Al & The Merchant of Dennis
I speak in simple, indisputable truths when I declare that every man, woman and child on terra firma should possess a copy of Hank Ketcham's venerated 1990 autobiography The Merchant of Dennis.
After all, what other book can you purchase for your personal library that contains not one, but two photographic images of our esteemed mentor, Al Wiseman?
Sadly, none.
Below is an excerpt from the book that all-too-briefly mentions Al and his Dennis-creatin' cohorts in the Hank Ketcham Studio:
Hmm... Al comes across pretty well in the excerpt, but calling Fred Toole merely a "capable writer" is akin to downgrading William Shakespeare to just a competent hack playwright.
Ha! How future generations will snort and guffaw at this grievous example of blasphemous inaccuracy!
Unfortunately, that's about it for Al & Fred in this book. Except for some invaluable photos of them in the Ketcham studio.
Above: "The harried author [Hank Ketcham] autographing copies of the Dennis the Menace collection donated to raise funds for the playground in Monterey. Writer Fred Toole refills the ink supply while artist Al Wiseman delivers another box of books."
Above: "Toole, Ketcham and Wiseman ham it up for another PR photo session."
Above: Al Wiseman- Did punctuation marks follow this man around?
Below: No Wiseman in this photo, but here's the rest of the gang:
"A morning poolside coffee break with Fred Toole, Arch Garner, Hank Ketcham and Bob Paplow."
Below: The awe-inspiring cover to the 2005 re-issue of The Merchant of Dennis, designed by Jacob Covey and featuring a swell Ketcham-drawn cowboy Dennis. Yee-Haw!
Please order this book and other Dennis the Menace books from Fantagraphics (and ask them to reprint the Wiseman Dennis comic books and Sunday strips).
"Dennis the Menace" & related characters are ©Hank Ketcham Enterprises, Inc.
After all, what other book can you purchase for your personal library that contains not one, but two photographic images of our esteemed mentor, Al Wiseman?
Sadly, none.
Below is an excerpt from the book that all-too-briefly mentions Al and his Dennis-creatin' cohorts in the Hank Ketcham Studio:
Hmm... Al comes across pretty well in the excerpt, but calling Fred Toole merely a "capable writer" is akin to downgrading William Shakespeare to just a competent hack playwright.
Ha! How future generations will snort and guffaw at this grievous example of blasphemous inaccuracy!
Unfortunately, that's about it for Al & Fred in this book. Except for some invaluable photos of them in the Ketcham studio.
Above: "The harried author [Hank Ketcham] autographing copies of the Dennis the Menace collection donated to raise funds for the playground in Monterey. Writer Fred Toole refills the ink supply while artist Al Wiseman delivers another box of books."
Above: "Toole, Ketcham and Wiseman ham it up for another PR photo session."
Above: Al Wiseman- Did punctuation marks follow this man around?Below: No Wiseman in this photo, but here's the rest of the gang:
"A morning poolside coffee break with Fred Toole, Arch Garner, Hank Ketcham and Bob Paplow."Below: The awe-inspiring cover to the 2005 re-issue of The Merchant of Dennis, designed by Jacob Covey and featuring a swell Ketcham-drawn cowboy Dennis. Yee-Haw!
Please order this book and other Dennis the Menace books from Fantagraphics (and ask them to reprint the Wiseman Dennis comic books and Sunday strips).
"Dennis the Menace" & related characters are ©Hank Ketcham Enterprises, Inc.
2 Comments:
You're preachin' to the choir, Bill. MERCHANT OF DENNIS is one of the best books ever about cartooning. Doug Marlette's IN YOUR FACE: A CARTOONIST AT WORK is also very good -- even if you are not interested in editorial cartoons or Mr. Marlette.
Thanks for the suggestion, Mike! I'll have to pick up a copy of the Marlette book.
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