My Science School

Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written, and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. It debuted on March 12, 1951, in 16 newspapers and was originally distributed by Post-Hall Syndicate.

Dennis Mitchell, nicknamed Dennis the Menace, has messy blond hair with a characteristic cowlick in the back. He was initially depicted as a defiant child who deliberately sought out mischief, but over the years his personality softened considerably. He does not mean any real harm, yet he cannot help creating a racket or a mess at home, making a scene in public, and driving his parents, Alice and Henry Mitchell, to distraction.

The most frequent target of Dennis’s mischief is George Wilson, an older neighbour whom Dennis seldom allows a moment of peace, having adopted him as a surrogate grandfather. Wilson’s wife, Martha, obligingly behaves like an indulgent grandmother. Among the minor characters in the strip are Dennis’s shaggy dog, Ruff, and his toddler sidekick, Joey McDonald. Dennis’s nemesis is the slightly older and gratingly superior Margaret Wade, and he harbours a secret crush on the tomboyish Gina Gillotti.

The inspiration for the comic strip came from Dennis Ketcham, the real-life son of Hank Ketcham, who was only four years old when he refused to take a nap and somehow messed up his whole room. Hank tried many possible names for the character, and translated them into rough pencil sketches, but when his studio door flew open and his then-wife Alice, in utter exasperation, exclaimed, "Your son is a menace!", the "Dennis the Menace" name stuck. The character of Henry Mitchell bore a striking resemblance to Ketcham. The Mitchell family of Dennis, Hank/Henry, and Alice were all named after the Ketchams.

Ketcham received the Reuben Award for the strip in 1953. He also was made honorary mayor of Wichita. He was quoted as saying, "I set the whole thing in Wichita, Kansas, and as a result I got made an honorary mayor of Wichita."

 

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Popeye is the main protagonist of the Popeye Franchise, a sailor character created in 1928 by Elzie Crisler Segar for his Thimble Theatre comic strip (subsequently renamed after Popeye himself). The star of many comics and animated cartoons, he is best known for his squinting (or entirely missing) right eye, huge forearms with two anchor tattoos, skinny upper arms, and corncob pipe. He can occasionally be seen smoking his pipe but usually he toots it like a tugboat and sometimes uses it as a weapon by blowing the smoke in his enemies faces. His strength varies among his portrayals: as per the original comics, he is super-humanly strong and can lift huge objects, while in later adaptations he is not quite as mighty until he gains a boost in strength by eating spinach. He is known to mutter when he speaks and mangle the English language (e.g, he calls elephants and infants "elephinks" and "infinks", respectively). Popeye's creator, E. C. Segar, characterized him as violent and uncivilized yet introspective and with a high moral fiber.

Popeye has a long and rich history spanning nearly a century and is one of the most recognizable and beloved cartoon characters in the world, consistently regarded as one of the best ever created.

Popeye's exploits are also enhanced by a few recurring plot elements. One is the love triangle among Popeye, Olive, and Bluto, and Bluto's endless machinations to claim Olive at Popeye's expense. Another is his near-saintly perseverance in overcoming any obstacle to please Olive, who often (if temporarily) renounces Popeye for Bluto.

 

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Garfield is a fictional cat and the protagonist of the comic strip of the same name, created by Jim Davis. The comic strip centers on Garfield, portrayed as a lazy, fat, and cynical orange persian/tabby cat. He is noted for his love of lasagna and sleeping, and his hatred of Mondays, fellow cat Nermal and exercise.

Garfield is an overweight anthropomorphic orange tabby noted for his laziness, smug sarcasm, and intense passion for food, particularly lasagna, pizza, and ice cream. Throughout the course of the strip, Garfield's weight is often an object of ridicule, particularly by his talking electronic scale. Garfield usually does not handle insults or commands from the scale (or anybody else) very well, and will normally respond to such remarks with violence or a comeback of some type.

