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{{Short description|Comic strip character from The Beano}} |
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{{unreferenced|date=November 2007}} |
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{{More citations needed|date=October 2021}} |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2015}} |
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{{Use British English|date=April 2015}} |
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{{infobox character |
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'''Walter the Softy''', or '''Softy Walter''' as he is sometimes called, is the fictional enemy of [[Dennis the Menace (UK)|Dennis the Menace]] in the [[United Kingdom|British]] children's comic [[The Beano]]. He is a prime target of Dennis and his friends. His last name, in a [[Beano]] Christmas Carol was said to be Brown, but this may have been an easy rhyme excuse. |
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|name = Walter Brown |
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|series = [[The Beano]] |
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|image = |
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|caption = |
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|first_minor = 577 |
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|first_date = 8 August 1953 |
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|last_minor = |
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|last_date = |
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|full_name = Walter Brown |
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|alias = Walter the Softy, Softy Walter |
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}} |
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'''Walter Brown''' ([[pejorative]]ly nicknamed "'''Walter the Softy'''") is a fictional character that appears in the British comic magazine ''[[The Beano]]''. He is the rival and antagonist to [[Dennis and Gnasher|Dennis the Menace]] who is vilified because of his lack of interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. From his first appearance in 1953, Walter became the target of Dennis' pranks and misbehaviour but would brush it off. Sometime in the 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy [[Foil (narrative)|foil]] to his enemies. |
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== Character background == |
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==Profile== |
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Walter Brown first appeared in issue 577 of ''[[The Beano]]'' in ''Dennis the Menace'',<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace|date=1953-08-15|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=577|others=Illustrated by Davey Law|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> two years after the comic strip's debut.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace|date=1951-03-17|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=452|others=Illustrated by Davey Law|editor-last=Moonie|editor-first=George}}</ref> He is a seemingly "perfect" child who is adored by his teachers for his hardworking and polite attitude. He enjoys picking flowers, [[ballet]] dancing in a [[tutu (clothing)|tutu]], playing with tea sets and [[Wendy house]]s, [[knitting]] and [[cross-dressing]], with friends that act similar, owning well-behaved pets throughout the years (Fluffy the cat, Foo-Foo the dog, and Clawdius the cat). |
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Walter is a camp and effeminate boy, who is always very stereotypically girly in his behaviour. He is portrayed as a typical "[[geek]]", wearing a blue schoolboy's [[jumper]], schoolboy's shorts, a [[bow tie]], and has glasses and an slicked back hair. He also has a strange resemblance to Cuthbert Cringeworthy of the Bash Street Kids strip. He lives next door to Dennis and his family. He often spends his time in his [[Wendy house]] with his gang "The Softies", playing with dolls or pressing flowers etc. He is regularly featured in the Dennis the Menace strip, and when he appears it is nearly always the case that he is attacked by Dennis. If not, he is generally involved in a plot to attack Dennis, usually involving either [[chess]] or [[perfume]]. He has a white cat called Fluffy and a pink [[poodle]] named Foo Foo. |
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Walter has neat black hair and wears round-lensed glasses, a red [[bow tie]] in his shirt collar, a blue jumper and black shorts. His surname was not revealed until 1994.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=A Beano Christmas Carol|date=1994|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=|editor-last=Kerr|editor-first=Euan}}</ref> |
