Tubby! - November, 1950

More from the glorious team of John Stanley (story) and Irving Tripp (art). Tubby is one of John Stanley’s greatest characters. The magic of Stanley is that his Tubby is not a “gifted” kid. Nor is he a brilliant scientist kid or a kid with a magic friend. He is simply a very believable kid with a great deal of charm and kid fallibility. I've included the inside back cover story as well as the back cover ad for good measure.

This story is from Marge's Little Lulu No. 29, November 1950.

If you want more Stanley after reading this story, you'll be made happy by visiting Frank Young's great blog, Stanley Stories.

"Lucky Lulu!" Stanley and Tripp - 1950

It's not accurate to call John Stanley and Irving Tripp a "team" in the same sense that Jack Kirby and Joe Simon were a team, since Tripp's assignment was to prefectly reproduce the established Stanley style, often working from layouts provided by Stanley (Tripp always said Stanley's rough layouts were often very complete). Still, a huge portion of comics thought of as "Stanley stories" were at least polished up and inked by Tripp, if not drawn. And he always did such a magnificent job at it.

What I love about Stanley's writing is the sweetness without any stickiness. Not for nothing - look at the personality he brings to the homeless vagrant, who ultimately enjoys a Thanksgiving dinner with Lulu and family. This story is from Marge's Little Lulu No. 29, November 1950.

If you want more Stanley after reading this story, you'll be made happy by visiting Frank Young's great blog, Stanley Stories.

Two Christmas Stories in Four Color!

Today, Christmas bells keep ringing with two festive stories from Four Color No. 1154, December 1960. I'm not sure who did the wonderful cover, but the first story, "A Surprise For Santa," has the art and scripting of John Stanley. PS: Comic book expert and historian, Alberto Becattini, has identified this as the artwork of Dan Gormley - not Stanley. The second story, "Xavier Patch," is a real gem by an artist unknown to me (but hopefully known to someone) I love the line work and draftsmanship on display in that one (and the story has a simple holiday warmth, also easy to love)! PPS: Hooray! Mr. Becattini has supplied the ID: "Xavier Patch" is the work of Mel Crawford.

LITTLE LULU No. 54, December 1952

John Stanley always manages to touch the joy of being alive. His stories are sprinkled with perfect human moments, so universal they always bring smiles. Next to the towering edifice of Stanley’s reputation, Irving Tripp’s contribution is often overshadowed, but his art is essential to Little Lulu and compliments perfectly the tone and minimalist perfection of Stanley’s stories.

Tubby was Stanley’s agent of sweet chaos and, like every boy in the world, I saw myself in Tubby - myself and all my friends. Here are two Tubby stories from Little Lulu no. 54, December 1952.

This ad is from the same issue. Sure, that Space Ranger kit is amazing, but feast your eyes on that television! You know what was great about those old televisions? They had no remote. Why was that cool, you ask? Well, in my house, only my father ever touched the space-age controls located on the front. Invariably, his walk across the carpeting would produce a static charge that would snap him the moment he touched one of the knobs. He’d curse like a trooper. Darn, that made me howl!

Please enjoy and purchase the Little Lulu Volumes, available from Dark Horse Comics. Just CLICK HERE to have a look!