148 DENNIS THE MENACE
Disney Studios where he served as an assistant animator on Pinocchio, Bambi, Fantasia,
and many Donald Duck cartoons. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy
and earned extra income as a freelance cartoonist for magazines such as Th e Saturday
Evening Post. When the war was over, Ketcham relocated to New York City and soon
became a successful magazine cartoonist whose work appeared regularly in Th e New
Yo r k e r, Ladies’ Home Journal, Liberty, and Collier’s. He was noted for his ability to
compose single-panel gags.
Dennis the Menace is a comics feature concentrating upon Dennis Mitchell, a mis-
chievous “fi ve-ana-half ” year old boy with tousled blonde hair and an ever-present
cowlick. He has button eyes, a freckled face, and is usually seen wearing a striped
shirt and overalls. Dennis’s constant companion is Ruff , his faithful dog. In creating
his comic, Ketcham devised detailed histories for all his characters. Dennis’s parents,
Henry and Alice Mitchell (who were named after Ketcham and his own wife), were
a typical 1950s suburban couple. Henry, who wore horn-rimmed glasses, worked
for an aeronautical engineering company; Alice had studied diet and nutrition at a
state university but left the workforce to raise her son. Th e Mitchells were neigh-
bors with George and Martha Wilson, an older childless couple. Mr. Wilson was a
retired postal worker. Where Mrs. Wilson adored Dennis, her husband displayed a
gruff er attitude towards the boy’s shenanigans. Other recurring characters included
Joey McDonald, a younger boy who often acts as Dennis’ sidekick; Gina Gillotti, a
young Italian girl on whom Dennis has a secret crush; and Margaret Wade, a little
red-haired girl with glasses whose bossy nature annoys Dennis. Th is cast was fully
developed by the mid-1950s and changed little over the following decades. In 1970,
Ketcham attempted to integrate his feature with the inclusion of Jackson, a black boy
new to the neighborhood. Unfortunately, Ketcham depicted Jackson in the style of
Little Black Sambo in that he had huge lips and wide eyes. Within days of Jackson’s
debut there were protests from readers around the nation, condemning Ketcham
for reviving such a racist stereotype of African Americans. Jackson was soon retired
from the feature.
Ketcham’s philosophy for Dennis the Menace was that the comic should remain
positive and upbeat. Dennis is not presented as a malicious or mean-spirited child,
but rather as a spunky, curious, all-American boy whose unrestrained vigor often
leads him into trouble. While commenting on Dennis’s continued popularity, Ket-
cham remarked, “He makes people smile and laugh when they read his words and see
his actions, which expresses an innocence shared universally by fi ve-year-olds. Some
things fortunately never change” (Ketcham 2005, xix). Th e artwork of Dennis the
Menace further emphasizes Ketcham’s philosophy. Long-recognized as one of the most
profi cient draftsmen in comics, Ketcham meticulously composed his panels and fi lled
them with realistic elements in a seemingly loose and spontaneous style. He was also
known for employing numerous assistants over the years to help draw and write gags
for Dennis. By the 1990s Ketcham had mostly retired from the feature. Marcus Ham-
ilton was assigned to draw the daily panel and Ron Ferdinand took over the Sunday
