Første bog i Drawn & Quarterlys ambitiøse genoptryks-projekt, der skal samle John Stanleys mest populære ikke-Lulu tegneserier i hc’er i The John Stanley Library, er ude nu:
D&Q’s redaktør Tom Devlin har samarbejdet med John Stanleys søn, Jim Stanley, om dette store genoptryks-projekt. Tom Devlin kontaktede Jim Stanley og spurgte om han havde noget materiale om faderen, de kunne bruge i deres promovering. Jim Stanley er glad for, at de starter ud med “Melvin Monster”, som han betragter som faderens bedste arbejde. Jim mener, at faderens værker fortsat kan tiltrække nye læsere efter så mange år, fordi historierne er tilpas sjove, uhyggelige, og bevægende til at de fleste læsere kan forholde sig til dem, uanset alder og baggrund.
Første gang det gik op for Jim Stanley hvor populær hans far var, var da han fulgte med ham til Boston Comic Con i 1976: “Besides having the time of my life being fourteen and running around with no supervision, I remember him on the dais, answering questions with Carl Barks. Later on, he told me about a few hard-core fans who would write him regularly and I noticed a fanzine sent to him, The Stanley Steamer. By then it had sunk in.”
Jim Stanley husker at faderen var stolt af sit arbejde: “I recall him telling me he worked on Nancy and Sluggo among other things. He mentioned himself that he worked on so many things, he could never remember them all. Melvin was always around, way back from my earliest memories. He was proud of it, and I did get the feeling he was somewhat disappointed that it didn’t make it.”
Jim Stanley er naturligvis henrykt og overrasket over John Stanleys nye popularitet og de mange rosende ord, der er blevet skrevet om hans far: “He was a very modest man and had a self-deprecating side to him. I wish he were around today to enjoy the new appreciation of his work; I think he would enjoy it.”
Thirteen Going on Eighteen
John Stanley
THE LATEST TITLE IN THE JOHN STANLEY LIBRARY DESIGNED BY THE CARTOONIST SETH
In the early to mid-1960s, John Stanley turned his attentions to drawing and writing his own series, specifically Melvin Monster, Around the Block with Dunc and Loo, Kookie, and the most interesting of these titles, Thirteen Going on Eighteen, rather than working with already established licensed characters he is most well known for such as Little Lulu. D+Q has embarked on an archival series of Stanley’s comics including Melvin Monster, Around the Block with Dunc and Loo, Kookie and Thirteen Going on Eighteen.
Thirteen Going on Eighteen focuses on the friendship and rivalry of two teenage girls, Val and Judy. Each comic is a darkly hilarious look at the social maneuverings and betrayals of the teen set. Stanley’s stripped down approach perfectly captures the fever pitch of teenage years. He creates a teenage sit-com and turns it into an anguished character study.
Hardcover, 336 pages, 7.75 x 11 inches
ISBN: 978-1897299883
$24.95 US / $34.95 CDN