[Nancy: Volume 3 (John Stanley Library)] [Author: John Stanlely] [September, 2011]

John Stanley's Nancy #3

by John Stanley

In the third volume in the Nancy series drawn by journeyman writer John Stanley, he continues to put his strange but fascinating stamp on the iconic character. Nancy declares poverty and battles yoyos on Oona’s house, but the book also features her pal Sluggo, who Nancy complains is too dirty.

Genres: Comics

Hardcover

First published August 16, 2011

About the author

John Stanley was a comic book creator, best known for his scripting of Little Lulu's comic book exploits from 1945 to approximately 1959. While mostly known for his scripting, Stanley also was an accomplished artist who drew many of his stories, including the earliest issues of Lulu. His specialty was humorous stories, both with licensed characters and those of his own creation. His writing style has been described as employing "colorful, S. J. Perelman-ish language and a decidedly bizarre, macabre wit (reminiscent of writer Roald Dahl)" with storylines that "were cohesive and tightly constructed, with nary a loose thread in the plot". Cartoonist Fred Hembeck has dubbed him "for my money, the most consistently funny cartoonist to work in the comic book medium".

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nancy, Volume 3 collects Nancy 170-173, written and laid out by John Stanley

More high quality Nancy shenanigans here. Lots of Sluggo, lots of Oona Goosepimple.

[Heather McC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute collection, the bright spot for me were stories with Nancy and her precious kitty.

[Drew Canole · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Stanley is up there with Carl Barks for me as one of the best writers of kids comics.

Nancy consists of mostly short stories about 6 pages with some occasional half-page gag strips mixed in. There's a set of characters and repeating situations she gets into.

She hangs out with the orphan Sluggo who lives in a house by himself next to the grump Mr McOnion and gets in fights with an older boy named Spike. Most of these strips are actually called "Nancy and Sluggo".

Another neighbour Oona leaves in a creepy mansion (like Adams Family style thing) and whenever Nancy walks by she finds herself in their living room and has a crazy adventure - which she then wakes up from.

Nancy lives with her Aunt Fritzi who goes on the occasional date (that Nancy typically messes up for her). I love how adults are drawn here and bedsides for the McOnions and Fritzi, most just look at the kids with question marks above their heads.

Another recurring character is the richest boy in the world Rollo - a common motif in 50/60s comics! He's usually an antagonist and forces Nancy and Sluggo into some pretty outrageous situations.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine (I'm hampered by the fact that I don't particularly care for Nancy, especially compared to Little Lulu). I don't hate the stories, but I don't love the stories. I think I may have enjoyed this one slightly more than its predecessor, but am also increasingly tired of Nancy stories, so it's hard to be completely objective about its own merits.

But I didn't laugh and I was never delighted. I read it while waiting for coffee to brew (I have books stationed all around the house for such moments), which is about the right timing for each tale.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful art (and book design) and delightful weirdness.