David Law (1908 – April 1971) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

cartoonist best known for creating '' Dennis the Menace'' and '' Beryl the Peril'' for

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd .

Life

Law was born and raised in Edinburgh and educated at Edinburgh College of Art. He first worked for Odhams Press as an illustrator, before moving to D. C. Thomson in the early 1930s. He drew cartoons for Thomsons newspapers like the ''

Evening Telegraph ''Evening Telegraph'' is a common newspaper name, and may refer to: * ''Evening Telegraph'' (Dundee), Scotland * ''Evening Telegraph'' (Dublin), Ireland, published 1871–1924. * '' Coventry Evening Telegraph'', England, now the ''Coventry Teleg ...

'', including a strip called ''The Wee Fella''. His most famous creation, ''Dennis the Menace'', first appeared in '' The Beano'' issue 452, dated 17 March 1951. Due to British comics being printed several days before distribution to newsagents (bearing the date of the following week to give them a longer shelf life), it seems beyond dispute that the UK Dennis saw print before Hank Ketcham's identically named '' Dennis the Menace'', which began syndication in the USA on 12 March 1951. It is possible that - at the very latest - the British version could have made his public debut on the same day as his Stateside counterpart, although it seems likely that he preceded him even in that. However, it is still unknown which character was actually created first. Law's ''Dennis'' was a juvenile anti-hero, uncontrollable and destructive, drawn in spontaneous, edgy lines, and was an immediate hit; the strip eventually displaced '' Biffo the Bear'' on the comic's full colour front cover in 1974. Law went on to create ''Beryl the Peril'', a similarly anarchic female character, for the '' Topper'' in 1953, and the accident-prone soldier ''

Corporal Clott ''Corporal Clott'' was a strip in the British comic ''The Dandy''. It started in the issued dated 12 November 1960 (issue 990) and was drawn by Dennis the Menace artist David Law. The strip was drawn by David Law until issue 1496 dated 25 July ...

'' for '' The Dandy'' in 1960. He was taken ill in 1970, and his strips were taken over by other artists, including

David Sutherland David Sutherland may refer to: * David Sutherland (baseball) (born 1985), Australian baseball player * David Sutherland (comics) (1933–2023), Scottish comic book artist * David Sutherland (cricketer) (1873–1971), Australian cricketer * David Su ...

on ''Dennis the Menace'' and

John Dallas John Dewar Dallas (11 June 1878 – 31 July 1942) was a Scottish international rugby union player. Dallas played international rugby for Scotland but is more notable as a rugby referee, and his officiating of the ''" Match of the Century"'', ...

on ''Beryl the Peril''. Law returned briefly to ''The Beano'' in 1971, but died in April that year, aged 63.

References

David Law
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Paul Morris' ''Beano'' website
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External links

A ''Dennis the Menace'' strip drawn by David Law
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BBC.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law, David 1908 births 1971 deaths Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art Artists from Edinburgh The Beano people British comic strip cartoonists British illustrators The Dandy people People associated with Dundee Scottish cartoonists Scottish comics artists Scottish illustrators Dennis the Menace and Gnasher