Dream appears to people how they expect him to appear. Stanley would, of course, see him as the Golden Age Sandman since he strikes me as the sort to have actually READ those comics.
I mean.... Even the Sandman comic acknowledges that Weasley Dodds carried a piece of Dream's soul so he could also act like a representation of Morpheus
Clearly Hell is under new management because Heaven found out the Devil spends his spare time destroying marriages and decided it was time for an intervention while Mephisto got his priorities straight.
You know, Linkara, when you mentioned how Stanley and Spot have appeared in other DC books besides that Green Arrow storyline, I immediately realized that they were in Infinite Crisis. They were with the magical characters at Stonehenge where they were about to meet the new Spectre. So, thank you for making me realize that.
"Were they suggesting Nyx was going to have sex with the dog?" Given some of Phil and his wife's other work.... yes. Yes, they most assuredly were. That's exactly the kind of joke they'd go for.
Stanley and his Monster being semi-linked to DC comics is about as weird as Patsy Walker going from 50s romantic-comedy comic heartthrob to Marvel superhero Hellcat. Sometimes these things just work out.
I really liked Patsy's new book when I read it. What's happened to her lately? I hope she hasn't been cought up in all the weird, bad directions they've forced poor She-Hulk into lately.
The Heterodyne Boys are a reference to Foglio's Girl Genius series. The Heterodynes are a lineage of (mostly evil) mad scientists but the Heterodyne Boys were heroic (if extremely chaotic) brothers who had all kinds of wacky misadventures, ultimately saving Europa from The Other. Agatha, the Girl Genius, is the daughter of one of them.
Except it's not quite a reference. He made this 8 years before they started Girl Genius. I am thinking it was an idea they (Kaja Foglio has been his collaborator on most of his better works) for a long time. I now wonder if there were any references back in the 'What's New with Phil And Dixie' days.
@@iriswaters actually, it is still a reference, as Foglio had done stories involving the Heterodyne boys from even in the 80s(they first appeared in an issue of Grimjack!)
Of all the DC properties to get an animated series, I'm surprised that this wasn't on the docket. A boy whose best friend is a loveably oafish demon who got kicked out of Hell for being too nice sounds like a great premise for a Saturday morning cartoon. Heck, it would probably do pretty well as a show today given the abundance of demon-themed web animations that have popped up within the last couple of years.
@@wolfmantheimpaler Cue Charlie showing Spot off to the others as an example of what a good demon looks like: Eating books, cracking corny jokes, and living rent-free in some kid's house.
I'm just amazed at how well written this comic is. It's a simple concept that uses very authentic characters with their own wants and personalities that aren't boiled down to tropes, which something many academy award winning media fail to do. It's clear the writers had an air of self-awareness, but instead of using it to wink at the camera they used it to re-examine the story and characters and everything came out much smarter for it, but not so obtuse or high-concept that kids won't enjoy it.
Stanley and his monster have made appearances in other comics through the years, so it's not like he's entirely gone. In fact, his grandpa is a Green Arrow villain.
Fun Fact Ambrose Bierce was originally supposed to be Willoughby Kipling another John Constantine stand in from Grant Morrisons Doom Patrol book but the higher ups at Vertigo said no
@Mullerornis kinda funny given Morrison WANTED to use john constantine but higher ups said NO so Morrrison had to create Kipling for DOOM PATROL. at least Kipling isn't forbidden in the current DOOM PATROL tv series. also, what a shame. using a morrison character would have fit the whole idea of "Demon posing as a child's imaginary friend". given morrison's usual tropes and story beat. hell, stanley and his monster could easily become best friends with Dorothy spinner and her imaginary friends; OR with Nic Sax and Happy
@Caleb Mayfield Hopefully. Especially if Kipling Meets Constantine. I would love for a Legends of Tomorrow / Doom patrol crossover. using the legends weirdest members or most iconic of the show (Sarah Lance, A.T.O.M, Nora Darhk, Heatwave, Constantine and the Firestorm duo), for that crossover, meeting the Doom patrol and realizing their weirdeness is NOTHING compared to doom patrol's weirdness. the only one who would be as weird as the doom patrol would be nora after becoming a fairy godmother. Imagine some of the following scenarios: - Nora becoming the godmother to Kay Challis and she needing to somehow bond with all the personalities of crazy jane. and actually bonding, given nora did had a rough life (being sent to an assylum, then inducted into a cult, being possesed by demon, etc). - Larry discussing with Jax and Stein about his own relationshipwith the spirit. Give or take Firestorm briefly syphoning enough of Larry's radiation so he can be without his bandages with willing everyone. - Maybe have Sarah and or Mick or ATOM bond with Clif. With Sarah maybe bonding about losing a loved one (sarah lost her sister, clif for years thought he lost his daughter, and did lose his wife). Or Mick and Cliff at one point bonding about cliff missing beer. and maybe ATOM using his powers to check cliff's robot body to maybe improve it a little. - Maybe have Gideon talk to Danny the Street. it could be such an awesome crossover. and the doom patrol could easily try to give in on the temptation of "they have a time machine. we can stop our accidents from happening" (especially given they NOW know they weren't accidents).
@@johnrussellpelt9091 Not gonna lie, I had to look up Wikipedia to understand what you were talking about. And I gotta say, while I do remember the main plot involving Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from "Menace of the Madniks!", I completely forgot the teaser from that episode which featured the Haunted Tank.
@@tykamen5588 From that point of view, it's not really surprising. Etrigan appeared in a few episodes of the DC Animated Universe series. Some of the people who worked on BTBATB also worked on the DCAU, so they at least had some familiarity with that character.
For what it's worth, I've been listening to the Sandman audio drama and immediately after finishing Seasons of Mist I came here to re-watch this video. Just feels right.
Kevin Smith's weird-ass satanist subplot in Green Arrow makes a whole lot more sense after watching this video, I assumed it was something he just made up for his Green Arrow run.
