Complete Dennis the Menace HC (2005-2010 Fantagraphics) By Hank Ketcham comic books 2004-2006

Volume 1 - 1st printing. "1951-1952!" Story and art by Hank Ketcham. Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace publishes every single panel strip in handsome and thick hardcover volumes resembling a Big Little Book on steroids. The reason for Dennis' success is easy to figure out: It was one of the most brilliantly observed and empathetic comic strips about childhood ever drawn. Ketcham captured the mischievousness, rambunctiousness, and anarchy of a kid's world better than any other cartoonist. Hardcover, 5 1/2-in. x 6 1/2-in., 586 pages, B&W. Cover price $24.95.

Volume 2 - 1st printing. "1953 -1954!" Story and art by Hank Ketcham. This second volume of Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace publishes every single panel strip from 1953 and 1954 in one handsome and thick little hardcover volume resembling a Big Little Book on steroids. Dennis is relatively unusual among long-lived strips in that after its first couple of years, it achieved its definitive look. And although Ketcham had not yet added any of Dennis's friends (such as Margaret and Joey), an elderly neighboring couple begins to appear now and again. Poor George and Martha Wilson, little do they realize what's in store for them! Introductory essay by R.C. Harvey. Hardcover, 5 1/2-in. x 6 1/2-in., 586 pages, B&W. Cover price $24.95.

Volume 3 - 1st printing. "1955 -1956!" Story and art by Hank Ketcham. Hank Ketcham's Complete Dennis the Menace is one of the most successful books in the company's history, greeted by reviews with praise similar to that garnered by The Complete Peanuts. This third volume publishes every single panel strip from 1955 and 1956 in one handsome and thick hardcover volume. Ketcham's legendary pen and ink work achieves its full flowering in this volume, as do the various situations and themes that Ketcham would return to: the first "split screen" (two-panel strip) that Ketcham would occasionally use; Dennis actually flirts with a girl; he rats Dad out to Mom; exacerbates confrontations between Dad and the police; and stymies hapless baby-sitters. Oh, and Mr. Wilson finally comes front-and-center as Dennis' #1 victim! Hardcover, 5 1/2-in. x 6 1/2-in., 644 pages, B&W. Cover price $24.95.