Hank Ketcham's The Complete Dennis the Menace: 1951-52

Comic Strips
Hank Ketcham's The Complete Dennis the Menace: 1951-52
By Leroy Douresseaux
September 11, 2005 - 19:13

Fantagraphics Books

HANK KETCHAM’S COMPLETE DENNIS THE MENACE: 1951-1952 (Volume 1)

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS
CARTOONIST: Hank Ketcham
ISBN: 1-56097-680-2; hardcover
624 pp., B&W, $24.95
5.5” x 6.25,” Humor/COMIC STRIPS

Fantagraphics Books, which over its history has made a great name for itself with the complete reprinting of several classic newspaper comic strips in books collections, has a hit with The Complete Peanuts. That series is meant to be much more friendly to the general book trade and bookstore market than any of Fantagraphics numerous other strip reprint series (such as Little Orphan Annie and Little Nemo in Slumberland). Their second attempt to really penetrate bookstores with comic strip reprints is HANK KETCHAM’S COMPLETE DENNIS THE MENACE.

The first volume reprints Ketcham’s single panel strip from its humble beginnings on March 14, 1951 to the December 31, 1952. If quality alone is enough to make The Complete Dennis a hit, then, Fantagraphics will be overwhelmed with good sales. First, the company known for its often-exquisite production values and always-sturdy hard cover books does not disappoint. This is printed in Korea, and goes a long way to discourage the idea that Korea manufactures junk (hee-hee).

In the first two years of the strip, Dennis Mitchell is a menace, but is not quite the iconic character that we know from numerous merchandising, although he’s wearing his trademark overalls. Ketcham’s art is sleek and manic, but his line work manages to be both economical and lavish; if such a thing is possible, Ketcham achieved it. It becomes evident through reading the strip that Ketcham was an uncanny master of facial expressions, body language, and the movement of bodies in clothes. He has the facility of an old master, but the good sense to apply it to the practical needs of a daily comic strip.

Still, the man was not just a great cartoonist; he was also a great illustrator and artist, and it may take this series to spread that truth beyond the number of fellow cartoonists and comic book artists who study the him in order to improve themselves. I found myself repeatedly looking over each brilliant rendered panel contained within this beautiful little book. In each drawing, every line and every brush strokes means something. It’s not just the written gag that sells the strip, but also a subtle pen stoke that suggests a facial expression or quiet change in emotion. Ketcham reportedly composed each single daily panel as if it were a painting, and that shows. Such dedication to craft and audience deserves our attention.