John Stanley (comics)
Encyclopedia
John Stanley was a comic book creator, best known for writing Little Lulu
from 1945 to 1959. While mostly known for scripting, Stanley also was an accomplished artist who drew many of his stories, including the earliest Little Lulu issues. His specialty was humorous stories, both with licensed characters and those of his own creation. His writing style has been described as employing "colorful, S. J. Perelman-ish language and a decidedly bizarre, macabre wit (reminiscent of writer Roald Dahl
)"
with storylines that "were cohesive and tightly constructed, with nary a loose thread in the plot". Captain Marvel
co-creator C.C. Beck remarked "The only comic books I ever read and enjoyed were Little Lulu and Donald Duck". Cartoonist Fred Hembeck
has dubbed him "for my money, the most consistently funny cartoonist to work in the comic book medium".
. Fellow student and future comic book artist Gill Fox
when interviewed by Alter Ego
magazine reminisced about Stanley "You wouldn't believe how good his work was at 16-as good as most professionals today." There are also references to his attending an institution known variously as the New York School of Design or School of Art. Afterward he began working at Max Fleischer
's studio as an opaquer and eventually in-betweening. He left in 1935 to work for Hal Horne contributing artwork to the then just starting Mickey Mouse Magazine (3rd series). From there he went to work on Disney merchandise art for Kay Kamen, while selling gag cartoons to various magazines (including The New Yorker
). In this period (1935–37) Don Phelps in his piece for the 1976 New Con program book notes that Stanley attended classes in lithography at the Art Students League of New York
. Stanley then started working as a freelancer out of the east coast office of Western Publishing
under editor Oskar Lebeck
in 1943. In this period Stanley did stories for a range of characters, including Bugs Bunny
, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Woody Woodpecker
and Andy Panda
, along with his own creations such as Peterkin Pottle and Jigg & Mooch. His scripting was done much like a storyboard
in animation, with rough drawings to guide the artists and the dialogue in balloons.
Stanley was respected by his peers. Artist Dan Noonan who was a contemporary at Western Publishing during the 1940s in an interview stated that Stanley was, “one of the few truly capable and funny writers in the business. His stuff, the ideas he sent to The New Yorker
, for example, I would say had as high a sales percentage as anything from anyone in their history... And an omnivorous reader, always. He reads everything he can lay his hands on. I’d say he’s an authority on writers like Samuel Pepys
and Boswell
. He has a very strange, wonderful feel for words.” Walt Kelly
as an in-joke
in an Oswald the Rabbit one-shot (Four Color
#102, 1946) has a pirate refer to a cannon that "in 1927 wouldn't say anything but 'John Stanley'-she's fickle"
Calling his story for Raggedy Ann and Andy #38 (July 1949) a classic, Maggie Thompson
opined "Until John Stanley took over the Raggedys, they were a cheery duo whose adventures demonstrated that loving kindness was the attitude of choice. Suddenly, their world is a dark, unsettling place that is the equal of any nightmare: in this case, a castle that is an
endless maze of despair. Yikes!"
Stanley and his wife Barbara had two children, Lynda (born in 1958) and James (born in 1962).
one shots but once a regular series began in 1948 (for the first year bi-monthly then thereafter monthly) Irving Tripp
and Charles Hedinger (Tripp inking Hedinger before eventurally assuming both duties) assumed the job of translating Stanley's sketch scripts into finished art. But Stanley continued to do the covers (and perhaps due to deadlines drew the majority of Little Lulu #31 [1951]). The only time Stanley received credit was Little Lulu #49 (July 1952) where a box at the bottom of the inside front cover listed him as being among the staff writers and illustrators who worked on the issue; it also gives Stanley a separate credit for the front cover.
Whereas the old Saturday Evening Post
panels depicted the humorous antics of a mischievous tomboy, Stanley quickly expanded the cast of characters in Lulu's universe to an entire neighborhood of children while sketching out rich characterizations that captured as Don Phelps noted "the mannerisms and slang" of kids. Many stories revolved around the competition between the boys and girls, often involving the club Tubby, Iggy and the other boys formed whose clubhouse bore the iconic sign "No Girls Allowed". Lulu and her friend Annie would often scheme to "teach the fellers a lesson", much to the shock of the boys who were firm in the belief of the superiority of their gender. This battle of the sexes was highlighted by the boys' club celebrating the first Monday of each month as "mumday", when members were forbidden to speak to any of the girls (or even their own mothers). Shaenon Garrity notes "When not plotting against the girls, Tubby and his gang [would] mix it up with the much tougher West Side Gang".