"Wait... were they suggesting Nyx was going to have sex with the dog?" Oh, right. I didn't tell you about some of Foglio's other work like XXXenophile.
Hoo boy. Between that remark and the earlier call to action to produce Rule 34 artwork of Nyx, Lewis should probably be careful what he wishes for. ^_^
@@benwasserman8223 I have those comics. It’s overall a good story but it is a bizarre parody. Maybe I’ll Review it; Calvin and Hobbes was a huge shaper in my childhood
Anybody remember when Stanley’s grandad turned out to be a serial killer called the Star City Slayer that battled Green Arrow? He even showed up on Arrow!
@@datanotfoundpleasetryagain3559 no, no. The Star City Slayer originated in the comics. The Arrow version is more accurately an amalgamation of the two Stanleys.
Thank you for mentioning Kevin Smith’s rebooting of Green Arrow. When I saw this video, I thought that it was a spin-off of that. I had no idea these two characters existed beforehand. So great job covering this miniseries. As for the Green Arrow series, I lived Ollie and Connor’s reaction to seeing the elder Stanley be eaten by the monster. “Uhh, you think we should do something?” ; “Like what, offer him salt?”
Stanley and His Monster would fit like a glove in a DOOM PATROL Roster. becoming best friends with dorothy spinner with Robotman being like the "tried nanny" of them
Considering Spot's explanation for how regular people cope with everything going on in the DC universe, the writers of Doctor Who must have been fans of this story.
I am kinda insulted they didn't appear in season 4 given we had a witch that became a fairy godmother (Nora dahrk). And yeah, THEY WOULD FIT LIKE A GLOVE. especially considering what they did in season 3 with "Beebo the god". ALTHOUGH I would like to see them appear in DOOM PATROL (both the comic boon in a new run AND the current tv show). Maybe even become friends of dorothy spinner and her imaginary friends.
@@tyrant-den884 i think DOOM PATROL TV Show is in its own universe. Althpugh there is another version of doom patrol in the TITANS universe maybe legends of tomorrow could try something crazy like creating their own version of the doom patrol ?
@@ianr.navahuber2195 no, at the end of Crisis they clearly show that Doom Patrol is *supposed* do have been one of the universes now folded into theirs.
@@tyrant-den884 NOPE. the montage of the Multiverse's restoration (at the end of the special in part 5, in the Legends of Tomorrow episode) even showed that DOOM PATROL TV show's Earth is EARTH-21, TITANS' Earth is EARTH-9 (and it has their own version of the DOOM PATROL), AND CW's Arrowverse is EARTH-1. Also Stargirl's Show is set on EARTH-2 The characters in the shows like Flash's cast just BELIEVE their Earth is the only single one left and that ALL OTHER EARTHS got folded together into one (because reasons the higher ups at CW wanted and it is best if we don't question the weird customs of their species)
Can I say how much I love that you sync to "comics" during the opening? Also: PHIL FOGLIO. A lot of memories from '00 TTRPGs. EDIT: I really enjoyed this comic. Honestly.
As someone who knew nothing about this series before this review: while i'm not the biggest fan of the artwork, i really dig the story as a whole and how linked to the DC Universe it is, it feels surprisingly organic. And i agree, this should have been turned into an animated series of some kind, WB is sitting on gold with this one. -Teo
Yeah, I really wish they’d bring it back, it just seems like a fun concept to have a slice of life comedy story in the DC universe. True it may be a bit out there in genre but just as the series says at the end, the world is filled with superheroes, aliens, magic and demons so this would fit right in. I’m always a fan of showing the slice of life side of living in this world, like the support group in Astro city or marvels superhero fight repair/reconstruction unit
It's funny to share comic-related information with you, but Bill Hetrodyne is the father of Agatha Hetrodyne, the star of the long-running web comic, Girl Genius (which is my favorite comic for about the last 10 years now, and one of my top favorites since it started). It has actually won multiple Hugo Awards. In Girl Genius, her father and uncle were the black sheep of her family - Good Guy Scientist Adventurers. As far as I know, this is the first mention of them, since Girl Genius didn't start until 2001.
It gets even more meta. The Foglio's exist inside the Girl Genius setting. Phil was a traveling storyteller that gets wrapped up in things after Agatha claims her heritage, and Kaja shortly after the main cast escapes the Parisian Catacombs. Kaja manages to coerce Agatha into letting her write her biography after her adventure is over, in exchange for not telling anyone about the... compromising outfits they were in at the time. The comic is their version of events... which pissed Agatha the hell off, leading to the Foglio's escaping to OUR world. Meaning, in a weird sense, that Girl Genius and DC are somehow related.
If the Doom Guy was a DC character, he'd probably have followed Stanley home alongside Spot. He'd also look on at the Angels... And probably ask to take over Hell.
I remember reading that Green Arrow comic and thinking; "I don't know who Stanley is, but this was definitely an obscure comic character. Glad to see the origin was pretty much what I expected
With all that talk about wanting a cartoon of this, there was a rather similar cartoon in the late 80s. "My Pet Monster", where Monster would hide away by turning into a stuffed animal. And now I've got the theme song stuck in my head...
I think the post-Crisis S&HM was introduced in an all-humor issue of SECRET ORIGINS which I had at one point or another, and it actually shows "Spot" being called to the floor for his undemon-like behavior before being banished to Earth where he meets the hyperactive, imagination-surplussed Stanley.
@@skemono Yeah, that's the one. Didn't care about the Trigger Twins, which was an unneeded break from the humor. Ambush Bug was always an annoying character imho, basically a th Wall-breaking Nightcrawler knockoff that feels like Andy Kaufman created him. The only stories I remember liking was S&HM, of course, and Rex, which was this nicely tongue-in-cheek send-up of Captain America's origin.
Initially I didn’t know whether I would have a good time with this, but then you said Phil Foglio and it was ON. I have seen a lot of his work and every bit has been gold. I might get a Patreon slot for this, but I’d definitely like to send some of his Buck Godot stories your way anyway. I know you’d enjoy them.
Not for another six years, as issue 1 of Girl Genius was 2000 with planning started in 1998. At this point Bill and Barry were background gags, like the Winslow, whom has yet to show up in GG.
@@tipulsar85 The Winslow made it into one Nick Pollota's Bureau 13 novels, and is...is this a spoiler? Hmmm....nah, not really...appears in the buck Godot Galliuafrey arc too. Gets around some, although weirdly I can't recall a sighting in Dynamo Joe.
I had no idea that Phil Foglio was a comic book artist - but it definitely makes sense. I only knew him and his wife as the artists of some of the goofiest and funniest Magic card illustrations.
i find this concept absolutely hilarious, because the first demon who actually tried to redeem himself in the DC universe was the spectre, going from hell to seek forgiveness at the pearly gates... and was granted a task to complete in exchange for that boon(namely destroy evil that escapes justice) and thus creating the spirit of vengeance. So what this comic is telling us is that after that little oopsie, apparently the guys upstairs have become much friendlier regarding the concept, seemingly having learned their mistake in harsh punishment accidentally creating a guy who once torched a country sodom and Ghammora style. Or the writer wasnt familiar with DC lore enough to know this little fact. either is possibe.
Linkara - since you enjoyed this, you should also look up another four-issue mini that Phil Foglio did for DC around that time, ANGEL & THE APE, which is another reboot of an older comedy title. It's also notable in that they tied in another obscure DC property to that book, the D-lister superheroes known as "The Inferior Five". One other fun tidbit about STANLEY & HIS MONSTER is that the idea for the "Heterodyne Boys" we see here, presented as pulp heroes that were contemporaries of The Shadow and Doc Savage, ended up getting heavily modified and used as the basis of Foglio's still-running GIRL GENIUS webcomic. In that world, The world is overrun by Mad Science, and the Heterodyne Boys were the latest of a long line of mad scientists who fought for good and helped save the world -- but then disappeared, leaving behind their daughter Agatha, the Girl Genius of the title.
It's a shame that Phil Foglio didn't do more work for DC. He did a Plastic Man revival and an Angel and the Ape mini-series featuring the Inferior Five that are well worth looking at.
@@ianr.navahuber2195 "Angel and the Ape" is another humor series published by DC from the '60s. Angel O'Day is a private detective. Her partner is Sam Simeon, a talking gorilla who's also a comic book artist. Phil Foglio revived the series for a 4-issue miniseries in the '90s. Like "Stanley and His Monster", Foglio integrated them into the DC Universe, making Angel the half-sister of Dumb Bunny from the Inferior Five, and Sam the grandson of Gorilla Grodd. They've had reappearances here and there since then, including another four-issue miniseries in the early 2000s. I was actually torn about whether to request that series or "Stanley and His Monster". It came down to Linkara choosing this one based on the Sandman connection.
@@ianr.navahuber2195 I think it's just as good as "Stanley and His Monster". Though thinking on it, the character writing in "Angel and the Ape" is probably stronger than "Stanley and His Monster".
Oh, I love Girl Genius, and I could see a lot of the humor from one pouring into the other. Thanks for the awesome video dude, I will have to look this up.
The "Heterodyne Boys" thing is a Girl Genius reference, though I don't think GG had been invented yet so maybe it's just something they incorporated into GG? You'd have to ask the Foglios. Also, dude, one of your best episodes ever. This had me running to eBay to buy the series before I was even done watching it!! Kudos my man! (also, abiut Nyx and Cerberus - Phil Foglio created the pornographic comic xXxenophile sooooo.... probably, yeah.)
Wow, I was ... not expecting a followup to Sandman's "Hell Under New Management" arc, let alone here. I wonder if those poor angels are still in charge, or if one of the DC reboots took care of that?
13:01 It wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that Foglio had drawn Nyx naked and then been forced by DC's editors to put clothing on her front, but have no one complain about her back and thus leave her nude there. Foglio likes drawing nudity A LOT. Also, unrelated...if Phil slipped the Heterodyne Boys into the DC universe, I think that he's implying that Girl Genius is the divergence point that resulted in things like Metropolis and Gotham instead of New York and Chicago. Heck, Stanley's mother might be a Heterodyne descendant, based upon her "hundreds of years" quip.
Between this and the Howard Lovecraft books, what is it with little boys naming their own personal monsters from realms unknown "Spot"? I could think of far more original names for mine; like Ripper, Spike, ET, Ted or Hobbess.
to be fair, Hades started it. It's believed the meaning of Cerberus is "spotted one". Because Hades is a pretty chill dude and Cerberus is a very good boy
The Sandman reference is impressively faithfull to the source. You can even more or less pin down when it's supposed to happen. I'm really tempted to track down that mini-series. But I already have so many things to find first.
Okay, I can't wait for next week. :) Also: 9:41-9:56: Nice. I love when you do that song we don't get to hear it too often, I think the last time was during the part of the Spider-Man Clone saga during the Virtual Reality stuff.
If "Stanley and his Monster" is still connected to the DC Universe, And if Grant Morrison is still willing to write for DC, I would love for Morrison to write a comic with Stanley and his monster Morrison could write them as the equivalent of their comic book HAPPY, set in the DC Universe I mean, "Imaginary friends being tied to hell and heaven"? That already happened in a Morrison's Adaptation of HAPPY! the difference being that in HAPPY! the imaginary friends WERE imaginary friends through and through. is just that apparently they could become deity too if people believed in them enough apparently. at least the titular happy 28:42 So... that would make Stanley DC's equivalent of Nic Sax ?
Phil Foglio also did a comic adaptation of the first book of the Myth Adventures fantasy book series. Scans of it used to be on his official website yet those were removed. No explanation has been given for why yet.
