The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Comic capers for McManus as it makes way to McMenace status
Museum has altered its name ahead of fun new show that celebrates legendary cartoon characters of DC Thomson fame
Dennis the Menace and co have taken over one of Dundee’s most iconic buildings in a huge celebration of the Beano’s 80th anniversary.
The McManus Art Gallery and Museum now goes by the name the McMenace after comic characters Dennis and Gnasher, the Bash Street Kids, Rodger the Dodger and Minnie the Minx stamped their mark.
Opening to the public on Saturday, Bash Street’s Back at The McMenace is a four- month- long exhibition showcasing the history of the legendary comic, created in the museum at DC Thomson’s Meadowside building.
It was first published just before the beginning of the Second World War on July 30 1938.
It quickly spread across the world, particularly during the post-war period, when it hit peak readership of about 1.7 million.
Today, it still performs strongly in what has become a difficult market.
Mike Stirling, head of Beano studios said the exhibition captures the character of the comic perfectly.
He said: “Firstly, it’s amazingly cool that a place known as Dundee’s favourite building would actually rename itself for a single exhibition.
“That’s never happened before and I don’t think it has happened anywhere in the art world.
“I have to pay tribute to the staff here at the McManus who have poured their heart and soul into it.
“For anybody who comes to the exhibition, there are actually secret jokes hidden all over the museum.
“It’s like reading a Beano comic. Often you can get the story really quickly but if you return to it and look more carefully at the pictures, you’ll start to see the really, really funny stuff.”
The location of the exhibition is given all the more relevance as it also sits right across from the High School of Dundee — the place the characters are based on.
There is little to highlight Dundee’s role as the birthplace of such iconic comic capers, something Carly Cooper, curator of social history, wants to fix.
She said: “During the early years, the fact that these comics were from Dundee was kept quite hidden.
“My sisters and I grew up reading Twinkle and Bunty, and I never had any idea they were created in Dundee until I moved here from Ireland.
“It’s hugely important to emphasise it though. It’s something we should be really quite proud of. The fact the Beano has been going for 80 years is quite phenomenal.”
The exhibition runs until October 21.