David Law

Who was David Law?

David "Davey" Law 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. Due to British comics being printed several days before distribution to newsagents, 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 March 12th, 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.