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For 75 years, Dennis the Menace \u2013 wearing his signature red-and-black striped shirt and joined by his scruffy sidekick Gnasher \u2013 has been delighting children with his unapologetic mischief.<\/p>\n
Dennis the Menace debuted in the Beano<\/a> comic for children in March 1951 and quickly became a favourite with readers. His name derives from the music hall song Dennis the Menace from Venice, and his distinctive silhouette (very like that of his \u201cAbyssinian wire-haired tripe hound\u201d Gnasher) was first drawn on a cigarette pack in a pub<\/a> in the Scottish town of St Andrews.<\/p>\n Coincidentally, on the other side of the Atlantic, another \u201cnaughty\u201d boy called Dennis made his first appearance a syndicated newspaper comic strip on the same day as British Dennis. In contrast to his British namesake, American Dennis is a blond five year old, with a round face, blue and black striped t-shirt and red dungarees. American Dennis\u2019s mischief comes from his misguided attempts to be helpful, rather than British Dennis\u2019s deliberate misbehaviour.<\/p>\n The appearance of Dennis the Menace has changed somewhat over time, in his height, length of his legs and his possession of a catapult. But his spiked hair, red and black striped jumper, black shorts, knobbly knees and oversized boots have remained. <\/p>\n \n
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\n Read more:
\n How The Beano survived war and the web to reach its 80th birthday<\/a>
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