The idea and name of the character emerged when the comic's editor heard a British music hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice".

In 2021, Dennis and Gnasher featured on a series of UK postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail to mark 70 years of the character.

"The eureka moment arrived in a St Andrews pub while chief sub Ian Chisholm and artist Davey Law were brainstorming.

Chisholm grabbed a cigarette packet, sketched a picture of a knobbly-kneed boy with dark spiky hair, and a comic strip legend was born."

The idea and name of the character emerged when The Beano editor George Moonie heard a British music hall song with the chorus "I'm Dennis the Menace from Venice".

Two months later, Law gave the mischievous boy his distinctive red-and-black striped jersey, outsized shoes and devilish grin.

[3] Dennis's first comic strip appearance consisted of him walking into the park with his father and his dog, where a sign is planted informing visitors that they should 'Keep Off the Grass'.

The tracksuit bottoms ripped due to Dennis's knobbly knees and he ditched the jacket as his father could catch him easier after he had menaced.

In 1993, Beano editor Euan Kerr was becoming concerned at the direction David Sutherland's depiction of the character was taking, with Dennis becoming ever stockier and larger.

The story lasted three issues and consisted of Dennis's fear that a younger sister would ruin his reputation as the toughest menace in Beanotown.

Several succeeding feature-length strips after, usually drawn by Mike Pearse or Kev F. Sutherland, further depicted the rivalry even to the point it would get violent.

The same issue also showed readers how Dennis received his trademark jersey which, it reveals, was initially owned by a boy called Tufty.

Throughout this story, Dennis and Gnasher called upon the help of various past characters of the strip's history before finally contacting Gnipper's many sisters who successfully managed to get him out of his coma.

Parkinson, Hansen and Paterson continued to draw the strips, although Dennis became slightly shorter with a boyish look to him as opposed to the brute, tough guy look the previous artists had established.

It was officially announced via a Dennis strip where several British celebrities including Ant and Dec, Simon Cowell and Daniel Radcliffe visited Beanotown in an effort to join the club but all failed as they were not deemed tough enough.

Nigel Parkinson was named sole official Dennis artist and began the weekly strips while Barrie Appleby returned to Roger the Dodger.

His parents had a make-over, so his traditionally balding father now shared his messy spiked hair and his mother was no longer neatly shaped.

During Series 12 of the BBC's Mock the Week, host Dara Ó Briain and comedians Hugh Dennis, Andy Parsons and Chris Addison were drawn by Nigel Parkinson in a one-off pic with Dennis, which was shown in the second episode, whilst they and guest comedians were discussing the appearance of Charles III, then Prince of Wales, and Camilla Parker Bowles in The Beano.

Such traits have caused some artists and writers to consider him a villain, as, in such strips, Dennis would often prove himself to be selfish and greedy, tending to disregard his friends in favour of treasures.

Feature-length strips in The Beano reveal that Dennis has a rivalry with The Bash Street Kids, often brawling and attempting to outwit them, with a particular dislike for Danny, the leader.

The rival gang to the Menaces is the Softies, a group of kids who rather than being bratty, traditionally enjoy refined things such as teddy bears, dolls and flowers.

Matthew Jarron of Dundee University, curator of a Beano exhibition, claimed that the strips 'blatant anti-establishment tone' is what keeps children entertained throughout the decades.

[3] Nick Newman cited his inspiration for a Private Eye strip based on the Menace due to the fact Dennis is 'relentless' and has 'no learning curve'.

Jarron also argued that Dennis offers a sense of escapism in a modern cotton wool wrapped world stating 'Parents are so fearful of letting their children roam around.

In the early days it was not in full colour but had a red overlay, but Davy Law, the artist, made a virtue out of this necessity by having the red-and-black striped T-shirt.

[31] Kev F Sutherland, who wrote for The Beano in the early noughties, also spoke out against the makeover saying it was a 'bad idea' and argued 'if you pander too much to over-sensitive parents you will end with not very funny comedy'.

[33] The change lasted for roughly a year before artist Nigel Parkinson was sought out to return the character to its roots and original design.

On stage, grunge star Kurt Cobain occasionally wore a Dennis pullover (jumper/sweater) that Courtney Love bought from a Nirvana fan in Northern Ireland in 1992.

[35] Guitarist Mike Campbell wears a shirt depicting Dennis and Gnasher in the music video for Tom Petty's song "I Won't Back Down".

[36] In 2021, on the second series of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, contestant Ellie Diamond, who is from Dundee, modelled as Dennis the Menace on the runway during the first episode challenge "Queen of Your Hometown".