- David Law
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David "Davey" Law (1908 – April 1971) was a Scottish cartoonist best known for creating Dennis the Menace and Beryl the Peril for Dundee publishers D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd .
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, 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 - a mere five days after Hank Ketcham's identically named Dennis the Menace began syndication in the USA. 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 for The Dandy in 1960.
He was taken ill in 1970, and his strips were taken over by other artists, including David Sutherland on Dennis the Menace and John Dallas on Beryl the Peril. Law returned briefly to The Beano in 1971, but died in April that year, aged 63.
References
- David Law at Paul Morris' Beano website
- Comic creator: David Law at Lambiek Comiclopedia
- Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Dennis the Menace
External links
D. C. Thomson comics Currently Running Comics Adventure Comics Adventure · Bullet · Buddy · Champ · Commando · The Crunch · The Hornet · The Hotspur · The Rover · The Skipper · Spike · Starblazer · The Vanguard · The Victor · Warlord · The WizardGirls Comics Humour Comics The Beano · BeanoMAX · The Beezer · Buzz · Classics from the Comics · Cracker · The Dandy · Fun Size Comics · Hoot · The Magic Comic · Nutty · Plug · Sparky · The TopperPre-School Comics Notable Strips Alf Tupper · Baby Crockett · Bananaman · The Bash Street Kids · Beryl the Peril · Black Bob · Biffo the Bear · The Broons · Calamity James · Cuddles and Dimples · Dennis the Menace · Desperate Dan · Ginger · Gnasher · Ivy the Terrible · Keyhole Kate · Korky the Cat · Little Plum · Lord Snooty · Matt Braddock · Minnie the Minx · The Numskulls · Pansy Potter · Roger the Dodger · Oor Wullie · Wilson the Wonder Athlete · Wolf of KabulComic annuals The Beano Annual · The Beezer Book · The Bimbo Book · The Dandy Annual · The Hotspur Book for Boys · The Sparky Book · The Topper Book · The Victor Book for Boys · Warlord Book for BoysCharacter annuals Bananaman Annual · The Bash Street Kids Annual · Beryl the Peril Annual · Black Bob Book · The Broons Annual · Dennis the Menace Annual · The Desperate Dan Book · Oor Wullie AnnualNotable Artists Leo Baxendale · Gordon Bell · Nick Brennan · Paddy Brennan · Sid Burgon · John Geering · Barry Glennard · Ken H. Harrison · Laura Howell · Malcolm Judge · David Law · Allan Morley · Dave Mostyn · Robert Nixon · Nigel Parkinson · Tom Paterson · Jim Petrie · Ken Reid · Bill Ritchie · David Parkins · David Sutherland · Kev F. Sutherland · Dudley D. Watkins · Wilbur Dawbarn · Karl Dixon · The Etherington Brothers · Wayne Thompson · Andy Fanton · Phil Corbett · Nigel Auchterlounie · Lew Stringer · Alexander Matthews · Jon Rushby · Trevor Metcalfe · Barrie Appleby · Charles Grigg · Tom Williams · Vic NeillCategories:- 1908 births
- 1971 deaths
- People from Edinburgh
- People associated with Dundee
- Alumni of the Edinburgh College of Art
- Scottish cartoonists
- Scottish comics artists
- Scottish illustrators
- British comics creator stubs
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