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    Dread End PDF

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    Ruxandra Zaharia
    John Stanley, known for writing "Little Lulu", was tapped by Dell Comics to write one issue of their new horror title "Ghost Stories" in 1962. With most of their licensed titles departing to Gold Key Comics, Dell needed new content. Stanley delivered with "The Monster of Dread End...", creating one of the greatest horror comic stories with a truly terrifying monster. Though it was only one issue, the dark tale showed Stanley's range and helped fill the void in horror comics left by the Comics Code Authority.

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    Dread End PDF

    Uploaded by

    Ruxandra Zaharia
    311 views13 pages
    John Stanley, known for writing "Little Lulu", was tapped by Dell Comics to write one issue of their new horror title "Ghost Stories" in 1962. With most of their licensed titles departing to Gold Key Comics, Dell needed new content. Stanley delivered with "The Monster of Dread End...", creating one of the greatest horror comic stories with a truly terrifying monster. Though it was only one issue, the dark tale showed Stanley's range and helped fill the void in horror comics left by the Comics Code Authority.

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    John Stanley, known for writing "Little Lulu", was tapped by Dell Comics to write one issue of their new horror title "Ghost Stories" in 1962. With most of their licensed titles departing to Gold Key Comics, Dell needed new content. Stanley delivered with "The Monster of Dread End...", creating one of the greatest horror comic stories with a truly terrifying monster. Though it was only one issue, the dark tale showed Stanley's range and helped fill the void in horror comics left by the Comics Code Authority.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    311 views13 pages

    Dread End PDF

    Uploaded by

    Ruxandra Zaharia
    John Stanley, known for writing "Little Lulu", was tapped by Dell Comics to write one issue of their new horror title "Ghost Stories" in 1962. With most of their licensed titles departing to Gold Key Comics, Dell needed new content. Stanley delivered with "The Monster of Dread End...", creating one of the greatest horror comic stories with a truly terrifying monster. Though it was only one issue, the dark tale showed Stanley's range and helped fill the void in horror comics left by the Comics Code Authority.

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    John Stanley wrote a single issue of the horror comic 'The Monster of Dread End...' for Dell Comics in 1962 despite typically writing comedy comics.

    'Little Lulu' and 'Nancy and Sluggo'

    Dell Comics lost many of its licensed titles when Western Publishing formed Gold Key Comics and also saw an opportunity in the lack of horror comics due to the Comics Code Authority.

    The Monster of Dread End

    Originally Published: Ghost Stories #1, Dell Comics, September 1962


    Writer: John Stanley
    Art By: Ed Robbins
    Submitted by: E.M. Tonner
    Preface
    The year was 1962.
    The Beatles had signed with Brian Epstein earlier in the year and released their debut single,
    Love Me Do. In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, US
    President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation. Film actress and sex icon,
    Marilyn Monroe is found dead in her Los Angeles, California home after apparently overdosing
    on sleeping pills. Amazing Fantasy issue 15 (the first appearance of Spider-Man) is released in
    August. Dell Comics releases Ghost Stories #1 one month later. The Comics Code Authority
    had been in effect for eight years.
    Dell Comics never joined the Comics Code Authority. Their comics were clearly intended for
    young children, having the Disney license as well as other childrens properties. Dell refused to
    join the Code and instead began publishing in its comics a "Pledge to Parents" that promised their
    editorial process "eliminates, rather than regulates, objectionable [sic] material" and concluded
    with the now classic credo "Dell Comics Are Good Comics."1
    However, 1962 was a transitional year for Dell. The long partnership Dell Comics had held with
    Western Publishing dissolved. Western decided to create its own in-house comic publishing
    company, Gold Key Comics. With the departure of Western went the Disney and Warner Bros.
    licenses and left Dell Comics at a crossroads. Not only had it lost a large portion of its licensed
    titles, many artists and writers had followed the titles to Gold Key Comics.
    One writer who didnt jump ship was John Stanley. Fans of comics will associate John Stanley
    with Little Lulu and Nancy and Sluggo. He scripted Little Lulu from 1945 to 1959 as well
    as providing the artwork with Irving Tripp. With the loss of most its licensed titles, Dell knew
    they had to come up with something fast. They also knew that the Code had left a rather large
    vacuum in the field of horror comics. Simply put, there were none.
    It was this set of unique circumstances that led Dell to tap on the shoulder of Mr. John Stanley to
    pen ONE issue of their new title Ghost Stories. The consummate professional, John Stanley
    pulled off one of the greatest horror comic stories of all time. Thats right, he only wrote one issue
    in what could be considered one of the greatest style departures in the history of comics. But you
    will remember The Monster of Dread End It had one of the greatest monsters in any scary
    comic book ever.

    Taken from the Wikipedia entry on Dell Comics.

    Afterword
    I have my own pet theory. After so many issues and so many years of Little Lulu, theres going
    to be an opposing reaction in which the creative mind will seek to balance itself. The impulse to
    lash out in a dark and terrifying manner must have been overwhelming. Horror and Comedy
    as genres arent really that different. Theyre both emotional. The pacing is often similar. After
    contributing to a giant sized Tales from the Tomb issue one month later, Stanley continued to
    branch out and by writing and drawing his own titles for Dell such as Thirteen Going On
    Eighteen, Melvin Monster and others. He was done with pure horror. Mission accomplished,
    the creative cosmos were once again at peace and The Beatles were free to conquer America
    Theres a great story about John Severin and his time with E.C. John Severin wouldnt work on
    the horror titles (he didnt like drawing them). He drew fantastic war and sci-fi stories instead.
    Then someone in the office said he couldnt draw horror. John Severin went home, drew some
    horrific blood and guts art, and mailed it to Bill Gaines. Bill Gaines threw up when he saw it. You
    see, its not that Severin couldnt draw horror, he just didnt want to.
    For those of you interested in the voluminous and amazing works of John Stanley, Frank M.
    Young has a great blog dedicated to Stanley:
    http://stanleystories.blogspot.com/

    The only certain freedom's in departure.


    - Robert Frost

    Reprinted In:
    Ghost Stories (Dell, 1962 series) #21
    The Mammoth Book Of Best Horror Comics (Running Press Book Publishers, 2008 series)

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