STANLEY STORIES: In Loving Memory of Miss Mollydog: "A One Man Dog," from Little Lulu one-shot #131, 1947--story and art by John Stanley

Thursday, May 6, 2010

In Loving Memory of Miss Mollydog: "A One Man Dog," from Little Lulu one-shot #131, 1947--story and art by John Stanley

A dear canine friend of mine passed away today. Molly was a delightful individual--a kind and quizzical dog who could pull the "soulful eyes" routine at the dinner table with the best of 'em. A cheerful being, Molly made the world brighter, just by being there. No dog was a more accurate catcher of snacks-in-transit than Miss Molly. A thrown tidbit never finished its arc of motion when she was in the room!

My profound condolences to Molly's "person," Paul Tumey. Molly had become a bit gray in the muzzle, but no one was expecting her to pass away anytime soon.

It's to her memory that today's story is dedicated. I didn't have to search far to find a great dog-themed John Stanley story. This early "Little Lulu" piece is also drawn by Stanley. It's only been available, in recent years, in a poorly traced black and white version, via the 1980s Little Lulu Library, and in Dark Horse Comics' pint-sized reprints of those volumes.

The printing on this comic leaves something to be desired--this was obviously an end-of-press-run copy. The metal plates were hammered by the time ink kissed paper and made this particular edition come to life.

But it's the story that counts. I hope this will prove a fitting memorial to one crazy-cool canine. Molly, you'll be missed by many people. Hope Dog Hevvin is exactly the way you like it!

I'm going to forego the typical story dissection today. Just a story--and a tribute.

1 comment:

Myrrpage said...: First Lulu and Tubby, and now dogs. This really is my favorite blog. Sincere condolences to your friend Paul. And thanks for the classic story and art.; May 6, 2010 at 6:07 PM

THE JOHN STANLEY COMICS BIBLIOGRAPHY SERIES

I have compiled a detailed, fully illustrated (in color) story-by-story career bibliography of the comic book and magazine cartoon work of John Stanley, in three decade-specific oversized paperback editions. They're available in book form at Amazon.com.

You can read more about the 1940s volume HERE.

Check out the 1950s edition (the longest of the three books) HERE.

The 1960s volume can be previewed HERE.

Covers of the three books are seen below--and that of THE TAO OF YOW, a lavishly illustrated book of essays on John Stanley's world and his work, including expanded versions of essays first seen on this blog. TAO OF YOW may be perused HERE.

A FERVENT PLEA TO FELLOW BLOGGERS

I would like to suggest that the following grammatical and punctuation errors be avoided by one and all;

1) misuse of the possessive apostrophe-s. It's means "it is," not "its." Appropriate use, e.g.: "It's hot outside today." Wrong usage: "I looked at it's cover."

I see this horrid mistake committed hundreds of times daily on the Internet and elsewhere. If a word ends in an s, chances are someone will ram that apostrophe in there. (e.g., "Today's Special's").

Please, please, PLEASE--unless you intend to convey that a person, place or thing is being discussed, in the present tense, or is in use as a contraction of two words (i.e., "it is, let us, what is"), DO NOT USE THE APOSTROPHE!

2) misuse of the apostrophe in dates. Again: unless it is intended to convey the location or possession of a certain quality, such as "1867's drinking water supplies" or "1978's energy crisis," DO NOT USE THE APOSTROPHE! The same applies to the use of decade-connoting dates. It is the 1950s, or the '50s--NOT the 1950's or the 50's!

3) the two most abused words in the English language are "amazing" and "hilarious." It pains me to see these words used thousands of times a day in print and in conversation.

If everything is amazing and/or hilarious, then NOTHING is amazing and/or hilarious.

There exists a wealth of synonyms--delightful words that convey these two properties. Please, please, please use them in the place of these two horribly over-worked adjectives.

Visit synonym.com for easy access to other words that will help you communicate better and smarter.

4) When in doubt, use Spell Check.

Computer users have a luxury--we can instantly determine if a word we've typed is properly spelled. Any computer's spell checking program will inevitably have bugs, but most of the time it's quite helpful.

There is no good reason (aside from un-caught typos) that Internet writing should have spelling errors. We no longer have to interrupt our work, walk over to the bookshelf, pull out the dictionary, find the word, and return to our task. Right-click on a highlighted word and you'll know if it's correct or not.

The speed of the Internet sometimes inspires sloppiness--in myself and in others. In our excitement to get our writing on-line, it's easy to forget that finely-tuned prose may require a little more time.

It is worth the effort--and it takes little effort anymore--to double-check spelling before you make a post live. I often go over old posts and correct typos or poor writing. I feel it makes a difference, and that it supports my worth as a scholar and critic.

If this plea can prevent the egregious misuse of proper English in the blogosphere, my life will not have been in vain.