TS: Dennis vs. Dennis

Message Bookmarked

Bookmark Removed

http://www.goodbyemag.com/apr01/ketcham-driving.gif http://www.waplingtons.freeserve.co.uk/dennis.jpg

which do you prefer: the lovable scamp who tormented mr. wilson, or the beano's spiky-haired delinquent?

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 22:42 (twenty years ago)

Dennis (US) is a spin on Peanuts, right? Basically the kid casting new light on the adult world with his innocent - and witty - perceptions. The above caption is a perfect example of this.

Dennis (UK) is a classic anti-hero, loveable because hes charismatic.Do the ILCers in the US even know who he is/what the Beano is?

Dennis (UK), by the way.

― David N (David N.), Wednesday, 24 August 2005 23:02 (twenty years ago)

I'll go with Dennis (UK) because Gnasher has the same haircut as his master and the strip's much more mean-spirited. That rules.

Beano isn't really available in the U.S. Although Nickelodeon carried the Bananaman cartoon for a spell, and that was a Beano strip. I actually saw some hipster guy walking around Washington D.C. wearing a Desperate Dan shirt last week, which reminded me of how Dan used to eat something called "Cow Pies" -- basically a pie with steer horns coming out of it. Except in the U.S., "cow pie" has a much funnier definition and my 8 year old self giggled at the thought of Dan romaing the U.S. Wild West and shoveling down mouthfuls of sh-t.

― ng, Thursday, 25 August 2005 02:43 (twenty years ago)

Dennis UK by a transatlantic mile.

I want to cry that Fantagraphics are sinking all their Peanuts dollars into a Complete Ketcham Dennis instead of putting the Thimble Theatre collections back into print in attractive editions

― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 25 August 2005 05:15 (twenty years ago)

the early dennis US is actually quite different from the cozy thing most of us are familiar with. i read through the very first collection (1951 or so) in a used bookstore a few years ago and was amazed by how biting and nasty the humor was. it was a lot closer to the dysfunctional family circus than it was to the family circus. and ketcham was a pretty amazing cartoonist, apparently a major influence on los bros hernandez. i might buy the first book, tho i do think a COMPLETE dennis is kinda stretching it!

i've only ever seen a few examples of dennis UK, so i can't say much about it. i remember bananaman, tho!

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 25 August 2005 06:08 (twenty years ago)

Although Nickelodeon carried the Bananaman cartoon for a spell, and that was a Beano strip.

The pedant in me can't help pointing out Bananaman was a Dandy strip, not a Beano one. It became part of the Dandy when they 'merged' with Nutty in the mid 80s (85?).

Anyway, Dennis UK by a country mile. I even don't mind the current animated show.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 25 August 2005 07:10 (twenty years ago)

Plus the US Dennis never had anything as good as this:

http://photos7.flickr.com/7907264_9e61e68fc2.jpg

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 25 August 2005 07:16 (twenty years ago)

the way jaime draws tiny little kids is pure ketcham

(i am still assumin that RASHER will top the ILC poll)

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 25 August 2005 08:26 (twenty years ago)

do you get US dennis in the UK? and is it called something other than dennis the menace?

― J.D. (Justyn Dillingham), Thursday, 25 August 2005 09:04 (twenty years ago)

i don't think we get it, if you mean does it run in a newspaper -- i assume DtM(US)-related publications are available in eg comics shops, though

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 25 August 2005 09:10 (twenty years ago)

Plus I'd figure many are familiar with it through the animated series and live-action movie, and might possibly have purchased some cash-in volumes of the original strip after those two things came along.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 25 August 2005 09:43 (twenty years ago)

i'm not sure i'd go so far as to claim "many" (at least in the UK) were familiar w.the live-action movie!!

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 25 August 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

You added an extra "m" to "any" there mark.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 25 August 2005 11:03 (twenty years ago)

i assume DtM(US)-related publications are available in eg comics shops, though

nah, not until next year when the Fanta jobbies kick in, unless there were some in the '50s or something.