Other stories related Tubby's exploits as The Spider, a detective who invariably accused Lulu's father as being the culprit of whatever he was investigating (and nearly invariably Mr. Moppet proved to be guilty). On occasion Lulu would be forced to avoid recurrent foil Truant Officer McNabbem, by means of "straight-up slapstick chases". And in flights of imagination Lulu would tell stories to a vexing young neighbor boy named Alvin, many of which involved an un-named poor little girl (who looked just like Lulu) and her scary encounters with Witch Hazel and Hazel's niece Little Itch.
Stanley also wrote between 1952 and 1959 the four Four Color
tryout issues (nos. 381, 430, 444 and 461) of the companion series Tubby plus the stories in the subsequent series through #35. Stanley scholar Frank Young notes Stanley's only sustained run doing artwork during the 1950s was for #2-9 of Tubby. The main artist on Tubby was Lloyd White, and per Young besides Tubby White also "pinch-hit" on the Lulu title, for example drawing some of the solo Tubby stories that appeared there.
In the 1960s Stanley created a number of humorous titles for Dell Comics starring his own creations. These include:
In a change of pace he also did the melodramatic medical/romance Linda Lark (#1-8 1961-1963) and two well remembered forays into straight horror:
He also continued doing stories for licensed characters including Clyde Crashcup
(#1-5, 1963–64) and Nellie the Nurse (Four Color
#1304, 1962).
All of the foregoing were done for Dell Comics
; when it and Western Publishing
parted ways in 1962 Stanley was among the few creators who choose to stick with Dell.
Stanley did a one page strip "Bridget And Her Little Brother Newton the Nuisance" for the unusual Wham-O
Giant Comic Book (published in 1967).
During the 1950s and 1960s, Stanley also drew cartoon storyboards for various New York-based animation studios.
In 1965 his sole children's book was published by Rand McNally
, It's Nice to be Little, with illustrations by Jean Tamburine. It sold well enough to warrant a second printing the following year.
Stanley's last works in comics were done for Gold Key
: a 1969 one shot starring the Good & Plenty
mascot Choo Choo Charlie, and in 1971 O.G. Whiz #1, featuring the adventures of a boy owning his own toy company. Both were scripted and drawn by Stanley.
Fans like Don Phelps and Robert Overstreet tracked Stanley down and began to publicize him in comics fandom. His first appearance at a fan gathering was at the legendary 1976 New Con in Boston, at which he met for the first time fellow legend Carl Barks
(who was also making his first fan appearance at the event). Stanley was also a guest at the 1977 Comic Art Convention
. Despite some advance publicity listing him as a guest he didn't attend the 1980 San Diego Comic Book convention.
Somewhat embittered at his treatment by the industry (reportedly in part for receiving no royalties for reprints), Stanley for some years had little involvement with his fans. He did do some drawings for fanzines and seemed to warm a bit toward his following in the final years. He eventually began to accept commissions for painted re-creations of classic Little Lulu and Tubby cover-gags. One of the last published pieces of artwork by him was a sketch that appeared in The Art of Mickey Mouse (1991).
Stanley died November 11, 1993 of esophageal cancer. His wife died in 1990.
His daughter Lynda is a photographic retoucher and has worked for such publications as The New Yorker
, Vanity Fair
, People
, Glamour
, Time
along with advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi
, Young & Rubicam
, TBWA/Chiat Day, and Ogilvy & Mather
, among others.
His son James formerly was an environmental consultant but for the past decade has worked in computer graphic design and IT. James has expressed plans to eventually create an official website celebrating his father's work and legacy.
Four of Stanley's Little Lulu stories were included in the 1981 collection A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics edited by Martin T. Williams and Michael Barrier
. New York: Smithsonian Institution Press and Harry N. Abrams, 1981.
Stanley fandom eventually coalesced around John Merrill's fanzine The Stanley Steamer (1982–1992). Among other things it published the landmark series of articles by Brad Tenan that based on clues in the stories laid out the case for Lulu's hometown being modeled on Peekskill, New York
, where Stanley lived for some years. The current outlet for Stanley fans is the infrequently issued fanzine the HoLLywood Eclectern edited by Ed Buchman. There is also a gathering commemorating Lulu and Stanley at the annual Comic-Con International
organized by Buchman and Joan Appleton. This includes fans performing a radio-play style recreation of a classic Stanley Lulu story.
Author/comics scholar Frank M. Young is engaged in researching Stanley's authorship of stories published by Dell in various comics during the 1940s and 1950s, posting the results on a Stanley Stories blog he started in 2008 (from 2001 to 2005 he compiled a Stanley Stories website with a similar aim that ceased displaying in 2009 but whose content is slowly being incorporated into the blog).
Most of the segments on Cinar
's Little Lulu Show (broadcast on HBO from 1995 to 1999) were adaptations of Stanley's stories (without crediting him beyond stating the series was done "in association with Western Publishing
".) Famous Studios
in the early 1960s did two theatrical cartoons based on Stanley stories, reviving their Lulu series of the 1940s.
