Dennis the Menace cartoonist dies

Cartoonist Henry "Hank" Ketcham, who created the Dennis the Menace comic strip after his wife complained that their young son named Dennis was indeed a menace, has died at home in Carmel, California. He was 81.

Ketcham's creation became one of the world's most popular comic strips and Dennis became a tow-haired, freckle-faced symbol of mischievous youth. The boy, who was forever five years old, turned 50 on March 12.

In an anniversary interview, Ketcham recalled how one editor warned him shortly after he started that he might soon be looking for work.

"I don't see how it can last," the editor said, adding: "There's only so much you can say about a 5-year-old kid."

The strip is carried in more than 1000 newspapers in 48 countries and in 19 different languages. Films were based on it and there was a successful TV series.