I was a child of the 50's, so I didn't remember their Superheroes, but I sure remember, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Casper, Lil Audrey, ittle Dot, Sad Sack, Little Lotta and Baby Huey. Some of the lines from Sad Sack still make me chuckle. "The radio is completely demolished, sir!" "Well completely FIX IT!" (Sack holds up some wires and coils) "Oh." And the General with the gut that got stuck in the tank hatch.
I'm amazed at how much the silver and current age draws from the golden age. Some characters you could insert said origin story with a name and power change yet they are essentially the same origin.
Not only do I enjoy the history you present in your videos but I also really enjoy when you reminisce about them and the impact or lack of impact they had on you!!!
I REALLY was missing these videos. Love to learn about the Golden Age. Please, keep them coming. ...I´m sorry but Steve Ditko´s most important character is The Creeper. I ADORE him!
I´m waiting for McFarlane to make a figure. I´m sure he will given its looks. But I do hate that DC doesn´t do anything with him in the comics. Besides a brief moment in New 52 (that was an awful change by the way) the haven´t used him.@@emsleywyatt3400
Ditko apparently just did the inking on Captain 3D, over Jack Kirby's pencils. So Captain 3D was just a job for him, and not one of his characters. But seriously, Shade The Changing Man was Ditko's best and most interesting character, setting, and storyline. And the extent of Shade's (or rather, the m-vest's) powers were largely unexplored, due to the shortness of the series. But then again, almost every character Ditko created is interesting and unusual for one reason or another.
@@Leadeshipcoach I agree with the others. There's a lack of storytelling skills out there. The current crop of writers can't build a plot, create interesting characters, and fail to connect with audiences.
Sounds cool. Billy Tucci did a graphic novel for Miss Fury a few years back and it was similar to this. I think it might have been called Miss Fury: Joy Division.
My dad used to work at a factory that printed magazines and comic books. Every so often he would bring us comic books that didn't sell. Some of them were Casper, Richie Rich, Wendy and more. We enjoyed reading them just as much as the super hero comics. Really wish he had kept all those comics. But mom and dad gave them to our cousins so they could read them as well.
This video is such a great summary of such an obscure little corner of comics. I think a Casper comic may have been the very first comic I ever saw. Granted, I was born in 95, but my grandmother had the issue from when she was a kid. I remember her telling me "that Casper from that new movie? He was a comic first," but I guess she was wrong, it was a cartoon first! Anyhow, thanks for making these, and I hope your channel gets even more attention!
Very nicely done :=) I'm always amazed at how the early comic publishers created a LOT of superheroes before Marvel and DC. If things had gone differently we might be talking about Harvey and Archie and Chariton the same way we talk about Marvel and DC. Who knows, in a parallel universe there might be a "Harvey Cinematic Universe" that's in movie theaters everywhere :=)
Thanks for the nice overview. I'm 70 years old & rarely read a comic anymore, but I do enjoy nostalgic reviews like this. Comics were a Very important part of my childhood & adolescent years tho. When I was 10, 11, 12 years old it was DC -- most especially Superman & Batman (of course), but around 13 I discovered Spiderman, and from there pretty much went all in for Marvel -- Iron Man, Thor (when he had a mortal secret identity as a mildly disabled fellow with a cane which turned into the Hammer when he transformed into the God of Thunder), The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and my absolute fave, Dr. Strange. But my comic reading odyssey actually began at 6, and right up until Supes & Bats caught my imagination, it was Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch & Hot Stuff the Little Devil, with an occasional Richie Rich & Little Dot thrown in for variety. These were the way I learned to read, far more so than in school. These formed the impetus that would eventually find maturity in enjoying Homer, Virgil, Milton, Shakespeare, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Tolkien. At around 10 or so I remember my mother (God bless her) telling me she feared that comics would "rot my brain" -- I'm sure she must have gotten wind of Wertham's 'Seduction of the Innocent". But she never had enough conviction to prevent my getting & reading them, thank goodness. Superhero stories taught me important lessons about integrity & the virtue of courage. I mean, at 70 I'm still trying to learn those lessons, but that's where began my journey to become an authentic human being. Best wishes. Nuff said.
Thanks for making this video. It’s always interesting to learn about these forgotten companies and their rosters of super heroes. It’s a shame that a number of them are sadly forgotten.
I would get these as hand me downs from relatives, who didn't quite understand I was only interested in superhero comics. It's interesting to learn this company went through so many changes in format to match the changing readership over the years. I feel we're seeing something like that today. Great job Fizz!
Yeah my relatives would always gift me the multi pack of comics in the plastic bag (1970s) for Christmas which was cool but they were always Horror comics which I wasn't in to But one year for my Birthday my older sister got me a 3 pack that was Star Wars 1-3 all first printing 😊 and a bunch of school supplies 😢
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
I remember reading Harvey books. I liked Casper and co. but Spooky and Hot Stuff were my favorites. I didn't learn about Black Cat until I was an adult in the late 80s and got some reprint books. I recently did episodes on Casper and Black Cat myself. Check'em out.
This is one of my favorite FizzFop videos if not the favorite one! I loved every moment of it and every character, whether superhero or kiddy cartoon, it covered! I do remember the kiddy cartoon titles and characters. I read and remember every one of those kiddy cartoon characters! Great stuff!! I only regret that I was unable to read Harvey's Golden Age titles which were before my time. ❤❤❤❤❤❣️
Hey Ellis R. Thanks for watching. You can find scans of the golden age Harvey books on the Digital Comics Museum website or on the Comic Book Plus website.
@@FizzFop1 , by the way, compared to most of the other Golden Age and Silver Age publishers, does Harvey possess one of the best archives of their published comic books? You never said that, but it felt implied to me. Am I right or wrong?
