Harvey #2

January 1999 - This unusual magazine was one of a multitude of short-lived attempts the Harvey company made to bring their legendary stable of comics characters back into the limelight.

Richie Rich holds the record for the most amount of regular, ongoing series bearing his name--33( I believe(!)--so its sorta sad that Richie, Casper, Hot Stuff, and all the other Harvey favorites are nowhere to be seen on the comics racks nowadays. (Though you can see Casper in animated films, and Hot Stuff on a lot of Goth Chicks' skin)

This magazine is similar to the Superman & Batman Magazine I've talked about here before--a slick, high-quality magazine filled with comics, photo features, games, and puzzles.

The first feature is "The Clowns of C.I.R.C.U.S.", written by Craig Shemin and drawn by Rick Geary!:

...this sequence runs eight pages and has that great, distinctive Geary look. While there's nothing here inappropriate for kids, I've always found Geary's style to have an edge to it, something I can't quite put my finger on.

Next is a piece about...an upcoming live-action Baby Huey movie?:

...my only response to this pictures is...what the hell?!? How does one repel wearing a giant duck suit?

Next is a piece called "Art Gallery" featuring works by Renoir, then some poems by Elise Maclay--Harvey clearly trying to bring some culture to their audience.

There's a cut-out "Funny Face Machine" drawn by Geary, and then the return of everyone's favorite boy ghost, Casper!, by the classic Harvey team of Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon:

There's also a 1999 calendar featuring the Harvey stable of characters, a comic feature called "Bouchon and His Little Friend Dash" by Andre Taymans and J.F. Di Giorgio, a "Draw Baby Huey" contest, "Zoo Crew" by B.K. Taylor and Tex Ragsdale, "How to Draw Wendy", and a text piece called "Little Lotta's Hospital Visit", presumably about her diabetes.

I couldn't find much information on this magazine; its not listed on the GCDB, so I have no idea how many issues this ran. It's not a bad mix of kids material, though the cover is less than inspiring. I think I would've hired Colon to do it.