Dennis the Menace is a daily syndicated newspaper comic strip originally created, written and illustrated by Hank Ketcham. The inspiration for the comic strip came from Dennis Ketcham, the real life son of Hank Ketcham, who was only four years old when he refused to take a nap and somehow messed up his whole room. Hank tried many possible names for the character, and translated them into rough pencil sketches. But when his studio door flew open and his then-wife Alice, in utter exasperation, exclaimed, “Your son is a menace!” the “Dennis the Menace” name stuck.