@@EllisR. There are some missing books-but the vast majority of their golden age catalog is there. One thing that is missing is the Green Hornet stories. They're still copyright protected by the owner and aren't included in the public domain books.
@@FizzFop1 , an important piece of trivia regarding Harvey's Casper: a well-known DC fan in the 1960s (and later industry professional) reacted to the Earth-2 resurrections of the Flash and the Justice Society of America as well as the team-ups of Starman/Black Canary (with a featured appearance of Wildcat in one plot) and Dr. Fate/Hour-man by requesting the return of the Spectre. He was told by an editor (Gardner Fox?) that the Comic Book Code would prohibit that because "ghouls" (ghosts) were strictly and specifically prohibited and the prohibition was strictly enforced by the Comic Book Code Authority. The fan (Bob Rozakis?) wrote back in reply, what about Casper the Friendly Ghost? Is he prohibited? (And if you think about it, his ghost relatives, Wendy the Witch and her witch relatives, and Hotstuff the Little Devil, lots of occult were there!) He received a reply to his reply a couple of weeks later to stay tuned! The Spectre was featured in the next annual JLA-JSA team-up, in a tryout run in Showcase Comics, and finally in a brief run in his own title. By the end of the decade, DC had not only brought back the Spectre but also created Deadman. All because a kiddie cartoon was bold enough or brave enough to violate the Comic Book Code. (Or because hypocrisy is no protection from the injustice of disparate treatment!)
I'm glad I found your video. When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me a ton of old comics (she ran an antique store) and some of them were Harvey Comics. I've learned a lot from your vid about HC. I shared this to Twitter so, other comic fans can learn about HC.
Some of Harvey's heroes seem pretty cool. Black Cat (of course) still is the stand out. But the thought of teaming her teaming with War Nurse, Shock Gibson, The Red Blazer, Captain Freedom, Night Hawk, and I dunno, maybe The Black Orchid... that sounds cool. What I am noticing, though, is most of Harvey's heroes seem to be either normal people or else copies of more famous ones. I think if someone were to snatch some of these now, they'd have to do some tweaking to make them more original.
Once again, you have presented to us great memories I remember the books and the cartoons but I do have a fondness for the black cat. She was something special but just one thing I'm not sure if there was ever a cartoon made of spooky the tough little ghost, I preferred him more than Casper, I think there was a cartoon of the ghostly Trio who used to bother Casper all the time and speaking of superheroes. I remembered the spirit reprints from the 60s there were two of them before they gave it up. I still have one of them in my collection. Another wonderful video that I will enjoy and rewatch again.
Oooft, you couldn't get away with calling yourself the "kiddies pal" these days. The only Harvey comics I've read the reprints of their horror titles from PS Artbooks. I can imagine how cathartic for the artists to work on instead of Casper and the other kiddie books.
I actually am familiar with some of these Harvey cartoons. When I was a child my parents bought a VHS tape with "75 classic cartoons" that I watched many times over the years. It featured Casper, Little Audrey and a Buzzy cartoon. Aside from Casper I never saw these characters anywhere else or saw any of their cartoons until this site went online.
The Black Cat appeared in the Mystery Science Theater 3000ncomics that was published a few years. They took some of her Harvey stories and altered them, adding MST3K characters and riffs.
Being a Boomer, I remember Harvey Comics and the cartoon show. Back in the 60s we kids read all kinds of comics, Harvey, Gold Key, Archie, and more. I didn't read any super hero comix regularly till... after my family moved to rural Arizona. I vaguely remember reading Spiderman and the early X-Men in around 1975, before that I read hand-me-down horror books I got from my friends or books we found in odd placed like under a train trestle or in a cave in the desert.
It was a mistake for them to abandon the superhero genre, because it all flourished again in the 60s. Just think of the likes of Spider-Man, X-men, Avengers, etc. It could be a Harvey Cinematic Universe by now... It's never too late. 👍👍
Very cool, I really like Black Cat, since she's in the public domain I hope people do more things with her, maybe incorporating both her western and horror stuff to make something unique.
@FizzFop1 I couldn't find a copyright renewal for her first appearance, Pocket Comics #1, so I'm pretty positive she is. Although I think Marvel owns the trademark.
@@fructuous7242 Marvel owns a copyright for a character called the Black Cat, who is not the same as the Harvey character. That would be a problem with any current attempts to publish new material of the Harvey Black Cat.
@@tygrkhat4087 I'm not too concerned with Marvel's Black Cat copyrighted material. As long as you can focus on using Harvey's original Black Cat public domain comics as your basis, it should be fine. So, no white hair or fuzzy fringes on her gloves, boots, and collar or anything like that. A good example would be Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen version of Harvey's Black Cat. It doesn't infringe on Marvel's copyright.
@@fructuous7242 Then why did DC change the name of a revived Quality character from Quicksilver to Max Mercury? Use of the name itself may be enough for legal action. Look at Elasti-Girl from the Incredibles and the Karate Kid movies.
When I was a kid in the 1960s we'd go to the Salvation Army stores there would be big stacks of comics , no bags , sitting on the floor a lot would be Harvey's Black Cat was one I remembered being among them.
These were literally my first comic books. Casper, Wendy, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Dot, and Archie (outside Harvey I know!). My aunt gave me them to me all the time and though they were very boring they were my first comics and got me interested in the wider world or comic books so they hold a special place for me.
As a child of the 60s and 70s I remember reading a lot of Harvey comics, as well as Disney, Warner brothers and Gold Key kid titles at my paternal Grandparents house. At my maternal Grandparents house were a couple of Classics Illustrated left over from my uncles that we just read to pieces. Nowadays I try to reassure myself that those were 2nd of 3rd printings and not ridiculously valuable first editions.
