In Competition No. 3223, you were invited to supply an acrostic poem in which the first letter of each line, read vertically, spells DENNIS AND GNASHER.
A varied and excellent entry, which celebrated with gusto the Beano’s spirit of naughtiness and irreverence, also reflected how it has evolved to accommodate modern sensibilities. As Stuart Jeffries observed recently in this magazine, Dennis’s ‘bottom these days is rarely sore since corporal punishment is frowned upon and so he cannot be given his weekly slippering…’
William McGonagall, a regular fixture in the postbag at the moment, popped up again, this time courtesy of Frank Upton:
But he was nudged out by the winners, below, who snaffle £25 each.
Dennis was my boyhood hero Every Thursday, in the Beano; Naughty, nasty window smasher, Never far from faithful Gnasher. Imp and devil, tiny terror, Showering trouble on his father, Always up for something awful, Never spurning the unlawful.
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