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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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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DEVIL CHICKEN

Add this to the category of "Things You Don't See Everyday": a devil chicken. And just what is a devil chicken? Well, read on....

from DEVIL KIDS #100, August 1980




You'd think he would've learned his lesson after the last time he tried to eat an egg. And also, wouldn't you think a devil chicken would lay deviled eggs? That would come in handy around Thanksgiving time I think.





Yep, stuck babysitting again. A suitable ending, I think.
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DOUBLE FEATURE: Hot Stuff And Stumbo The Giant

Today we're going to look at two legendary ground-breaking stories (not really) from the "House Of Ideals", Harvey Comics.

from DEVIL KIDS #4, January 1963







In a rare instance, Harvey Comics tries a slight homage at the old EC line with a twist ending. Possibly a first in the post-code era (trivia buffs will know that Harvey had the distinction of publishing a comic with the most disgusting cover of all time).
Next up, from the same comic, another short featuring our favorite golden-hearted idiot, STUMBO:







Yes, Stumbo did "break the fourth wall" right there in that last panel, years before Ambush Bug or Deadpool made it popular.

So there you have it, folks! Two stories (in one issue, even) that set the standard for years to come (not really).
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HOT STUFF: BABYSITTER EXTRAORDINAIRE

In what was a constantly recurring theme in the Hot Stuff stories, he's stuck babysitting someone; usually against his will. More often than not, he was stuck watching one of his weird little devil cousins, but in this particular instance he gets stuck with a little fairy girl that apparently is a total stranger(?!?). Parents, don't try this at home.

from DEVIL KIDS #1, July 1962






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Hot Stuff vs The Tuff Egg

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: when those guys at Harvey took off with an idea, they took it pretty far. This Hot Stuff short is one of the weirdest I've seen in a while (and that's saying a lot considering that the Hot Stuff series always were much more fantastic and whimsical than any of the others in Harvey's line).

It's pretty common for Hot Stuff to run into the strangest assortment of characters (fruits, vegetables, animals, even rocks and trees are shown as sentient at various times), but this here takes 'bizarre' to whole new levels.

from DEVIL KIDS STARRING HOT STUFF #2, September 1962



The eggs are alive and talking, yet he's still going to eat them. Strange, yes, but it gets better.



An egg with a steel shell that smokes cigars and bites devils.... (just try pitching that character to today's publishers)..oh yeah, and he's willing to send his other eggs on a kamikaze mission.



Pretty danged violent for a "code approved" all-ages title, ain't it?



Nobody saw those plot twists coming.



Even after they're fried, the eggs still have faces on them??!! I don't think the eggs were the only ones who got fried.

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Dream a little dream...

Millions of Americans suffer with sleep disorders, and Hot Stuff is one of them.

If you have trouble sleeping, hopefully you get better results than he does in this story:

by Warren Kremer
from HOT STUFF #11, March 1994





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