‘Dennis the Menace’ Neighbor Mister Wilson Has No Idea What a Superhero Is

If there's one thing Dennis the Menace's neighbor Mister Wilson is good at, it's being old and grumpy. But just how old is he? Would you believe too old to have a passing familiarity with Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster's Superman? Sure, why not?!

As pointed out by the Comics Curmudgeon, Mister Wilson would have to be at least a few years older than 72 to have no concept of comic book superheroes as he does in this weekend's strip. After all, both Batman and Superman kicked off in the late '30s, meaning Mister Wilson is either much older than anyone thinks, or simply didn't have the dime it took to pick up "Action Comics" #1 back in 1938.

To Mister Wilson's credit, he does seem to identify a wiggly version of Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as a superhero. The implication that blue collar workers from a largely bygone era of service somehow relate to mutated sewer warriors is still strikingly bizarre, though.

As usual, Mrs. Wilson looks on with sympathy, wishing her husband would drop the inherently sexist idea that bolting "-man" onto a profession makes a hero. Women can be heroes too, after all, and she proves it by not giving into her obvious temptation to smother both her husband and young neighbor in their sleep.[Via the Comics Curmudgeon]