A part of comics since its earliest days, the phrase "HA!" is almost synonymous with the art form. Stanley's spin on one of the most-used tropes of comics has a sarcastic edge.
By repeating HAs, separated by either a comma, as in this 1956 LITTLE LULU example, or with exclamation marks (more often seen in 1940s efforts), Stanley stressed the cruelty of laughter, and of human behavior. Never has laughter
seemed so edgy as in John Stanley's work!

This motif is most often seen in Stanley's 1940s stories. It's a very funny way of bringing a fist-fight to action on the static comic-book page. This witty panel from a 1944 WOODY WOODPECKER story in NEW FUNNIES is a typical example. Stanley was also fond of the "windmill" gag's usage whenever he showed a character in a rowboat.
While not as common as YOW or CHOFF, the "windmill action" is another Stanley "tell."

This is Stanley's #1 "Stanleyism!" Literally every character in every series written by John Stanley (except for the rare serious series such as LINDA LARK or TALES FROM THE TOMB) has uttered this sacred phrase.
You've probably encountered YOW most often in LITTLE LULU stories. Here's an example from an OSWALD THE RABBIT "Four Color" book from 1947.
Bill Griffith's ZIPPY THE PINHEAD adopted YOW! as his mantra in the 1970s and continues its use daily.

 A mainstay in Stanley stories from 1943 to the 1970s was the comedic display of wild, unhinged physical action. Characters flail their limbs, contort their bodies, wriggle in ecstasy, wring themselves in pain, crumble in disappointment, and swell with pride in John Stanley's comics.
Here's a particularly choice display of frantic physical action, from the first issue of O. G. WHIZ (1971), which was among Stanley's final comics efforts. 

This device is heavily used in Stanley's late 1950s and 1960s stories. While it's not unique to John Stanley, this effect was used so consistently in his stories that, in a sense, it belongs to him.
This example was also drawn by Stanley, from the same 1952 TUBBY one-shot as the first example presented here.

Another much-used Stanleyism occurs just about any time one of his characters takes a bite to eat. Not content with the common comic-book CHOMP, Stanley developed CHOFF early on. It's in use in some of his 1944 stories, and stayed a part of his lexicon for three decades.
A rare variant, "CHOMPF," sometimes appears as a comedic accent.

 






 

 

John Stanley rarely signed his comics work prior to the mid-1960s. However, he left a "fingerprint" upon every story he wrote and drew. In addition to his colorful, S. J. Perelman-ish language and a decidedly bizarre, macabre wit, Stanley regularly studded his stories with a series of "tics" -- his own comedic language that was a tacit signature.
Here's our Top Ten "Stanleyisms." If you encounter one or more of these in a comics story, you can rest assured that it's a Stanley story!
 

 

This example is a rare Stanley-drawn panel from the TUBBY Four Color No. 444, 1952. You might think the poor victim
is uttering his own WACK!, but it's just
Stanley's way of making a standard
comic-book sound effect part of the
story's action. Stanley used this device
as early as 1943, and continued its
employment into the early 1970s.

This device turns up in dozens of Stanley
stories from the 1950s on-- typically in
stories of a macabre nature.
Some of the weirdest LITTLE LULU stories
feature this comedic motif. It certainly gave the artist a break, as such sequences
tend to run for a page or more [click on
the icon to see the entire page, from a
NANCY & SLUGGO SUMMER CAMP giant].
Definitely a "tell" that it's Stanley!

Not content with the typical ZOOMs and
WHOOSHES of comic-book grammar,
John Stanley created two vibrant SFX
to depict the frenzied motion that fills
his stories [see seperate entry for
"frantic action"].
ZAZ! [seen in a frame from a NANCY &
SLUGGO comic] is most commonly seen,
but WHAZ! [seen here in a panel from
DUNC & LOO] is a delightful variant.
In either case, these two colorful pieces of
onomontopeia are Stanley's property.

One of John Stanley's most-used 'tics' is
the consistent... use of... ellipses... in...
his dialogue...
Perhaps this was Stanley's way of assigning a rhythm or flow to the words of his characters. He uses it most often
to stress anxiety or exhaustion.
This unusual example comes from LINDA
LARK, STUDENT NURSE (1963)...