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Walter is terrified of Dennis, as well as other (mostly harmless) aspects of life, such as butterflies, birds, rain, and a variety of others. He is often seen as a devoted and seemingly "perfect" child. He does well in school and is adored by his teachers and parents. Indeed, Walter is an only child and a stereotypical [[mummy's boy]] and a spoiled brat. It can be considered slightly uncanny that Walter's parents resemble each other. However, it is not really the case that Dennis is "bad" and Walter is "good". Walter has been shown to have a deep streak of spite and malice in him that he is too weak to express. He and his family are typical snobs who constantly mock Dennis and his family, as Walter's father seems to earn higher than Dennis' father, although their occupations are never revealed. Walter's vindictiveness and determination to get Dennis into trouble have been highlighted in recent years, making Dennis' behaviour appear less like bullying. However, there are occasions in which he has been willing to help Dennis: when Gnasher went missing in the 80's, he tried to help Dennis find him, and more recently, he has helped Dennis several times: finding [[Gnipper's]] long-lost sisters when the puppy had been poisoned, helping Rasher win a pig race, and trying to save Dennis's favourite tree by chaining himself to it, thus changing his relationship with Dennis from enemies to, if not outright friends, civil rivals. |
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== Characterisation == |
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In the 1996 television series, Walter is not scared of Dennis but acts like a snob, and lives in a huge house and acts rather spoilt. |
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Walter's personality and behaviour fluctuated, depending on the writer: he remained a diligent student and uninterested in playing sports, but would be a spoilt [[mummy's boy]] in one story, then a whiny [[coward]] who was scared of [[rain]] in another. Some stories featured Walter being courageous enough to create pranks and traps to irritate or frame Dennis, and other stories showed Dennis and/or [[Gnasher]] intimidating him for their entertainment, with Walter too scared and startled to fight back. |
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When the [[Dennis and Gnasher (1996 TV series)|1996 ''Dennis the Menace'' cartoon adaptation]] aired on [[CBBC (TV channel)|CBBC]], Walter became a snob and his friends joined in on the stuck-up attitude towards Dennis' group. The behaviour remained in the comic strips. |
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In one story, he and Dennis are revealed to be distant cousins, but nothing more has been said of this, so it was possibly a one-off joke. |
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== Personal life == |
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Walter has two apparent friends named Algernon 'Spotty' Perkins and Bertie Blenkinsop. He also got himself a [[girlfriend]] named Matilda, who bore an eerie resemblance to him, except that she was a [[redhead]], and obviously wore a schoolgirl's uniform. She also spoke with a lisp. She first appeared in the 1996 TV series (although a character with the same name appeared in at least one comic library from 1993), and has rarely appeared in The Beano. Other softies include Sweet William, Dudley Nightshirt, Jeremy Snodgrass,Softy Matthew and Nervous Rex, a character who is scared of everything and everyone. If truth be told, the Softies seem to be bound together much more by fear of Dennis than by any real mutual liking; though they are scrupulously polite and strangely devoted to each other, they have occasionally decided to pick on someone perceived as a much bigger wimp than they are. Naturally, there are not many of these people. |
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''The Beano'' had a notable generation jump with the ''Dennis the Menace'' and ''[[Minnie the Minx]]'' series after Dennis' parents changed into new designs,<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis and Gnasher|date=2012-08-25|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=|editor-last=Stirling|editor-first=Michael}}</ref> and his father was revealed as the original Dennis three years later.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis and Gnasher|date=2015-05-02|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|editor-last=Stirling|editor-first=Michael}}</ref> Despite this, Walter still lives with his mother and father, and his pets. In his original characterisation, a girl named Priscilla made a one-issue appearance and Dennis refers to her as Walter's sister, but she has not appeared since.<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Dennis the Menace and Gnasher|date=10 May 1975|magazine=The Beano|publisher=D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.|issue=1712|editor-last=Cramond|editor-first=Harold}}</ref> The 1996 cartoon revealed he had an uncle who was a barber named Slasher obsessed with Dennis' hair.<ref>{{Cite episode|series=Dennis and Gnasher|title=Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow|series-link=Dennis and Gnasher (1996 TV series)|network=The BBC|date=1996-04-02|number=1|series-no=1}}</ref> Walter's parents were always characterised as a wealthy couple who spoil their son, but Walter's post-2012 reincarnation shows his father, Wilbur, as the prideful, smug mayor of Beanotown, who was once Dennis' father's bullying target when they were children (implying that Wilbur was the original Walter who has now toughened up somewhat).