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| Copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
As a special treat, I'm bestowing upon all you rabid readers a few pages from the third DENNIS The MENACE book for 1960 (issued at the end of '59). I'm fortunate enough to own every Dennis book ever printed (one of each, obviously - not the entire print run of every book) and they're well-worth having. Published in an era before political correctness had been invented, the early books were the epitome of riotous, rebellious, rip-roaring FUN!
The Dennis books didn't become actual 'annuals' until 1984 (for '85), which was the first to be released a year before the next one. Before then, they had been published every two years until 1977 (for '78), whereupon it was 'rested' for a few years before resurfacing in 1982 (for '83). The final edition was the Dennis & Gnasher Annual for 2011, issued at the end of 2010, but by then, Dennis was a pale imitation of his former self. Will the Dennis books ever return? Who knows, but in the meantime, enjoy the following classic capers from the heyday of the world's wildest boy.
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| All art in this post by Davey Law |
That Davey Law can draw!
ReplyDeleteThis is something I lack in my drawings-a definitive style.
I read some of these annuals when I was about ten or eleven or twelve (that voracious appetite for anything and everything comic related.)A friend of mine who lived across the road had older brothers and sisters who must have received them as christmas or birthday gifts.and I really liked the artwork then.
Big difference in the character.
Davey Law's art is a classic example of an anarchic style that didn't sacrifice traditional storytelling sensibilities in the process. So unlike some recent Dandy artists, sad to say.
ReplyDeleteI love these early Dennis things! The earliest ones I have are from 1958 and 1962, big laughs on every page - mostly down to Mr. Law's "ways", definitely.
ReplyDeleteCould it be argued that the introduction of Gnasher was the beginning of the end for Dennis?
I've always thought that Gnasher should've been used far more sparingly than he was over the years, so there's a lot of truth in what you suggest.
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