Al Wiseman- An Appreciation by Joe Staton

Note: This is the fourth in a series of "appreciations" of Al Wiseman by professionals in the comics/cartooning industry. Joe Staton has been drawing great comics since 1971 and shows no signs of slowing down. He's worked on a zillion characters, including Batman, Green Lantern, Plastic Man, The Huntress, The Legion of Superheroes, The Justice Society of America, The Metal Men, The Doom Patrol, Scooby Doo and co-created one of the greatest comic characters ever, E-Man. He's also the artist of the online detective comic Supernatural Crime. Check it out!

I was able to get this adorably cute drawing of Dennis and a kitty from Joe at this Summer's MOCCA convention in New York. He mentioned reading Wiseman Dennis comics as a kid, even though he wasn't aware of Wiseman's name at the time.

As you might guess, I was very happy to get this email from him yesterday:

"Bill—
The radio just said that Jay North is 55 today, which motivates me to get my comment to you:

Obviously, I never knew who Al Wiseman was, but I do remember loving those Dennis books he did. The one that’s stuck with me the most is the Washington, DC story. There was a real solidity and sense of place in Al’s version of Dennis, which, to me, made it much more believable than the newspaper version. Was good stuff, and I’m glad you're giving Al his due.

- Joe Staton"



Al Wiseman Appreciations:
Bill Wray
Joe Staton
Terry Austin
Jim Salicrup
Mike Lynch

Please order 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.