Killer, Not Filler Pt. II--Two Newly Discovered John Stanley WOODY WOODPECKER One-Pagers!

These just in: I finally found a copy of NEW FUNNIES #130. It's been on my imaginary want-list for a few years. (No, I don't carry one of those smudged ring binders riddled with serial-killer scrawls, as pertains to my comic book holdings and desired items... sorry to disappoint!)

I wasn't holding my breath for Stanley material here. I'm also missing issue 131, which is unaccountably hard to find. I have determined that issue 132 (which is commonplace) has no Stanley content, and that all issues, from 132 on, are by other hands, including Frank Thomas and Charles Hedinger.

Jury's still out on NF 131. To my delight, issue 130 contained two more John Stanley-drawn (and written) "Woody Woodpecker" gag pages. One of them is a three-quarter page, due to a Dell subscription coupon.

Click HERE to visit the newly-updated post that contains several other John Stanley-penned 'pecker pages. I've substantially reworked the existing text, so it merits another go-round, reading-wise... enjoy!

Panda-monium Out West: John Stanley's First Long Narrative (Andy Panda Four-Color 54, 1944)

John Stanley claimed two Bugs Bunny comic books as his first work for Western Publications. This baffles me, as the two comics in question (Four Colors 33 and 51) are clearly the work of the West Coast division, with Californian artists such as Tom McKimson having done the final artwork. Plus, they're distinctly inferior to even the earliest work of John Stanley--a general trend of the West Coast material of this era, Carl Barks aside.
Why Stanley included these false credits in his q.v. beats me. Thus, his first long comics narrative is the Western burlesque "The Ghostrider--" subject of today's post. First, here's the bondage-is-fun cover:

In the spirit of Carl Barks' first few long narratives ("The Mummy's Ring" and "Porky of the Mounties" in particular), this is less of a bona-fide adventure and more of a broad genre take-off. Barks' stories, even at their most burlesque, still come off as more grave than Stanley's--at least, until Stanley's early dark masterwork "The Secret Six," which can be read HERE.

As first efforts go, "The Ghostrider" is not bad. It flails about harmlessly, with the occasional investiture of wit and narrative skill. (The more playful second story in this issue, "The Magic Hat," can be found HERE.)




"The Ghostrider" lacks the narrative polish and stakes-building that would typify John Stanley's work by the late 1940s. Top-heavy with licensed supporting characters (Andy's goil Miranda, and Woody Woodpecker's nemesis Wally Walrus), the story burns through many pages without achieving much.
When the stakes-raising, more straight adventure material kicks in, later in the story, Stanley's telling becomes more efficient. Action sequences peppered with strong gags manage to hold the reader's interest.
Most compelling are the group of hotel "porch loafers" who decide to give chicken and panda an old-school Western shoot-em-up, more out of general boredom than of score-settling. This meta-story (within a story) seems to dismiss the Western adventure genre as a quaint thing, at best. While this is a stand-out sequence in a fair-to-middlin' story, it serves to make the actual no-kidding action sequences rather perfunctory.
Said sequence is punctuated with welcome humor, and includes one of Stanley's earliest double-whammies of "CHOFF" and "CHOMPF." Other early Stanleyisms such as un-punctuated speech balloons, sound effects in speech balloons, and the ever-present YOW align this first long narrative to Stanley's contemporary New Funnies and Our Gang Comics work.
Note the name "GROGAN" on page six. "Grogan" pops up in Stanley's and Walt Kelly's Western material of the mid-1940s. Was there a Grogan on the Western art staff? Or was this the name of their favorite bartender? I dunno...
John Stanley was on a road of rapid growth as a cartoonist and story-teller in 1944 and '45. Compare this story with "The Secret Six" as a measurement of his progress in the comics medium.

For a comedic chaser, here's the filler one-page gag that occupied the inner front cover. This is more immediately familiar Stanley territory...