Comic book creator Pete Von Sholly has done a computer generated version of the legendary story "The Monster of Dread End" and with permission of the Stanley family a new issue of Melvin Monster posted online.
The 2008 anthology The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics reprints Dread End, the original and Von Sholly's retelling.
"Hester's Little Pearl" is an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter
with the novel's characters and the overall look drawn in the style of Lulu by Robert Sikoryak
and published in Drawn and Quarterly
Vol. 4 (2001). It was reprinted in the collection Masterprice Comics in late 2009.
The graphic novel Wimbledon Green by Seth
contains an extended homage to Stanley.
A Stanley painting recreating a Lulu cover was featured as one of two covers offered for the 35th edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (2005). The hard cover of the Lulu version sold out on the day the Guide was released. The soft cover version sold out two days later.
Another Rainbow's Little Lulu Library issued between 1985 and 1992 brought the Lulu stories to a new generation of readers. And in the current decade a successful series of Lulu trade paperbacks published by Dark Horse reprinting Stanley's stories are a testament to their timeless appeal.
Free Comic Book Day 2009 (May 1, 2009) included a John Stanley collection that included Nancy and Melvin Monster in a flipbook style. Free Comic Book Day 2010 (May 1, 2010) included a John Stanley collection that included Nancy, Tubby, Melvin Monster, Judy Junior, and Choo Choo Charlie - all of them spunky cartoon kids written (sometimes also drawn) by John Stanley.
Little Lulu
"Little Lulu" is the nickname for Lulu Moppett, a comic strip character created in the mid-1930s by Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character debuted in The Saturday Evening Post on February 23, 1935 in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding and strewing the aisle with banana peels...
from 1945 to 1959. While mostly known for scripting, Stanley also was an accomplished artist who drew many of his stories, including the earliest Little Lulu issues. His specialty was humorous stories, both with licensed characters and those of his own creation. His writing style has been described as employing "colorful, S. J. Perelman-ish language and a decidedly bizarre, macabre wit (reminiscent of writer Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...
)"
with storylines that "were cohesive and tightly constructed, with nary a loose thread in the plot". Captain Marvel
Captain Marvel (DC Comics)
Captain Marvel is a fictional comic book superhero, originally published by Fawcett Comics and later by DC Comics. Created in 1939 by artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker, the character first appeared in Whiz Comics #2...
co-creator C.C. Beck remarked "The only comic books I ever read and enjoyed were Little Lulu and Donald Duck". Cartoonist Fred Hembeck
Fred Hembeck
Fred Hembeck is an American cartoonist best known for his parodies of characters from major American comic book publishers. His work has frequently been published by the firms whose characters he spoofs. His characters are always drawn with curlicues at the elbows and knees...
has dubbed him "for my money, the most consistently funny cartoonist to work in the comic book medium".
Biography
Details about Stanley's early years are sketchy. He had an older sister Marion, two younger brothers, Thomas and James and a younger sister, Marguerite. He received a scholarship to attend art classes at Textile High School in Chelsea, ManhattanChelsea, Manhattan
Chelsea is a neighborhood on the West Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. The district's boundaries are roughly 14th Street to the south, 30th Street to the north, the western boundary of the Ladies' Mile Historic District – which lies between the Avenue of the Americas and...
. Fellow student and future comic book artist Gill Fox
Gill Fox
Gilbert Theodore "Gill" Fox was an American political cartoonist, comic book artist and editor, and animator.-Biography:...
when interviewed by Alter Ego
Alter Ego (fanzine)
Alter Ego is an American magazine devoted to comic books and comic-book creators of the 1930s to late-1960s periods comprising what fans and historians call the Golden Age and Silver Age of Comic Books....
magazine reminisced about Stanley "You wouldn't believe how good his work was at 16-as good as most professionals today." There are also references to his attending an institution known variously as the New York School of Design or School of Art. Afterward he began working at Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios...
's studio as an opaquer and eventually in-betweening. He left in 1935 to work for Hal Horne contributing artwork to the then just starting Mickey Mouse Magazine (3rd series). From there he went to work on Disney merchandise art for Kay Kamen, while selling gag cartoons to various magazines (including The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
). In this period (1935–37) Don Phelps in his piece for the 1976 New Con program book notes that Stanley attended classes in lithography at the Art Students League of New York
Art Students League of New York
The Art Students League of New York is an art school located on West 57th Street in New York City. The League has historically been known for its broad appeal to both amateurs and professional artists, and has maintained for over 130 years a tradition of offering reasonably priced classes on a...
