Customer Reviews

Harvey Comics Classics Volume 1: Casper (Harvey Comic Classics) (v. 1)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

If you've seen my review of Sid Jacobson's book Ultimate Casper, this book is even better. In fact, if I could give it six stars, I would. This is the best treatment of a Harvey character that I have seen. This time the book presents Casper in a truly historical perspective, giving a brief history and also reprinting stories from not only the Harvey days, but the prior St. John days, including Casper's first appearance in comic books.

Some may quibble about the black and white artwork, but Leslie Cabarga explains it well in his editor's notes that the original artwork and silver prints were used for this high quality production. Jerry Beck informed me that this volume should be compared to the likes of the "Marvel Essentials" or "DC Showcase" series than the "Marvel Masterpieces" or "DC Archives". In fact this book has much better paper and reproduction than the black and white Marvel and DC volumes and it is a miracle that this was even produced.

I am looking forward to future volumes of this series. Richie Rich is next and Hot Stuff is scheduled to be third. If proven successful, Dark Horse should continue to re-present every major and minor Harvey character over the next few years and the possibility of a new comic book line may develop.

For those looking to investigate the history of Harvey in greater detail, I'd recommend The Best of The Harveyville Fun Times!

The book is beautifully put together but the earliest stories, when Casper was a bland comic version of a tedious animated series, are over-represented. Harvey comics were a lot more interesting in the sixties and early seventies, when their characters became more idiosynchratic and storylines were engagingly offbeat. Casper developed into an almost neurotically earnest do-gooder, often hilariously mishandling situations because of his pollyana-ish view of humanity. The book doesn't go past the early sixties, unfortunately--this is fine if it's just the first of a series, but it is by no means representative of Casper's best. Some of his later stories--such as one in which he becomes the pawn of a Latin American dictator, and another involving alien robots who abduct his friends and transform them into consumer credit junkies--rank with the best in the history of comics. Additionally, a considerable portion of this volume was devoted to Spooky, another great Harvey character who had several monthly titles of his own and certainly deserves a separate book!

I don't know why cartoon comic strips went out of style. I am glad that there is someone else who has not forgotten them. Richie Rich was one of my favorite comic strips, and still would be if Harvey Comics were still in business.

It is interesting to see how the comic strip developed. Casper's spooky roommates vary between two and four, and finally settle on three. The book also contains Nightmare's first appearance.

In a couple of ways, the comic strip was not as socially acceptable as it is now. A couple of times, Casper felt rejected because everyone was afraid of him, and therefore tried to commit suicide. (As the author of the introduction comments, this shows that ghosts are not already dead in this finctional context.) The book also contains Wendy the Good Witch's first appearance. In the earlier episodes, Casper's relationship with Wendy was not as Platonic as it was in later episodes.

Just one disappointments: Most of the stories are printed in black-and-white. The book might be much more expensive otherwise.

Thank you, Dark Horse Books!

The first thing that's off-putting about this book is that it's mostly in black and white.

The reason given by the editor, Leslie Cabarga, is that these cleaned-up silverprint proofs are sharper than the artwork as originally published in the cheap comic book format. The artwork is here published in a "purer" form, in which to enjoy its line quality, rather than that of the campy, cheaply printed original comics with their bleeding lines and color registers.

I feel that if the editors had managed to find and scan the original artwork, with paste-ins, white-outs and other bits of the handmade process this might have been interesting (there's a tantalizing example of this on page 22). But instead the look is slick and a bit dull. The few color stories make one yearn for more, for example in the wonderfully expressive use of dark greens on page 289, a later Harvey story. It feels like a lost opportunity.

The other problem is the lack of credit to the artists and writers in the table of contents, although a few are mentioned in passing in the introduction.

Even though these stories were probably studio efforts with many artists lending a hand, it should have been part of the scholarship to at least give broad credit to the likely artists and writers involved in the individual stories, with mention of the many who may have played a role.

This work obviously isn't up to the standards of Winsor McCay or even Jack Kirby. But these creators were still seasoned professionals who created and developed a memorable and beloved character (an Iraqi friend remembers watching the cartoons in Baghdad).