As a little kid I liked Harvey comics. But then I was born in the early 60s. I had a lot of Harvey comics and I think that is what helped me learn how to read at a young age. I didn't get into superhero comics until the mid 70s. But I do miss the no stress, just have a little fun read of those of early Harvey comics.
One thing that is interesting is seeing how these characters get repackaged when they hit public domain. Like I have a series of issues called "Americomics" from the 1980's that has some pre-DC Charlton characters but also some that I think were knockoffs of some of the Harvey characters. And I think we used to often see things like "Nightveil" which as I recall had the same costume as Phantom Lady or some such.
I always picked up DC or Marvel comics ( mostly DC ) ever since I was two years old. Never once did I get a Charlton, Gold Key, Harvey, or Archie comic. And yet I always had a ton of all of them in my comics box. Mixed in with my mod Woder Woman, socially relevant Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and my Spiderman with the first appearance of the Punisher ( I wish I still had those books ). I guess one of my older brothers was buying them because my grandparents were half a country away. My brother was "odd" since he was 12 or so and buying those when I was 7 and the actual target for Harvey. So I didn't mind. I remember actually enjoying Richie Rich and Little Dot.
Growing up i always loved Harvey Comic Books especially all the Funny ones Casper Spooky Hot Stuff Little Dot and all the Rest and especially the 100 page giant size comic books.
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
I remember the Harvey comics growing up in the 1960's, Though I don't know if they were reprints or more 'current' publications. I do remember watching the classic Caspar cartoons as well as the Saturday morning cartoon show.
Thanks for subbing marplatense31. I'm always working on videos. It just takes me a long time to finish them because of the research and quality I try to put in them. I really envy those TH-camrs who put out three videos a day.
Interesting History on the Family Business and Brand. I am also a N.Y. State, Harvey. I was an avid cartoonist in my younger yrs. I went on to achieve an Assoc Arts Degree in Graphic Design, but never engaged in it as my profession [as I had hoped]. Computer evil-doers came onto the scene and Stole the Soul of Creative Design. Good thing it didnt make me jaded, eh?
Very interesting overview of the Harvey Comics line. You do need to try and keep an open mind and go back to read some of the classic Harvey books. (Richie Rich, Casper, Little Dot, Wendy etc) they have some fun stories and great artwork. 💙👍🏼
Well of course, as an adult, I've heard about and even read some of these characters' stories at Comic Book Plus, a site that has a lot of the public domain material. Black Cat has probably gotten the most modern exposure, and Captain 3-D usually pops up in articles and videos about 3D comics. But I did not realize for some reason that Ditko was involved in it, even if he was just the inker. Ditko inking Kirby is always a sight to behold. The Black Orchid? I guess DC wasn't concerned about the Harvey character when they created their Black Orchid character in the 70s. But my memories of Harvey comics is similar to yours, even though I grew up in the 70s. I saw the cartoons (I especially liked the Baby Huey cartoons), and read some of the "kiddy" books like Casper, Wendy, Hot Stuff, and Little Dot. I especially liked Little Lotta, because she would more often get a mystery type story, and not just a humor story. I also read some of the Richie Rich and Archie comics. Wasn't Richie Rich also a Harvey comic? Or several comics? He had several titles in the 60s and 70s, so he must have been a big seller for them. But for the most part, they didn't excite me, and when I got into superhero comics, starting with Batman, I mostly forgot about them.
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
Casper the friendly ghost was made into a full length movie which costarred Christiana Ricci, it has a sequel called Casper meets Wendy the little Witch released on DVD costarring Hillary Duff as Wendy.
The Black Cat was sorta renamed/revived as "The Masked Marvel" by somebody named "The Mad Peck" (might have been a pseudonym for Les Daniels, I dunno) in a strip called Flash Burn Funnies. It had a story line, sometimes, but was mainly dedicated to record reviews and custom tape playlists. The strips appeared in rock magazines in the 1970s and '80s, and were collected in book form in '87. While there seems to have been guest writers, and the art varied in style according to which characters were being depicted, the appearance of "The Masked Marvel" was always very closely modeled on The Black Cat, and may in fact have been swipes.
Ah, the good ole days when the world felt larger then the Super Heros that protected it. No a days it the heros are larger then the world they protect.
I had several comics growing up, including several Harvey titles. I never chose them myself, they were bought for me as parents until I was old enough to express my preferences (which was always for covers featuring Dinosaurs. Almost always, "Star Spangled War Stories" featuring "The War that Time Forgot", or "Turok, Son of Stone". I had a lot of Batman comics which I'm now sure my dad wanted and used me as an excuse. It did succeed in making me a Batman fan to this day, though. The Harvey comics were fun 'til I outgrew them and I distinctly remember kids who brought them to school getting hazed, but there IS one Harvey title that was pretty funny: Sad Sack. In fact, to this day, I find it much funnier than its competitor, Beetle Bailey. The humor in Sad Sack was very much ahead of its time, almost like a cleaned up G-rated version of Beavis and Butthead. It was so stupid it was actually hilarious, especially with the squarish art style which made even simple things seem comedically awkward.
I would love to see you cover Centaur Comics line of superheroes. Some of them was revived by Malibu Comics in the early 1990s. I dont really have any memories of Harvey Comics. They were not very big where I am from. I mostly remember Casper from the live action movie from 1995.
@@FizzFop1 You can do whatever you want to do. It is your channel. Centaur and or a video on Victor Fox and his shady business dealings is what I would like to see.
Another good video. As a kid I was exposed the the various Harvey kid comics that my cousins got. I did enjoy Richie Rich, but the others where blah to me. Much more enjoyed Little Lulu and others. I did try collecting some of the later non humorous stuff Harvey did over the years, when they tried to get back into superheroes under the Harvey "Thriller" line, as well as sf/fantasy stuff as well (Man in Black et al).