<ref name="Wilbur">{{cite web |title=Who is Wilbur Brown? {{!}} Wilbur Brown {{!}} Profile on Beano.com |url=https://www.beano.com/posts/who-is-wilbur-brown |website=www.beano.com |archive-url=https://archive.today/20211003155706/https://www.beano.com/posts/who-is-wilbur-brown |archive-date=2021-10-03 |date=2017-07-28 |url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Walter is friends with other schoolboys who are as hardworking and unmanly like him, with similar hobbies. Originally, he had two: Algernon Scott "Scotty" (formerly "Spotty") Perkins and Bertram James "Bertie" Blenkinsop, but the magazine and children's cartoons have also introduced "Sweet" William, Jeremy Snodgrass, "Softy" Matthew and "Nervous" Rex. His girlfriend Matilda was a short-tempered [[redhead]] with a [[lisp]] who notably appeared in the 1996 cartoon; Walter was devoted to her to the point of implications that she bossed him around. |
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== Relationship with Dennis == |
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From Walter's debut, he and Dennis the Menace have been enemies. Walter's [[nerd]]iness, as well as his hobbies, led to his nickname "Walter the Softy" (and his friends collectively dubbed "The Softies"), and often offends Dennis and Gnasher by his presence alone. Despite the tension and violence, Dennis has turned to Walter in desperation, such as when Gnasher disappeared for six issues in 1986, finding [[Gnipper]]'s long-lost sisters when the puppy had been poisoned, helping [[Rasher (comics)|Rasher]] win a pig race, and trying to save Dennis's favourite tree. They once find out the two are distant cousins, but it has only been mentioned once. |
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==Controversy== |
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For an unspecified time, some former readers have assumed Walter was an [[Queer coding|unconfirmed-but-implied]] [[gay]] character for ''The Beano''.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Price |first1=John |last2=Nicholas |first2=Joe |title=AS Media Studies |date=2003 |publisher=[[Nelson Thornes]] |isbn=0748768408 |page=115}}</ref> The magazine's readership historically being young boys looking for masculine role models through characters that were superheroes, military personnel and brave adventurers automatically made male characters like Walter an ideal antagonist for the rebellious, school-hating, [[association football|football]]-loving Dennis, but Dennis' violence towards Walter when Walter was not paying attention to him led to concerns that it would encourage children into [[homophobic bullying]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-13668.html|title=Dennis the Menace to stop bullying 'gay' Walter|date=13 August 2009 |publisher=[[PinkNews]]}}</ref> Dennis' aggression towards Walter softened, and Walter's antagonism increased, his post-2012 version wanting to rid Beanotown of all its fun, as well as his heterosexual relationship with Matilda.<ref>{{cite news |title=Congratulations to the Beano! – 4,000 issues and still going |url=https://www.theoldie.co.uk/blog/congratulations-to-the-beano-4000-issues-and-still-going |work=The Oldie |language=en-gb}}</ref> ''Beano'' spokesman Mike Stirling later said in 2013 that Walter's post-2012 version would hopefully be "dramatically satisfying" reason for readers if Dennis turned violent because "[Walter Brown] doesn't want to be a kid, he wants to be a grownup and is always snitching on kids who are having fun."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/20/beano-75-year-anniversary|title=The Beano – a happy 75th anniversary|first=Stuart|last=Jeffries|date=20 July 2013|work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> |
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==Parodies== |
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* In the ''[[Judge Dredd]]'' story ''[[Judgement Day (Judge Dredd)|Judgement Day]]'', the villain's origin was a pastiche of the ''Beano'': Soppi Walter, routinely terrorised and attacked by the bully Big Den (surname shown as "Mennis"). Soppi turned out to be a [[Psychopathy#Sociopathy|sociopath]] and learned necromancy in order to kill, resurrect, and torture his bully.<ref>''2000 AD'' issue 797: Judgement Day Part 17</ref> |
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* In April 2018, Beano Studios issued a [[cease and desist]] letter to [[Jacob Rees-Mogg]], a prominent British [[right-wing politics|right-wing]] [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] MP with upper middle-class mannerisms, asserting that Rees-Mogg was imitating Walter.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2018/04/04/jacob-rees-mogg-told-stop-impersonating-walter-softy-beano-threatens/|title=Jacob Rees-Mogg told to stop impersonating Walter the Softy as Beano 'threatens legal action'|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/beano-accuses-jacob-rees-mogg-of-impersonating-walter-the-softy-1-4718271|title=Beano accuses Jacob Rees-Mogg of impersonating Walter the Softy}}</ref> |
