| Beano strip | |
| Dennis & Gnasher | |
|---|---|
| Current/last artist | Barrie Appleby |
| First appearance | Issue 452 (17 March 1951 as Dennis the Menace) |
| Last appearance | Ongoing |
| Regular characters | Dennis, Gnasher, Rasher, Gnipper, Mum, Dad, Curly, Pie Face, Walter the Softy, Spotty Perkins, Bertie Blenkinsop, Sgt. Slipper, the Colonel, Bea, Granny, Foo Foo |
Dennis the Menace, later called Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and now Dennis and Gnasher, is a long-running comic strip in the British children's comic The Beano, published by D. C. Thomson & Co., Dundee, Scotland starring Dennis the Menace and his Abyssinian wire-haired tripe hound Gnasher.
The strip first appeared in issue 452, dated 17 March 1951 (although the comic went on sale a few days before and was printed up to ten days before the cover date), and is the longest-running strip in the comic. From issue 1678 onwards (dated 14 September 1974) Dennis the Menace replaced Biffo the Bear on the front cover, and has been there ever since.
Interestingly, on 12 March 1951, another comic strip coincidentally named Dennis the Menace debuted in the United States. The two strips should not be confused — as a result of this the US series has been retitled Dennis for UK consumption, while the British character's appearances are often titled "Dennis and Gnasher" outside the UK.
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. Walter finds himself in unfavourable circumstances on many occasions, although he sometimes gets the "last laugh".
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher was first drawn by David Law (1951 – 1970), then David Sutherland (1970 – 1998). David Parkins took over in 1998, but due to his other work commitments, Nigel Parkinson and Jimmy Hansen have drawn the lion's share of the strips for some years, and Parkins has not drawn Dennis since 2006. More recently, Tom Paterson has drawn some second Dennis strips for the comic's rear pages. Barrie Appleby did the artwork for the Beano Superstars series, which, towards the end of its run, resorted mostly to strips based on the TV series. In 2011, he took over as Dennis's main artist.
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The character of Dennis was initially a struggle for artist Davey Law and then Beano Editor Ian Chisholm to create. Being inspired by the music hall song 'Dennis the Menace in Venice' Chisholm described the character to Law but was unsatisfied 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.[1] The drawing consisted of Dennis' trademark messy hair cut, knobbly knees and menacing scowl. Adapting Chisholm's doodle, Law set to work on the character in the strip which would appear in the 17th March 1951 issue of The Beano. Two months later, the mischievous boy was equipped with a striped jersey which would from then on become his trademark.
Dennis' 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 Wildest Boy' tagline, Dennis makes many attempts to get onto the grass much to his father's annoyance. Losing his temper, he unleads the dog and puts the lead on Dennis thus ending the menace's hi-jinks. This, like many succeeding it, only made up half a page. It wasn't until around 1954 that Dennis was deemed popular enough to gain a full page strip. Untouched by political correctness, many of Law's strips would end with Dennis being punished for his trouble making with corporal punishment such as a slippering or use of a cane. Throughout the years, Law's Dennis became taller than his original debut appearance. It is un-known why Law chose to do this, but many believe it was due to Law's perfectionist nature. In 1955, Dennis became one of a few characters from DC Thomson comics to be featured in his own annual (the 1956 edition) which continues to this day. In one of his strip, he participated in the running race in his school sports day. However, he had replaced the breaking tape with an elastic rope so when the starting pistol is heard he takes a casual stroll towards the finishing line even going as far to yell towards his other competitors 'What's all the hurry, fellas?'. When they get to the finish line, they are thrust backwards due to the elastic band. Dennis then uses scissors to cut the rope and goes to the trophy stand expectantly. However, the coach instead awards him with a belt strap. Confused, Dennis snaps 'I can't do anything with this!' The coach then reveals the belt strap is for him to spank the boy for 'winning the race the wrong way'.
In 1958, Dennis replaced Big Eggo as the character next to The Beano title citing one of many changes of the comic during this period. The boy 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 conitinued to gain popularity solo as time moved on. It wasn't until 1968 that his trademark pet, Gansher was introduced marking comic history.
In August 31, a strip depicted Dennis being informed by his father that many pets look like their owners. Dennis dismissed this as being a load of 'rot!' and went out. However, upon seeing many different owner's looking just like their dogs he began to consider that this maybe true. Upon being informed of a dog-show, Dennis decides to enter but needs a dog to do so. This was when he found the abyssinian wire haired tripe hound roaming the streets of Beano Town. Menacing the dog show rather than attempting to win it, the duo are eventually caught and punished. Gnasher returned the following week and became a comic favourite as well as the fictional Menace's best friend.
In 1970, Davey Law retired from the comic leaving Dennis in need of a new artist. Dave Sutherland, who was already the artist of Biffo the Bear and The Bash Street Kids, was chosen. Law's final Dennis strip consisted of Dennis helping his father with the carpeting after Gnasher ruins it. Seeing a window of opportunity while his father is busy with fitting the new carpet, Dennis nails the slipper usually used to punish him to the floor. He then abandons his father causing the carpet they were laying to roll up and comically trap his dad. Far from being deterred from punishing his son, Dennis' dad saws his slippers from the floor and chases Dennis with them. The next strip was drawn by Gorden Bell as an artist had not yet been chosen. This depicted Dennis boasting to an ill Walter that he never had to sneeze due to his toughness. However, Gnasher accidentally fetched pepper for Dennis rather than paper causing him to sneeze. Walter, who happens to be passing gloats 'Look at the tough guy who never has to sneeze!'. Then, on August 8, Sutherland did his first Dennis comic. Dennis made a cameo in a Biffo the Bear story in 1970 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, a position he still holds today. His first cover adventure showed readers a close up of Dennis as he told them he always 'fancied being on the cover'. He then knocks Biffo, the then current cover star, on the head and marks the page his territory.
Dennis’ 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 later became the foundation of The Beano Club years later. The club was well known for being popular amongst celebrities as well as Beano readers. Mark Hamill and Linford Christie were amongst 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 who the red and black jersey image truly belongs to. 1978 also saw The Beano at 40. To celebrate Dennis’ weekly comic strip this week featured him celebrating his birthday and his menacing antics with his brand new cow boy outfit.
In 1980, The Beano reached a landmark 2000th issue. The front cover depicted Dennis offering to show readers the very 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 very 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’ very first story arc appeared. Gnasher, his faithful companion, had gone missing. Distraught, Dennis asked readers to join him on a ‘Gnational Gnasher Search’. At first, Dennis’ dad was far happier without the tripe hound but as the week wore on he found himself missing him. The story wore on for seven weeks before Gnasher returned, a father with his six daughters and son, Gnipper who would later become a vital Dennis comic strip character.
On The Beano's 50th Anniversary, Dennis' 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 was 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 UK and it was later revealed to be a publicity stunt in the very strip the image was introduced. Dennis' new attire consisted of a blue tracksuit, sunglasses and headphones connected to a walkmen. However, the tracksuit bottoms ripped due to Dennis' 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 arch-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 taking, 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 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 Dennis animated series was released on the UK station Fox Kids, with a second series following in 1998.
After the Beano's 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.
Parkins' first Dennis strips featured a storyline that formally introduced Dennis' younger sister Bea into the comic. The story lasted three issues and consisted of Dennis' fear that a younger sister would ruin his reputation as the toughest menace in Beanotown. However, as it turned out Bea was as much of a menace as her older brother and even gained her own spin-off strip, 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 Millenium 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 Millenium 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 which 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.
In the same year, Dennis became a major mascot for the Chessington World of Adventures section, Beanoland. He was featired prominently throughout the land including a large figure atop of the shop, a member of the squirting water fountain, a character on the dodgems, a sillohuette on the entrance and a cast member in the live-show located in his treehouse. Later in the park's history, Dennis' madhouse was introduced which was a foam ball play area. In 2008, the land was changed into WIld Asia.
In 2001, Dennis turned 50 and celebrated with a house party in which several Beano characters were invited. Humorously, all his gifts consisted of the 2001 Beano Annual, apart from Les Pretend's which was simply a pretend annual. He later participated in several party games which he changed radically to be far more menacing but found that most of the games back-fired onto him. The party was then finalised with a large food fight and then the entrance of The Dandy characters and other celebrities who had brought over a cake as the party continued for several more hours. Dennis' parents then hid and Dennis was forced to tidy up the mess. The same issue also showed readers how Dennis received his trademark jersey which, it reveals, was initially owned by a boy called Tufty. After Tufty asks when someone would land on the moon, to which Dennis accurately predicts July 20, 1969, Dennis offers to give him the chance right then. He attaches his granny's homemade soda pop to Tufty, shakes him then removes each of the lids which causes Tufty to blast off and fall into a nearby lake. Dennis then grabs the jersey and puts it on remarking it 'feels right somehow!'.
In 2003, Dennis appeared as a playable character in the PC game Beanotown Racing. He was featured in several strips leading up to the games release depicting how he received his vehicle and races he got into prior to the games events. This includes a rivalry with Minnie the Minx who had gotten her vehicle before him. Dennis tuned up his Menace-Mobile to make a dune buggy.
David Parkins' workload meant he was able to draw the strip on an increasingly less frequent basis throughout his time on the strip, and after 2003 he became too busy to continue as full-time artist. Nigel Parkinson, who had previously been drawing the strip as Parkins' understudy, continued as artist, along with Jimmy Hansen coming in to replace Parkins. The pair drew the vast majority of stories between 2004 and 2007, when Tom Paterson also started drawing the strip. In 2008, Dennis was given an extra strip towards the back of the comic, usually a continuing story across a few weeks. These strips were usually drawn by Tom Paterson. One such story featured the illness of Gnasher's young pup, Gnipper who had been bitten by a poisonous snake. Throughout this story, Dennis and Gnasher called upon help of various past characters of the strips history before finally contacting Gnipper's many sisters who successfully managed to get him out of his coma. Walter also changed in the strip as Dennis was given more reason to belittle and menace him. Instead of being camp and frilly, he was quite rude and obnoxious especially towards Dennis and his friends.
In 2007, Dennis was featured on the front page of a new magizine BeanoMax and was the coverstar until 2008 where he was repleaced by Max, an exclusive character. Another landmark issue was met in 2008 where The Beano turned 70. As a celebration, Dennis was seen on the cover sharing a cake with Wallace and Gromit, whose creator was featured heavily in the issue.
When the strip was relaunched in 2009, Dennis faced several changes to his character and appearance. It was the first major revamp of the character since his debut over 50 years prior and proved vastly controversial.[2] Parkinson, Hansen and Paterson continued to draw the strips, although . Dennis became slightly shorter with a boyish look to him as opposed to the brute, tough guy look the previous artists had established. His behind the nose grin was used far less frequently and most of his menacing was toned down. He also no longer used weapons such as a catapult or peashooter save for a few times, so he became more creative in his mischief. The strip's title was shortened to Dennis and Gnasher during these years, and Dennis rarely used the term 'menacing' to describe his actions. Dennis' idol was revealed to be 'Rat-Bucket' a fictional heavy metal singer introduced in the strip. He was also given more rivals as Athena and Sugar were both introduced to the strip. He was also given a new spin-off 'Sixty Second Dennis'. This was a single page strip which featured Dennis in a short story, and was usually illustrated by Nigel Parkinson.
The reason behind the re-launch was to promote the new TV Series which was just about to hit screens in Britain. It followed Dennis, Curly, Pie-Face and Gnasher as they attempt to brighten up the average day in Beanotown through new ideas, adventures and pranks.
On November 27, 2010, The Beano Club was relaunched into The Beano V.I.P. It was officially announced vis a Dennis strip where several British celebrities including Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell and Daniel Radcliffe visited Beanotown in an effort to join the club but all failed as they were not deemed tough enough. In the end, Dennis decides its only the reader who can become a Beano V.I.P. This was the first strip in which Dennis seemed to actually do his 'menacing' intentionally since his re-launch in 2009.
In early 2011, Dennis' re-launched character slowly and subtlely began returning to his 'menacing' ways. He began using his weapons again and referring to his antics as menacing. He also began to do his menacing more intentially as he did in all previous eras. Barrie Appleby, who had previously drawn Roger the Dodger, became the artist as the strip was extended to three pages rather than the usual two. Sixty Second Dennis was also dropped, being replaced by a Gnasher spin-off strip called Gnashional Treasure, which was later renamed as Gnasher's Bit(e). Although the strip continued to be known as Dennis and Gnasher, Dennis was once again overtly referred to as 'the menace', and by his 60th Birthday, Dennis had returned to his original character although he still has the likeness of his 2009 TV series counterpart.
