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THE COMPANION SERIES TO STANLEY'S CAREER DEFINING LITTLE LULU
Meet Tubby Tompkins, a mischievous gourmand, rabblerouser, and schemer who, along with neighborhood buddies The Fellers, is continually at odds with the belligerent and thwarting West Side Boys, headed by Wilbur Van Snobbe, the rich trickster who always gets the girl Tubby likes, Gloria Darling. From clubhouse standoffs to pogostick time machines, the day is rarely long enough for the hilarious escapades and witty shenanigans that divert and preoccupy the epicurean Tubby and his pals. Consistently humorous and engaging, Tubby is a spirited voyage through the prototypal works of a preeminent storyteller.
Tubby is the latest title in Drawn & Quarterly's extensive reprinting of the work of the 1960s cartoonist John Stanley and is elegantly designed by the Canadian cartoonist Seth. Tubby collects issues 9-12 of the classic strip chronicling the tales of its namesake protagonist and is an offshoot from the wildly popular Little Lulu, Stanley's career-defining work.
Meet Tubby Tompkins, a mischievous gourmand, rabblerouser, and schemer who, along with neighborhood buddies The Fellers, is continually at odds with the belligerent and thwarting West Side Boys, headed by Wilbur Van Snobbe, the rich trickster who always gets the girl Tubby likes, Gloria Darling. From clubhouse standoffs to pogostick time machines, the day is rarely long enough for the hilarious escapades and witty shenanigans that divert and preoccupy the epicurean Tubby and his pals. Consistently humorous and engaging, Tubby is a spirited voyage through the prototypal works of a preeminent storyteller.
Tubby is the latest title in Drawn & Quarterly's extensive reprinting of the work of the 1960s cartoonist John Stanley and is elegantly designed by the Canadian cartoonist Seth. Tubby collects issues 9-12 of the classic strip chronicling the tales of its namesake protagonist and is an offshoot from the wildly popular Little Lulu, Stanley's career-defining work.
- GenresComics
144 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2010
About the author
John Stanley
572 books14 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 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 11, 2022
Tubby contains Tubby #9-12, all written and drawn by John Stanley.
Okay, so Tubby is an overweight kid who's kind of obnoxious. Fortunately, most of the other characters are bigger assholes, like Wilbur the rich kid and Gloria, the girl who constantly pits Tubby and Wilbur against each other.
The art style looks just like Little Lulu and I think Tubby spun out of that book. Stanley does a lot with a little, conveying a lot of emotions, though mostly anger, in Tubby and friends.
The thing about John Stanley is that his humor comics are actually funny. The story where Tubby wakes up with a mustache and the one where Gloria's father has a stamp collection are hall of famers. I wouldn't say I like this better than Stanley's Thirteen Going on Eighteen but it's close.
Okay, so Tubby is an overweight kid who's kind of obnoxious. Fortunately, most of the other characters are bigger assholes, like Wilbur the rich kid and Gloria, the girl who constantly pits Tubby and Wilbur against each other.
The art style looks just like Little Lulu and I think Tubby spun out of that book. Stanley does a lot with a little, conveying a lot of emotions, though mostly anger, in Tubby and friends.
The thing about John Stanley is that his humor comics are actually funny. The story where Tubby wakes up with a mustache and the one where Gloria's father has a stamp collection are hall of famers. I wouldn't say I like this better than Stanley's Thirteen Going on Eighteen but it's close.
April 5, 2018
This is the latest of many Stanley reprints, so I'm not sure what more there is to say. These short stories are terrific, with good twists, clever lessons and strong art.
October 1, 2022
I don't know why I'm so fond of these, but I am. I will happily read about Tubby (and Lulu) forever; oddly, Lulu doesn't appear in the Tubby stories, as if she's a highly-paid movie actress who won't guest star in the spin-offs. Maybe it's some kind of legal issue, like all the fuss around what The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power could or couldn't include.
Sometimes Tubby is a bit inconsistent—he's often the butt of the joke played upon him by a pretty-consistently cruel Wilbur and/or Gloria, but sometimes he's as bad as they are. I'll chalk it up to his mood.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
Sometimes Tubby is a bit inconsistent—he's often the butt of the joke played upon him by a pretty-consistently cruel Wilbur and/or Gloria, but sometimes he's as bad as they are. I'll chalk it up to his mood.
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
June 30, 2024
Top ten comic and top 10 comics character for me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews