Little Lulu Volume 15: The Explorers (v. 15)
The fifteenth Little Lulu collection shows Stanley and Tripp experimenting. They try out gimmicks (e.g., a skunk ex machina) that might be more comfortable in cute-kid flicks, like the Our Gang comedies. They bring formerly ancillary characters, such as that tough West Side Gang, into the limelight. They go way off turf, not just in the yarns Lulu spins for pesky preschooler Alvin, in which it's de rigueur, but in the "real" world. They even have Tubby and rich kid Wilbur Van Snobbe, Tub's archrival for the attentions of bombshell-in-training Gloria, palling around to pester Lulu. Although not as consistently funny as their predecessors, these stories lose nothing in charm. Olson, Ray