In August 2011, Dennis embarked on a venture to America in a story arc expanding over four issues. It began with an invite to America from the US president Barack Obama, whom had visited Beanotown previously. Jumping for joy, Dennis and Gnasher boarded the next flight out. Upon landing, they met up with Waldo the American cousin of their arch-nemesis Walter. Waldo begins to lecture them on rules but is swiftly interrupted by the arrival of Obama. Obama tells Dennis that his mission is to have 'loads of fun in America'. Dennis does so, visiting famous landmarks such as Mount Rushmore and The White House along the way. His fun is cut short, however, as he learns that a meteor is about to collide with their planet. Resentfully, Dennis accepts Obama's appeal for their help and boards the ship after a short bout of training. After defeating the meteor with a large catapult and Gnasher's teeth, they land the spaceship atop of their old school, destroying it in the process.
March 1951 Drawn by David Law, Dennis the Menace appeared for the first time, as well as his dad.
May 1951 Dennis got his (in)famous red-and-black striped jersey, knitted for him by his granny (aka Whentball). He also teamed up with fellow menace, "Curly." The strip appeared in two colours (red and black).
1952 Walter appeared for the first time (Unnamed).
Early 1953 Walter was named.
Mid 1953 Dennis got expanded to a full page, while earlier strips were only half a page long.
1954 David Law's style of drawing Dennis changed dramatically, making the characters tall and thin. Dennis appeared on the back page in full colour for the first time.
1955 The first Dennis Annual was published, using reprinted stories from previous years.
1958 After four years of being drawn this way, characters become more or less back the way they were. Dennis returned inside the comic.
1962 Dennis returned to the back of the comic.
31 August 1968 Dennis found a dog on the street, Gnasher, on his way to the dog show at the local town hall. Gnasher became a regular from this point onwards.
1970 Walter's Dog, Foo-Foo, debuted.
22 July 1970 David Law retired, and one comic was drawn by Pup Parade artist Gordon Bell.
29 July 1970 Bash Street Kids artist Dave Sutherland started drawing Dennis, although drawing the strip almost identical to David Law. The strip was renamed "Dennis the Menace & Gnasher" when originally it was just called "Dennis the Menace" as Gnasher had been appearing every week on the strips.
14 September 1974 Dennis took the front cover of The Beano replacing Biffo the Bear.
1975 Walter joined "the softies", Bertie Blenkinsop and Algernon "Spotty" Perkins.
21 May 1977 Gnasher got his own strip in the comic, called "Gnasher's Tale", also drawn by David Sutherland.
May 1979 Dennis' pet pig, "Rasher" debuted.
Early 1980s Use of the slipper became increasingly rare in this time, having being very common in earlier strips.
22 September 1984 Rasher got his own strip in the comic, called simply "Rasher". Again, David Sutherland is the strip's artist.
March 1986 Gnasher "went missing". Foo Foo's Fairy Story temporarily replaced Gnasher's Tale.
May 1986 Gnasher returned, introducing his pups; Gnatasha, Gnannete, Gnancy, Gnaomi, Gnorah and Gnipper. "Gnasher and Gnipper" replaced "Gnasher's Tale".
1987 Dennis' spider, Dasher, appeared.
1988 Rasher's strip ended, replaced by Ill Will and the Germs.
1990 Granny's personality also changed drastically. Now, rather than a mean old woman, she became an elderly menace. The slipper was no longer used, partly due to changing attitudes towards child discipline at the time.
1992 The Menace car was seen for the first time.
February 1993 David Sutherland, Realising how stocky and bulky he became in recent years, started changing Dennis, making him look young and cute for a few years. The "Gnasher and Gnipper" strip was taken over by Barry Glennard in order to ease Sutherland's workload, though the style remains similar.
Early 1996 Dennis The Menace was looking like he did again, and for the first time ever, the story was drawn in the same style as the Bash Street Kids.
