Stanley was fond of doing wordless one-page gags: LITTLE LULU
is rife with his clever silent comedy. I can't think of another full-
length story like this anywhere else in Stanley's work. Stanley
was the S. J. Perelman of comics. Wordplay, wordplay, and more
wordplay were the staples of his comedic sensibility. His charac-
ters are chatterboxes who talk themselves into (and out of)
trials and tribulations.

Here, the woodpecker's mounting frustration as he attempts to
grab a single piece of loose paper -- chasing it around town and
country, even into and out of the ground -- is first-rate silent
comedy. The artwork for this story is very similar to a few 1945
and '46 WOODYs I known are drawn by Stanley, so I *think*
this is at least penciled by him. The inking has a thin/thick
line that doesn't look like Stanley's own finished art.

The drawings of the OCD-driven woodpecker are hilarious in
themselves. This story is a real standout, and might prove an
inspiration for cartoonists today. If a word-junkie like John Stanley
can tell a story visually, hey, so can you!


To read the story, click on the comic book cover and enjoy!