I don't know any cartoons or movies either

― kit brash (kit brash), Thursday, 25 August 2005 11:13 (twenty years ago)

oddly enough i discovered the US dennis when i wz a tiny myself -- a friend of my parents had a DtM book, which i recall leafing through in a puzzled way aged c.7, so maybe there was a 50s or 60s collection available --- tho i think probbly one of her children (who were all footloose militant hippies) had ferried it back from america

― mark s (mark s), Thursday, 25 August 2005 11:29 (twenty years ago)

Actually, that's a good question - where the hell have I seen them?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Thursday, 25 August 2005 11:30 (twenty years ago)

One of the Irish newspapers carried it for a while, I think. The Indo maybe?

― Ray (Ray), Thursday, 25 August 2005 11:32 (twenty years ago)

i'm not sure i'd go so far as to claim "many" (at least in the UK) were familiar w.the live-action movie!!

Well, bit of a shot in the dark on my part there. The cartoon series was a Saturday morning staple here in Portugal, around the time of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and such...the live action movie was weekend afternoon filler material.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 25 August 2005 13:21 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, the Indo carried it for years. Thats where I saw it too.

It was differentiated from the UK Dennis (which is known as Dennis the Menace) by titling it simply "Dennis".

On the subject of the Dennis (UK) and his cartoon - what really bothers me is that his voice sounds sooo wrong to my ears. Not that any voice would sound right, probably, but this one is just ridiculously wrong.

― David N (David N.), Thursday, 25 August 2005 23:51 (twenty years ago)

brian blessed should do his voice

― mark s (mark s), Friday, 26 August 2005 09:12 (twenty years ago)

UK Dennis for me, but mostly for the David Law era, which is all grate.

http://www.geocities.com/spleetle/dennissmall.txt

― Philip Alderman (Phil A), Friday, 26 August 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

UK all the way.

The carton of the American version ran on Uk TV at some point (late-80s?) and it was just called Dennis.

― Raw Patrick (Raw Patrick), Friday, 26 August 2005 16:51 (twenty years ago)

No, I remember it being called "Dennis The Menace", just like the comic book. I used to love those cartoons when I was a kid, though I've never read even one of the strips (I don't know if they ever made it to Argentina, it's not something unreasonable)

And many times, before I knew of the existence of "Beano", whenever I went searching for "Dennis the Menace", I would always bump into stuff from the UK version instead of the american one. I didn't know they were two completely separate entities, so I developed an explanation which went kinda like "well, the dark haired one must be the pre-crisis version, while the blond one is probably the post-crisis Dennis".

And, yes, my brain considers an explanation like this as the most obvious and reasonable one. I'm in deep trouble.

― iodine (iodine), Friday, 26 August 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

one month passes...

US DtM cartoons, here, were just "dennis", I think

UK, of course

― RJG (RJG), Saturday, 1 October 2005 12:16 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

I bought the first volume of the Fantagraphics thing ages ago and read some of it every now and then. j.d's claims about the comedy being more biting in the early years are...kinda true, but it's sort of spread out, Dennis' bad behaviour only gets really *outrageous* every twenty pages or so, and the rest is mostly pretty generic problem-child stuff, not too schmaltzy but not too sharp either. Really though, and I don't think I've ever been able to say this about a comic book before, I read it for the art.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 4 January 2007 03:04 (nineteen years ago)

But still, can't see myself purchasing the entire run anytime soon. Is there a "golden age" of Dennis? Seems sort of unlikely.

― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 4 January 2007 03:05 (nineteen years ago)

If there is, you read it. All downhill from there.

― M. V. (M.V.), Thursday, 4 January 2007 05:58 (nineteen years ago)

i bought myself the beano annual this year

as yet unread

― secondhandnews (secondhandnews), Thursday, 4 January 2007 13:44 (nineteen years ago)

You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.