Hot Stuff in "The Weird Bullfighter"

Here’s a wonderful example of a typical outing for Hot Stuff, the Little Devil. What’s really cool about this is that the un-named bullfighter, while lacking nearly every, single asset important to the trade; simply declares himself a matador! Also, I love the way Hot Stuff, despite his wicked nature, gets himself involved in the plight of this marginal soul, seeing things through to the happy conclusion.

This story is a fine sampling of the charm of Harvey comics. It is also a good example of the elastic line work of the brilliant Howie Post, who did the art. Jeez, Post was fun to look at. There was always something in a Post drawing that made the chuckles come.

This is from Hot Stuff, The Little Devil, No. 86, October, 1968. The scans are from my own comic. Just click on the image for the big picture!

Just for fun, here’s an ad from the same issue. Man, I was so jealous of this kid with his own GRIT business. I never knew a single kid that ever sold GRIT newspapers, and I have never met anyone that ever read it. Still, that smiling kid always seemed like such a go-getter. If you have sold GRIT, or read it, please email me. I'd love to hear of your experience.

HOWIE POST: Hot Stuff and Spooky!

Howie Post passed away May 21st. His work is so cool and funny; so confident, loose, and perfectly free. If I am feeling unhappy, a Howie Post story will always guide me toward sunshine. For that, you gotta love a guy and remember him always. The following Hot Stuff and Spooky stories shine with a pure joy and style that was uniquely Post.

The Weird Laughing Mystery is from Hot Stuff, The Little Devil No. 85, August 1968.

Spooky Mets Horatio and The Scary Secret are both from Spooky No. 46, August 1960.

Stumbo the Giant in "Giant Removal Project"

This Stumbo the Giant story goes out by request to my friend, Chuck Wells, at The Comic Book Catacombs. Mr. Wells is clearly a man of discriminating tastes, as he declares himself a Warren Kremer fan. Kremer was one of the finest artists ever to work in comics, and I believe Stumbo to be some of his best work. The subject really gave him a chance to demonstrate his powerful control of perspective and backgrounds. Dig that awesome splash panel! That's the way the big boys do it.

This is from Hot Stuff - The Little Devil No. 86, October, 1968. All scans are from my own comic. Just click the image for the big picture.

Let's throw in an extra Hot Stuff story from the same issue. The art here, I believe, is by Ernie Colon (No Harvey indexes exist for verification). Colon was a major Harvey artist who specialized in Richie Rich stories and loved the dark, demonic shadowing around the eyes for moments of anger. It is definitely in the Kremer style, but the landscapes seem to lack the Kremer texture. If someone disagrees with my Colon diagnosis, I'm all ears!

It’s a fun story. I love the way the kids treat Hot Stuff just like another kid, despite his horns, pitchfork, and burning red skin which nearly par-boils them in the pool. I love the Harvey universe!

Boys, Girls, Men, Women. I remember staring at this ad as a kid and finding it more confusing than algebra. Paragraph after paragraph of text! How could you make $50.00, $100.00, $200.00 and more in your spare time by knowing 10 people? Was this some sort of con? A Ponzi scheme? The constant reminders that IT COSTS NOTHING TO TRY scared the beans out of me. These were clearly some very, very tricky adults. Wallace Brown, Incoroporated, indeed.