Melvin Monster, Volume 3 by John StanleyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Melvin Monster collects issues 7-9 of Melvin Monster by John Stanley plus a cover gallery of all nine issues in the series.
Born out of the 1960s monster craze, Melvin Monster is a little pointy-haired green guy who lives with his Mummy and Baddy in Monsterville in a haunted house. The family crocodile Cleopatra is constantly trying to eat him, his girlfriend Little Horror gets him into trouble, and Mrs. McGargoyle won't let him enroll in school.
Mean spirited humor abounds, although there is an undercurrent of sadness in a few of the strips. The art is slick and is open in a way that reminds me of Hannah Barbara animation and Harvey comics. In this volume, Melvin babysits a giant, puts the super monster to sleep, matches wits with Mrs. McGargoyle, and shrinks his father with a broken wand, among other things. There's a sadness to the story of Melvin wanting to grow flowers in Monsterville despite the happy ending.
I found this volume funnier to be the best of the three, full of the dark, twisted, mean-spirited humor, sad because it's the final volume and there is no more Melvin Monster to be had. Four out of five stars.
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