Largely of the Frozen-By-Time variety, but prior to taking a level in jerkass, Walter's antagonism by Dennis amounted to pretty brutal bullying, with the former's status as a 'Softy' justification enough in the eyes of the average British schoolboy. The far dimmer view taken of such behavior nowadays almost certainly contributed to the retooling of Walter's character.
Calamity James is basically a Sadist Show for kids, but in retrospect there's something chilling about a comic strip where a child is tortured by the world at large week-after-week.
