The Last War in Albion: Chapters 1-7: The Story Thus Far

by Elizabeth Sandifer

(It is worth clarifying for the sake of some readers that theDennis the Menacestrip inThe Beanois a completely separate phenomenon from the Hank Ketcham-created American comic strip of the same name. Both feature the same basic premise - a young boy named Dennis and his troublemaking exploits - although the American Dennis is a well-meaning child who inadvertently causes trouble, whereas the British one, created by artist Davey Law andBeano editor Ian Chisholm, is more of an unreconstructed sociopath. The two characters are wholly unrelated, with Law/Chisholm and Ketcham hitting on the name independently. Chisholm was apparently inspired by a music hall song entitled “Dennis the Menace in Venice,” while Ketcham named the character after his own son. The strips debuted in the same week, with the American one starting on March 12th, 1951, and the British one five days later in the March 17thissue ofThe Beano.)