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John Stanley's Nancy #1
Nancy: Volume 1: The John Stanley Library
Classic comics from the writer of Melvin Monster
Created by Ernie Bushmiller, the beloved Brillo-headed Nancy starred in her own comic book series for years, written by arguably the greatest children�s comics writer of all time, John Stanley. Most famous for scripting the adventures of Marjorie Henderson Buell�s Little Lulu, John Stanley is one of comics� secret geniuses. He provided a visual rough draft for all the comics he wrote and then handed off these �scripts� for someone else to render the finished art. No matter what comic he was writing, he breathed life into his characters. In Stanley�s comics, Nancy is no longer a crabby cipher but a hilarious, brilliant, scheming, duplicitous, honest, and loyal little kid�a real little kid. Her adventures with her best friend, the comically destitute Sluggo, involve moneymaking schemes to afford ice-cream sodas, botched trips to the corner store for Nancy�s Aunt Fritzi, and comically raucous attempts to remove loose teeth.
Drawn & Quarterly is launching several kid-friendly volumes of Nancy and Nancy and Sluggo as companion volumes to Melvin Monster and Dark Horse�s Little Lulu volumes. The books are designed by Seth (The Complete Peanuts; Melvin Monster; Clyde Fans; It�s a Good Life, If You Don�t Weaken).
152 pages, Hardcover
First published May 26, 2009
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About the author
John Stanley
564 books15 followersJohn 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.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
January 23, 2022
Nancy volume 1 collects issues 146-150 of Nancy, written and laid out by John Stanley with finishes by Dan Gormley.
The Drawn and Quarterly John Stanley library is one of my reading goals for 2022 so I scooped this up a while back.
It's very easy for a humor strip to fall into a rut but John Stanley doesn't repeat himself in this. Nancy and Sluggo, with guest stars Oona, Rollo, and Pee Wee, get into all sorts of mischief. There are puns, slapstick, and situational humor. Aunt Fritzi, ever the killjoy, referees the shenanigans as best she can.
I don't have anything to compare this to since I've never read earlier Nancy stories than this but John Stanley knows his way around a humor strip. The slick style of Dan Cormley is up to the challenge.
Nancy is a brain massage on the level of Archie comics but with better writing. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The Drawn and Quarterly John Stanley library is one of my reading goals for 2022 so I scooped this up a while back.
It's very easy for a humor strip to fall into a rut but John Stanley doesn't repeat himself in this. Nancy and Sluggo, with guest stars Oona, Rollo, and Pee Wee, get into all sorts of mischief. There are puns, slapstick, and situational humor. Aunt Fritzi, ever the killjoy, referees the shenanigans as best she can.
I don't have anything to compare this to since I've never read earlier Nancy stories than this but John Stanley knows his way around a humor strip. The slick style of Dan Cormley is up to the challenge.
Nancy is a brain massage on the level of Archie comics but with better writing. 3.5 out of 5 stars.
December 12, 2023
A charming collection of comics. Stanley can do no wrong, but this pales in comparison to his best work. I don't think there's enough of Stanley's hands in this work. The artwork isn't as alive as his better works.
October 11, 2024
Got introduced to this lot by my mom had a great time revisiting. What a time capsule.
December 12, 2009
Wow this is something from my childhood past. What's great is having a good memory of "Nancy" and reading it as a 55-year-old (yet beautifully handsome still) adult and seeing it in new (sort of) eyes. Well, for one, it's totally twisted and surreal strange. Also it is very child-like view of how adults run the world - and the crazy anarchy of childhood and how that plays in that adult world.
There is no really subtext or introduction - and that is sort of missed. Stanley didn't invent "Nancy" but during the glory years (50's to 60's) of comic book production he put his stamp on numerous cartoon characters. I have a hunch that he was an interesting character. Nevertheless this book is beautifully designed and it’s really something to look at and hold. A remarkable object on a remarkable character named Nancy and by what I believe written by a remarkable legendary comic book figure - John Stanley. Dell Comics unite!
