(frames from the very first Dennis the Menace strip in the mighty Beano, March 17th, 1951, (c) DC Thomson)

There have been some changes over the decades – with corporal punishment long out of favour, for example, the famous – or infamous – slipper is no longer used by Dennis’ dad to administer a spanking after his naughtiness. But all comics and all long-lived characters have to change a bit (fellow DCT creations Oor Wullie and The Broons being perhaps the exception) but the fact kids still love Dennis and the Beano pretty much says it all. It’s kind of nice to think that if you are a modern child reading the Beano (like my best friend’s wee boys, who love it) then you’re reading a strip your dad read. And his dad too. That makes me smile. The BBC also paid tribute to the venerable Dennis with a trip to the Cartoon Museum in London – sadly the video doesn’t have an embed feature but if you follow the link you should be able to see it.

As we wish Dennis a happy 60th birthday we once again can’t help but hint to DC Thomson, how about publishing some archive collections from your vast library of much loved characters. A Dennis across the years collection, a Bash Street Kids anthology? Many of us who grew up with your comics would dearly love to see a quality reprint collection of some of those adored strips and it would be a fine way to celebrate British comics history.

(Phil Lynnott as Dennis the Menace, by Jim Fitzpatrick, Dennis & Gnasher (c) DC Thomson)

The new Dennis The Menace & Gnasher TV series on children’s BBC starts on September 7th (just in time for back to school). It looks and sounds a lot better than the 1996 25 minute per episode version which was a rather too diluted thing altogether.No doubt it will be less anarchic than Dennis at his best and the voice still isn’t right, more “Horrid Henry” than the Dennis I always heard in my head.Molly thought it looked pretty good, so that’s at least one 10 year old tuning in.

The new animation has already prompted the usual wailing and gnashing (sorry) in the press about toning the show down; allegations of removing the edge, taking out any weaponry, no picking on Walter the Softy. The Mail managed to get a nice piece of BBC bashing and accusations of PC behaviour within the opening paragraph:

Dennis is no longer the menace he once was after a BBC makeover that has transformed him into a politically correct shadow of his former self.

There’s very little information available about it as far as I can see, but Down The Tubes had this from 2007:

“The series is currently in pre-production and will aim to retain Dennis’s classic streak of schoolboy naughtiness and charm. The BBC said it was really interested in a new series but wanted the format to be more compact and exciting, Benjamin Gray, DC Thomson’s executive manager, revealed, referring we assume to shows such as the 1996 Dennis and Gnasher animated series. “We feel we have got that with this new series.”

More video and not many details on the promotional website and fun and games on the CBBC website. More wonderful comic strip Dennis available every week in the Beano and online at Beanotown.