Al Wiseman

Who was Al Wiseman?

Alvin R. Wiseman was an American cartoonist who worked on both comic strips and comic books, notably his long stint on the Dennis the Menace comic books.

After Wiseman worked in advertising, he became an assistant to Hank Ketcham on Dennis the Menace. Wiseman and writer Fred Toole worked on the Dennis the Menace comic book from 1953 into the 1960s.

Al Wiseman was the Ghost Cartoonist for Dennis the Menace. Wiseman drew from everyday life, giving meticulous attention to detail. In the case of Dennis The Menace, he developed the image of Dennis from my uncle Jim Wiseman's face and the image of Ruff from my mom's dog of the same name. The story I was raised hearing was my grandfather and Hank Ketcham had a deal that went like this: whomever could think of a strip first, the other would be his ghost. My mom indicates Alice deserves the real credit for coming up with the name of the strip. In any event, based solely on having given his word, Wiseman gave up a million dollar contract deal with the largest dairy in California, at the time, in order to do the art for Dennis The Menace.