April 1996 The Dennis the Menace TV series appeared for the first time on BBC and TCC.
1996 This year marked the first appearances of The Colonel, Dennis' neighbour, and Sergeant Slipper, the local constable, who had both previously appeared in the Television Series. From this point onwards the front cover page usually consists of just one frame of the strip rather than several.
1998 Dasher re-appeared with a red mask as the mascot of the Beano site.
August–September 1998 For the 60th anniversary for the Beano, David Parkins started drawing Dennis the Menace, creating Bea some issues later.
October 1998 Bea got her own strip called Beaginnings drawn by Nigel Parkinson. She said her first word (Mud) in this strip.
1999 Nigel Parkinson became Dennis artist for the first time.
February 2001 The Gnasher and Gnipper strip was revamped, now being drawn in Barry Glennard's own style.
March 2001 Dennis celebrated his 50th Birthday. A special episode drawn by David Parkins (In the style of David Law) was released in the issue, telling the readers how he got his striped Jersey.
December 2001 Beaginnings got renamed Dennis' little sister Bea - the Mini Menace.
2002 Buster artist Jimmy Hansen drew his first Dennis strip. By this time, Nigel Parkinson was drawing Dennis as often as David Parkins, and effectively became main artist the following year.
2004 David Parkins stopped drawing Dennis altogether, and Jimmy Hansen joined Nigel Parkinson as main artist. Over the next 5 years they each drew about half of the strips. Walter got revamped when drawn by Jimmy Hansen, and he now bears the appearance of an Elvis impersonator with much bigger glasses.
2004 Dennis the Menace became the longest running strip in the Beano ever, beating Lord Snooty.
2007 Tom Paterson started drawing Dennis occasionally.
2008 Dennis got a comic strip at the back of the Beano as well as the front. The second strip was usually drawn by Tom Paterson. It is now clear that Walter has a new personality. Instead of being a gentle, well behaved boy, he's become camp, considerably meaner, and possibly evil.
2009 A brand new series was released, again on the BBC. For the new series, Dennis and Gnasher were revamped, not just for TV but also in the comic. The second Dennis strip was replaced by Sixty Second Dennis, which takes up just one page as opposed to two. The main Dennis strip is now mainly drawn by Hansen, with Sixty Second Dennis usually by Nigel Parkinson.
2011 Barrie Appleby took over as full-time Dennis artist. The strip isn't as influenced by the 2009 series now, with Dennis behaving more menacingly, the series-style backgrounds being dropped, Dennis being referred to more often as 'the menace' and the return of several characters who disappeared around the time of the new series, such as Foo-Foo. Also around the same time, Sixty Second Dennis gets replaced by a new Gnasher strip, titled Gnasher's Bit(e), drawn by Jimmy Hansen.
March 2011 Dennis celebrated his 60th birthday.
Over the years, a variety of subsidiary characters have arisen.
Dennis is the main character of the strip. Badly-behaved and visually rebellious, Dennis uses a wide range of pranks and weaponry in order to cause chaos and mayhem to those around him. He is trade-marked by his scruffy, black hair and red & black jersey.
Dad appeared in the first strip. His hair loss is down to Dennis’s menacing, and his real name has never been given (although once it was cited as actually being "Dennis's Dad" in a letter by Dennis). He also appears in both Bea and Gnasher and Gnipper. The real name of his wife, Mum, has also never been given (again in the same letter, it was stated that her actual name is "Dennis's Mum").
Bea is Dennis’s little sister, born in issue 2931, dated 19 September 1998. She has her own strip (Bea, originally Beaginnings) and sometimes appears in Dennis the Menace and Gnasher.
Granny, real name "Gertrude", is Dennis's and Bea's 80-year-old grandmother. In the late 1980s/early 1990s, she got her own strip Go, Granny, Go! drawn by Brian Walker. This transformed her from the indulgent Granny who used the Demon Whacker when necessary to a very active elderly lady who enjoyed motorbikes, similar to Cuddles and Dimples's granny, partly because, by this time, character in The Beano were no longer punished with the slipper.