Cover Story: John Stanley's Cover for New Funnies 92, 1944

Heritage Auction Galleries' auctions are a wealth of giant-sized images of old pop-culture detritus, including 1940s comic book covers.
I spotted this today and was struck by the obvious drawing of John Stanley.
This is certainly one of his earliest covers. The backgrounds are redolent of Stanley's spiky pen and ink style--as are the reluctant figure of Charlie Chicken, the schoolhouse, and the books and grass in the image's foreground.
The focus figure of Andy Panda seems to be more carefully rendered than the rest of the cover's elements.
I much more prefer the energetic, vivid lines of everything else (even Andy's body), but it's a super piece of cartooning by anyone's standards. Compare this 1944 piece to Stanley's Woody Woodpecker one-pagers for some obvious visual tells.
If/when I find other early Stanley-drawn covers, I'll post them here. And that's all for this ultra-short posting!

I think this is Stanley's work: from Henry Aldrich 7, 1951

As I dig deeper in the largely un-documented history of John Stanley's comics writing, I find a fair share of near-misses and wanna-bes.
Here and there I get clues. In an interview published in one of the Little Lulu Library sets, artist Irving Tripp mentions one Charlie Hedinger, who he credits with penciling the early issues of Little Lulu that Tripp worked on.
Tripp guesstimates that he came on board in "possibly the late 1940s." Furthermore, he states that Hedinger transitioned to a writer position in "I would say mid- or late 1950s."
Tripp provides no hard facts and no exact dates. He stayed with Little Lulu long after John Stanley's departure in 1959 (which he remembers as "what must have been the middle 1950s").
Long before Stanley's exit, Tripp took on the entire art workload for Lulu. This leaves Charlie Hedinger as a possible suspect for the mysterious "near-Stanley" stories that I've discussed and occasionally presented on this blog. Tripp also mentions the writer Carl Hubbel, who co-wrote stories with his wife, Virginia.
Thanks to information from comics history scholar Steven Rowe, I've learned that Hedinger's name is mis-spelled throughout the published interview as "Heddinger."  The Grand Comic Book Database offers THIS information on Charles Hedinger. They list only 10 credits, including one story apiece for Popular Comics, New Funnies and Our Gang Comics. (These, certainly, cannot be his only published works!) He is not named in this one-time listing of the Little Lulu personnel.
For today, let's enjoy the stylish, accomplished and truly comic artwork of Bill Williams--the single best cartoonist who ever worked with John Stanley. This story, the lead strip in the 7th Henry Aldrich comic book, smacks of John Stanley's touch. It strongly resembles one of Stanley's early 1960s Dunc 'n' Loo stories--and not just for Williams' essential input. The basic situation (hero is saddled with extremely difficult un-socialized wild-card; squirms in discomfort as oddball is too stubborn to be placated; chaos ensues) is a time-tested Stanley Scenario.
Other tells include sound effects in speech balloons, "fixed camera" sequences, silent sequences, wild physical action, crowd scenes and graphically playful/aggressive sound effects.
Read it and draw your own conclusions:

This is a funny, vivid story, with most of the humor rooted in each character's distinct personality, and its attendant quirks. The staging seems akin to Stanley's approach, as does the lack of chemistry between Henry and Jessica. They are two unlike beings forced upon each other, as with Little Lulu's Tubby and his mini-me relation, Chubby.
The story's circular ending, complete with a the-end that happens on an off-beat, further seem to point in Stanley's direction.
As ever, your two cents are quite valuable to me. Drop me a note and let me know what you think.

Enslavement, Torment and Other Hot Topics; Two More Stanley "Tom and Jerry" stories

We've done the Little Lulu thing to death recently. I know it's a fan favorite--and rightfully so. (In fact, each time I do a multi-part Lulu sequence, I experience a growth in the Stanley Stories fanbase, which I much appreciate.)

For those in search of the less-known--of those untraveled byroads--here are a pair of "Tom and Jerry" stories from John Stanley's second run on Dell's Our Gang Comics in 1948.

These stories form a bridge from his New Funnies material to his long tenure on Little Lulu. They contain themes familiar to both bodies of work--the slapstick comedy and violent situations of the former, and the character quirks and more restrained, down-to-earth feel of the latter.