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==References== |
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{{reflist}} |
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== External links == |
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{{D. C. Thomson Comics}} |
{{D. C. Thomson Comics}} |
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{{Beano}} |
{{Beano}} |
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[[Category: |
[[Category:DC Thomson Comics characters]] |
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[[Category:Child characters in comics]] |
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[[Category:Male characters in comics]] |
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[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1953]] |
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[[Category:British comics characters]] |
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[[Category:Dennis the Menace and Gnasher]] |
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[[Category:Effeminacy]] |
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[[Category:Fictional cross-dressers]] |
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Latest revision as of 16:55, 10 May 2024
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2021) |
| Walter Brown | |
|---|---|
| The Beano character | |
| First appearance |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Full name | Walter Brown |
| Alias | Walter the Softy, Softy Walter |
Walter Brown (pejoratively nicknamed "Walter the Softy") is a fictional character that appears in the British comic magazine The Beano. He is the rival and antagonist to Dennis the Menace who is vilified because of his lack of interest in stereotypically masculine activities and attitudes. From his first appearance in 1953, Walter became the target of Dennis' pranks and misbehaviour but would brush it off. Sometime in the 1980s, Walter's characterisation changed after reader backlash and made him a snobbish rich boy foil to his enemies.
Character background
[edit]Walter Brown first appeared in issue 577 of The Beano in Dennis the Menace,[1] two years after the comic strip's debut.[2] He is a seemingly "perfect" child who is adored by his teachers for his hardworking and polite attitude. He enjoys picking flowers, ballet dancing in a tutu, playing with tea sets and Wendy houses, knitting and cross-dressing, with friends that act similar, owning well-behaved pets throughout the years (Fluffy the cat, Foo-Foo the dog, and Clawdius the cat).
Walter has neat black hair and wears round-lensed glasses, a red bow tie in his shirt collar, a blue jumper and black shorts. His surname was not revealed until 1994.[3]
Characterisation
[edit]Walter's personality and behaviour fluctuated, depending on the writer: he remained a diligent student and uninterested in playing sports, but would be a spoilt mummy's boy in one story, then a whiny coward who was scared of rain in another. Some stories featured Walter being courageous enough to create pranks and traps to irritate or frame Dennis, and other stories showed Dennis and/or Gnasher intimidating him for their entertainment, with Walter too scared and startled to fight back.
When the 1996 Dennis the Menace cartoon adaptation aired on CBBC, Walter became a snob and his friends joined in on the stuck-up attitude towards Dennis' group. The behaviour remained in the comic strips.
Personal life
[edit]The Beano had a notable generation jump with the Dennis the Menace and Minnie the Minx series after Dennis' parents changed into new designs,[4] and his father was revealed as the original Dennis three years later.[5] Despite this, Walter still lives with his mother and father, and his pets. In his original characterisation, a girl named Priscilla made a one-issue appearance and Dennis refers to her as Walter's sister, but she has not appeared since.[6] The 1996 cartoon revealed he had an uncle who was a barber named Slasher obsessed with Dennis' hair.[7] Walter's parents were always characterised as a wealthy couple who spoil their son, but Walter's post-2012 reincarnation shows his father, Wilbur, as the prideful, smug mayor of Beanotown, who was once Dennis' father's bullying target when they were children (implying that Wilbur was the original Walter who has now toughened up somewhat).[8]
Walter is friends with other schoolboys who are as hardworking and unmanly like him, with similar hobbies. Originally, he had two: Algernon Scott "Scotty" (formerly "Spotty") Perkins and Bertram James "Bertie" Blenkinsop, but the magazine and children's cartoons have also introduced "Sweet" William, Jeremy Snodgrass, "Softy" Matthew and "Nervous" Rex. His girlfriend Matilda was a short-tempered redhead with a lisp who notably appeared in the 1996 cartoon; Walter was devoted to her to the point of implications that she bossed him around.
