Customer Reviews

Little Lulu Volume 19: The Alamo And Other Stories

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After wrapping up its numbered series of LITTLE LULU reprint volumes some time ago, Dark Horse steps beyond the black-and-white boundaries of THE LITTLE LULU LIBRARY and reprints LL #88-93 (1955-56) in color. Unlike the previous LITTLE LULU COLOR SPECIAL, the coloring here appears to be taken from the original comics (you can tell by the "stippled" faces and occasional boundary transgressions), which may tick off some sticklers. The quality of John Stanley's stories remains high, though Irving Tripp's artwork gets a little rougher towards the end (watch for the "non-pointy" noses to begin to appear) and Stanley's "story-telling stories" are now wholly reliant on Witch Hazel and Little Itch. The headlined story "The Alamo" (which concerns depredations done to Davy Crockett coonskin caps -- one of the few times, BTW, that Stanley seems to have paid the slightest attention to pop-culture fads going on around him) is actually buried in the middle of the book; I'd have preferred that Dark Horse continued the "tradition" of generic titles from the numbered issues. This will be a big summer for Stanley fans, as Drawn & Quarterly will soon begin issuing its JOHN STANLEY LIBRARY collections of Stanley's non-LULU work. The fact that Dark Horse will continue to release LULU collections is, of course, the best news of all.

John Stanley was one of the gods of comic storytelling and this collection is Exhibit A. After reading his stuff for Bushmiller's NANCY and some of the other work he did for the funny animal comics, I started reading this collection and it hit me right away: Stanley loves the Little Lulu characters. He infuses them with such depth and delineates them with such detail and humor and love that they live. I don't know of a single other comic character that you can re-read over and over with such pure pleasure as Stanley's Little Lulu stories. Brilliant, just brilliant.

As her many fans know, Marge's Little Lulu circulated in the days of Dell, when comics were a dime, gradually easing their way up to a quarter. To get those comics nowadays in readable shape requires a bit of an outlay on E-Bay. Even new comics these days run around three bucks, only about thirty times more than in the dime days. No wonder the perennial reissues of popular lines garner so much attention.

The Another Rainbow hardback Little Lulu collection was slipcased with color covers, but even that had black and white internal art, as do most of the Dark Horse reissues. This full color collection is the odd duck, but not quite: Dark Horse's Little Lulu Color Special from 2006 preceded it. That paperback measured 10 X 6.5 inches, 208 pages, and retailed for 13.95. This new color collection is 9 X 6 inches, the same size as the black and white Dark Horse series, 200 pages, retailing at 14.95. It's the first in a series of color collections, which unlike the black and white books, are not numbered.

What readers probably are wondering is why isn't this rated a five? For one thing, if books have to be printed in China, we're not really making five star books. Apart from that, though, the printing is very grainy, unlike the pristine color special, which seemed to be a one-off and a class act all the way, itself now going the way of the E-bay auction.

The Color Special editors picked and chose its contents between Little Lulu #4 and #86. "The Alamo and Other Stories" contains comics 88-93. I suppose that Classic Media owns the rights to the modern Little Lulu design created by CINAR in Canada for the animated Little Lulu Show, which ran on HBO, but it's always disconcerting to see these designs used on reissued Little Lulu material. Here it's on both the front and back cover.

What one reads these comics for, of course, is the deft and humorous writing and drawing of John Stanley and artwork of Irving Tripp. The bottom line is here's the most reasonable way to get five entire Little Lulu comics, which will appeal to collectors, who may be filing away the originals in archival bags, but would yet like a copy to reread the stories (and gaze at the whimsical art). But be ye forewarned. Collectors who leave these comics around on the coffee table may find their guests becoming fans.Little Lulu Color SpecialLittle Lulu: The Bawlplayers And Other StoriesLittle Lulu: Miss Feeny's Folly And Other Stories

those familiar with comic books in the 1950s need no explanation of the popularity of the little lulu series. it was funny. (who needs political humor). i would like to comment on what a great book this is. vibrantly colorful, almost full comic book size, on thick glossy pages with thick paperback cover. though nothing can replace the good old days of going to the local store each week to buy the latest comic books, this is certainly a close second. hats off to dark horse publications for a great product for those who remember and for those who will discover little lulu.

John Stanley's Little Lulu stories are a treat for the child still inside all of us. While not as revered as Schulz's Peanuts, Stanley know how to present children in situations that bring a smile to your face. As a "serious" comic book fan who grew up reading the superhero action and drama of Lee, Kirby and Ditko, I missed out on these stories the first time around. I've latched onto them when Dark Horse began reprinting them as I had read of John Stanley and was not disappointed. Not only did I enjoy them but my brother and friends did as well. What really makes me happy is that I passed many of these books on to my local library and they are being read and well worn. Pass them on to the kids!

Nick C.