THIRTEEN!

There are a couple really nice writeups for the latest in our John Stanley Library series--Thirteen Going on Eighteen.

The first is over at our pal Frank Young's Stanley Stories blog and Frank makes note of this long post at Cartoon Brew on the merits of Stanley and particularly his Thirteen work. Yvette Kaplan really makes some great points about the work and it's gratifying to know people are paying such close attention to Stanley's work.

On a personal note, these are my favorite Stanley comics (I guess after the unparalleled Lulu stories). Not only is this the largest sustained cartooning (rather than just writing) effort on the part of Stanley but it seems like his most personal work in a way. The writing is mean, hilarious, and slightly unhinged. As Frank mentions, there seem to be fewer editorial restrictions. And the cartooning is beautifully stripped down--no wasted lines. By this time, Stanley really is a talented cartoonist. There's a confidence in that spareness. But, seriously, both the above blog posts say it better than I could. Go check them out.

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