Black Orchid and Scarlet Nemesis can be an interesting story of two different superheroes living two different lives within the same city that sometimes clash due to their backgrounds and differences in believes. And as the story progress we see them actually getting closer with each other as a dynamic crime fighting duo.
Harvey had a couple different worlds to them. There was the Richie Rich World where Richie hung out with the likes of Little Dot, Little Audrey, Little Lotta and more grounded characters. Then there was the magical fantasy world of Casper, Wendy, Spooky, Hot Stuff,the Ghostly Trio, etc. Both these worlds were extensive in their own way, each with a plethora of supporting characters who provide consistency and credibility. As for heroic features, yes Harvey had quite a few. IIRC, wasn't theBlack Hood, the Web and Steel Sterling part of the Harvey pantheon as well?
I recently read some Teen Titan comics from the early 70s that had George Tuska inks. DC didn't always publish the creative credits but after growing up reading 70s Iron Man the Tuska style is unmistakable.
I happen to like Casper and everything he was about I like the cartoons as well. The only comic of Harvey that I believe I had my grandmother took away as soon as she saw what was on the cover and yes it was hot stuff, no need to explain the reason why this beloved depression era confiscated it. I'd like to see a return of the Harvey comics heroes. Especially to the big screen. Would love to see the black cat.
Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website, I got familiar with the Harvey superheroes. Of course, appreciating the Black Cat goes without saying, but my personal favourite was Pat Parker, War Nurse - if only for the fact that she had superhuman stamina just by wearing old-school riding breeches and boots. I am looking very much forward to reading those books once again.
I remember liking the Harvey Toons and comics but the ones I loved the most were the SAD SACK family of books and I bought any I could find on the stands!
I was a child of the 50's, so I didn't remember their Superheroes, but I sure remember, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Casper, Lil Audrey, ittle Dot, Sad Sack, Little Lotta and Baby Huey. Some of the lines from Sad Sack still make me chuckle. "The radio is completely demolished, sir!" "Well completely FIX IT!" (Sack holds up some wires and coils) "Oh." And the General with the gut that got stuck in the tank hatch.
i was born in 63 i remember the comics and cartoons👍👍
I've read Harvey Comics as a kid mostly Capser, but I never knew they made superheroes too.
I'm amazed at how much the silver and current age draws from the golden age. Some characters you could insert said origin story with a name and power change yet they are essentially the same origin.
Wow you’re really on to something. 🙄 I also suspect the sky is blue. Footage at 11.
Originality is the art of hidings your source.
I made that up unless you know better
Always glad to see any kind of research into forgotten Golden Age heroes.
Looks like there's quite a bit to explore from Harvey. Seeing older stuff from Joe Simon and Jack Kirby is always fun!!!
Harvey tried to come back in the 90s, when they started the Nemesis line. Their only 90s comic that had success was Ultraman.
Not only do I enjoy the history you present in your videos but I also really enjoy when you reminisce about them and the impact or lack of impact they had on you!!!
❤ Awesome as always thanks i would see some of these in animation or live action
I REALLY was missing these videos. Love to learn about the Golden Age. Please, keep them coming.
...I´m sorry but Steve Ditko´s most important character is The Creeper. I ADORE him!
Comic book convention attendee: "Mr. Ditko? Question. Jeepers creepers, where'd you get that Creeper?"
I, too, am a big fan of The Creeper. So much so that I bought an action figure and built a base for it, er, based on his Showcase debut comic.
I´m waiting for McFarlane to make a figure. I´m sure he will given its looks. But I do hate that DC doesn´t do anything with him in the comics. Besides a brief moment in New 52 (that was an awful change by the way) the haven´t used him.@@emsleywyatt3400
Ditko apparently just did the inking on Captain 3D, over Jack Kirby's pencils. So Captain 3D was just a job for him, and not one of his characters.
But seriously, Shade The Changing Man was Ditko's best and most interesting character, setting, and storyline. And the extent of Shade's (or rather, the m-vest's) powers were largely unexplored, due to the shortness of the series. But then again, almost every character Ditko created is interesting and unusual for one reason or another.
Hot Stuff was my favorite Harvey Comics character... I actually had more Harvey Comics than anything else when I was a kid... great comics...
I loved the Captain 3D segment! I appreciate any chance to use my old 3D glasses!
That's what I did. Found my 3D glasses and watched it the way it was design to be seen.
The Blue Beetle started at Harvey!
Cool!
The Blue Beetle started at Fox. Al Harvey worked there and learned how to make comics.
Dreamworks is sitting on a goldmine... then again, we have superhero oversaturation, maybe is good that they keep sitting on it for a while
Still, i’d rather watch this than a Marvel or DC
One company being successful isn't oversaturation. We have a lack of storytelling ability in Hollywood.
@@kylecarter1599…that is what I was thinking…is it saturation or a lack of good storytelling? (I’m thinking the latter)
@@Leadeshipcoach I agree with the others. There's a lack of storytelling skills out there. The current crop of writers can't build a plot, create interesting characters, and fail to connect with audiences.
I don’t think Dreamworks is interested in this. They rather make new Shrek movies, including spinoffs.
I loved the Harvey line as a kid. Those kiddy characters were the best
Now I want to see a comic line or movie of Pat Parker and the Girl Commandos in the style of Dirty dozen, and Inglorious Bastards
Sounds cool. Billy Tucci did a graphic novel for Miss Fury a few years back and it was similar to this. I think it might have been called Miss Fury: Joy Division.
My dad used to work at a factory that printed magazines and comic books. Every so often he would bring us comic books that didn't sell. Some of them were Casper, Richie Rich, Wendy and more. We enjoyed reading them just as much as the super hero comics. Really wish he had kept all those comics. But mom and dad gave them to our cousins so they could read them as well.
