Monday, March 30, 2009


Number 497


Al Wiseman


Al Wiseman was Hank Ketcham's assistant on Dennis the Menace, but where I encountered him was in the comic book versions of Dennis. Wiseman's artwork was excellent, and not only did he do a great job on Dennis and the other characters, but he could really draw architecture. He gave us a view of 1950s suburban America at Dennis' eye-level.

There were a series of special giant comics that came along in the late '50s-early '60s: Dennis the Menace In Mexico, in Hollywood, in Hawaii, etc. Where they were different for me was that Al Wiseman and writer Fred Toole had write-ups in the comics. They were given credit! Wiseman and Toole got their names and photos in the books. Ketcham must've really thought a lot of them to allow that.

This fun take on Treasure Island from Dennis' point of view is from Dennis the Menace #17, 1956. It was reprinted a couple of times. I think it's an excellent example of Toole and Wiseman's superior work on Dennis.









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5 comments:

  1. Tamfos10:55 AM

    That's Wiseman's great lettering too, by the way. He could do it all.

    These old Dennis Giants were gold mines. They were virtual clinics on how to 1) Draw everything. 2)Tell a story. 3)Effective silhouetting. 4)Ape another artists style. A huge influence on a young Dan Clowes (again, note the lettering).

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  2. Pappy11:31 AM

    Yeah! What you said! I agree with all of it.

    I like Ketcham's style but was never a fan of the Dennis daily panel. On the other hand I love the Toole/Wiseman Dennis.

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  3. Tamfos10:21 AM

    I also respond more to Wiseman and Toole's work than I do to the Dennis daily. As you must know, Wiseman (and probably Toole) also ghosted some of Ketcham's "Dennis" Sundays. They're easy to spot. Much tighter than Ketcham's (or Fitzgerald's -- another ghost of Ketcham's).

    Any time you want to post more Wiseman, please do. As you point out, the Wiseman blog is long dead, so if not here, where?

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  4. Vince M5:56 PM

    Wiseman ruled! In my opinion he was one of the best Dennis artists ever.

    I'd love to see more.

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  5. ttw8:25 AM

    Thanks for posting these scans - Al was my husband's father so it's always nice to see nice comments about his work/art.

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