John Stanley (cartoonist)
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)",[1] with storylines that "were cohesive and tightly constructed, with nary a loose thread in the plot".Stanley left Fleischer's studio in 1935 to work for Hal Horne, contributing artwork to the then just starting Mickey Mouse Magazine (3rd series).[8] 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.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.He has a very strange, wonderful feel for words.”[9] 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" [10] 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.Modest about his talent,[12] 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.[2] 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.[17] 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.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).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.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).[1] Most of the segments on Cinar's The 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".)Among other things it published the landmark article, in its definitive form, 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.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.