Relationship with Dennis
[edit]From Walter's debut, he and Dennis the Menace have been enemies. Walter's nerdiness, as well as his hobbies, led to his nickname "Walter the Softy" (and his friends collectively dubbed "The Softies"), and often offends Dennis and Gnasher by his presence alone. Despite the tension and violence, Dennis has turned to Walter in desperation, such as when Gnasher disappeared for six issues in 1986, finding Gnipper's long-lost sisters when the puppy had been poisoned, helping Rasher win a pig race, and trying to save Dennis's favourite tree. They once find out the two are distant cousins, but it has only been mentioned once.
Controversy
[edit]For an unspecified time, some former readers have assumed Walter was an unconfirmed-but-implied gay character for The Beano.[9] The magazine's readership historically being young boys looking for masculine role models through characters that were superheroes, military personnel and brave adventurers automatically made male characters like Walter an ideal antagonist for the rebellious, school-hating, football-loving Dennis, but Dennis' violence towards Walter when Walter was not paying attention to him led to concerns that it would encourage children into homophobic bullying.[10] Dennis' aggression towards Walter softened, and Walter's antagonism increased, his post-2012 version wanting to rid Beanotown of all its fun, as well as his heterosexual relationship with Matilda.[11] Beano spokesman Mike Stirling later said in 2013 that Walter's post-2012 version would hopefully be "dramatically satisfying" reason for readers if Dennis turned violent because "[Walter Brown] doesn't want to be a kid, he wants to be a grownup and is always snitching on kids who are having fun."[12]
Parodies
[edit]- Walter is parodied in some editions of the adult comic Viz as "Cedric Soft" in the strip about popular character Biffa Bacon. Their relationship is in a similar vein to Walter's with Dennis, with extreme comic violence added.
- In the Judge Dredd story Judgement Day, the villain's origin was a pastiche of the Beano: Soppi Walter, routinely terrorised and attacked by the bully Big Den (surname shown as "Mennis"). Soppi turned out to be a sociopath and learned necromancy in order to kill, resurrect, and torture his bully.[13]
- In April 2018, Beano Studios issued a cease and desist letter to Jacob Rees-Mogg, a prominent British right-wing Conservative MP with upper middle-class mannerisms, asserting that Rees-Mogg was imitating Walter.[14][15]
References
[edit]- ^ Moonie, George, ed. (15 August 1953). "Dennis the Menace". The Beano. No. 577. Illustrated by Davey Law. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ Moonie, George, ed. (17 March 1951). "Dennis the Menace". The Beano. No. 452. Illustrated by Davey Law. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ Kerr, Euan, ed. (1994). "A Beano Christmas Carol". The Beano. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ Stirling, Michael, ed. (25 August 2012). "Dennis and Gnasher". The Beano. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ Stirling, Michael, ed. (2 May 2015). "Dennis and Gnasher". The Beano. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ Cramond, Harold, ed. (10 May 1975). "Dennis the Menace and Gnasher". The Beano. No. 1712. D.C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.
- ^ "Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow". Dennis and Gnasher. Series 1. Episode 1. 2 April 1996. The BBC.
- ^ "Who is Wilbur Brown? | Wilbur Brown | Profile on Beano.com". www.beano.com. 28 July 2017. Archived from the original on 3 October 2021.
- ^ Price, John; Nicholas, Joe (2003). AS Media Studies. Nelson Thornes. p. 115. ISBN 0748768408.
- ^ "Dennis the Menace to stop bullying 'gay' Walter". PinkNews. 13 August 2009.
- ^ "Congratulations to the Beano! – 4,000 issues and still going". The Oldie.
- ^ Jeffries, Stuart (20 July 2013). "The Beano – a happy 75th anniversary". The Guardian.
- ^ 2000 AD issue 797: Judgement Day Part 17
- ^ "Jacob Rees-Mogg told to stop impersonating Walter the Softy as Beano 'threatens legal action'". The Telegraph. 4 April 2018.
- ^ "Beano accuses Jacob Rees-Mogg of impersonating Walter the Softy".
External links
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