Customer Reviews

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1959-1960 (Vol. 5)

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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.