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Harvey Comics

From Alfawiki
Harvey Comics
Company typePrivate
IndustryComic books, Publishing, Animation
PredecessorBrookwood Publications
Founded1941 in New York City, United States
FounderAlfred Harvey
Headquarters
Santa Monica
,
United States
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Alfred Harvey, Robert B. Harvey, Leon Harvey, Alan Harvey, Jeffrey Montgomery
ProductsComic books, Animation licenses
ParentThe Harvey Entertainment Company (later)

Harvey Comics—also recognized under names such as Harvey World Famous Comics and Harvey Publications among other imprints—was an American comic book publisher established in New York City in 1941 by entrepreneur Alfred Harvey. This venture began following his acquisition of the modest publisher Brookwood Publications. Shortly thereafter, Alfred's brothers, Robert B. and Leon Harvey, became part of the enterprise. By the 1950s, the company’s primary business strategy revolved around licensed characters. Artist Warren Kremer notably contributed significantly to defining the company’s artistic direction.

Among Harvey Comics’ most iconic figures are Casper the Friendly Ghost and Richie Rich, while its emblematic mascot was Joker, a harlequin jack-in-the-box originally associated with the Noveltoons animated series. The publisher earned acclaim within the industry for capitalizing on animation licenses to broaden its market presence.

History

Founded by Alfred, Leon, and Robert Harvey, the company initially expanded by acquiring Speed Comics from Brookwood Publications. Early offerings included anthology series such as Champion Comics and Pocket Comics; however, only The Black Cat, which featured a Hollywood actress turned superheroine, continued publication into the 1950s.

In 1942, Harvey shifted focus toward licensed characters by taking over publication of the radio hero Green Hornet. The company further diversified its portfolio by securing licensed newspaper strip properties including Joe Palooka, Blondie, and Dick Tracy, establishing a deliberate emphasis on well-known brands to fuel business expansion.

From the 1950s onward, Harvey concentrated on characters licensed from Famous Studios—a division of Paramount Pictures—including Little Audrey, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Baby Huey, and Herman and Katnip. Additionally, it acquired rights to newspaper strips like Mutt and Jeff and Sad Sack, while also creating original characters such as Richie Rich, Little Dot, and Little Lotta. Despite efforts to branch into genres like superhero and horror through imprints like Harvey Thriller and Thrill Adventure, children’s comics remained the cornerstone of their revenue.

In July 1958, Harvey purchased the cartoon library from Famous Studios covering October 1950 through December 1959 (excluding Popeye) along with related character rights. These holdings were repurposed for television under the title The Harveytoons Show, which bolstered Harvey’s international reach in animation distribution. Casper became Harvey’s premier character, supported by associated figures such as Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, The Ghostly Trio, Nightmare, Hot Stuff the Little Devil, and Wendy the Good Little Witch. In 1963, Paramount transferred its pre-March 1962 cartoon library to Harvey for a nominal fee of $1 alongside a $78,000 contract to produce The New Casper Cartoon Show, further enriching Harvey’s content assets.

1980s decline and sale

By the early 1980s, negotiations occurred for Marvel Comics to take over publication of certain Harvey characters. Marvel’s Vice President of Publishing Mike Hobson and Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter assigned editor Tom DeFalco to collaborate with former Harvey staff who had joined Marvel. Nevertheless, on the day Marvel was scheduled to assume control, Harvey Comics retracted due to internal conflicts between brothers Alfred and Leon Harvey. Consequently, Harvey halted comic book production in 1982.

In 1984, Steve Geppi—the proprietor of Diamond Comic Distributors and Geppi's Comic World—acquired Harvey’s entire archive of original artwork from Sad Sack for $50,000. This transaction was conducted with Steve Harvey, who was then president of Harvey Publications Inc. and its Sad Sack subsidiary.

In 1985, Marvel’s Star Comics imprint released Royal Roy, prompting a copyright infringement suit from Harvey alleging it was a copy of Richie Rich. This title had been created by seasoned Harvey writer-artist Lennie Herman before his death in 1983 but ceased after six issues when the lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

Harvey recommenced publishing activities in 1986 under Alan Harvey (Alfred's son), concentrating on core series, digest formats, and reprint editions.

