Dennis the Menace - Grenada : 2005

 

Sunday Funnies : 2010

2010-Jul-16 Columbus OH

2010-Jul-16, Columbus, Ohio, the Postal Service issued a 44-cent, Sunday Funnies commemora-tive stamp in five designs, designed by Ethel Kessler, Bethesda, Maryland.

The Sunday Funnies stamp pane honors five of our most beloved comic strips: Archie, Beetle Bailey, Dennis the Menace, Garfield, and Calvin and Hobbes.

The Beetle Bailey stamp features Beetle, smiling calmly while Sarge loses his cool.

The Calvin and Hobbes stamp captures the precocious 6-year-old and his tiger pal making scary and ridiculous faces.

The Archie stamp features Archie sharing a chocolate shake with brunette Veronica Lodge on his right and blonde Betty Cooper on his left.

The Garfield stamp features the crabby tabby standing back to back with Odie, a carefree, energetic dog.

The Dennis the Menace stamp features 5-year-old Dennis, dressed in red overalls and striped shirt, running off to some new adventure.

USPS Bulletin PB 22287 June 17, 2010

Special Dedication Postmarks - Only the following pictorial postmark is permitted for the Sunday Funnies stamp. The word “Station” or the abbreviation “STA” is required somewhere in the design, because it will be a temporary station. Additional pictorial postmarks used at various Post Offices around the country can be found Pages: Classic Comic Stamps - 1995

Dennis the Menace : 2010 Sunday Funnies

2010-Jul-16 Columbus OH

Henry King Ketcham (1920 – 2001) American cartoonist who created the Dennis the Menace comic strip, writing and drawing it from 1951 to 1994, when he retired from drawing the daily cartoon and took up painting full-time in his home studio. In 1953, he received the Reuben Award for the strip, which continues today in the hands of other cartoonists.

Dennis the Menace made its debut on March 12, 1951 in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate. The full-color Sunday strip debuted in January 1952. The inspiration for the comic strip came from Dennis Ketcham, the real-life son of Hank Ketcham, who, at four years old, refused to take a nap and made a complete mess of his room.

Commemorative postmark used 2010-Jul-16 California State Fair Sacramento CA and

2010-Aug-21 Pine Bush NY

Marcus Hamilton - Dennis the Menace

Marcus Hamilton - Dennis the Menace 2010.09.17

Hamilton received his Bachelor's in Commercial Art and began working in the field of freelance illustration. Hamilton would produce illustrations for magazine and book covers, as well as advertising art.

In 1993 Hamilton contacted Ketcham about an opportunity to draw Dennis the Menace should Ketcham retire. Ketcham liked what he saw, so Hamilton re-trained his drawing style to match Ketcham's and eventually took over the daily panels.

Marcus Hamilton was awarded the Reuben Award for Best Newspaper Panel 2004.

Ron Ferdinand - Dennis the Menace

Ron Ferdinand - 2010.09.13 - Dennis the Menace

Ferdinand attended the School of Visual Arts (1971-73) and the Art Students League (1974).

In 1981, Ferdinand read an interview with Hank Ketcham in Jud Hurd's Cartoonist PROfiles. Ferdinand sent some pencil sketches to Ketcham and after a few months of correspondence, he was brought in to work on the Dennis the Menace comic books for Marvel Comics. In 1982, Ferdinand began drawing the Sunday pages for Ketcham.

On July 16, 2010 the USPS issued a set of 5 stamps honoring the Sunday Funnies (Dennis the Menace, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, Archie and Calvin and Hobbes).

Hank Ketcham - Dennis the Menace

Hank Ketcham (1920-2001) - Dennis the Menace

Ketcham had been an animator for Walter Lantz and Walt Disney. During World War II, Ketcham, serving in the Navy, created a comic strip about the military called "Half Hitch".

In 1950, while working in his studio that the cartoon Dennis was born, when his wife came in and complained that their 4-year old son Dennis was a menace. In 1951 Dennis the Menace was published.

Dennis' mis-adventures have been published in both the comic strips and comic books, cartoons, movies and a TV series. The TV series, which ran from 1959-1963, was my first exposure to Dennis. The call of "Hey, Mr. Wilson!" still brightens my day. He has since become one of my favorites, which I still read to this day. Although Dennis has never grown older he certainly has grown wiser.

Ketcham retired in 1994, with production of the strips being handed over to his assistants. Ron Ferdinand produces the Sunday color funnies, And Marcus Hamilton draws the daily panel.

Always one of my favorite characters, I enjoy the fact that besides Hank Ketcham, Dennis also signed the above sketch.