1:59 "Girl Genius"! O.M.G!! THANK YOU! several months ago my OS crashed and needed a total C drive wipe and reinstall. I lost my webcomic bookmarks folder... and I had no backup. I figured it was long past time for a pruning anyway, but there are SEVERAL comics that I just for the life of me can't remember basic details of to search for them. Girl Genius WAS one of them. I have some catching up to do.
Obscure as Stanley and his Monster are, I have heard of them and the only reason I know of these characters is because they appeared in a story arc where Green Arrow was resurrected. Sigh. F***ing Winick. Also, this is where the character Mia Dearden first appeared.
@@skemono You're right, it was Kevin Smith. I misremembered. Winick did pen Green Arrow stories though, some of which I thought were boring and wince-inducing, but Smith did write the Green Arrow resurrection arc that had Stanley and his Monster in it. And I hated what happened to Stanley in that story, so to amend my previous statement: F***ing Smith.
@@UltimateCharm Take solace in the fact that Stanley’s shitty grandfather was eaten by the monster, and Spot then wiped Stanley’s memories of the whole affair.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Dream appears to people how they expect him to appear. Stanley would, of course, see him as the Golden Age Sandman since he strikes me as the sort to have actually READ those comics.
I mean.... Even the Sandman comic acknowledges that Weasley Dodds carried a piece of Dream's soul so he could also act like a representation of Morpheus
@@adeadphish7931 all I remember is dreaming bursting into a fit of uncontrollable laughter at the sight of the Sandman
Clearly Hell is under new management because Heaven found out the Devil spends his spare time destroying marriages and decided it was time for an intervention while Mephisto got his priorities straight.
Last i checked part of the reason Mephisto, the marriage guy, got so powerful was partly BECAUSE Lucifer abandoned his duties.
Wrong universe sadly, thats Marvel's Hell
@@PrincessAshley972 I thought it is Marville.
@@LetruneInedil no no, Marville is a Hell all unto itself. separate from the Marvel universe Hell
All wrong, that's all just part of their anti-overpopulation program. The Rehabilitation project of Princess Charlie is still in its infancy :)
You know, Linkara, when you mentioned how Stanley and Spot have appeared in other DC books besides that Green Arrow storyline, I immediately realized that they were in Infinite Crisis. They were with the magical characters at Stonehenge where they were about to meet the new Spectre. So, thank you for making me realize that.
"Were they suggesting Nyx was going to have sex with the dog?" Given some of Phil and his wife's other work.... yes. Yes, they most assuredly were. That's exactly the kind of joke they'd go for.
Stanley and his Monster being semi-linked to DC comics is about as weird as Patsy Walker going from 50s romantic-comedy comic heartthrob to Marvel superhero Hellcat. Sometimes these things just work out.
You didn't even mention how she dated the son of satan and committed suicide in the 90s
I really liked Patsy's new book when I read it. What's happened to her lately? I hope she hasn't been cought up in all the weird, bad directions they've forced poor She-Hulk into lately.
@@devlinburgess2463 she is currently in iron man's comic
Kinda reminds me of how Hank Pym started out as one of many “mad science gone wrong” stories before becoming the superhero Ant-Man.
@@michealfoster4411 I hope that's a good thing, I've never been an avid Iron Man reader.
The Heterodyne Boys are a reference to Foglio's Girl Genius series. The Heterodynes are a lineage of (mostly evil) mad scientists but the Heterodyne Boys were heroic (if extremely chaotic) brothers who had all kinds of wacky misadventures, ultimately saving Europa from The Other. Agatha, the Girl Genius, is the daughter of one of them.
I came here to say just this. You got hear much earlier than I. Good show, wot!
Except it's not quite a reference. He made this 8 years before they started Girl Genius. I am thinking it was an idea they (Kaja Foglio has been his collaborator on most of his better works) for a long time.
I now wonder if there were any references back in the 'What's New with Phil And Dixie' days.
@@iriswaters actually, it is still a reference, as Foglio had done stories involving the Heterodyne boys from even in the 80s(they first appeared in an issue of Grimjack!)
Of all the DC properties to get an animated series, I'm surprised that this wasn't on the docket. A boy whose best friend is a loveably oafish demon who got kicked out of Hell for being too nice sounds like a great premise for a Saturday morning cartoon. Heck, it would probably do pretty well as a show today given the abundance of demon-themed web animations that have popped up within the last couple of years.
Imagine the weird crossover with Hazbin Hotel if this was picked up as a series
This would make awesome DC shorts, like they did with Animal Man, Amethyst, and plastic man
@@wolfmantheimpaler Cue Charlie showing Spot off to the others as an example of what a good demon looks like: Eating books, cracking corny jokes, and living rent-free in some kid's house.
Gross, boo this fool for trying to drag politics into this discussion
I mean fucking Krypto the Super Dog got a show, why not?
I'm just amazed at how well written this comic is. It's a simple concept that uses very authentic characters with their own wants and personalities that aren't boiled down to tropes, which something many academy award winning media fail to do.
It's clear the writers had an air of self-awareness, but instead of using it to wink at the camera they used it to re-examine the story and characters and everything came out much smarter for it, but not so obtuse or high-concept that kids won't enjoy it.
Linkara looking at the monster thinking:
"Gotta catch them all...
GOTTA CATCH THEM ALL!!!!"
It's too bad this series was only four issues. It has a really cool premise and it was a lot of fun.
Stanley and his monster have made appearances in other comics through the years, so it's not like he's entirely gone. In fact, his grandpa is a Green Arrow villain.
Who currently owns the license?
Fun Fact Ambrose Bierce was originally supposed to be Willoughby Kipling another John Constantine stand in from Grant Morrisons Doom Patrol book but the higher ups at Vertigo said no
There needs to be a convention for these guys.
@Mullerornis kinda funny given Morrison WANTED to use john constantine but higher ups said NO so Morrrison had to create Kipling for DOOM PATROL.
at least Kipling isn't forbidden in the current DOOM PATROL tv series.
also, what a shame.
using a morrison character would have fit the whole idea of "Demon posing as a child's imaginary friend". given morrison's usual tropes and story beat.
hell, stanley and his monster could easily become best friends with Dorothy spinner and her imaginary friends; OR with Nic Sax and Happy
So bierce is only cannon to this comic book?? Because the dude only aparence is in this 4 issue book
@Caleb Mayfield Hopefully. Especially if Kipling Meets Constantine.