Garfield lives with his slightly eccentric, socially awkward owner Jon Arbuckle and Jon's unintelligent pet dog Odie, and enjoys satirically teasing them. He particularly enjoys causing Odie physical harm or insulting him, and teases Jon for his social awkwardness and unpopularity with women. Despite this, Garfield cares for Odie and Jon, but cares most for his beloved teddy bear Pooky, which is frequently seen in his arms or close to its owner.

 

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Hobbes' dual nature is a defining motif for the strip: to Calvin, Hobbes is a living anthropomorphic tiger, while all the other characters see Hobbes as an inanimate stuffed toy.

Calvin and Hobbes was conceived when Bill Watterson, while working in an advertising job he detested, began devoting his spare time to developing a newspaper comic for potential syndication. He explored various strip ideas but all were rejected by the syndicates. United Feature Syndicate finally responded positively to one strip called The Doghouse, which featured a side character (the main character's little brother) who had a stuffed tiger. United identified these characters as the strongest and encouraged Watterson to develop them as the centre of their own strip. Though United Feature ultimately rejected the new strip as lacking in marketing potential, Universal Press Syndicate took it up.

The final strip ran on Sunday, December 31, 1995.

As the final strip was run on a Sunday, it was in color. It depicted Calvin and Hobbes outside in freshly fallen snow carrying a sled. Reveling in the wonder and excitement of the winter scene, Hobbes says, "Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand new!" Calvin agrees saying, "It's a magical world, Hobbes, ol' buddy!" Hobbes remarks about the fresh snow, "It is like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on!” Calvin adds, "A day of possibilities." Getting ready to sled down the hill, Calvin exclaims, “A new year...a fresh, clean start!” Calvin and Hobbes sled down the snowy hill, Calvin saying "Let's go exploring!"

According to a critic, speaking in 2005, "They left a hole in the comics page that no strip has been able to fill."

 

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Snoopy is an anthropomorphic beagle in the comic strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schulz. He can also be found in all of the Peanuts movies and television specials. Since his debut on October 4, 1950, Snoopy has become one of the most recognizable and iconic characters in the comic strip and is considered more famous than Charlie Brown in some countries. The original drawings of Snoopy were inspired by Spike, one of Schulz's childhood dogs.

Snoopy first appeared as a character balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1968; the balloon depicted Snoopy in his World War I Flying Ace costume.

Snoopy appeared on the October 4, 1950, strip, two days after the first strip. He was called Snoopy for the first time a month later, on November 10. He was originally Patty's dog but quickly adopts Charlie Brown. On March 16, 1952, his thoughts were first shown in a thought balloon. Snoopy first appeared upright on his hind legs on January 9, 1956, when he was shown sliding across a sheet of ice after Shermy and Lucy had done so.

Woodstock is a fictional character in Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. He is best known for being Snoopy's best friend and sidekick. The character first appeared in the April 4, 1967 strip, although he remains unnamed until June 22, 1970. He is named after the Woodstock festival of 1969.

In the early 1960s, Snoopy began befriending birds when they started using his doghouse for various occasions: a rest stop during migrations, a nesting site, a community hall, or a place to play cards. None of these birds was ever given a name, although they did, on occasion (e.g., July 10, 1962), use speech balloons, lettered in what would become the classic 'chicken scratch marks' of Woodstock's utterances. What set Woodstock apart from all these earlier birds was the fact that he attached himself to Snoopy and assumed the role of Snoopy's sidekick and assistant. There had been no recurring relationships between Snoopy and the earlier birds who visited the yard of the Browns, and Snoopy was as often as not more hostile than friendly toward those birds.

In the Peanuts daily comic strip on March 3, 1966, a mother bird flew in while Snoopy was lying on top of his doghouse, nested on top of his stomach and flew away. Soon afterward two chicks hatched in the nest, one of which hung around Snoopy throughout the spring, and returned the following spring on April 4, 1967. Schulz began to establish character traits for Snoopy's new friend by revealing that he could talk (or at least emote), that he didn't like flying south every winter, and that he struggled with flying. By the end of this four-strip sequence, Snoopy, in character as the World War I Flying Ace, learns that the bird is his new mechanic, Woodstock's first supporting role.

 

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