When Comics Were Printed On Paper

All you young'ns that read comics on your computers and phones are missing out on the joys of reading an actual printed comic. Sure, there were a lot of flaws with newsprint and ben-day dots, not the least of which was purchasing a book and finding out that page 15 had horrible ink stains from a sloppy printer. Yet there's still a lot of things that digital can't do. This story here is an example of one.

from SPOOKY SPOOKTOWN #21, September 1967







That would be hard to pull off in the digital format. Sure, it could be done, but the dialogue would have to be laid out right-side up, which would lessen the effect. A cheap effect, mind you, but this was really cool and unexpected for young kids reading it way back when.
And do you realize how silly you look with your head turned sideways like that?




If it was me, I woulda lettered this sequence upside down. Not sure why they didn't. Maybe the editor felt that enough was enough for one issue?




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So, there ya have it. At least one example of why printed comics need not go the way of the dinosaur. All the industry needs is more imagination. Just my opinion, of course.
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Rare Hot Stuff

This is one of the rarest of Hot Stuff stories, mainly because it has a brief appearance of his dad, who some say is supposed to be Satan itself. It was probly that allegation that caused Harvey Comics to change Hot Stuff's parental figure to Aunt Clinker, then Grampa Blaze, or other various aunts and uncles.
I can't really say that the Harveys deliberately intended it to be Lucifer, but they must've not wanted parents to assume that, hence the change. Other than the appearance of dad here, it's a fairly typical Hot Stuff short feature.

from HOT STUFF #21, March 1960






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Hot Stuff Original Art

From the Heritage Auctions website, I found this scan of original Warren Kremer art.
I'm not sure if it was ever actually printed in the comics, as I never remember seeing any strips without panel borders before and also, I wonder why the last panel is blank (??!?space for an ad of some kind??)
But anyhoo, enjoy:



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Mr. Zero And The Juvenile Delinquent

One character that is definitely overdue for a comeback is the original Black Cat. First appearing in 1941, she had several revivals; once in the 60s, again in the 80s, and finally this last appearance in 1995.
Besides the two reprinted stories in this volume, there was a new origin for the modern Black Cat, a Shock Gibson story, and (of all things) a Sad Sack reprint. It was a toss up as to which of the classic tales to post, as they were both fine examples of Lee Elias's classic art. But I picked this one anyway.
Enjoy. And click the Black Cat link above to read the all new origin story at the official website.

by Lee Elias
from BLACK CAT: THE ORIGINS #1, 1995
original from BLACK CAT #27, February 1951







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CASPER! As Seen On TV

Although he never had as many just flat out insane types of adventures as Hot Stuff, Casper did share in the Harvey weirdness from time to time.
This story has a television time machine which leads to the usual shenanigans.

from CASPER STRANGE GHOST STORIES #4, June 1975
















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Before The Harvey Comics

Trivia time.
A lot of people don't know that Casper, Baby Huey, Buzzy Crow, Little Audrey, and the cat and mouse duo Herman And Katnip were NOT original Harvey Comics characters. Actually, all of them were created by the animators at Paramount's Famous Studios, with the exception of Casper, who was created by freelancers that were not on staff.
So there ya go. Y'all just learned something. To help you remember, here's a few pages of comics that pre-date the Harvey era. You'll likely notice that prior to these characters being purchased by Harvey they looked very different. That's very evident. Why they changed the looks, I really don't know for certain. But I believe it was a marketing thing in much the same way that Stan Lee or Walt Disney wanted to have an immediately recognizable style to match their brand names.
But enough of my yammering, just enjoy this brief interlude of golden age goodness. You're welcome.

art and story uncredited
from CASPER #4, March 1951







BONUS! Here's a Baby Huey one pager from the same comic. I actually prefer him looking like a real goose instead of his 'classic' look.



And that just goes to show ya, the real 'goose that laid the golden egg' for the Harvey brothers wasn't the goose, it was the ghost. Casper proved to be infinitely more popular and profitable than Huey (or Audrey, etc, etc).
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Lukewarm's Birthday

At this point, I think y'all know who Hot stuff is, what he's all about, and pretty much the level of insane spuriousness that you can expect from his stories. If by chance this is your first time, then, hey, welcome to the nuthouse. No other character has as many weird stories as Hot Stuff.

from DEVIL KIDS #40, June 1969








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