Al Wiseman Blog

Gas Buggy Gamblers Poster (Part 2)

Bah. I've got a cold and haven't the strength to babble on and on incoherently about this swell Al Wiseman artwork.

Which is good news for you!

Enjoy the silence while you can...

Dennis the Menace On Safety (Part 4)

"Dennis" and "Safety". Do those two words really belong together in the same sentence? And just what does Dennis know about safety anyway?

Well, as today's two cartoon panels show us, Dennis knows plenty. Or more to the point, Dennis knows how to laugh in the face of un-safety. Why, that boy can lighten up any situation, no matter how grisly or horrific, by using only his cutely inappropriate comic asides!

What a happier world we'd live in, if only we could all be little more like Dennis!

(Oh, and some of the "in-pain" characters strike me as having been penciled by someone other than Wiseman. They just look a bit odd...)

Dennis the Menace On Safety Posts:
Part 1/Part 2/Part 3

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.

"Dear Mr. Disney"

Previously, we've posted artwork that lil' Al Wiseman drew as a boy showing how he was influenced by a certain Walter Elias Disney, founder of the "Walt Disney Studios" (a little known animation company which flourished for a time during Al's childhood).

Here we present a letter twelve-year-old Al (then using his step-father's last name) sent to Mr. Disney requesting a job. So what happened next? History is somewhat unclear on this matter.

What I'd like to believe is that Walter Disney immediately jumped at the chance to have talented young Al employed at his studio. But quick-thinking Al had a change of heart. Why would he want to become just another faceless cog-in-the-machine and take on projects to which he could never sign his name? No, that would never do.

So Alvin went back to his schoolwork and continued plotting ways to make a name for himself in the cartooning world.

Well, at least that's what I'd like to believe...

A special thanks to Teresa Tersol-Wiseman for the scan of Al's letter!

Al's Childhood Drawings:
Part 1/Part 2/Part 3

We Learn to Play (Part 3)

Gather around everyone! Let's see more images from the greatest unheralded childrens' book of all time! We Learn to Play was lovingly drawn by Al Wiseman while he was under the incorrect assumption that his name was "Hank Ketcham."

This was a true tour de force of cataclysmic Wiseman-esqe proportions!

Imagine being a child in the 1950's and owning a copy of this precious book. How lucky you would be! Why, you would carry it around with you everywhere until it fell apart in your hands and your parents had to dispose of it. But you'd never forget!

And now you, dear blog reader, can carry your computer with you everywhere and have these images forever (well, at least until the internet dissolves in your hands).

Above: Notice that the writer of this book, Jean Kelleher Porter, describes herself as a "Specialist in Industrial Recreations and Employee Activities". Why, I bet she made all that stuff up!

Frankly, I think being the "Creator of 'Dennis the Menace'" is a much more impressive job description.

Confessions of a Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes (Part 8)

Well, here we are once again, gazing at a wonderful Al Wiseman drawing from the 1974 book Confessions of a Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes.

You know, we could spend plenty of quality Al Wiseman Blog time trying to figure out what the heck is going on in this fanciful image. And you might think that we'd gain valuable insight by reading the poem that accompanied it. Unfortunately, the poem is even more inscrutable than the artwork. (Plus, poems from this book tend to give me awful migraine headaches, anyway.)

So let's skip the poem altogether and use our fertile imaginations to conjure up a much better scenario.

Hmmm... Must think...

Well, if your imagination fails you, feel free to just sit back and admire the skillful drawing ability of the omni-talented Mr. Wiseman.

After all, we are not here to judge you, but to help guide you through a richer and more meaningful Al Wiseman viewing experience.

Confessions of a Little Old Lady in Tennis Shoes Posts:
Part 1/Part 2/Part 3/Part 4/Part 5/Part 6/Part 7

The Hearing Book (Part 4)

We at the Al Wiseman Blog don't condone nudity in any way, shape, or form. To further elaborate, we consider any nakedness to be an affront to everything pure and morally benign in this world.

