Melvin Monster and Nancy star in Drawn & Quarterly's All-Color, Kid's FCBD09 issue featuring the work of legendary cartoonist, John Stanley! Known for his humor and wit, Stanley made Little Lulu all his own and afterwards left his distinctive stamp on Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy! Melvin Monster was Stanley's creation of a humorous kids' horror comic, and both of the Nancy and Melvin Monster stories will showcase his kiddy macabre comedy!
Date Available: 05/02/2009
BONUS REVIEW by EARL GEIER
John Stanley was the unsung hero behind the classic Little Lulu comic stories. For credited creator Marge, writer Stanley gave life, depth and breath to the Lulu universe with considerable ingenuity and imagination, never talking down to his audience. He also did some genuinely unsettling ghost stories for Dell, which slipped through the cracks to be published, as Dell's reputation for clean comics had kept them above (and out) of the Comics Code.
Among his other work for Dell were these two features. Nancy was, of course, based on the the long running Ernie Bushmiller comic strip. Melvin Monster seems to be the creation of Stanley. I'm guessing mid-1960s, as both show an influence of the Addams Family & Munsters mindset.
Melvin is an odd strip. Living with his Mummy and Baddy, he apparently is a disappointment as a monster to them, a very dysfunctional family. The samples in this issue have some spark, but never really catch fire.
The Nancy stories here could easily be Lulu stories, which is a high compliment. One is the classic story introducing Oona Goosepimple and her family, who became reoccurring characters, very Addams. Stanley went on to expand the Nancy universe as he had done Lulu, though his Lulu work tops these easily.
