Melvin Monster

Melvin Monster, Vol. 1 by John Stanley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Melvin Monster collects issues 1-3 of Melvin Monster by John Stanley.

I was very impressed by John Stanley's Thirteen Going on Eighteen so I decided to make another journey into the John Stanley Library.

Born out of the 1960s monster craze, Melvin Monster is a little green guy who lives with his Mummy and Baddy in Monsterville in a haunted house. His crocodile Cleopatra is constantly trying to eat him, a monster in his wall wakes him up every morning, and the cellar is off limits.

Mean spirited human abounds, likely a product of the Addams Family and Munsters influence. The art is slick and is open in a way that reminds me of Hannah Barbara animation. The stories range from one page gag strips to multi-part stories running about fifteen pages. In this volume, Melvin goes to school, ventures into the cellar, meets his guardian demon, and winds up in Humanbeanland.

I enjoyed Melvin Monster quite a bit but not nearly as much as Thirteen Going on Eighteen. I'll still read volumes two and three, though.

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