Due in February, Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1959-1960 features the tiny troublemaker's encounters with bobby-soxers, beatniks, cats and hobos, and of course plenty of mischief at home and in the neighborhood, all expressed through Ketcham's dazzlingly fluid line. Click this link if the embedded slideshow doesn't appear above, and/or to open it in a new window.

• Dash Shaw and Tony Millionaire are amongst the the official selections from which the the Festival International de la BD Angouleme main prizes will be drawn from at January's festival. That is very cool.

• Joey Anuff has justified the Internet's existence.

• Charles Crumb, who passed away 14 years ago, is gone but not forgotten. 

• Rudy Ray Moore is not so far removed from the realm of this blog that it would be inappropriate to lament his passing here. R.I.P., R.R.M. A tip of the fur bucket to Rick Altergott and Jim Blanchard, who first introduced me to Petey Wheatstraw: The Devil's Son-In-Law.

• Dennis the Menace cartoonist Marcus Hamilton is a thankful man. 

• Bob Levin's blog is always worth reading. 

Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace 1951-1952 (Softcover)
By Hank Ketcham

The first volume of Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace, collecting every single panel strip from 1951 and 1952, is now available in this handsome and affordable softcover edition.

Dennis the Menace began on March 14, 1951 (four months after Ketcham's friend and colleague Charles Schulz started his own historic comic strip). He went on to become the second most popular cartoon kid in the world — after Charlie Brown, of course. Dennis the Menace first appeared in 16 American newspapers; by the end of 1951, he was appearing in over a hundred. The reason for Dennis' success is easy to figure out: It was one of the most brilliantly observed and empathetic comic strips about childhood ever drawn. Ketcham captured the mischievousness, rambunctiousness, and anarchy of a kid's world better than any other cartoonist. The strip appeals to both parents and children — while parents shake their heads ruefully at how accurately Ketcham caught the essence of children's natural zest for mayhem, children identify with Dennis and the chaos that he leaves in his wake — just a hop, skip, and a jump away from their own fantasy of themselves! Ketcham was a cartoonist with a vivacious line that was exquisitely suited to depicting adults and children. His gags were funny, subtle and touching. Ketcham drew Dennis the Menace from 1951 to 1994, when he retired and let his assistant take over the strip.

624-page black & white 5 1/8" x 6" softcover • $18.99
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With the new softcover edition of the first volume of Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace due any day now, we decided this would be a good time to reprint Brian Walker's informative introduction to the volume here on our website. Click on through to read!

Coming soon and now available for pre-order, the first volume of Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace in an affordable (and cute) softcover edition. Enjoy this video preview, and click here for a gallery of preview photos, including a comparison shot with the hardcover edition.

"He devoured everything from history to biography, and was also fond of reading Dennis the Menace comic books imported for him from the US. People asking for autographs were greeted with stern silence."

Our pal Craig Yoe has some vintage Dennis the Menace audio up on his Arflovers blog (courtesy of DJ David B.). Makes a great companion to the Terr'ble Thompson Musical!