Number 526


More Al Wiseman


When I first showed a Dennis the Menace story by writer Fred Toole and Hank Ketcham assistant, Al Wiseman, I got several e-mails from grateful fans. There are a lot of fans and professional cartoonists who share the opinion that Wiseman was a great artist.

Here are two more Dennis the Menace stories by the team of Toole and Wiseman. They are scanned from The Best of Dennis the Menace #1, 1959. The Grand Comics Database doesn't know what issue of Dennis that "Dennis Rides Again" comes from, but based on the art style it's obviously early, within the first few issues of the series that began in 1953. "Dennis the Space Menace" is from an unnumbered issue of Dennis the Menace Giant Vacation Special, circa mid-'50s.

The thing these stories have in common with our Dennis story in Pappy's #497 is that they come from Dennis' imagination, a kid's version of what he hears. In one case it's a dream about cowboys, in the other flying saucers. They're told from his point of view, which gives Toole and Wiseman room to have fun with the material.