But gosh, when Al Wiseman draws nude ladies we just can't help ourselves! So let's cast aside our strict moral values and wallow in the forbidden sights (at least until the shame of our actions catch up with us and leads us to our eventual repentance). Oh, it's an endless cycle...

But will someone please explain to me what an early '60s Kurt Schaffenberger-drawn Lois Lane is doing wandering around all naked in a 1980 Al Wiseman-created nudist colony? Is she there on an undercover assignment for the Daily Planet? If so, shouldn't she actually be under some covers or something?

Well, I feel ashamed for looking already...

The Hearing Book:
Part 1/Part 2/Part 3

Dennis the Menace Coloring Books (Part 3) by Joe B.

(Note: We're lucky today to be graced with the presence of yet another excellent post by distinguished Dennis the Menace collectables expert Joe B.

Joe's gonna tell us about a swell coloring book that's so full of great black & white Al Wiseman images that you'll be tempted to take out your crayons and start coloring your computer screen! But don't- you'll get everything all waxy.

Thanks Joe!)

(Above: The 29 cent edition of this book)

Dennis the Menace 1962 Coloring Book
by Joe B.

Coloring books, since Bill brought them up, will be the topic today. Like the game and toy of my previous posts, the coloring book I'll be discussing has a beautiful Al Wiseman cover. That alone is worth this write-up. I could just stop here, but I won't.

Not only is the cover by Al, but the entire coloring book is drawn by him. The drawings appear to be made especially for this book, and, to my knowledge, have never been reprinted. Unlike many of the coloring books that contain large versions of daily cartoon reprints for kids to color, this coloring book tells a continuous story in large, full-page panels. Not only that, but there are two versions of this rare coloring book.

There are tons of Dennis coloring books out there, and just when I think I have them all, I discover another one. For the record, I have indexed 24 coloring books that exist so far. The one that Bill has posted pictures from I have never seen, so that would be #25.

Let's start with the more expensive version of the coloring book. Published by Watkins-Strathmore Company, it was a whopping 29 cents back in 1962. This coloring book contains 83 different full-page panels, each drawn by Wiseman. The story all takes place on a single Saturday: Dennis wakes his parents up early, eats, "helps" his dad wash the family car (with the car windows open), annoys the Wilsons, goes to town with his dad, goes on a boat ride with his dad & gets him soaked, then visits a pet store with Joey and buys a pet skunk for the Wilsons. In all, it is not a very memorable story but is a clever idea.

(Above: The 10 cent edition of this book)

What is the difference between the two books? If you look at the upper-right-hand corner of the coloring books, you can see the prices with the catalog numbers above them. The only differences between the book covers are those. The big book is squarebound with 83 panels and is #1838 for 29 cents, and the smaller book with 23 panels is #1800-7 for 10 cents. The story makes sense in the 83 panel version, and it seems no thought was given to the story in the smaller version as there is no flow to the story. Unless you are a completist, the smaller version only has a portion of the larger book, so if you want only one, you should seek out the larger edition.

How hard are these to get? I see them appear maybe once a year on eBay, and they can go for up to $15, depending on who's bidding and the condition.

So, I hope I have been able to show through these past several posts that the Dennis merchandise Al worked on represents some of his finest artwork during his peak years.

-Joe B.
Ultimate Dennis the Menace Thread
Joe B. posts:
Real Action Toy
Pressman Paint Set

Dennis the Menace Coloring Book Posts:
Part 1/Part 2

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.

Syva

Well, I don't know what "Syva" is, or what it does. But after seeing this Al Wiseman artwork, I know I'd never use anything else:

I mean, just check out the competition- Syva reveals them to be nothing more than sad, pitiful losers! After one look at their rickety boats and whatnot, you realize that the competition will soon be drowning in their own incompetence (while Syva continues sailing on into a brighter future). You know, Syva even makes Du Pont look like the sorry-ass amateurs that we always suspected they were!

Like I said, I don't know what products or services Syva provide, or even if they're still in business. But from this day forward, my kitchen cabinets will only be stocked with the fine items bearing the trusted Syva logo.