Denise is Dennis's cousin, who bears a striking resemblance to Beryl the Peril, although she also wears a red and black striped jumper. She appeared in just a few stories, visiting along with her cat 'Santa Claws'. She generally managed to out-menace Dennis, showing considerable fortitude against the Softies, and at the local boxing club.
Gnasher is a black dog (and "Abyssinian wire-haired tripehound") who first appeared in issue 1363, dated 31 August 1968. He has extremely strong teeth that can leave teethmarks in seemingly anything, and enjoys chasing postmen. His name comes from the British slang for teeth (gnashers), which in turn comes from the French ganache meaning "jowl", a word also used in chocolate manufacture.
Since 1986, Gnasher has had a son, Gnipper, who appears with him in the separate strip (Gnasher and Gnipper). Gnipper is not owned by Dennis the Menace. He first appeared in issue 2286, dated 10 May 1986 after a story arc in which Gnasher went missing, this story arc was reprinted in the Dennis the Menace Annual 1990 as a 16 page story entitled Who's Gnicked Gnasher. Gnipper's name is a pun since 'to nip' something means to give something a small bite, while 'nipper' is a slang term for a young child. Gnasher also has several daughters: Gnatasha, Gnaomi, Gnanette, Gnorah and Gnancy, although these are rarely seen. Gnatasha had her own strip in The Beezer and Topper, and appeared in the Beezer Book 1994. Gnasher also used to have another strip, Gnasher's Tale, which began in 1977 and continued for nine years until the title was changed to Gnasher and Gnipper following Gnipper's introduction.
Rasher is a pig, first seen in issue 1920, dated 5 May 1979. He loves to eat swill and was rescued by Dennis. Rasher also has children: Oink, Snort, Grunt, Squeal, and Squeak. He used to have his own strip called Rasher, which started in 1984 and appeared regularly for four years before making sporadic appearances until 1995. He was believed to have been dropped after the strip was revamped in 2009, but he made a surprise return to the strip in 2011.
Dennis has been seen with his pet spider called Dasher (named "Sidney" in the animated series). He first appeared in about 1987, as a tool to scare Softy Walter, and was the mascot of the Beano website when it launched in 1997. Originally, the spider was all black, but when it reappeared in 1997, it was red and black, matching Dennis's jersey. He reappeared in the 2011 Halloween issue.
Dennis has two main friends: Curly (real name "Crispin"), who has a lot of strawberry-blonde, curly hair, was the first to appear, debuting months after the strip started in 1951, and Pieface (real name Kevin), whose favourite food is pies.
Together, Dennis, Curly and Pie-Face battle the Softies, a group of children who enjoy things such as teddy bears, dolls and flowers. The most famous, Dennis’s greatest sworn enemy, is a character called Walter. He has a pet poodle called Foo-Foo. The two most other frequently seen Softies are Algernon 'Spotty' Perkins and Bertie Blenkinsop. Other softies, seen less often, have included Bennie Benry , Sweet William, Dudley Nightshirt, Jeremy Snodgrass, Softy Matthew, Softy Pal Erasmus, Lisping Lester, Matilda (Walter's girlfriend introduced in the 1996 TV series), and Nervous Rex, a character who is scared of everything and everyone.
The Colonel is an old army colonel who is often seen with toy soldiers and often makes references to being in battles which happened hundreds of years ago. In an episode of the animated TV series entitled 'The Trial', his first name was revealed to be Godfrey.
Sergeant Slipper is the police sergeant who is always trying to catch Dennis for menacing. (In the 1960s a well-known police officer was known as Slipper of the Yard.)
Dennis' Teacher often appeared in Dennis the Menace strips from the early 1970s and has been replaced, although the character was absent for most of the intervening period, in the 2009 TV Series by another Teacher named Mrs Creecher.
Nasty Norman was a bully who was often seen as Dennis' rival.
Stanley Livingstone an explorer with a pet crocodile who lived next door to Dennis. Seemingly replaced by the Colonel though they character had disappeared a while before The Colonel first appeared.
Darts player Dennis Priestley is known as "The Menace" and wears a shirt with the familiar red and black horizontal bands.
In recent years, the satirical magazine Private Eye has carried comic strips featuring a character sometimes called Beano Boris or Boris the Menace, a blond-haired version of Dennis the Menace, parodying the politician Boris Johnson.[5]
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