I would love for a Legends of Tomorrow / Doom patrol crossover. using the legends weirdest members or most iconic of the show (Sarah Lance, A.T.O.M, Nora Darhk, Heatwave, Constantine and the Firestorm duo), for that crossover, meeting the Doom patrol and realizing their weirdeness is NOTHING compared to doom patrol's weirdness. the only one who would be as weird as the doom patrol would be nora after becoming a fairy godmother.
Imagine some of the following scenarios:
- Nora becoming the godmother to Kay Challis and she needing to somehow bond with all the personalities of crazy jane. and actually bonding, given nora did had a rough life (being sent to an assylum, then inducted into a cult, being possesed by demon, etc).
- Larry discussing with Jax and Stein about his own relationshipwith the spirit. Give or take Firestorm briefly syphoning enough of Larry's radiation so he can be without his bandages with willing everyone.
- Maybe have Sarah and or Mick or ATOM bond with Clif. With Sarah maybe bonding about losing a loved one (sarah lost her sister, clif for years thought he lost his daughter, and did lose his wife). Or Mick and Cliff at one point bonding about cliff missing beer. and maybe ATOM using his powers to check cliff's robot body to maybe improve it a little.
- Maybe have Gideon talk to Danny the Street.
it could be such an awesome crossover.
and the doom patrol could easily try to give in on the temptation of "they have a time machine. we can stop our accidents from happening" (especially given they NOW know they weren't accidents).
Would have been so much cooler if it was Kipling. "Chin, chin!"
“The title of the issue-OH JESUS! STANLEY’S GONNA EAT MY SOUL!” My god I almost died of laughter.
I laughed way too loudly at Linkara imitating the face.
It’s like they drew The Mask but forgot to put on the green make-up/colour correction.
Something to rival Jerry Ordway’s Smiling Lois face
Well, after watching this review, I can safely say this: It's rather odd that Stanley and Spot never appeared in "Batman: The Brave and the Bold".
Yeah, and that show had the Haunted Tank... in this day and age 🤯
@@johnrussellpelt9091 Not gonna lie, I had to look up Wikipedia to understand what you were talking about. And I gotta say, while I do remember the main plot involving Booster Gold and Blue Beetle from "Menace of the Madniks!", I completely forgot the teaser from that episode which featured the Haunted Tank.
Considering that show had Batman teaming up with etrigan the demon I'm surprised that didn't happen
@@tykamen5588 From that point of view, it's not really surprising. Etrigan appeared in a few episodes of the DC Animated Universe series. Some of the people who worked on BTBATB also worked on the DCAU, so they at least had some familiarity with that character.
Think they showed up in a tie-comic. Have to check.
This comic deserves to be a tv series. Either as an animated show or a live-action show with the help of the Jim Henson Creature Shop.
HOLY CRAP IT TOOK ME 20 YEARS TO FINALLY GET THIS...NO WONDER KEVIN SMITH PULLED THIS DEEP CUT IN HIS GREEN ARROW RUN!
Yeah, crazy pull
For what it's worth, I've been listening to the Sandman audio drama and immediately after finishing Seasons of Mist I came here to re-watch this video. Just feels right.
Kevin Smith's weird-ass satanist subplot in Green Arrow makes a whole lot more sense after watching this video, I assumed it was something he just made up for his Green Arrow run.
"Wait... were they suggesting Nyx was going to have sex with the dog?"
Oh, right. I didn't tell you about some of Foglio's other work like XXXenophile.
Good ole Phil Foglio. I realized of his works thanks to the Exile/Avernum series, of which he did special art cards for the various stats & skills.
I mean I just assumed Nyx was gonna kick a dog in the balls, but then Lewis said that line and...well...XD
He's also did a lot of early Magic: The Gathering art.
Hoo boy. Between that remark and the earlier call to action to produce Rule 34 artwork of Nyx, Lewis should probably be careful what he wishes for. ^_^
@@LanceOmikron I'm assuming that Phil himself has drawn Rule 34 artwork of Nyx, honestly.
"you see kids, your new treehouse is over there. And over there needs to deal with it's own problems."
"Because reality is...You are an Android, I AM MAN!"
9:13 I like how Doctor Fate notices Stanley imagining this. Even in a daydream he's hilariously overpowered.
Stanley and his Monster was the original Calvin and Hobbs.
Speaking of which, someone get Linkara to review Spencer and Locke in the future. Now that's a messed up homage.
@@benwasserman8223 nyx is also hot
@@benwasserman8223 I have those comics. It’s overall a good story but it is a bizarre parody.
Maybe I’ll Review it; Calvin and Hobbes was a huge shaper in my childhood
@@benwasserman8223 They actually came back last year.
Anybody remember when Stanley’s grandad turned out to be a serial killer called the Star City Slayer that battled Green Arrow? He even showed up on Arrow!
Considering that this is from The CW, I totally believe this happened.
Linkara does... It's in the video.
Quiver, right?
@Mark Guerrero wait, that cowardly prisoner that tried to be Oliver’s sidekick while he was in prison?
@@datanotfoundpleasetryagain3559 no, no. The Star City Slayer originated in the comics. The Arrow version is more accurately an amalgamation of the two Stanleys.
Thank you for mentioning Kevin Smith’s rebooting of Green Arrow. When I saw this video, I thought that it was a spin-off of that. I had no idea these two characters existed beforehand. So great job covering this miniseries. As for the Green Arrow series, I lived Ollie and Connor’s reaction to seeing the elder Stanley be eaten by the monster. “Uhh, you think we should do something?” ; “Like what, offer him salt?”
10:31 this tongue and cheek humor is great!
