Nigel Parkinson on Dennis the Menace’s enduring success

By John Freeman on July 22, 2013

The 75th Anniversary issue of The Beano goes on sale on Wednesday. Cover by Nigel Parkinson.

The Daily Telegraph has interviewed artist Nigel Parkinson about drawing Dennis the Menace and the enduring popularity of the mischievous character as The Beano celebrates its 75th anniversary this week. You can view the video here (for some reason the embed tool doesn’t work on our site)

“I’ve drawn so many Dennis stories now that I virtually dream drawing his eyes and his hair in my sleep.” Nigel Parkinson confesses as he sketches The Beano‘s signature character. He was the first of the great kid characters in comics and he remains the best because he was very simply designed.”

“I don’t actually do a page in 1.40… a little artistic licence here…” Nigel points out. The video was shot by Glen Milner.

About the Author
Latest Posts

John Freeman

John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.

He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.