This video is such a great summary of such an obscure little corner of comics. I think a Casper comic may have been the very first comic I ever saw. Granted, I was born in 95, but my grandmother had the issue from when she was a kid. I remember her telling me "that Casper from that new movie? He was a comic first," but I guess she was wrong, it was a cartoon first! Anyhow, thanks for making these, and I hope your channel gets even more attention!
Very nicely done :=) I'm always amazed at how the early comic publishers created a LOT of superheroes before Marvel and DC. If things had gone differently we might be talking about Harvey and Archie and Chariton the same way we talk about Marvel and DC. Who knows, in a parallel universe there might be a "Harvey Cinematic Universe" that's in movie theaters everywhere :=)
Add Nedor comics to the list too.But I wouldn't mind watching the HCU in the theaters.
@@marktheshark7588 Oh yes I'd forgotten about Nedor :=) but yes I too would like to see the HCU in theaters, especially the Black Cat :=)
As a young man in 60's through to mid 70's I loved these comics. I never missed a Sad Sack I adored Hot Stuff, Casper.
Thanks for the nice overview. I'm 70 years old & rarely read a comic anymore, but I do enjoy nostalgic reviews like this. Comics were a Very important part of my childhood & adolescent years tho. When I was 10, 11, 12 years old it was DC -- most especially Superman & Batman (of course), but around 13 I discovered Spiderman, and from there pretty much went all in for Marvel -- Iron Man, Thor (when he had a mortal secret identity as a mildly disabled fellow with a cane which turned into the Hammer when he transformed into the God of Thunder), The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, and my absolute fave, Dr. Strange. But my comic reading odyssey actually began at 6, and right up until Supes & Bats caught my imagination, it was Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy the Good Little Witch & Hot Stuff the Little Devil, with an occasional Richie Rich & Little Dot thrown in for variety. These were the way I learned to read, far more so than in school. These formed the impetus that would eventually find maturity in enjoying Homer, Virgil, Milton, Shakespeare, Bradbury, Vonnegut, Tolkien. At around 10 or so I remember my mother (God bless her) telling me she feared that comics would "rot my brain" -- I'm sure she must have gotten wind of Wertham's 'Seduction of the Innocent". But she never had enough conviction to prevent my getting & reading them, thank goodness. Superhero stories taught me important lessons about integrity & the virtue of courage. I mean, at 70 I'm still trying to learn those lessons, but that's where began my journey to become an authentic human being. Best wishes. Nuff said.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing victorherron2767.
5:04 - that is a great illustration
I wish some publisher would bring these characters back. They were my first comics. They helped me learn to read and love comics as well.
Oh boy! Great post! I used to read Harvey with a flashlight when I camped out in my pup tent in the back yard. Great memories! Thank You!
Glad you enjoyed the video. I hope you check out my other videos.
I've always wondered about the popularity of Hot Stuff among kids. He is, after all, a demon from hell. I avoided him when I was young.
Thanks for making this video. It’s always interesting to learn about these forgotten companies and their rosters of super heroes. It’s a shame that a number of them are sadly forgotten.
As kids, my sister and I liked Casper, but really preferred "Spooky, the tough little ghost".
I would get these as hand me downs from relatives, who didn't quite understand I was only interested in superhero comics.
It's interesting to learn this company went through so many changes in format to match the changing readership over the years. I feel we're seeing something like that today.
Great job Fizz!
Yeah my relatives would always gift me the multi pack of comics in the plastic bag (1970s) for Christmas which was cool but they were always Horror comics which I wasn't in to But one year for my Birthday my older sister got me a 3 pack that was Star Wars 1-3 all first printing 😊 and a bunch of school supplies 😢
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
These Black Cat pages are much above average for the Golden Age. Very slick😮
I met comic book artist Steve Butler yesterday. He knew exactly what this channel was.
I remember reading Harvey books. I liked Casper and co. but Spooky and Hot Stuff were my favorites. I didn't learn about Black Cat until I was an adult in the late 80s and got some reprint books. I recently did episodes on Casper and Black Cat myself. Check'em out.
Another amazing video. It's nice to learn that other heroes have come and gone with little mention. We need more.
I hope that kid that Fizzfop met during grade school who read that Little Dot comic would eventually wise up as he gotten older...!
This is one of my favorite FizzFop videos if not the favorite one! I loved every moment of it and every character, whether superhero or kiddy cartoon, it covered! I do remember the kiddy cartoon titles and characters. I read and remember every one of those kiddy cartoon characters! Great stuff!! I only regret that I was unable to read Harvey's Golden Age titles which were before my time.
❤❤❤❤❤❣️
Hey Ellis R. Thanks for watching. You can find scans of the golden age Harvey books on the Digital Comics Museum website or on the Comic Book Plus website.
@@FizzFop1 , thank you. That is a great suggestion!
@@FizzFop1 , by the way, compared to most of the other Golden Age and Silver Age publishers, does Harvey possess one of the best archives of their published comic books? You never said that, but it felt implied to me. Am I right or wrong?
@@EllisR. There are some missing books-but the vast majority of their golden age catalog is there. One thing that is missing is the Green Hornet stories. They're still copyright protected by the owner and aren't included in the public domain books.
@@FizzFop1 , an important piece of trivia regarding Harvey's Casper: a well-known DC fan in the 1960s (and later industry professional) reacted to the Earth-2 resurrections of the Flash and the Justice Society of America as well as the team-ups of Starman/Black Canary (with a featured appearance of Wildcat in one plot) and Dr. Fate/Hour-man by requesting the return of the Spectre. He was told by an editor (Gardner Fox?) that the Comic Book Code would prohibit that because "ghouls" (ghosts) were strictly and specifically prohibited and the prohibition was strictly enforced by the Comic Book Code Authority.