There is no really subtext or introduction - and that is sort of missed. Stanley didn't invent "Nancy" but during the glory years (50's to 60's) of comic book production he put his stamp on numerous cartoon characters. I have a hunch that he was an interesting character. Nevertheless this book is beautifully designed and it’s really something to look at and hold. A remarkable object on a remarkable character named Nancy and by what I believe written by a remarkable legendary comic book figure - John Stanley. Dell Comics unite!
July 17, 2024
What a wonderful surprise! These are gold!
Very funny & very pretty!
https://youtu.be/11LL1QPzZWo
November 17, 2022
It’s funny but it’s not MY Nancy! John Stanley took over for Ernie Bushmiller in the late ‘50s and he fundamentally changed it to make it his own thing, so instead of concise little 4-panel strips these are, like Little Lulu, longer form stories that run 7 or 8 pages each and have a totally different personality and sense of humor. I like it fine, but it’s not nearly as special as the REAL Nancy comics! I’m a Nancy snob now sorry.
February 17, 2024
I LOVE NANCY!!!!!!!!
September 16, 2020
OK, a bit constrained compared to Stanley's work on Little Lulu. The Oona Goosepimple stories were an improvement. Hoping the later volumes are better.
December 16, 2022
Not up to the high standards of his job on Little Lulu, but I think redoing Nancy is a harder proposition (apparently she's just been rebooted again, very differently, and I think this new, somewhat out-there approach is closer to the Nancy I remember than Stanley's version).
Here she sort of comes off as a less-charming Lulu, and Sluggo as a charisma-free Tubby. There's a requisite rich kid to be ... well, rich, and an extra girl for Lulu to feel jealous of. It's very similar. The one thing I could give credit to Ernie Bushmiller for was the minimalism of his Nancy (yes, I read How to Read Nancy and now have a slightly greater appreciation for him). That minimalism is no where to be found. If I were asked to describe Nancy on the basis of this book, I'd have to give up the job. She's a bit sassy, but other than that I didn't get a good fix on her character.
Also strange: Stanley rips off the Addams family, with a Wednesday-like girl, a Granny, and a weird miniature uncle, who live in a spooky Addams-esque house. The girl is named Oona Goosepimple (not at all similar to 'Wednesday Addams') but of course the original characters weren't named until the telelvision series in the 1960s, so a similar name would be impossible to conjure up at this point. An odd choice to simply copy another cartoonist's idea.
(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* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
Here she sort of comes off as a less-charming Lulu, and Sluggo as a charisma-free Tubby. There's a requisite rich kid to be ... well, rich, and an extra girl for Lulu to feel jealous of. It's very similar. The one thing I could give credit to Ernie Bushmiller for was the minimalism of his Nancy (yes, I read How to Read Nancy and now have a slightly greater appreciation for him). That minimalism is no where to be found. If I were asked to describe Nancy on the basis of this book, I'd have to give up the job. She's a bit sassy, but other than that I didn't get a good fix on her character.
Also strange: Stanley rips off the Addams family, with a Wednesday-like girl, a Granny, and a weird miniature uncle, who live in a spooky Addams-esque house. The girl is named Oona Goosepimple (not at all similar to 'Wednesday Addams') but of course the original characters weren't named until the telelvision series in the 1960s, so a similar name would be impossible to conjure up at this point. An odd choice to simply copy another cartoonist's idea.
(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* = enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)
January 14, 2021
A quick read, the cartoons are short enough to stay entertaining and keep one's attention span interested. My favorite comic was at the tail end: a bookish Nancy spends an entire evening (and early morning!) reading, only to find out she has no time to sleep before school! I can relate to that one. :)
March 20, 2012
Stanley's cheekily sarcastic characters still appeal to readers young and old today. Not having read any Nancy (aside from daily strips on occasion in childhood) I was surprised and pleased at how laugh-aloud funny these stories were. My 13-year-old enjoyed this as well--we read it together and laughed all the way through!
January 1, 2011
This is so good. Every comics fan should have it.
October 6, 2012
Issues #146-#150 from the 1957-1958 Dell comic book series. Most notable for the introduction of Oona Goosepimple and her Addams-esque family.
April 3, 2018
Charming all-ages stories, beautifully presented. Good stuff.
April 22, 2017
it's not bushmiller but I still think its okay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews