been mooted in the comic before but this week's Beano makes it official with a story by Nigel Auchterlounie, drawn by Nigel Parkinson. 

Older readers who say "It's not the Dennis the Menace I grew up with" didn't know how right they were! I'm sure they'll be dancing in the streets tonight now their comment has been justified. Although they'd be best to hold fire on their usual follow up "He's not even allowed to use a catapult these days" considering the cover of this week's Beano....

For the full background story see the Wired website here:

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-05/01/dennis-the-menace-father-the-beano

Cover story

There's a discussion on Facebook at the moment about this annual cover so I thought I'd expand upon it here. This memorable cover to The Beano Book 1970 was painted by Dave Sutherland, who was the regular cover artist on the Beano annuals at that time (and for many years afterwards). He still draws The Bash Street Kids in The Beano every week of course, and this year will be his 53rd year on the strip!

The interesting thing about this annual cover is that the week the book was published, that week's Beano comic (No.1416, dated September 6th 1969) tied in with it, showing what happened next! A rare British comics crossover. Although the book cover was by Dave Sutherland, the strip on the weekly was by Biffo's regular artist Dudley Watkins. Sadly, by the time this saw print, Mr.Watkins had passed away suddenly the previous month. 

That same issue also carried an ad for the latest Dennis the Menace annual on the back page, with a vague link to that week's Dennis strip drawn by Davey Law. 

Beano bits and bobs from the 1950s

My thanks to Jimmy Tweed again for sending me more comic scans from his collection. There's some fascinating items here that I've certainly never seen before. 

Above is an early appearance of Dennis the Menace gatecrashing Biffo the Bear's cover strip in 1952. We all know that Dennis eventually gained the cover slot in 1974 but back then he was just an interior strip. Considering that Dennis the Menace had only started in The Beano the year before, I'm guessing that this 1952 strip is the first time he'd appeared on the cover. A sign of his immediate popularity perhaps, and a foreshadowing of great things to come! The brilliant Dudley Watkins drew Dennis a bit bulkier than his regular artist Davy Law did, but it's a great strip all the same.

Moving on a few years and here's a 1958 cover with Dennis making another appearance! Again, artwork by Dudley Watkins who drew him closer to the traditional version this time. (Although to be fair, like most comic characters, the design of Dennis did fluctuate a bit even under Davy Law until he settled on a comfortable design.)

As a bonus item, here's a Dennis the Menace strip by Davy Law from the back cover of The Beano from late August 1955, ending with an ad for the very first Dennis the Menace Annual. (Proving that annuals have always been published several months before Christmas, although these days they come out even earlier, in July.)