. Stanley then started working as a freelancer out of the east coast office of Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
under editor Oskar Lebeck
Oskar Lebeck
Oskar Lebeck was a stage designer and an illustrator, writer and editor who is best known for his role in the establishment of the very successful line of Dell comic books during the Golden Age....
in 1943. In this period Stanley did stories for a range of characters, including Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
, Raggedy Ann and Andy, Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker
Woody Woodpecker is an animated cartoon character, an anthropomorphic acorn woodpecker who appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz animation studio and distributed by Universal Pictures...
and Andy Panda
Andy Panda
Andy Panda is a cartoon character who starred in his own series of animated cartoon short subjects produced by Walter Lantz. These "cartunes" were released by Universal Pictures from 1939 to 1947 and United Artists from 1948 to 1949. The titular character is an anthropomorphic cartoon character, a...
, along with his own creations such as Peterkin Pottle and Jigg & Mooch. His scripting was done much like a storyboard
Storyboard
Storyboards are graphic organizers in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence....
in animation, with rough drawings to guide the artists and the dialogue in balloons.
Stanley was respected by his peers. Artist Dan Noonan who was a contemporary at Western Publishing during the 1940s in an interview stated that Stanley was, “one of the few truly capable and funny writers in the business. His stuff, the ideas he sent to The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, for example, I would say had as high a sales percentage as anything from anyone in their history... And an omnivorous reader, always. He reads everything he can lay his hands on. I’d say he’s an authority on writers like Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys FRS, MP, JP, was an English naval administrator and Member of Parliament who is now most famous for the diary he kept for a decade while still a relatively young man...
and Boswell
James Boswell
James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for the biography he wrote of one of his contemporaries, the English literary figure Samuel Johnson....
. He has a very strange, wonderful feel for words.” Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
in an Oswald the Rabbit one-shot (Four Color
Four Color
Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...
#102, 1946) has a pirate refer to a cannon that "in 1927 wouldn't say anything but 'John Stanley'-she's fickle"
Calling his story for Raggedy Ann and Andy #38 (July 1949) a classic, Maggie Thompson
Maggie Thompson
Margaret "Maggie" Thompson , is the editor of Comics Buyer's Guide, a monthly comic book industry news magazine...
opined "Until John Stanley took over the Raggedys, they were a cheery duo whose adventures demonstrated that loving kindness was the attitude of choice. Suddenly, their world is a dark, unsettling place that is the equal of any nightmare: in this case, a castle that is an
endless maze of despair. Yikes!"
Stanley and his wife Barbara had two children, Lynda (born in 1958) and James (born in 1962).
Little Lulu
Modest about his talent, Stanley claimed it was utter chance that he was selected to bring panel cartoon character Little Lulu to comics: "Oscar [Lebeck] handed me the assignment, but I'm sure it was due to no special form of brilliance that he thought I'd lend to it. It could have been handed to Dan Noonan, [Walt] Kelly, or anyone else. I just happened to be available at the time". Stanley had one meeting with Lulu creator Marjorie Henderson Buell (known professionally as Marge) before doing the first issue to discuss the background of the character. While Marge continued to exercise oversight of the comics this was the sole time she directly gave input regarding the depiction of her creation in comic books. Stanley drew the initial Lulu Four ColorFour Color
Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...
one shots but once a regular series began in 1948 (for the first year bi-monthly then thereafter monthly) Irving Tripp
Irving Tripp
Irving Tripp , was an American comic book artist, best known as the illustrator of Little Lulu comics....
and Charles Hedinger (Tripp inking Hedinger before eventurally assuming both duties) assumed the job of translating Stanley's sketch scripts into finished art. But Stanley continued to do the covers (and perhaps due to deadlines drew the majority of Little Lulu #31 [1951]). The only time Stanley received credit was Little Lulu #49 (July 1952) where a box at the bottom of the inside front cover listed him as being among the staff writers and illustrators who worked on the issue; it also gives Stanley a separate credit for the front cover.
Whereas the old Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
panels depicted the humorous antics of a mischievous tomboy, Stanley quickly expanded the cast of characters in Lulu's universe to an entire neighborhood of children while sketching out rich characterizations that captured as Don Phelps noted "the mannerisms and slang" of kids. Many stories revolved around the competition between the boys and girls, often involving the club Tubby, Iggy and the other boys formed whose clubhouse bore the iconic sign "No Girls Allowed". Lulu and her friend Annie would often scheme to "teach the fellers a lesson", much to the shock of the boys who were firm in the belief of the superiority of their gender. This battle of the sexes was highlighted by the boys' club celebrating the first Monday of each month as "mumday", when members were forbidden to speak to any of the girls (or even their own mothers). Shaenon Garrity notes "When not plotting against the girls, Tubby and his gang [would] mix it up with the much tougher West Side Gang".
Other stories related Tubby's exploits as The Spider, a detective who invariably accused Lulu's father as being the culprit of whatever he was investigating (and nearly invariably Mr. Moppet proved to be guilty). On occasion Lulu would be forced to avoid recurrent foil Truant Officer McNabbem, by means of "straight-up slapstick chases". And in flights of imagination Lulu would tell stories to a vexing young neighbor boy named Alvin, many of which involved an un-named poor little girl (who looked just like Lulu) and her scary encounters with Witch Hazel and Hazel's niece Little Itch.