The fan (Bob Rozakis?) wrote back in reply, what about Casper the Friendly Ghost? Is he prohibited? (And if you think about it, his ghost relatives, Wendy the Witch and her witch relatives, and Hotstuff the Little Devil, lots of occult were there!)
He received a reply to his reply a couple of weeks later to stay tuned! The Spectre was featured in the next annual JLA-JSA team-up, in a tryout run in Showcase Comics, and finally in a brief run in his own title. By the end of the decade, DC had not only brought back the Spectre but also created Deadman.
All because a kiddie cartoon was bold enough or brave enough to violate the Comic Book Code. (Or because hypocrisy is no protection from the injustice of disparate treatment!)
Harvey history fascinates me.
I'm glad I found your video. When I was a kid, my grandmother gave me a ton of old comics (she ran an antique store) and some of them were Harvey Comics. I've learned a lot from your vid about HC. I shared this to Twitter so, other comic fans can learn about HC.
Thank you! I really appreciate you sharing it to others. I hope you checked out my other videos!
Shock Gibson is among the public domain characters Image Comics revived in anthology title The Next Issue Project in 2007.
I was a HUGE Sad Sack fan! It was the first comic book I ever purposely sought in the different drug store and convenience stores in my neighborhood.
I remember these. Richie Rich lil Lulu and all that. Classic
Some of Harvey's heroes seem pretty cool. Black Cat (of course) still is the stand out. But the thought of teaming her teaming with War Nurse, Shock Gibson, The Red Blazer, Captain Freedom, Night Hawk, and I dunno, maybe The Black Orchid... that sounds cool. What I am noticing, though, is most of Harvey's heroes seem to be either normal people or else copies of more famous ones. I think if someone were to snatch some of these now, they'd have to do some tweaking to make them more original.
I remember Harvey Comics. Like the narrator said I thought they were for little kids. Your video certainly brings me back. Aces to the video
Thanks timothyohayes! Glad you liked it.
Once again, you have presented to us great memories I remember the books and the cartoons but I do have a fondness for the black cat. She was something special but just one thing I'm not sure if there was ever a cartoon made of spooky the tough little ghost, I preferred him more than Casper, I think there was a cartoon of the ghostly Trio who used to bother Casper all the time and speaking of superheroes. I remembered the spirit reprints from the 60s there were two of them before they gave it up. I still have one of them in my collection. Another wonderful video that I will enjoy and rewatch again.
Oooft, you couldn't get away with calling yourself the "kiddies pal" these days.
The only Harvey comics I've read the reprints of their horror titles from PS Artbooks. I can imagine how cathartic for the artists to work on instead of Casper and the other kiddie books.
That probably was a downer.
great show i really enjoy your show i actually have the first issue of speed comics so to see this was a treat thanks darrin
Awesome video. Thanks for sharing the deep history of Harvey Comics!
I actually am familiar with some of these Harvey cartoons. When I was a child my parents bought a VHS tape with "75 classic cartoons" that I watched many times over the years. It featured Casper, Little Audrey and a Buzzy cartoon. Aside from Casper I never saw these characters anywhere else or saw any of their cartoons until this site went online.
When I read Harvey Comics as a kid , it was mostly Richie Rich , Casper and Hot Stuff. Richie Rich was my favorite at the time.
So GREAT to see a new VIDEO!! Sorry just had the chance to watch today. :)
The Black Cat appeared in the Mystery Science Theater 3000ncomics that was published a few years. They took some of her Harvey stories and altered them, adding MST3K characters and riffs.
I backed a campaign featuring her and the Black Terror a couple of years ago.
Being a Boomer, I remember Harvey Comics and the cartoon show. Back in the 60s we kids read all kinds of comics, Harvey, Gold Key, Archie, and more. I didn't read any super hero comix regularly till... after my family moved to rural Arizona. I vaguely remember reading Spiderman and the early X-Men in around 1975, before that I read hand-me-down horror books I got from my friends or books we found in odd placed like under a train trestle or in a cave in the desert.
After Wonder Woman and Mary Marvel, you could argue that Harvey's Black Cat was the 3rd biggest female superhero of the 1940's.
Please consider doing a video like this one about Centaur Comics, and also about Lev Gleason Comics.
I learned a great deal from this! Excellent video, Fizz!
It was a mistake for them to abandon the superhero genre, because it all flourished again in the 60s. Just think of the likes of Spider-Man, X-men, Avengers, etc. It could be a Harvey Cinematic Universe by now... It's never too late. 👍👍
They had the characters to do it.
Very cool, I really like Black Cat, since she's in the public domain I hope people do more things with her, maybe incorporating both her western and horror stuff to make something unique.
I'm not 100% sure Black Cat is in public domain. I think she is the one character the Harvey Family held onto.
@FizzFop1 I couldn't find a copyright renewal for her first appearance, Pocket Comics #1, so I'm pretty positive she is. Although I think Marvel owns the trademark.
@@fructuous7242 Marvel owns a copyright for a character called the Black Cat, who is not the same as the Harvey character. That would be a problem with any current attempts to publish new material of the Harvey Black Cat.
@@tygrkhat4087 I'm not too concerned with Marvel's Black Cat copyrighted material. As long as you can focus on using Harvey's original Black Cat public domain comics as your basis, it should be fine. So, no white hair or fuzzy fringes on her gloves, boots, and collar or anything like that. A good example would be Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen version of Harvey's Black Cat. It doesn't infringe on Marvel's copyright.
@@fructuous7242 Then why did DC change the name of a revived Quality character from Quicksilver to Max Mercury? Use of the name itself may be enough for legal action. Look at Elasti-Girl from the Incredibles and the Karate Kid movies.
