Little Lulu Volume 13: Too Much Fun

The adventures of Lulu and her friends continue as Lulu and Alvin ride a runaway elephant and as Lulu scams the boys as a Gypsy fortune teller. The boys in turn scam Lulu when they build and "launch" a rocket to Mars. Tubby concocts perfume with his chemistry set that turns Gloria into a puppy, and he gives her the Evil Eye when she breaks a date with him. Of special interest in this edition are three Witch Hazel stories, one including her giant son "Calvin." Tubby has been solving crimes for several editions, but this edition marks his first appearance as "The Spider," as he solves, in disguise as usual, the crime of how the egg wound up in Lulu's pop's shoe. TOO MUCH FUN is a delightful extension of these Lulu reprints.

I recently finished plowing through the collected paperback editions of the classic 1940s/1950s "Little Lulu" comics, and wanted to put in my vote... yes! yes! yes! True, it's a little disappointing that the strips are reprinted in black- & -white and not in the original color versions, but the real genius of these works is in the draftsmanship of artists John Stanley and Irving Tripp, and once you get onto their wavelength, even these half-size B & W reprints are a pure delight. They can say so much with such economy -- a single panel of Lulu's unbridled mischief can have you laughing your head off, and here, in this multi-volume collection, you've got a real treasure trove of some of the best graphic-art humor produced in the 20th Century. Great stuff, highly recommended, and major kudos to Dark Horse for making this artwork both available and affordable.