Stanley also wrote between 1952 and 1959 the four Four Color
Four Color
Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...
tryout issues (nos. 381, 430, 444 and 461) of the companion series Tubby plus the stories in the subsequent series through #35. Stanley scholar Frank Young notes Stanley's only sustained run doing artwork during the 1950s was for #2-9 of Tubby. The main artist on Tubby was Lloyd White, and per Young besides Tubby White also "pinch-hit" on the Lulu title, for example drawing some of the solo Tubby stories that appeared there.
post-Lulu career
In early 1959 Stanley stopped writing Little Lulu (an educated guess is around #135) and began writing Nancy and Sluggo (titled Nancy for issues #146-173) starting with issue #162 and thru at least #185, as well as several Dell Giants (#34 & 45, and Nancy & Sluggo Traveltime). For this title he created the character Oona Goosepimple, who lived in a haunted house inhabited by weird relatives and mysterious little people known as Yoyos who hid behind the fireplace. While she only appeared in a dozen issues or so (#162,166-178 plus some Summer Camp Specials - Four Color #1034, Dell Giants #34 and #45) Oona has since attained something of a cult status. He also created Mr. McOnion, Sluggo's crabby neighbor.In the 1960s Stanley created a number of humorous titles for Dell Comics starring his own creations. These include:
- Kookie #1-2 1961-1962, humor with Greenwich VillageGreenwich VillageGreenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
beatnikBeatnikBeatnik was a media stereotype of the 1950s and early 1960s that displayed the more superficial aspects of the Beat Generation literary movement of the 1950s and violent film images, along with a cartoonish depiction of the real-life people and the spiritual quest in Jack Kerouac's autobiographical...
s drawn by Bill Williams - (Around the Block with) Dunc & Loo #1-8 1961-1963, humor with urban teens drawn by Bill Williams
- Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) #1-25 1961-1967, humor with suburban pre-teens drawn by Stanley starting with #3 [#26-29 reprints of #1-4]
- Melvin Monster #1-9 1965-1969, humorous horror drawn by Stanley [#10 reprints #1]
In a change of pace he also did the melodramatic medical/romance Linda Lark (#1-8 1961-1963) and two well remembered forays into straight horror:
- Tales From the Tomb, 1962 one-shot giant edited by L. B. ColeL. B. ColeLeonard Brandt Cole was a comic book artist, editor, and publisher who worked during the Golden Age of Comic Books, producing work in various genres. Cole was particularly known for his bold covers, featuring what he referred to as "poster colors"—the use of primary colors often over black...
- Ghost Stories #1, September.-November 1962 (Stanley wrote only the first issue)
He also continued doing stories for licensed characters including Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup
Clyde Crashcup is a fictional character from the early-1960s animated television series The Alvin Show.-Fictional character biography:Clyde Crashcup is a scientist in a white coat whose experiments invariably failed...
(#1-5, 1963–64) and Nellie the Nurse (Four Color
Four Color
Four Color, also known as Four Color Comics and One Shots, was a long-running American comic book anthology series published by Dell Comics between 1939 and 1962...
#1304, 1962).
All of the foregoing were done for Dell Comics
Dell Comics
Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
; when it and Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
parted ways in 1962 Stanley was among the few creators who choose to stick with Dell.
Stanley did a one page strip "Bridget And Her Little Brother Newton the Nuisance" for the unusual Wham-O
Wham-O
Wham-O Inc. is a toy company currently located in California, USA. They are known for marketing many popular toys in the past 50 years, including the Hula Hoop, the Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly String, Hacky Sack and the Boogie board....
Giant Comic Book (published in 1967).
During the 1950s and 1960s, Stanley also drew cartoon storyboards for various New York-based animation studios.
In 1965 his sole children's book was published by Rand McNally
Rand McNally
Rand McNally is an American publisher of maps, atlases, textbooks, and globes for travel, reference, commercial, and educational uses. It also provides online consumer street maps and directions, as well as commercial transportation routing software and mileage data...
, It's Nice to be Little, with illustrations by Jean Tamburine. It sold well enough to warrant a second printing the following year.
Stanley's last works in comics were done for Gold Key
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
: a 1969 one shot starring the Good & Plenty
Good & Plenty
Good & Plenty is an American brand of licorice candy. The candy is a narrow cylinder of sweet black licorice coated in a hard candy shell to form a capsule shape...
mascot Choo Choo Charlie, and in 1971 O.G. Whiz #1, featuring the adventures of a boy owning his own toy company. Both were scripted and drawn by Stanley.
