Dennis the Menace turns 50, commemorative comics to run

<br>(Pebble Beach-AP) -- He's may still be ``five-ana-half'' to readers, but freckle-faced Dennis the Menace is preparing to turn 50. <br><br>The comic's creator, Hank Ketcham, has prepared

Saturday, March 3rd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Pebble Beach-AP) -- He's may still be ``five-ana-half'' to readers, but freckle-faced Dennis the Menace is preparing to turn 50.

The comic's creator, Hank Ketcham, has prepared a series of classic panels to commemorate Dennis' journey through American culture. The special strips will run in a thousand newspapers worldwide for one week, starting Monday.

Each will illustrate the different generations Dennis and the cast of neighborhood characters have entertained, starting in the 1950s.

The 80-year-old Ketcham attributes the comic's longevity to simple drawings and one thing everyone shares _ childhood.

By the time Ketcham stopped drawing the weekday panels in 1994, Dennis the Menace ran in nearly two thousand newspapers. Today it's published in 68 countries and 19 languages.