Stanley and His Monster

Stanley and His Monster [Title spelling as per [http://www.comics.org/series.lasso?SeriesID=1856 Grand Comics Database: "Stanley and His Monster"] ] was an American comic-book humor feature and later series from DC Comics, about a boy who instead of having a dog as his companion has a monster. Created by writer Arnold Drake and artist Winslow Mortimer as a backup feature the funny-animal comic "The Fox and the Crow" #95 (Jan. 1966), it went to its own 1960s title and a 1990s revival miniseries.

Publication history

The backup feature "Stanley and His Monster" appeared in DC Comics' funny-animal comic "The Fox and the Crow" #95-108, upon which the series became "Stanley and His Monster" from #109-112 (May-Nov. 1968), the final issue.

The characters' next major appearance was in a 1993 four-issue miniseries, "Stanley and His Monster" vol. 2, by writer-artist Phil Foglio. This humorous adventure series, revealing the monster as a demon from Hell who had turned good and escaped, incorporated and parodied elements of DC Comics' mature-reader Vertigo imprint in a lighthearted, general-audience fashion.

The titular characters returned in 2001 as supporting players in the "Green Arrow" series, written by filmmaker Kevin Smith, but in a much darker tone than any previous appearance, and with Stanley by now a young teenager. They next appeared in the 2005-2006 miniseries "Infinite Crisis", where, in issue #6, they are part of a gathering of supernatural characters attempting to summon the mystical spirit of vengeance, the Spectre, for aid.

Fictional character biographies

Stanley Dover is a 6-year-old boy who finds his monster companion in a sewer. In a twist on monster lore, the creature — a tall, bulky, pink-furred behemoth with small tusks — proves as scared of the world as the world is of it. The monster, whom Stanley names Spot, comes home to live with the boy, with many wacky high jinks ensuing. These occasionally including the bickering leprechaun Shaughnessy, a dwarf named Schnitzel, the ghost of French emperor Napoleon, and teenaged babysitter Marcia. Comedian Jerry Lewis once visited.The monster, unbeknownst to Stanley, is in fact a demon known as the Beast With No Name, who had been banished from Hell by Lucifer for being "too nice" for Hell. ["Secret Origins" #48 (April 1990)] Lucifer had hoped that frightened and bigoted humans would embitter the Beast and make him accept his destiny as a being of evil, a plan that almost succeeded. However, when the unafraid Stanley meets the monster and takes him in as his friend, the monster chooses the path of good and continues living on Earth.

Stanley's middle-class parents, Mitch and Sheila, firmly believe their child's companion to be imaginary until eventually learning otherwise. ["Stanley and His Monster" vol. 2, #2 (March 1993)] They initially want the monster gone, but after becoming aware of the creature's good nature decide that in a world of superheroes, magic, and alien invasions, having a benign demon companion for their son may not be so unusual.

Years later, it is revealed that other arcane forces have played into the monster's arrival on Earth. The monster had accidentally been bonded to Stanley by Stanley's demon-worshiping grandfather, also named Stanley Dover. The grandfather, attempting to achieve immortality and discovering the bond, locks the younger Stanley into a large glass container and torments him, both physically and by forcing him to witness horrific acts of murder, all in an attempt to bring back the monster. When the grandfather eventually does, the monster eats him, then erases the youngster's horrible memories of the act and of his imprisonment and torture."Green Arrow" vol. 3, #6 (Sept. 2001)]

Some time later, Stanley and his monster appear with the several other of the world's magic users to help summon The Spectre during the Infinite Crisis.

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.comics.org/search.lasso?query=stanley+and+his+monster&type=title&sort=alpha&Submit=Search "Stanley and His Monster"] series at the Grand Comics Database
*gcdb series|id=866|title="The Fox and the Crow"
* [http://www.toonopedia.com/stanleym.htm Stanley & His Monster at Don Markstein's Toonpedia] verified 9 March 2006