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| Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co., Ltd |
I've shown these DENNIS The MENACE Book covers in six separate parts some time ago, but thought it might prove more convenient to include them all in one single post and thus enable you to forego having to trawl through the blog in search of them. So here they are! Where there's only one image for a book, it's because the back cover was the same as the front and therefore redundant. In a few instances, some covers would not display side-by-side, so, as with the single covers, I've enlarged them in order to maintain an even layout. (Presentation is paramount!)
You now have all 39 Dennis book covers ever published over a period of 55 years - all scanned from my own personal collection. How many did you have as a kid? (Incidentally, there weren't any books between the ones for '78 and '83.)
(Click on image to enlarge, click again for optimum size.)
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I had the 1978 one - I recognized the cover straight away. So I would have got it in late '77 (I think I bought it myself rather than getting it as a present). My weekly comics were exclusively Marvel but as far as annuals were concerned I got all kinds and I had the 1978 Beano and Topper annuals too. Christmas '77 was my first Christmas in secondary school and those were possibly my final D.C. Thompson annuals - if not that year then definitely the next. But in 2008 I bought the 2009 Beano annual just out of curiosity to see what it was like nowadays. It was OK :)
ReplyDeleteSome of those early Dennis books were really funny, CJ. Less so towards the end of their run. I just can't stand that 'cutesy' Dennis.
ReplyDeletePhew! - I think this is your longest-ever post!?
ReplyDeleteCertainly is, picture-wise, JP.
ReplyDeleteI had the 72 and 73 annuals! Wish I hadn't got rid of them now.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't have had the '73 'Annual', PS, 'cos there wasn't one. (You mean '74 no doubt.) The '72 book was the very first to have Gnasher on the cover. Should you ever get the chance to acquire some of the early books, grab 'em - they're very funny.
ReplyDeleteWell if you're going to be picky....wait a minute I feel an American election comment coming on.... I don't believe you. I make my own reality and live in it. The 73 annual was huge!
DeleteI don't know what date it was, but the earliest (published) book I had was the striped cover, with the 'ta-ta!' hankie on the back. Not first hand! It was my uncle's, found in an old box of books when my dad was rummaging around in my granda's old garage. I took it home and re-read it a lot, admiring the art and the stories and how the two were deftly put together. It was like the then-current Dennis the Menace of my era (80s and early 90's - the last time Dennis had teeth!) but... more so.
ReplyDeleteIt's been years since I saw it. I can't remember what happened to it - I think it finally fell apart from use. Pity.
I don't remember if I had any other Dennis annuals, although some of these covers look familiar. I did get some Beano and Dandy annuals, though.
That's the '64 Annual you had, WJB, issued near the end of '63. You could probably track down a replacement for it on eBay if you were prepared to fork out a few quid. I was really lucky to get the first two Books for £20 or £30 back in the early or mid-'90s.
ReplyDeleteAnd the 1952 Annual was even, er - huger!
ReplyDeleteI mentioned earlier that I had the 1978 book and the cover has just reminded me of something that used to happen in the dinner hall of my comprehensive school - whenever somebody dropped a plate and it smashed on the floor a huge cheer would erupt. It happened every time.
ReplyDeleteEvery time I hear a plate or dish smash, I shout "Sack that juggler!"
ReplyDeleteThe 1993 book was the first one I got - and to my 7-year-old mind's eyes, I read the cover (Dennis holding his sides with laughter) to mean that the entirety of the Beano took place INSIDE Dennis, hence his laughter. Child logic, eh?
ReplyDeleteGot a load more since then, love those 1950s and 1960s ones! Some of the later ones there I'm seeing for the first time, those last two are horrendous, sadly...
On a happier note, the last two Bash Street Kids annuals were fantastic!
Apologies for the delay in responding,THB. My computer is in for repair and I'm using a friend's, which I'm still trying to get the hang of. It's dispiriting to see just how much the Dennis books deteriorated towards the end - it's just not Dennis. And I also think it would be better if Gnasher wasn't in every strip, as he rather limits the writers' imaginations.
ReplyDelete