In 1987, Harvey filed a $50 million lawsuit against Columbia Pictures over similarities between the Ghostbusters logo and Fatso from Casper. The court ruled in favor of Columbia due to Harvey’s failure to renew copyrights on early Casper stories combined with the generic depiction of ghost characters.

Subsequent Developments

In 1989, Jeffrey Montgomery's HMH Communications acquired Harvey Comics, rebranding it as Harvey Comics Entertainment and later as The Harvey Entertainment Company, with its headquarters established in Santa Monica, California. The new management concentrated on reintroducing the company's properties through television syndication and print media.

Following these syndication initiatives, Harvey developed original shows including The Baby Huey Show and the 1996 series Richie Rich. Additionally, feature films were produced in collaboration with Universal Pictures, such as Richie Rich and Casper. Production of direct-to-video titles for these franchises was subsequently delegated to Saban Entertainment.

Montgomery was removed from his position in March 1998. After acquiring PM Entertainment and diversifying beyond classic Harvey titles, the company encountered financial challenges. By February 2001, The Harvey Entertainment Company consented to transfer its entire library to Classic Media, a transaction finalized by June of that year.

Characters like Sad Sack and Black Cat continue to be owned by Alan Harvey and are published under Lorne-Harvey Publications and Re-Collections. In 2000, Alan Harvey initiated legal action against Steve Geppi concerning the 1984 purchase of Sad Sack original artwork, accusing him of unauthorized warehouse removal. Geppi responded with a countersuit asserting legitimate ownership. The conflict was resolved in late 2002, resulting in Geppi retaining the artwork without any monetary settlement.

Cartoon Distribution

For an extended period, television distribution rights for the Harveytoons collection were licensed to Worldvision Enterprises, which also controlled rights to earlier Famous Studios and Fleischer Studios cartoons before being absorbed by Paramount Television, the original distributor.

Universal Studios, which holds ownership of pre-1950 Paramount sound features through its television division, maintained video distribution rights to Harvey cartoons until 2001 when Classic Media acquired the catalog. In 2016, these rights reverted to Universal following its acquisition of Classic Media's parent company, DreamWorks Animation, which subsequently produced Harvey Girls Forever!, a series based on Harvey Comics characters.

The Harvey Girls

Casper and Associates

Richie Rich and Companions

  • Richie Rich, known as the Poor Little Rich Boy
  • Reginald "Reggie" Van Dough Jr. (Richie's cousin)
  • Cadbury (Richie's butler)
  • Mr. and Mrs. Rich (Richie's parents)
  • Mayda Munny
  • Gloria Glad (Richie's girlfriend)
  • Irona (Richie's robot maid)
  • Dollar (Richie's dog)
  • Freckles and Pee-Wee (Richie's friends)
  • Jackie Jokers, recognized as the Clown Prince of Show Biz
  • Billy Bellhops
  • Timmy Time

Additional Characters

Golden Age

  • Black Cat (held by the Harvey estate, unrelated to Marvel's version)
  • Black Orchid (not connected to the DC Comics character)
  • Blazing Scarab
  • Blonde Bomber
  • Captain 3-D (property of Simon and Kirby)
  • Captain Freedom
  • Clown
  • Firebrand (separate from the DC Comics character)
  • Fly-Man (created by Sam Glanzman)
  • Girl Commandoes (a multinational female military group featured in Harvey's Speed Comics during World War II)
  • Shock Gibson
  • Barry Kuda
  • Human Meteor
  • Neptina
  • Night Hawk
  • Pat Parker
  • Phantom Sphinx
  • Red Blazer
  • Red Demon
  • Scarlet Arrow
  • Scarlet Nemesis
  • Scarlet Phantom
  • Spirit of '76
  • Spitfire (Mahon)
  • Stuntman (owned by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby)
  • White Mask
  • Zebra

Silver Age (Harvey Thriller)

See also

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