Stanley and His Monster would fit like a glove in a DOOM PATROL Roster.
becoming best friends with dorothy spinner with Robotman being like the "tried nanny" of them
Cliff and the Chief are the only folks who have actually (sorta) raised kids, so it works! :P
Considering Spot's explanation for how regular people cope with everything going on in the DC universe, the writers of Doctor Who must have been fans of this story.
I read that Green Arrow story way back without any knowledge of this previous work, and it's nice to finally see context click into place~
This book looks shockingly good. It’s insane that the “boy and his demon dog” has ties to SANDMAN of all things.
Stanley and his Monster would fit in FANTASTICALLY to Legends of Tomorrow.
I am kinda insulted they didn't appear in season 4 given we had a witch that became a fairy godmother (Nora dahrk).
And yeah, THEY WOULD FIT LIKE A GLOVE.
especially considering what they did in season 3 with "Beebo the god".
ALTHOUGH I would like to see them appear in DOOM PATROL (both the comic boon in a new run AND the current tv show). Maybe even become friends of dorothy spinner and her imaginary friends.
@@ianr.navahuber2195 do both. they are *supposed* to be in the same universe now.
@@tyrant-den884 i think DOOM PATROL TV Show is in its own universe.
Althpugh there is another version of doom patrol in the TITANS universe
maybe legends of tomorrow could try something crazy like creating their own version of the doom patrol ?
@@ianr.navahuber2195 no, at the end of Crisis they clearly show that Doom Patrol is *supposed* do have been one of the universes now folded into theirs.
@@tyrant-den884 NOPE. the montage of the Multiverse's restoration (at the end of the special in part 5, in the Legends of Tomorrow episode) even showed that DOOM PATROL TV show's Earth is EARTH-21, TITANS' Earth is EARTH-9 (and it has their own version of the DOOM PATROL),
AND CW's Arrowverse is EARTH-1.
Also Stargirl's Show is set on EARTH-2
The characters in the shows like Flash's cast just BELIEVE their Earth is the only single one left and that ALL OTHER EARTHS got folded together into one (because reasons the higher ups at CW wanted and it is best if we don't question the weird customs of their species)
What a fun comic, I had no idea this even existed, so thanks for the pateron for asking for it. Great episode as always :)
Can I say how much I love that you sync to "comics" during the opening?
Also: PHIL FOGLIO. A lot of memories from '00 TTRPGs.
EDIT: I really enjoyed this comic. Honestly.
As someone who knew nothing about this series before this review: while i'm not the biggest fan of the artwork, i really dig the story as a whole and how linked to the DC Universe it is, it feels surprisingly organic. And i agree, this should have been turned into an animated series of some kind, WB is sitting on gold with this one.
-Teo
Yeah, I really wish they’d bring it back, it just seems like a fun concept to have a slice of life comedy story in the DC universe. True it may be a bit out there in genre but just as the series says at the end, the world is filled with superheroes, aliens, magic and demons so this would fit right in.
I’m always a fan of showing the slice of life side of living in this world, like the support group in Astro city or marvels superhero fight repair/reconstruction unit
A book that teaches how to make a tree house and a Zeppelin? Did Phineas and Ferb provide instructions on these designs?
No, it's where they learned from
It's funny to share comic-related information with you, but Bill Hetrodyne is the father of Agatha Hetrodyne, the star of the long-running web comic, Girl Genius (which is my favorite comic for about the last 10 years now, and one of my top favorites since it started). It has actually won multiple Hugo Awards. In Girl Genius, her father and uncle were the black sheep of her family - Good Guy Scientist Adventurers. As far as I know, this is the first mention of them, since Girl Genius didn't start until 2001.
It gets even more meta. The Foglio's exist inside the Girl Genius setting. Phil was a traveling storyteller that gets wrapped up in things after Agatha claims her heritage, and Kaja shortly after the main cast escapes the Parisian Catacombs. Kaja manages to coerce Agatha into letting her write her biography after her adventure is over, in exchange for not telling anyone about the... compromising outfits they were in at the time. The comic is their version of events... which pissed Agatha the hell off, leading to the Foglio's escaping to OUR world. Meaning, in a weird sense, that Girl Genius and DC are somehow related.
@@fanusobscurus I wonder if that means we can one day anticipate Crisis on Infinite Winslows!
Man, I *thought* the art style looked really familiar!
If the Doom Guy was a DC character, he'd probably have followed Stanley home alongside Spot. He'd also look on at the Angels... And probably ask to take over Hell.
22:34 And all the attempts at bringing back The Munsters. Including the one that was announced in 2017 that doesn't even exist yet for some reason.
I've wanted to see this comic for the longest time!
And seeing Linkara give a light-hearted riff is just the absolute best.
I remember reading that Green Arrow comic and thinking; "I don't know who Stanley is, but this was definitely an obscure comic character. Glad to see the origin was pretty much what I expected
“Stanley’s mom....has got it going on...”
I never knew this comic existed, and now i'm sorry i never read it myself. Thanks for another great video, Linkara!
Sadly, there’s no trade collection of the miniseries. Just the four individual issues.
With all that talk about wanting a cartoon of this, there was a rather similar cartoon in the late 80s. "My Pet Monster", where Monster would hide away by turning into a stuffed animal. And now I've got the theme song stuck in my head...
6:00 I love the box says "National Lampoon- When it was Funny".
That was a nice touch.
I think the post-Crisis S&HM was introduced in an all-humor issue of SECRET ORIGINS which I had at one point or another, and it actually shows "Spot" being called to the floor for his undemon-like behavior before being banished to Earth where he meets the hyperactive, imagination-surplussed Stanley.
Secret Origins #48. Contains stories on Ambush Bug, Rex the Wonder Dog, the Trigger Twins, and Stanley and His Monster.
