DENNIS AN EVERYDAY REBEL FOR 70 YEARS

As Dennis the Menace turns 70, the story behind the star of Britain’s longest-running comic (and biggest-selling annual) –plus top children’s authors on the secrets of their success

Generations of us have got into the habit of reading for fun thanks to the Beano, so who better to launch our World Book Day special edition than the comic’s star Dennis the Menace. And guess what, the lovable little rascal reaches the ripe old age of 70 in March.

With his spiky black hair, shorts and red-and-black stripey jumper, Dennis is instantly recognisable. And although he’s been through 70 years of mischief and mayhem, he will forever be ten years old.

‘We support World Book Day and think it’s great,’ says Beano editorial director Mike Stirling. ‘One of the Beano’s missions and ambitions is to show everyone that reading can be fun, and that matches up with World Book Day perfectly. The Beano has always done that – it’s a pathway into reading and shows kids, and sometimes reluctant readers, they can have a lot of enjoyment through reading.’

Dennis won’t be short of wellwishers on his birthday, all with fond memories of him from childhood. Celebrity fans and erstwhile guest editors of the Beano include comedian and children’s author Harry Hill and David Walliams (see feature page 7), who says he wouldn’t have become a children’s author were it not for the comic. ‘What I always loved about the Beano was that it felt naughty,’ David wrote in his editor’s letter. ‘It was a comic you should read under the duvet with a torch. I don’t think I’d have got into writing my books without the Beano.’

It’s no surprise either that Dennis’s rebellious nature struck a chord with musicians. The Cure’s Robert Smith is a fan, Kurt Cobain wore the redand-black striped jumper, and Eric Clapton is reading a copy of the comic on the cover of his Blues Breakers album. David Bowie even included the Beano on a list of his 100 favourite reads that he posted on Facebook in 2013, alongside weightier books by George Orwell, DH Lawrence and Vladimir Nabokov.

‘Dennis has always been about having a laugh,’ says Mike Stirling. ‘Especially now, that’s become essential in terms of getting through the day and looking at the funny side of things if possible. We’re serious about not being too serious.

‘Dennis is also resilient. He gets his comeuppance but is never beaten down, and each week he comes back for more. All our characters get up again, they never lose faith, they always think something amazing’s just round the corner. And that’s a brilliant attitude to have in life.’

Over the years Dennis, his trusty sidekick Gnasher, Minnie the Minx and the Bash Street Kids have been joined by newer characters such as super-smart scientist Rubi and secret agent Dangerous Dan. They now reach 87 countries thanks to the comic, the Beano website and a TV show, currently on Netflix.

Every Christmas for the last ten years, the Beano has also produced the bestselling annual in the country, except for one year when One Direction outsold them, and even sales of

the old-fashioned paper comic are up, currently at over 45,000 a week. To celebrate Dennis’s birthday they are also planning an interactive story trail around Kew Gardens in the Easter holidays.

‘The lovely thing about our characters is they’re recognisable to different generations in the same family, so everyone can share the joke,’ says Mike. ‘We match our characters to what’s going on in the real world at the time, so the situations are slightly different, but the antics are the same as they were in the 1950s. Dennis and co are still cocking a

DENNIS IS RESILIENT, HE GETS HIS COMEUPPANCE BUT HE’S NEVER BEATEN

snook at authority, and just being everyday rebels and asking questions that sometimes as a grown-up you’re maybe not brave enough to ask.

‘We spend loads of time speaking to kids. We’ve got a panel of trendspotters based around the country who tell us what’s going on in their lives. That’s how we keep up with the times. One change is that when I started on the Beano in 2007, the readership was 67 per cent boys and 33 per cent girls; now it’s around a 50-50 split.’

Dennis has certainly come a long way since March 1951 when he first appeared. As a new Beano character he was given a trial run in a halfpage story to see if the readers enjoyed him.

‘Those half pages were in the section that was black and white,’ explains Mike. ‘With our printing process the next step up was to introduce the colour red, so when Dennis proved popular he moved

there and that’s when the red-and-black jumper was born.’

It’s fair to say Mike lives and breathes the Beano – his mother still buys him the annual every Christmas, even though the contents are of course no surprise to him.

‘The great thing about comics is it’s like being a movie director with an unlimited budget, as you can make anything happen,’ he says. ‘Dennis is still my favourite character. I wasn’t a naughty kid, I was quite quiet but I had messy curly hair and people would say I looked like him, so I loved that – because I felt I was a bit like

Dennis the Menace, even though

I didn’t behave like him.’

Reflecting the world with a sense of cheeky fun even reaches as far as politics. Donald Trump appeared in the Beano at Halloween as scary ‘Trumpkin’ – a pumpkin with a blonde wig – and Boris Johnson has also appeared, but the biggest reaction came when children were talking about Jacob Reesmogg,

saying the likeness between him and Dennis’s arch-enemy Walter the Softy, the kid who wants to grow up too soon, was striking.

‘We sent him a letter to the House of Commons claiming he was infringing our copyright by masquerading as Walter the Softy and asking him to “cease and desist”. We put seven points to him in the letter including his hair parting, his round glasses and his snootiness,’ says Mike.

‘The BBC then sent a film crew down to Somerset to interview him live on the news. He took it really well. He refuted our points one by one, then said, “It’s harmless fun. Life isn’t all long faces.” ‘Fair play to him. That fits with our mantra at the Beano to “think kid”. We’re challenging people to find the little Dennis in themselves. We think it’s a good thing to “think kid” no matter what age you are because it lets you see things in an interesting, creative way and we think the world would be a better place if we all did that.’ n