Later years
After leaving comic books, John Stanley worked as the head of a silk screen company in upstate New York and in advertising for many years, and even did cartoon illustration work for David C. Cook, a publisher of Christian-oriented books. In this period his marriage foundered and he moved out for an extended period.Fans like Don Phelps and Robert Overstreet tracked Stanley down and began to publicize him in comics fandom. His first appearance at a fan gathering was at the legendary 1976 New Con in Boston, at which he met for the first time fellow legend Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
(who was also making his first fan appearance at the event). Stanley was also a guest at the 1977 Comic Art Convention
Comic Art Convention
The Comic Art Convention was an American comic-book fan convention held annually New York City, New York, over Independence Day weekend from 1968 through 1983, except for 1977, when it was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and 1978 to 1979, when it was held concurrently in New York and Philadelphia...
. Despite some advance publicity listing him as a guest he didn't attend the 1980 San Diego Comic Book convention.
Somewhat embittered at his treatment by the industry (reportedly in part for receiving no royalties for reprints), Stanley for some years had little involvement with his fans. He did do some drawings for fanzines and seemed to warm a bit toward his following in the final years. He eventually began to accept commissions for painted re-creations of classic Little Lulu and Tubby cover-gags. One of the last published pieces of artwork by him was a sketch that appeared in The Art of Mickey Mouse (1991).
Stanley died November 11, 1993 of esophageal cancer. His wife died in 1990.
His daughter Lynda is a photographic retoucher and has worked for such publications as The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
, Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
, People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
, Glamour
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
along with advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi
Saatchi & Saatchi is a global advertising agency network with 140 offices in 80 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in London in 1970 but now headquartered in New York. The parent company of the agency group was known as Saatchi & Saatchi PLC from 1976 to 1994, was listed on the London...
, Young & Rubicam
Young & Rubicam
Y&R is a marketing and communications company specializing in advertising, digital and social media, sales promotion, direct marketing and brand identity consulting.-History:...
, TBWA/Chiat Day, and Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather
Ogilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing and public relations agency based in Manhattan and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries with approximately 16,000 employees.-History:...
, among others.
His son James formerly was an environmental consultant but for the past decade has worked in computer graphic design and IT. James has expressed plans to eventually create an official website celebrating his father's work and legacy.
Legacy
Stanley's work on Little Lulu was #59 on Comics Journals list of 100 top comicsFour of Stanley's Little Lulu stories were included in the 1981 collection A Smithsonian Book of Comic-Book Comics edited by Martin T. Williams and Michael Barrier
Michael Barrier (historian)
Michael Barrier is an American animation historian. Barrier was the founder and editor of Funnyworld, the first magazine exclusively devoted to comics and animation. It began as a contribution to the CAPA-Alpha amateur press association...
. New York: Smithsonian Institution Press and Harry N. Abrams, 1981.
Stanley fandom eventually coalesced around John Merrill's fanzine The Stanley Steamer (1982–1992). Among other things it published the landmark series of articles by Brad Tenan that based on clues in the stories laid out the case for Lulu's hometown being modeled on Peekskill, New York
Peekskill, New York
Peekskill is a city in Westchester County, New York. It is situated on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across from Jones Point.This community was known to be an early American industrial center, primarily for its iron plow and stove products...
, where Stanley lived for some years. The current outlet for Stanley fans is the infrequently issued fanzine the HoLLywood Eclectern edited by Ed Buchman. There is also a gathering commemorating Lulu and Stanley at the annual Comic-Con International
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International, also known as Comic-Con International: San Diego , and commonly known as Comic-Con or the San Diego Comic-Con, was founded as the Golden State Comic Book Convention and later the San Diego Comic Book Convention in 1970 by Shel Dorf and a group of San Diegans...
organized by Buchman and Joan Appleton. This includes fans performing a radio-play style recreation of a classic Stanley Lulu story.
Author/comics scholar Frank M. Young is engaged in researching Stanley's authorship of stories published by Dell in various comics during the 1940s and 1950s, posting the results on a Stanley Stories blog he started in 2008 (from 2001 to 2005 he compiled a Stanley Stories website with a similar aim that ceased displaying in 2009 but whose content is slowly being incorporated into the blog).
Most of the segments on Cinar
Çinar
Çınar is a district of Diyarbakır Province of Turkey and also the name of downtown of Denizli city of Denizli Province of Turkey....
's Little Lulu Show (broadcast on HBO from 1995 to 1999) were adaptations of Stanley's stories (without crediting him beyond stating the series was done "in association with Western Publishing
Western Publishing
Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company was a Racine, Wisconsin firm responsible for publishing the Little Golden Books. Western Publishing also produced children's books and family-related entertainment products as Golden Books Family Entertainment...