Today's first offering, from issue 45, is a solo "Tom Cat" story in which our feline hero offers himself to Toots, his Gloria-esque love interest, as her personal slave. Like Tubby, Tom fashions a costume to go with this self-appointed role. Debasement and humiliation galore occurs herein...

It's not much of stretch to imagine this as a "Tubby" story--with Wilbur and Gloria instead of Toots and Bob Cat. Tom, like Tubby, is utterly self-convinced. His ideas seem brilliant and comprehensive--to himself only. To tools like Toots and Bob, Tom is a schlep out of step with their worldly concerns. (Indeed, here Tom is more concerned with comma placement than with the real-life ramifications of his eccentric ideas.)

Tom shows a touch of self-doubt as he approaches Toots' home with his gift of indentured servitude. In the sequence that begins with p.2's last panel and continues, painfully, across the top half of p.3, Tom vulnerably offers himself to the other felines' condescending scorn and mockery. (Note the "fixed camera" set-up in these seven panels. Stanley often used this technique to build the humor of a situation. We see a comedic, usually abusive, situation unfold through this unflinching eye.)

Bob Cat is one of Stanley's Evil Rich. A user and abuser by nature, he immediately takes Tom's offer with glee, and works our anti-hero ragged.

Unlike Tubby, Tom becomes resentful and rebellious. It's surprising that he goes berserk at story's end. He metes out Stanley's favorite punishment--spanking--to Toots at story's end, giving her one ass-whack for each of her 17 years.

Stanley also uses kisses as punishment from time to time in his Little Lulu stories. Tom adds a forced aggressive kiss as a cherry on this sundae of physical abuse. He exits stage left the self-satisfied victor. He dons his absurd turban to Toots' love-struck sighs. Tom has proven himself a more aggressive a-hole than effete Bob Cat could ever pretend to be.

A universe of perverse behaviors lurk in this six-page story. The characters' actions and attitudes remind me of the epic humiliation comedies found in Thirteen Going on Eighteen. It is fascinating to see these themes evident in Stanley's work of the late 1940s.

As a chaser,  here is the lead "Tom and Jerry" story from issue 46. This story is more in line with Stanley's typical New Funnies slapstick/mind-fudge combo. It transcends the pitiful limitations of the Hanna-Barbera animated original. Within its broad low comedy trappings lurk some subtle and beautifully timed humor.

Perverse situations pile up in this cat-and-mouse story. Tom's genuine desire to eat and kill the two mice gives the slapstick of this story higher-than-normal stakes. Tom is an angry, ill-tempered aggressor here--with just a touch of the Tubby Type.

Unlike the Tom of the first story, this version has no vulnerability. He is even stubbornly sure of his own stupidity (p.8, panel 2).

To be fair, the mice are not peaceniks. Although they escape the living-popsicle route, the goldfish does not. Jerry and Tuffy carry the fish's frozen body around and use it as a cane and as a slapstick device. Their final act--tossing the fish in Tom's milk--is another act of cruelty.

As in the MGM cartoons, the mice inflict much more physical pain on Tom than vice versa. Dressed as Native Americans, they stalk the cat and wage a two-pronged attack on his tongue and rear. Humiliated and wounded, poor Tom staggers to his comfort zone--the milk dish--to soothe his aches and pains. Of course, the "Siamese fighting fish," rightfully angered by the discomfort he's endured, makes a vicious bee-line for that pink, plump tongue.

Stanley delights in showing us the moment before or after a violent or otherwise significant action. He ends several stories this way. This is one of the more vibrant examples of this narrative choice. Note that Tom's final speech balloon has no punctuation. This is a stylistic throwback to his earliest comics work.

Also note the sound effect in a speech balloon on p.1, and the unique YOW variant, "WYOW!" on p. 10.

I'm still living on the fly, but I'll try to keep up with my posts here. I miss doing them when time and circumstance don't permit. Thanks, as ever, for dropping by!