Inept Violinist Is Cause of Miniature Invasion From Mars: art and story by John Stanley, from Tubby #4, 1953

Here, as promised via a recent teaser, is the fourth Tubby comic. It's an ambitious send-up of the likes of The Day The Earth Stood Still and other early science-fiction movies.

It's another large dose of John Stanley's cartooning. This is one of the last book-length, adventure-slanted stories he did for Western Publishing. This was the final of the four try-out "Four Color" Tubbys before the rotund, sublimely deluded one got his own quarterly title.

Dark Horse Comics has begun to reprint Tubby from its first tryout issues. This story will soon be in print, albeit with DH's too-much-brightness-and-contrast treatment. It is a damned pity that Drawn + Quarterly's first volume of Tubby must start with the 9th issue. Only that issue contains Stanley artwork.

The remainder of Stanley's run on Tubby was illustrated by Lloyd White--a competent craftsman, certainly, but not a vibrant cartoonist by any stretch of the imagination.

I haven't many more of these lengthier Stanley stories to run here. I've covered a lot of ground so far in the life of this here blog...

Here is a fine example of Stanley's typical stakes-raising approach as a storyteller. He starts with a simple, mundane premise, gets his protagonist involved, and then builds a narrative stairway. In this story's case, that stairway spans the far reaches of outer space.

Stanley's chains-of-event are usually fueled by the comedic and absurd. In this story, Tubby's extremely poor musicianship is the hilarious catalyst. Were he skilled, in any way, on his violin, none of the things that happen would have a reason to be.

In Stanley's comic universe, failings are just virtues tipped sideways. He has a soft spot for the inapt and ill-informed. In this light, his character's shortcomings have a side-effect of being effective and useful. "Tubby's Secret Weapon" is a particularly fine instance of this inverted, oblivious heroism.

This is also a rare Stanley effort that makes a sort-of-topical reference to trends of its day. America was flying saucer-conscious in the early 1950s. As well, the first batch of modern science-fiction movies appeared in 1950 and '51. This story has some vague commonalities with Day the Earth Stood Still, The Man From Planet X, The Flying Saucer and some other early post-war SF flicks.

I don't think Stanley envisioned the little men from Mars as more than a one-shot story device. (For that matter, I doubt Carl Barks had more in mind for his Uncle Scrooge character, outside of his similar stake-raising first appearance in 1947's "Christmas on Bear Mountain.")

Further leavened with humor, and thus less menacing, they became a significant sub-theme in his "Tubby" stories of the 1950s. Whether you're of the mind that they truly exist, in the fictive world of Lulu and Tubby, or consider them a manifestation of Tubby's puissant cognitive biases and daydreams, the miniature Martians are a brilliant invention.

Stanley mined them for much humor in their subsequent appearances. Here, they constitute a true threat to the well-being of Tubby, Gloria, and the orange tabby cat. All three are whisked from their suburban Everyworld to the unimaginable realms of outer space.

Just by being his typical self, and staying true to his highly impulsive, self-absorbed nature, Tub drives the story through its ingenious blend of absurd comedy and outer-space spectacle.

Stanley the writer gave Stanley the artist some challenges in "Tubby's Secret Weapon." It's fascinating to see him drawing a story that so departs from the typical environments of his work. A certain impulsive streak in his cartoon art seems ideally matched with his ultimate anti-hero, Tubby Tompkins.

The illegal street vendor and his mechanical wind-up men are another pet Stanley motif. This comedic complication shows up in several 1950s Little Lulu stories. It's also an aspect of this story, which remains among my favorite Stanley pieces.

The HaLLoween Spirit 4: Tiny Martians Enliven Costume; Cruel Catgirl Skews Party; Rotund Goblin Exposed, Painted Pink By Witch

After all the sturm and drang of Tales From The Tomb, let's return to the more reassuring world of "Little Lulu." Here are the last three stories from the 1958 "Halloween Fun" giant. Previous installments can be found HERE, HeRe, HerE and hERe. Whew!

These last three stories take place in comix "real time." That is to say, they occur "live" before the reader, with no breaks or jumps. As this giant comic began that way, it's appropriate that it end in this manner.

First up is Tubby in "The Headless Goblin," which guest-stars the little men from Mars:










There's some rich "Tubby talk" in this typical later story. Though Tub bears the sting of angry ants, he is rewarded by show-stopping and status-boosting SFX. His self-worth is boosted, and he awaits his much-deserved chocolate-covered cherries.

A minor but pervasive Stanleyism is seen on the story's last page, in the fourth panel. Spots before the eyes, in Stanley's world, connotes confusion, fear, worry, illness and other distress-related states of mind.

I believe R. Sikoryak picks up on this in his brilliant melding of Stanley's "Little Lulu" and Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, as seen in his recent anthology, Masterpiece Comics. This is brilliant stuff, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

The kids have regained their composure and returned to the party for "The Great Don't-Dad Hunt." Here, we see Lulu in an ur-Catwoman costume, as she and Annie manipulate their friends for their personal gain:









Lulu is a rascal in this story. Were it not for the reassuring adult-offered reward of ice cream and cake, the other kids would be justified in egging (or toilet-papering) the Moppet household. They have been well and truly used by Lulu. And for what? A doll's hairpiece! Tubby doesn't look so conniving, or as greedy, in light of this story.

The final story, "Ol' Witch Hazel and the Bashful Ghost ," is perhaps the only of Lulu's fractured fairy-tales in which she does not appear in any way, shape or form.











Though an odd way to close this Halloween giant--in that it offers a cursory wrap-up, rather than a formal conclusion, this is a wild, antic story, in which one senses that Stanley felt like cutting loose and having some fun. He seems to really enjoy depicting Witch Hazel without the presence of Lulu, or of Little Itch, the witch-in-training who is usually right by Hazel's side in these stories.

The rotund, mustached, pink goblin on the story's last page is a wonderfully perverse visual element.

Well, kids, that's it for Halloween. I managed to fulfill my goal of posting a month's worth of Halloween-worthy stories, while moving all my stuff across town and working on my graphic novel. I think I'll take it easy tonight and let Halloween happen.

I may be absent for a bit, as I set up my new domicile. I hope to have a new post in a week or so. 'Til then, please check back often, and I hope yours is a Happy Halloween!