Al the Kiddies' Pal? So THAT'S where Alan Sues got the name for that Laugh-In bit.
!aha, someone else remembers that character!
I couldn't wait for us to take a trip to the barbershop; there must have been 200 comic books there. Archie was my favorite.
When I was a kid in the 1960s we'd go to the Salvation Army stores there would be big stacks of comics , no bags , sitting on the floor a lot would be Harvey's Black Cat was one I remembered being among them.
These were literally my first comic books. Casper, Wendy, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Dot, and Archie (outside Harvey I know!). My aunt gave me them to me all the time and though they were very boring they were my first comics and got me interested in the wider world or comic books so they hold a special place for me.
Any chance you would like to be a guest at Pulpfest in 2024?
Maybe! lol
In comic books the circus is the shadiest, most tumultuous business.
As a child of the 60s and 70s I remember reading a lot of Harvey comics, as well as Disney, Warner brothers and Gold Key kid titles at my paternal Grandparents house. At my maternal Grandparents house were a couple of Classics Illustrated left over from my uncles that we just read to pieces. Nowadays I try to reassure myself that those were 2nd of 3rd printings and not ridiculously valuable first editions.
At least you have great memories of them.
Excellent History Lesson.
I learned a lot. I look forward to your next video.
👏👏👏👏
As a little kid I liked Harvey comics. But then I was born in the early 60s. I had a lot of Harvey comics and I think that is what helped me learn how to read at a young age. I didn't get into superhero comics until the mid 70s. But I do miss the no stress, just have a little fun read of those of early Harvey comics.
You forgot to mention that this Black Cat was overshadowed by a beloved Marvel character of the same name who is one of Spiderman's girlfriends.
One thing that is interesting is seeing how these characters get repackaged when they hit public domain. Like I have a series of issues called "Americomics" from the 1980's that has some pre-DC Charlton characters but also some that I think were knockoffs of some of the Harvey characters. And I think we used to often see things like "Nightveil" which as I recall had the same costume as Phantom Lady or some such.
I always picked up DC or Marvel comics ( mostly DC ) ever since I was two years old. Never once did I get a Charlton, Gold Key, Harvey, or Archie comic. And yet I always had a ton of all of them in my comics box. Mixed in with my mod Woder Woman, socially relevant Green Lantern/Green Arrow, and my Spiderman with the first appearance of the Punisher ( I wish I still had those books ). I guess one of my older brothers was buying them because my grandparents were half a country away. My brother was "odd" since he was 12 or so and buying those when I was 7 and the actual target for Harvey. So I didn't mind. I remember actually enjoying Richie Rich and Little Dot.
Growing up i always loved Harvey Comic Books especially all the Funny ones Casper Spooky Hot Stuff Little Dot and all the Rest and especially the 100 page giant size comic books.
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
Enjoyable! Thanks for this 👍👍
One of Harvey's 60s title that you showed, Spyman, is the first comic work of the legendary Jim Steranko.
Yes more golden age characters
I remember the Harvey comics growing up in the 1960's, Though I don't know if they were reprints or more 'current' publications. I do remember watching the classic Caspar cartoons as well as the Saturday morning cartoon show.
I didn't sub before because I didn't know if you were still making videos. Now I see that you are, so subbed!
Thanks for subbing marplatense31. I'm always working on videos. It just takes me a long time to finish them because of the research and quality I try to put in them. I really envy those TH-camrs who put out three videos a day.
Interesting History on the Family Business and Brand. I am also a N.Y. State, Harvey. I was an avid cartoonist in my younger yrs. I went on to achieve an Assoc Arts Degree in Graphic Design, but never engaged in it as my profession [as I had hoped]. Computer evil-doers came onto the scene and Stole the Soul of Creative Design. Good thing it didnt make me jaded, eh?
No, you don't sound jaded at all. lol. Do you have any inside stories about the line?
Very interesting overview of the Harvey Comics line. You do need to try and keep an open mind and go back to read some of the classic Harvey books. (Richie Rich, Casper, Little Dot, Wendy etc) they have some fun stories and great artwork. 💙👍🏼
Well of course, as an adult, I've heard about and even read some of these characters' stories at Comic Book Plus, a site that has a lot of the public domain material. Black Cat has probably gotten the most modern exposure, and Captain 3-D usually pops up in articles and videos about 3D comics. But I did not realize for some reason that Ditko was involved in it, even if he was just the inker. Ditko inking Kirby is always a sight to behold. The Black Orchid? I guess DC wasn't concerned about the Harvey character when they created their Black Orchid character in the 70s.
But my memories of Harvey comics is similar to yours, even though I grew up in the 70s. I saw the cartoons (I especially liked the Baby Huey cartoons), and read some of the "kiddy" books like Casper, Wendy, Hot Stuff, and Little Dot. I especially liked Little Lotta, because she would more often get a mystery type story, and not just a humor story. I also read some of the Richie Rich and Archie comics. Wasn't Richie Rich also a Harvey comic? Or several comics? He had several titles in the 60s and 70s, so he must have been a big seller for them.
But for the most part, they didn't excite me, and when I got into superhero comics, starting with Batman, I mostly forgot about them.
As a kid in the early 1980s, Harvey Comics were what I brought when there was absolutely nothing else interesting on the spinner racks to buy! Buying an issue of Richie Rich or Caspar meant I was scrapping the bottom of the barrel because i needed to read something that day! Ha haa.
Casper the friendly ghost was made into a full length movie which costarred Christiana Ricci, it has a sequel called Casper meets Wendy the little Witch released on DVD costarring Hillary Duff as Wendy.