".) Famous Studios
Famous Studios
Famous Studios was the animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount acquired the aforementioned studio and ousted its founders, Max and Dave Fleischer, in 1941...
in the early 1960s did two theatrical cartoons based on Stanley stories, reviving their Lulu series of the 1940s.
Comic book creator Pete Von Sholly has done a computer generated version of the legendary story "The Monster of Dread End" and with permission of the Stanley family a new issue of Melvin Monster posted online.
The 2008 anthology The Mammoth Book of Best Horror Comics reprints Dread End, the original and Von Sholly's retelling.
"Hester's Little Pearl" is an adaptation of The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an...
with the novel's characters and the overall look drawn in the style of Lulu by Robert Sikoryak
Robert Sikoryak
Robert Sikoryak , a.k.a. R. Sikoryak, is a comic book artist who specializes in making comic adaptations of literature classics, producing a mashup of high and low cultures...
and published in Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
Vol. 4 (2001). It was reprinted in the collection Masterprice Comics in late 2009.
The graphic novel Wimbledon Green by Seth
Seth (cartoonist)
Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant , a Canadian comic book artist and writer. He is best known for comics such as Palookaville.Born in Clinton, Ontario, Seth attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto...
contains an extended homage to Stanley.
A Stanley painting recreating a Lulu cover was featured as one of two covers offered for the 35th edition of the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (2005). The hard cover of the Lulu version sold out on the day the Guide was released. The soft cover version sold out two days later.
Another Rainbow's Little Lulu Library issued between 1985 and 1992 brought the Lulu stories to a new generation of readers. And in the current decade a successful series of Lulu trade paperbacks published by Dark Horse reprinting Stanley's stories are a testament to their timeless appeal.
Free Comic Book Day 2009 (May 1, 2009) included a John Stanley collection that included Nancy and Melvin Monster in a flipbook style. Free Comic Book Day 2010 (May 1, 2010) included a John Stanley collection that included Nancy, Tubby, Melvin Monster, Judy Junior, and Choo Choo Charlie - all of them spunky cartoon kids written (sometimes also drawn) by John Stanley.
Awards
- Inkpot Award in 1980 from the San Diego Comic Con
- Inducted in 2004 into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame
Online comics
- links to scans of the legendary “The Monster Of Dread End”, from Ghost Stories #1
- a story with Oona Goosepimple from Nancy and Sluggo #175, March-April 1960
- Last of the Spinner Rack Junkies Has links to several Stanley stories from Dunc and Loo, Thirteen (Going on Eighteen) and Kookie #1.
- I'm Learning to Share! scans of selected pages from Kookie #2.
Reprint collections
- Little Lulu LibraryLittle Lulu LibraryThe Little Lulu Library was an 18 volume deluxe hardcover series of books reprinting a long run of Little Lulu comics from the period when John Stanley was writing the stories. Most of the stories collected were drawn by either Stanley or Irving Tripp...
(info) Six sets containing 18 hardbound volumes published between 1985 and 1992 by Another RainbowGladstone PublishingGladstone Publishing was an American company that published Disney comics from 1986 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1998. The company had its origins as a subsidiary of "Another Rainbow", a company formed by Bruce Hamilton and Russ Cochran to publish the Carl Barks Library and produce limited edition...
; reprints in black and white the stories in Little Lulu (including one-shots) through #87 plus articles and historical background to the series. - Dark Horse Little Lulu softcover collections 18 trade paperbacks published between 2004 and 2008 reprints in black and white the stories published in the Another Rainbow Little Lulu Library, sans articles and covers. One color special was also published. New volumes in color continuing the series (and now including the covers of the original comics) began appearing in 2009, as Dark Horse intends to collect the rest of Stanley's run on the series. Collections of the companion Tubby title have also been announced.http://stanleystories.blogspot.com/2009/01/im-at-crossroads.html This will appear in 2010 as Little Lulu's Pal Tubby.
- John Stanley Library New volumes from Drawn and QuarterlyDrawn and QuarterlyDrawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
to collect Stanley's non-Lulu series, including Melvin Monster, Thirteen (Going on Eighteen), Kookie, Nancy/Nancy and Sluggo and Dunc and Loo. Volumes will be designed by SethSeth (cartoonist)Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant , a Canadian comic book artist and writer. He is best known for comics such as Palookaville.Born in Clinton, Ontario, Seth attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto...
, a longtime Stanley devotee.- Melvin Monster, 3 volumes (v1 ISBN 978-1-897299-63-0; v2 ISBN 9781770460034; v3 ISBN 9781770460300)
- Nancy, 3 volumes (v1 ISBN 9781897299777; v2 ISBN 1897299966; v3 ISBN 9781770460500)
- Nancy & Sluggo, 4-5? volumes
- Thirteen going on Eighteen, 3? volumes (v1 ISBN 978-1-897299-88-3; v2 ??)
