John Stanley’s Melvin Monster
With trick or treaters about to converge on my front porch I thought I’d better get in one last Hallowe’en related post! Every night this week my bedtime stories have come from this handsome hardcover collection of John Stanley’s Melvin Monster.
Frankly ( or should I say “Frankensteinly” ) I totally missed this Melvin character when I was a kid. But I’m glad the folks at Drawn & Quarterly had the good sense to give these old Dell Comics the first class treatment they deserve. Stanley’s sense of humour is … odd. Very engaging and slightly disconcerting – just twisted enough to make the Melvin Monster experience interesting, even for adult readers (tho’ these stories are fun for all ages).
The John Stanley Library is trickling out from D&Q – Raincoast Books just sent me the first volume of Stanley’s Nancy comics. These books are designed by Sethwith many beautiful touches that make it quite clear he has genuine affection for the material. For example, the end papers pattern from the Melvin volume which I’ve used here as a backdrop, the embossed foil type treatments on the covers and no attempt made to hide the fact that these pages were shot from yellowing old comic books (giving them a nice warmth and a sense of nostalgia) . Great stuff!
