Gnasher and Gnipper

Gnasher is the pet dog of Dennis the Menace in the British comic strip Dennis the Menace from The Beano. First introduced in 1968, in issue 1363 dated 31 August 1968, seventeen years after Dennis the Menace started in The Beano. Dennis's first strip also featured a dog but this dog was unnamed and looked very different from Gnasher.

Gnasher was developed by Ian Gray (writer) and Davey Law (artist) from an original concept from staff writer Jim Fowler based on an article in a local newspaper about pets looking like their owners and/or vice versa. This article was used for a number of stories and led to the ongoing development of Gnasher and also the Bash Street Pups. As Davey struggled to picture the dog it was suggested he simply draw Dennis's hair and "put a leg on each corner and two eyeballs at that end". The result was one of the most enduring images for publishers DC Thomson. Soon after his introduction Gnasher's appearance changed from looking like Dennis' hair on legs to the more dog-like recognisable character he is today.

The G on the beginning of both Gnasher and his son Gnipper's names is not pronounced. Most of their speech bubbles also consist of normal English words beginning with the letter N with a silent G added to the beginning (e.g. Gnight, Gnight).

After being in the Dennis strip for nine years Gnasher eventually gained his own strip entitled Gnasher's Tale. It ran from issue 1818 (21 May 1977) to 1986, and was drawn by David Sutherland. In the strip, Gnasher would tell stories from when he was a puppy.

Although Gnasher's Tale officially ended in 1986, occasional new episodes by Barry Glennard, the artist for Gnasher and Gnipper since 1993, can be seen in annuals (namely the 2001 and 2007 ones).

Following a story arc in 1986 which was reprinted in the 1990 Dennis the Menace Annual as a 16-page story entitled Who's Gnicked Gnasher, Gnipper (alongside a whole litter of Gnasher's puppies) was introduced to the comic. The character first appeared in issue 2286, dated 10 May 1986. During this story arc the Gnasher's tale strip was replaced with Foo-Foo's Fairy Story, Foo-Foo being the pet poodle of Walter the Softy (another character from the Dennis strip). After Gnipper's introduction, Gnasher's Tale was replaced by a new strip entitled Gnasher and Gnipper. This story arc also introduced Gnasher's daughters: Gnatasha, Gnaomi, Gnanette, Gnorah and Gnancy, although these are rarely seen. Gnatasha had her own strip in The Beezer and Topper, and appeared in the 1994 Beezer Book

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