Later Years
After leaving comic books, John Stanley worked as the head of a silk screen company in upstate New York and in advertising for many years, and even did cartoon illustration work for David C. Cook, a publisher of Christian-oriented books. In this period his marriage foundered and he moved out for an extended period.
Fans like Don Phelps and Robert Overstreet tracked Stanley down and began to publicize him in comics fandom. His first appearance at a fan gathering was at the legendary 1976 New Con in Boston, at which he met for the first time fellow legend Carl Barks (who was also making his first fan appearance at the event). Stanley was also a guest at the 1977 Comic Art Convention. Despite some advance publicity listing him as a guest he didn't attend the 1980 San Diego Comic Book convention.
Somewhat embittered at his treatment by the industry (reportedly in part for receiving no royalties for reprints), Stanley for some years had little involvement with his fans. He did do some drawings for fanzines and seemed to warm a bit toward his following in the final years. He eventually began to accept commissions for painted re-creations of classic Little Lulu and Tubby cover-gags. One of the last published pieces of artwork by him was a sketch that appeared in The Art of Mickey Mouse (1991).
Stanley died November 11, 1993 of esophageal cancer. His wife died in 1990.
His daughter Lynda is a photographic retoucher and has worked for such publications as The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, People, Glamour, Time along with advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi, Young & Rubicam, TBWA/Chiat Day, and Ogilvy & Mather, among others.
His son James formerly was an environmental consultant but for the past decade has worked in computer graphic design and IT. James has expressed plans to eventually create an official website celebrating his father's work and legacy.
Read more about this topic: John Stanley (cartoonist)
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