@@skemono Yeah, that's the one. Didn't care about the Trigger Twins, which was an unneeded break from the humor. Ambush Bug was always an annoying character imho, basically a th Wall-breaking Nightcrawler knockoff that feels like Andy Kaufman created him. The only stories I remember liking was S&HM, of course, and Rex, which was this nicely tongue-in-cheek send-up of Captain America's origin.
I'm just crying tears of joy right now. I absolutely love the lesser known, goofy, underrated DC characters.
24:15 The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse effect
8:38 Or for his Baron Von Blimp from US1 cosplay
I like the idea of a series where Stanley and Spot are occult detectives.
The line of dialogue at 12:10 "You were a little girl?" cracked me up.
Initially I didn’t know whether I would have a good time with this, but then you said Phil Foglio and it was ON. I have seen a lot of his work and every bit has been gold. I might get a Patreon slot for this, but I’d definitely like to send some of his Buck Godot stories your way anyway. I know you’d enjoy them.
"Hell...The most awful place you can imagine." To quote Han Solo, "I can imagine a lot!"
The Heterodyne Boys are from the aforementioned Girl Genius.
Actually that was much later, the earliest Hetrodyne boys story was a backup in a issue of Grimjack Phil wrote for First Comics.
Not for another six years, as issue 1 of Girl Genius was 2000 with planning started in 1998. At this point Bill and Barry were background gags, like the Winslow, whom has yet to show up in GG.
If that's the case, then I'm surprised that the "How To" guides don't include more death rays and horrible mutations.
@@BrendanKOD Well, it's a Foglio inside joke at any rate
@@tipulsar85 The Winslow made it into one Nick Pollota's Bureau 13 novels, and is...is this a spoiler? Hmmm....nah, not really...appears in the buck Godot Galliuafrey arc too. Gets around some, although weirdly I can't recall a sighting in Dynamo Joe.
This comic was... really good, I'm impressed! Thanks for letting us know about it Linkara
I had no idea that Phil Foglio was a comic book artist - but it definitely makes sense. I only knew him and his wife as the artists of some of the goofiest and funniest Magic card illustrations.
6:37 Missed a perfect opportunity to do a combat harvester routine.
This would be great for a James Gunn DC show.
It’s right up his alley!
"No trespassing. Squirrels will be shot."
Does the old man have a dark and gritty backstory with Squirrel Girl?
prob he was one of squirrel girl roghes that retired
i find this concept absolutely hilarious, because the first demon who actually tried to redeem himself in the DC universe was the spectre, going from hell to seek forgiveness at the pearly gates... and was granted a task to complete in exchange for that boon(namely destroy evil that escapes justice) and thus creating the spirit of vengeance. So what this comic is telling us is that after that little oopsie, apparently the guys upstairs have become much friendlier regarding the concept, seemingly having learned their mistake in harsh punishment accidentally creating a guy who once torched a country sodom and Ghammora style.
Or the writer wasnt familiar with DC lore enough to know this little fact. either is possibe.
Linkara He could be Judas...
Me: TRAVELLER?
Linkara: Iskariote
ALMOST.
Does anyone get a kind of HAZBIN HOTEL prototype feel from how this series ended?
(Nyx was certainly channeling Angel Dust at about 31:35...)
Linkara - since you enjoyed this, you should also look up another four-issue mini that Phil Foglio did for DC around that time, ANGEL & THE APE, which is another reboot of an older comedy title. It's also notable in that they tied in another obscure DC property to that book, the D-lister superheroes known as "The Inferior Five".
One other fun tidbit about STANLEY & HIS MONSTER is that the idea for the "Heterodyne Boys" we see here, presented as pulp heroes that were contemporaries of The Shadow and Doc Savage, ended up getting heavily modified and used as the basis of Foglio's still-running GIRL GENIUS webcomic. In that world, The world is overrun by Mad Science, and the Heterodyne Boys were the latest of a long line of mad scientists who fought for good and helped save the world -- but then disappeared, leaving behind their daughter Agatha, the Girl Genius of the title.
In that one panel Stanley looks like the acid he dropped still had some strychnine left in it.
The tease for the next episode put a giant smile on my face.
I'm surprised Lincara didn't start with the issue of Secret Origins which is basically the start of this story line
Adored this little comic
It's a shame that Phil Foglio didn't do more work for DC. He did a Plastic Man revival and an Angel and the Ape mini-series featuring the Inferior Five that are well worth looking at.
what is angel and ape?
@@ianr.navahuber2195 "Angel and the Ape" is another humor series published by DC from the '60s. Angel O'Day is a private detective. Her partner is Sam Simeon, a talking gorilla who's also a comic book artist. Phil Foglio revived the series for a 4-issue miniseries in the '90s. Like "Stanley and His Monster", Foglio integrated them into the DC Universe, making Angel the half-sister of Dumb Bunny from the Inferior Five, and Sam the grandson of Gorilla Grodd. They've had reappearances here and there since then, including another four-issue miniseries in the early 2000s.
I was actually torn about whether to request that series or "Stanley and His Monster". It came down to Linkara choosing this one based on the Sandman connection.
@@skemono Hopefully Linkara later chooses to cover Angel and Ape-
was it good?
@@ianr.navahuber2195 I think it's just as good as "Stanley and His Monster". Though thinking on it, the character writing in "Angel and the Ape" is probably stronger than "Stanley and His Monster".
Oh, I love Girl Genius, and I could see a lot of the humor from one pouring into the other. Thanks for the awesome video dude, I will have to look this up.
This honestly feels like what Calvin and Hobbes would have been if it had an overarching story.
The "Heterodyne Boys" thing is a Girl Genius reference, though I don't think GG had been invented yet so maybe it's just something they incorporated into GG? You'd have to ask the Foglios. Also, dude, one of your best episodes ever. This had me running to eBay to buy the series before I was even done watching it!! Kudos my man! (also, abiut Nyx and Cerberus - Phil Foglio created the pornographic comic xXxenophile sooooo.... probably, yeah.)
22:36 I honestly never expected you to reference Heil Honey, I'm Home
I'm glad I gave this episode a chance. Really enjoyed the review and looking forward to reading the series myself if I can find it.