- The TOON Treasury of Classic Children's Comics Collection of classic comic book stories for young children edited by Art SpiegelmanArt SpiegelmanArt Spiegelman is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic book memoir, Maus. His works are published with his name in lowercase: art spiegelman.-Biography:Spiegelman was born in Stockholm, Sweden, to Polish Jews...
and his wife, Françoise MoulyFrançoise MoulyFrançoise Mouly is a Paris-born French artist and designer best known for her work with RAW, a showcase publication for cutting edge comic art, and as art editor of The New Yorker, a position she has held since 1993...
. Includes selections by Stanley, Carl BarksCarl BarksCarl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
and Walt KellyWalt KellyWalter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
. (ISBN 0-8109-5730-2) - Golden Collection of Krazy Kool Klassic Kids' Komics A kids comic book story collection (exclusively public domainPublic domainWorks are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
) edited by Craig Yoe. Includes selections by Stanley, Barks, Kelly, Jack KirbyJack KirbyJack Kirby , born Jacob Kurtzberg, was an American comic book artist, writer and editor regarded by historians and fans as one of the major innovators and most influential creators in the comic book medium....
, Wally WoodWally WoodWallace Allan Wood was an American comic book writer, artist and independent publisher, best known for his work in EC Comics and Mad. He was one of Mads founding cartoonists in 1952. Although much of his early professional artwork is signed Wallace Wood, he became known as Wally Wood, a name he...
and others. (ISBN 978-1600105203)
Further reading
- Andrae, Thomas. Masters of Comic Art (Hermes Press, forthcoming) http://www.hermespress.com/Books/Andrae/mastersofcomicart.html
- Barrier, Michael. Funnybooks (forthcoming) http://www.michaelbarrier.com/#helpwanted
- Buchman, Ed editor The HoLLywood Eclectern No.1- (1992- ).
- Gilbert, Michael T. "Mr. Monster's Comic Crypt" column Alter Ego Nos. 53-55 (October.-December 2005).
- Hamilton, Bruce, "Carl Barks and John Stanley" / transcribed by Milo George. Comics Journal No. 250 (February 2003) p. 159-162. Barks & Stanley are interviewed together by Bruce Hamilton in 1976 during a joint panel at New Con.
- Krumeich, Dorothy. "Stanley Comics Help Quell Furor" in Peeksill Evening Star August 11, 1965 (reprinted in Alter Ego No. 54).
- Merrill, Jon editor The Stanley Steamer Nos. 1-60 (1982–1992).
- Mowbray, Brian. Index entry for the Information Center column in Amazing HeroesAmazing HeroesAmazing Heroes was a magazine about the comic book medium published by Fantagraphics Books from 1981 to 1992. Unlike its companion title, The Comics Journal, Amazing Heroes was a hobbyist magazine rather than an analytical journal....
No. 120 (July 1, 1987). - Phelps, Donald. "John Stanley" in New Con 1976 Program Book (reprinted in Alter Ego No. 55).
- Phelps, Donald. John Stanley profile in Comic Art Convention 1977 program book.
- SethSeth (cartoonist)Seth is the pen name of Gregory Gallant , a Canadian comic book artist and writer. He is best known for comics such as Palookaville.Born in Clinton, Ontario, Seth attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto...
, "John Stanley's Teen Trilogy" in Comics Journal No. 238 (October 2001), pp. 39–51. Article on Stanley's teen humor comics Thirteen (Going on Eighteen), Dunc and Loo, and Kookie. - Shutt, Craig, "Little Lulu, Big Media Star" in Hogan's Alley No.15 (2007), pp. 32–36, 38-43.
- Maggie ThompsonMaggie ThompsonMargaret "Maggie" Thompson , is the editor of Comics Buyer's Guide, a monthly comic book industry news magazine...
, "The Almost-Anonymous Mr. Stanley" in Funnyworld No. 16 (Winter 1974-75), p. 34. - Maggie ThompsonMaggie ThompsonMargaret "Maggie" Thompson , is the editor of Comics Buyer's Guide, a monthly comic book industry news magazine...
, "Little Miss Moppet" in Comics Collector No. 2 (Winter 1984), pp. 67–72 and No. 3 (Spring 1984), pp. 67–71. - Yoe, Craig and Janet Morra-Yoe editors, The Art of Mickey Mouse. New York : Hyperion, 1991.
External links
- Stanley Stories blog
- Stanley's self portrait
- photo of Stanley circa age 18 or 19
- Harry McCracken on Stanley's New Con appearance, with sketches and ephemera from the event
- HoLLywood Eclectern Lulu & Stanley fanzine
- sample of Stanley's scripting
- Scott Shaw on Tales From The Tomb #1, Ghost Stories #1, Nellie the Nurse, Choo-Choo Charlie #1, Melvin Monster #1 and Melvin Monster #4
- Interview with Stanley's son, James
