Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace was Fantagraphics' second "complete" series of newspaper strip collections and one of the most successful books in the company's history, greeted by reviews with praise similar to that garnered by The Complete Peanuts. We are proud to present the fifth volume of Hank Ketcham's phenomenal single-panel cartoons covering the years 1959 and 1960. Dennis the Menace is the second most popular cartoon kid in the world; he's a global publishing, merchandising and multi-media phenomenon, with over 50 million book collections sold, the fondly remembered live-action TV show from 1959-63, two major motion pictures in the '90s, a full-length animated film in 2002, and many other media tie-ins. Readers of over 1,000 newspapers currently enjoy the strip every day.
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Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
The latest volume collecting the enduringly popular Dennis the Menace newspaper panels brings the series into the 1960s. Ketcham’s gentle humor is best taken in daily doses, as originally intended; the detailing of Dennis’ dastardly deeds—exasperating and embarrassing his parents, annoying his neighbors, terrorizing babysitters—can seem repetitive and exhausting when two years’ worth is presented en masse. What doesn’t grow tiresome, at least to aficionados of masterly illustration, is Ketcham’s graphic virtuosity: his bold line work, expert compositions, and vivid characterizations make each and every panel a visual delight. --Gordon Flagg
Review
Ketcham’s graphic virtuosity: his bold line work, expert compositions, and vivid characterizations make each and every panel a visual delight. (Gordon Flagg - Booklist )
There’s something intrinsically elegant about a single comic strip frame, an inherent simplicity born of both necessity and design, especially if that frame comes not as one in a series but as the whole of the story itself…The good folks at Fantagraphics Books have just released volume 5…a nearly 7-pound brick of a book that will leave you blocks of pure pleasure…so big it could act as a worthy door stop for a vault if it didn’t look so damn good on my shelf—an in my hands. (John Hood - Miami SunPost )
There’s something intrinsically elegant about a single comic strip frame, an inherent simplicity born of both necessity and design, especially if that frame comes not as one in a series but as the whole of the story itself…The good folks at Fantagraphics Books have just released volume 5…a nearly 7-pound brick of a book that will leave you blocks of pure pleasure…so big it could act as a worthy door stop for a vault if it didn’t look so damn good on my shelf—an in my hands. (John Hood - Miami SunPost )
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4.0 out of 5 stars
The Master of Menace,
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This review is from: Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1959-1960 (Vol. 5) (Hardcover)
This volume concludes the first decade of Hank Ketcham's classic comic strip "Dennis the Menace." I think this period is really the best in the strip's long and fabled run. Dennis in this era was much wilder and more mischievous. As the strip progressed and Dennis became more of a merchandising symbol and "role model," his antics were toned way down.
The same is also true for many of the other characters in the strip. In particular Dennis' dad. In these early strips Henry behaves in a way that is often hilariously politically uncorrect, engaging in oogling pretty woman, gamblings, etc. Ketcham's draftsmanship is also at its peak in this time period. I really believe he was influenced by and in a sort of compeitiion with his hired assistant Al Wiseman. Wiseman handled the Dennis comic book and Sunday strips. Initially, Wiseman's own style was much tighter than was Ketcham's. But after the first couple of years, Ketcham's drawing style began to resemble Wiseman's, right up until the early 60's when Wiseman and Ketcham had a falling out. These Fantagraphics volumes are handsomely produced with a generous two-year supply of Dennis daily strips. My only hope is that they will launch a companion series of the Dennis Sunday strips, so we can see a portion of Wiseman's career that has, as yet, never been reprinted.
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