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On 12 March 1951, two unrelated comic characters called Dennis the Menace made their debut: an American newspaper cartoon launched in 16 papers, and a British strip went on sale in The Beano. Neither side knew of the other.

Dundee and California, 1951

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The story behind the card

Hank Ketcham, a cartoonist in Carmel, California, took the idea from his four-year-old son, Dennis: in October 1950 the boy refused his nap and wrecked his room, and his exasperated mother called him a menace. Ketcham's Dennis is a blond, well-meaning boy whose curiosity causes chaos. In Dundee, Scotland, Beano editor George Moonie took the name from a music-hall song, 'I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice', and artist David Law drew a scowling boy in a striped jumper for issue 452. To avoid confusion, the American strip was retitled simply 'Dennis' for British readers, while the British boy often appears abroad as 'Dennis and Gnasher'. Both are still published.

Türkçe oku
12 Mart 1951'de, birbiriyle hiçbir ilgisi olmayan iki çizgi karakter aynı gün “Dennis the Menace” adıyla okurlarla buluştu: Biri 16 Amerikan gazetesinde yayımlanmaya başlayan bir karikatürdü, öbürü İngiltere'de The Beano dergisinde çıkan bir çizgi dizi. İki tarafın birbirinden haberi yoktu.
Dundee ve Kaliforniya, 1951

Kaliforniya'nın Carmel kasabasında yaşayan karikatürist Hank Ketcham, fikri dört yaşındaki oğlu Dennis'ten aldı: Ekim 1950'de çocuk öğle uykusuna yatmayı reddedip odasını darmadağın edince, bıkkın annesi ona “baş belası” dedi. Ketcham'ın Dennis'i, merakı yüzünden ortalığı birbirine katan sarışın, iyi niyetli bir çocuktur. İskoçya'nın Dundee kentinde ise The Beano'nun editörü George Moonie adı “I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice” diye başlayan bir müzikhol şarkısından aldı; çizer David Law da derginin 452. sayısı için çizgili kazağıyla kaşlarını çatmış bir çocuk çizdi. Karışıklık olmasın diye Amerikan çizgi dizisi İngiltere'de yalnızca “Dennis” adıyla yayımlandı; İngiliz Dennis de yurt dışında çoğu zaman “Dennis and Gnasher” olarak anılır. İkisi de hâlâ yayımlanıyor.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Dennis the Menace (U.S. comics)
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