Gnasher

Although Dennis the Menace was shown with a terrier in his first story,[1][2] he would not meet Gnasher for 17 years. Dennis' artist Davey Law decided to give his character a dog companion but struggled to give the dog a perfect design, inspired by DC Thomson writer Jim Fowler mentioning reading a newspaper story about pets looking like their owners. Ian Gray suggested Law should "draw Dennis the Menace's hair, put a leg on each corner and two eyeballs at that end."[3] Gray was dog breeding hobbyist and would also assist with some of Gnasher's stories and for the stories Pup Parade.[4]

Gnasher is a black-haired Abyssinian Wire-Haired Tripe Hound[4][2] who often enjoys chewing and biting anyone and anything, grunting "gnash!" instead of barking. He was a bushy stray when Dennis found him just as Dennis grew interest in a local dog show.[5] Dennis gives him the name "Gnasher" and encourages his misbehaviour. The two are inseparable, to the point the comic strip alternates between the titles Dennis the Menace, Dennis the Menace and Gnasher and Dennis and Gnasher.

Although the reader can read Gnasher's thoughts from the thought bubbles, other characters cannot understand him if he decides to talk in front of them (his dialogue usually represented with most words beginning with n having the (silent) letter g in front to represent his barks, e.g. "gnight").[Note 1] Dennis can only understand him on Hallowe'en.[2]

The Beano's sales ebbed throughout the 1980s, no longer selling millions of issues per week as it did thirty years ago. Aware of how audiences enjoyed watching Gnasher and Dennis' tight bond, sub-editor Alan Digby suggested a media prank that could cause a sales boost,[8] leading to the seven-issue long "Where's Gnasher?" saga. It began in issue 2279, initially about Dennis outwitting a man with a giant bag of money from buying Gnasher, but Gnasher later disappeared without explanation and the story ended with Dennis standing alone in his back garden asking the reader if they would help him find Gnasher.[9] The following issues would commonly begin with a panel of children holding Gnasher picket signs as Dennis and his family either joined the march or tried to cope with Gnasher's disappearance; Dennis also considers adopting a similar-looking replacement, and sets up traps to lure Gnasher back.[8] Initially baffled by the town's search parties, Dennis' father starts to miss Gnasher when he realises he cannot pretend to spill his wife's terrible meals on the floor for Gnasher to eat when she is out of the room.[10] Part 3 of the saga broke the fourth wall when Dennis decides to invite himself into DC Thomson's Beano offices and ask chief-editor Euan Kerr to help.[11] Gnasher's departure would end in issue 2286 when Dennis and Walter find a pram full of puppies outside Dennis' front door, revealing he was caring for his son and five daughters.[12] He reveals to the reader his children are named Gnorah, Gnatasha, Gnanette, Gnaomi, Gnancy and Gnipper.[13]

Although "Who's Gnicked Gnasher?" failed to resurrect The Beano's sales in the long term, the saga received nationwide attention. Distraught readers telephoned and wrote to DC Thomson to both voice their worry for Gnasher's safety or help look for clues,[8] and The Dennis the Menace club sold Gnasher badges to identify other readers also helping Dennis.[11] Radio presenter Mike Read broadcast the news on his BBC Radio 1 show (which was dramatised in issue 2281),[11] and newspapers like The Times reported the disappearance frequently.[8] The series would be reprinted in the 1990 Dennis the Menace Annual as a 16-page story entitled Who's Gnicked Gnasher?[46] The Beano re-created the saga in 2014, in which Dennis would ask Bear Grylls to help with the search.[47]

Gnasher's debut appearance featured in Royal Mail's commemorative Dennis the Menace 70th anniversary stamps.[48] Gnatasha had her own strip in The Beezer and Topper, and appeared in the 1994 Beezer Book.

• Gnasher bio on beano.com
• beanotown.com
• First introduction of Gnasher