Excellent job. When I bought comics, sometimes I bought Harvey stuff. Wasn't often disappointed with them.😂❤
Richie Rich that was also in Harvey Comics became a full length movie starring MacCaulay Culkin as Richie Rich.
The Black Cat was sorta renamed/revived as "The Masked Marvel" by somebody named "The Mad Peck" (might have been a pseudonym for Les Daniels, I dunno) in a strip called Flash Burn Funnies. It had a story line, sometimes, but was mainly dedicated to record reviews and custom tape playlists. The strips appeared in rock magazines in the 1970s and '80s, and were collected in book form in '87. While there seems to have been guest writers, and the art varied in style according to which characters were being depicted, the appearance of "The Masked Marvel" was always very closely modeled on The Black Cat, and may in fact have been swipes.
Ah, the good ole days when the world felt larger then the Super Heros that protected it. No a days it the heros are larger then the world they protect.
I had several comics growing up, including several Harvey titles. I never chose them myself, they were bought for me as parents until I was old enough to express my preferences (which was always for covers featuring Dinosaurs. Almost always, "Star Spangled War Stories" featuring "The War that Time Forgot", or "Turok, Son of Stone". I had a lot of Batman comics which I'm now sure my dad wanted and used me as an excuse. It did succeed in making me a Batman fan to this day, though. The Harvey comics were fun 'til I outgrew them and I distinctly remember kids who brought them to school getting hazed, but there IS one Harvey title that was pretty funny: Sad Sack. In fact, to this day, I find it much funnier than its competitor, Beetle Bailey. The humor in Sad Sack was very much ahead of its time, almost like a cleaned up G-rated version of Beavis and Butthead. It was so stupid it was actually hilarious, especially with the squarish art style which made even simple things seem comedically awkward.
Back in the 70s, I bought a few of DC's western titles and after I read them, I gave them to my grandfather. He loved westerns in all forms.
I would love to see you cover Centaur Comics line of superheroes. Some of them was revived by Malibu Comics in the early 1990s. I dont really have any memories of Harvey Comics. They were not very big where I am from. I mostly remember Casper from the live action movie from 1995.
I started writing a script for Centaur and stopped...maybe it's time to pick it back up?
@@FizzFop1 You can do whatever you want to do. It is your channel. Centaur and or a video on Victor Fox and his shady business dealings is what I would like to see.
Another good video.
As a kid I was exposed the the various Harvey kid comics that my cousins got. I did enjoy Richie Rich, but the others where blah to me. Much more enjoyed Little Lulu and others.
I did try collecting some of the later non humorous stuff Harvey did over the years, when they tried to get back into superheroes under the Harvey "Thriller" line, as well as sf/fantasy stuff as well (Man in Black et al).
I agree that this time capsule was an interesting experience in to me the dawn superhero comics, thanks!JE
My pleasure bringing it to you! Please check out my other videos.
Great Harvey video! You have an excellent channel!
I have quite a few of the Richie Rich books. I think most were bought to keep me occupied while mom grocery shopped.
Black Orchid and Scarlet Nemesis can be an interesting story of two different superheroes living two different lives within the same city that sometimes clash due to their backgrounds and differences in believes. And as the story progress we see them actually getting closer with each other as a dynamic crime fighting duo.
I had a couple of The Spirit comics .. yes, I'm ancient. Sort of on the order of Dr. Fate. Enjoyable.
The Spirit is good stuff. I pulled a couple of the Harvey Spirit books from my local shop.
The last time I read a Harvey comic was their Back to the Future title. That was in the 1990s.
Harvey had a couple different worlds to them. There was the Richie Rich World where Richie hung out with the likes of Little Dot, Little Audrey, Little Lotta and more grounded characters. Then there was the magical fantasy world of Casper, Wendy, Spooky, Hot Stuff,the Ghostly Trio, etc. Both these worlds were extensive in their own way, each with a plethora of supporting characters who provide consistency and credibility. As for heroic features, yes Harvey had quite a few. IIRC, wasn't theBlack Hood, the Web and Steel Sterling part of the Harvey pantheon as well?
I recently read some Teen Titan comics from the early 70s that had George Tuska inks. DC didn't always publish the creative credits but after growing up reading 70s Iron Man the Tuska style is unmistakable.
Hot Stuff was a great character!
I happen to like Casper and everything he was about I like the cartoons as well. The only comic of Harvey that I believe I had my grandmother took away as soon as she saw what was on the cover and yes it was hot stuff, no need to explain the reason why this beloved depression era confiscated it. I'd like to see a return of the Harvey comics heroes. Especially to the big screen. Would love to see the black cat.
I see alot of potential with Black Cat.But I don't know if someone could use her without Marvel breathing down your neck with lawsuit.Great video bro.
Back in the 1980s/90s, AC Comics imitated her with She-Cat. She was part of their FemForce lineup.
@@FizzFop1 I didn't know that.But She-Cat ain't sounding that bad of a name.
In the 50s one of the heroes published by Harvey was The Phantom which was a licensed property.
Thanks to the Comic Book Plus website, I got familiar with the Harvey superheroes. Of course, appreciating the Black Cat goes without saying, but my personal favourite was Pat Parker, War Nurse - if only for the fact that she had superhuman stamina just by wearing old-school riding breeches and boots. I am looking very much forward to reading those books once again.
I love Comic Book Plus. That's a great website for finding new old books.
The Zebra would have been a much bigger hit...if only George Jefferson didn't hate him so much, sigh.
🎶"...Moo-ooo-vin aw-awnnn up (Movin' on up)
To the Eastside (Movin' on up)..."🎶
This is excllent 😊
I remember liking the Harvey Toons and comics but the ones I loved the most were the SAD SACK family of books and I bought any I could find on the stands!
!Sad Sack, yeah!