Wow, I was ... not expecting a followup to Sandman's "Hell Under New Management" arc, let alone here. I wonder if those poor angels are still in charge, or if one of the DC reboots took care of that?
As a long time Girl Genius reader, this was really fun to see. His humor and writing style really hasn't changed much - brilliant then as now.
This at4w Episode is fun and you should be proud of yourself for making it
I was surprised to see how good this series seems. Also awesome a new retrospective
Man how much fun would it be if this was Stan Lee and his monster?
@Mullerornis what
Damn, this was a /really/ enjoyable episode with a really enjoyable comic to boot.
Like, it has so many things I absolutely adore.
This art brings me back to early Magic.
The foglios are getting a Secret Lair later this year
What a delightfully fun series. Their take on Hell is fascinating too.
They Tried To Lie About A Forklift! HUZZAH!!
OLE!
I never r Pelt aluzed hiw long sibce I last watched FUGUTIVE ALIEN until I hear hus little song and didn't rimmediately get the reference.
This comic seems awesome and I would read the hell out of it.
13:01 It wouldn't surprise me if it turned out that Foglio had drawn Nyx naked and then been forced by DC's editors to put clothing on her front, but have no one complain about her back and thus leave her nude there. Foglio likes drawing nudity A LOT.
Also, unrelated...if Phil slipped the Heterodyne Boys into the DC universe, I think that he's implying that Girl Genius is the divergence point that resulted in things like Metropolis and Gotham instead of New York and Chicago. Heck, Stanley's mother might be a Heterodyne descendant, based upon her "hundreds of years" quip.
Between this and the Howard Lovecraft books, what is it with little boys naming their own personal monsters from realms unknown "Spot"? I could think of far more original names for mine; like Ripper, Spike, ET, Ted or Hobbess.
to be fair, Hades started it. It's believed the meaning of Cerberus is "spotted one". Because Hades is a pretty chill dude and Cerberus is a very good boy
@@LordSvzklx Sounds like you've got a little Skin in that particular Game, Wizard.
@@AzhreiVep Hey I knew that before Jim Butcher came along, I was quite elated to see he found a way to work it in!
@Mullerornis its hard to say with ancient greek descriptions, they were a lot less literal and more metaphorical about how they referenced things
This is adorable. I love the way Stanley defeats the baddies.
The Sandman reference is impressively faithfull to the source. You can even more or less pin down when it's supposed to happen.
I'm really tempted to track down that mini-series. But I already have so many things to find first.
Basically "Clifford the Big Red Dog" except from Hell!
I'd definitely wanna do an animated short series based on these guys.
This is really good! They should bring back Stanley and his Monster, it's funny and I enjoy supernatural comedies.
It’s to bad we don’t get more of Stanley and his monster because this entire series was really cute and tons of fun.
Okay, I can't wait for next week. :)
Also: 9:41-9:56: Nice. I love when you do that song we don't get to hear it too often, I think the last time was during the part of the Spider-Man Clone saga during the Virtual Reality stuff.
If "Stanley and his Monster" is still connected to the DC Universe, And if Grant Morrison is still willing to write for DC, I would love for Morrison to write a comic with Stanley and his monster
Morrison could write them as the equivalent of their comic book HAPPY, set in the DC Universe
I mean, "Imaginary friends being tied to hell and heaven"? That already happened in a Morrison's Adaptation of HAPPY!
the difference being that in HAPPY! the imaginary friends WERE imaginary friends through and through. is just that apparently they could become deity too if people believed in them enough apparently. at least the titular happy
28:42 So... that would make Stanley DC's equivalent of Nic Sax ?
Also also, when Stanley gets wood from the repairman, does not the repairman get sheep in trade? ....Think about it. I'll wait.
Phil Foglio also did a comic adaptation of the first book of the Myth Adventures fantasy book series. Scans of it used to be on his official website yet those were removed. No explanation has been given for why yet.
I humbley await the producer that prepares to adapt this book into the DCEU haha
Linkara: "...it's keeping things fairly PG..."
Comic: features a super sexualized demon
I said FAIRLY.
This comic is shockingly good.
Why hasn't DC adapted this into a series?
1:59 "Girl Genius"! O.M.G!! THANK YOU! several months ago my OS crashed and needed a total C drive wipe and reinstall. I lost my webcomic bookmarks folder... and I had no backup. I figured it was long past time for a pruning anyway, but there are SEVERAL comics that I just for the life of me can't remember basic details of to search for them.
Girl Genius WAS one of them. I have some catching up to do.
“JESUS! STANLEY’S GONNA EAT MY SOUL!” Might be my new fav out of context AT4W but😂
25:17 Punishment node is this like a Punishment Sphere?
27:22 pretty sure that’s purgatory
Obscure as Stanley and his Monster are, I have heard of them and the only reason I know of these characters is because they appeared in a story arc where Green Arrow was resurrected. Sigh. F***ing Winick. Also, this is where the character Mia Dearden first appeared.
I remember that. What happened with Winnick? I've only gotten as far as the trade.
Not Judd Winick, it was the end of Kevin Smith's "Quiver" storyline.
@@skemono Oh yeah Kevin Smith wrote that run.
@@skemono You're right, it was Kevin Smith. I misremembered. Winick did pen Green Arrow stories though, some of which I thought were boring and wince-inducing, but Smith did write the Green Arrow resurrection arc that had Stanley and his Monster in it. And I hated what happened to Stanley in that story, so to amend my previous statement: F***ing Smith.
@@UltimateCharm Take solace in the fact that Stanley’s shitty grandfather was eaten by the monster, and Spot then wiped Stanley’s memories of the whole affair.
This comic’s actually dope as hell. I really like the writing, and it gets surprisingly high-concept sometimes.
What a pleasant surprise.
If you liked it, you'll probably like Girl Genius, which is from the same author and which you can read officially for free as a webcomic.