We'll have to wait for the definitive Casper book - unfortunately this isn't it.

though i greatly enjoyed this book, i am anxious for the follow up with WENDY THE GOOD WITCH. please pass this suggestion on to the publishers.

Growing up back in the 70s and 80s, one of the fondest memories I had was reading Harvey Comics. Long before Universal came out with the live-action film, Paramount once created a tale about a spook who was friendly, prefering not to scare.

Thus Casper was born (or 'unborn' depending on how you view it). This collection shows the Friendly Ghost's beginnings from when Paramount owned the rights, to when Harvey Comics picked up the ghost.

In another product, "The Ultimate Casper", Sid Jacobson (once Editor-In-Chief for Harvey Comics) claimed when Harvey obtained the rights for the Friendly Ghost in 1960, many things changed.

One thing was that Casper now lived in a mystical realm known as the Enchanted Forest, where he lived in a haunted house with the Ghostly Trio. Whereas his good friends, Wendy, Spooky and Hot Stuff lived as well and resided. But also Casper was no longer just a ghost looking for a friend, but sort of Harvey's own version of a superhero, since he now helped practically anyone in trouble, even when they didn't want his help.

The thing I love about Dark Horse's collection is they have done some thorough research with the character, and provided the best stories where you can witness Casper's evolution from his Paramount waif incarnate to the more popularized one made by Warren Kremer, Ernie Colon, and other artists who worked on the series for almost over 50 years.

If you're an avid Harvey fan, or a collector of classic comics, I recommend investing with this Harvey Collection of Casper, as well as the other upcoming title, Richie Rich, and later Hot Stuff.

Because these books definitely are worth the trip down memory lane when comics proved they could be entertaining without having to rely on villains all the time, or Universe-endangering threats.

And it demonstrates how Harvey Comics managed to stay in business for several decades, producing over hundreds of comics for their weekly series. Which is indeed remarkable. I defintely recommend giving these books worth a look!

If you're looking for a comicbook that you can read to a really young child - say, someone five years old or younger -- this collection is a great option. Sadly, these days (2008) there just isn't anything on the market that fills such a need, other than reprint books like this one and the Disney reprints from Gladstone Press. Modern comics are almost entirely geared towards an older audience, and they are almost universally violent -- funny animals and the Lone Ranger just aren't on the table anymore.

I bought this for my kid and we have been enjoying it quite a bit. It's nice to find a comic that doesn't have a bazillion guns in it, or bimbo-y superheroines in skintight costumes, or more guns, or mutant this, mutant that. I never really liked Harvey books that much when I was a kid (they seemed too wimpy and I preferred superhero books) but now, as a parent, I'm into it. These stories are "age appropriate," as they say, and can help the littlest readers discover joys of the comicbook medium, without imposing any disturbing imagery or weird social messages.

I would love to see more of this old stuff out in color... And hey, Dark Horse: can you do something with "Wendy The Good Little Witch" and "Little Dot"? In color?? Pleeeeeeeeeze??? I'll buy it. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain children's book reviews)

I was completely delighted to read this collection of vintage Casper comics. The stories trace Casper's development from the early one-dimensional "Eek! It's a g-g-ghost!" period through to the richly imagined world of the Enchanted Forest. It's a fascinating journey, charming in the extreme. The crisply reproduced art is a joy to behold because the original proofs seem to have been used as the source material for most of this book. Casper's adventures hold up to my adult sensibilities far better than I would have expected. I look forward to more volumes in this Harvey Comics series--Hot Stuff, Little Dot, Little Audrey (already have the Richie Rich volume)--but there's more than enough material for several more Casper volumes. I hope we see them sooner rather than later.

I bought this for my 7 year old newphew and I am sorely disappointed that it is black and white. A couple of comics appear in color which further highlights how much better this would be in color. I grew up with casper and richie rich comics and they were color. They give an excuse about original prints being B&W in the book - but let's be frank, they did it to lower the cost. And it is AWFUL!

I bought this for my 7 year old newphew and I am sorely disappointed that it is black and white. A couple of comics appear in color which further highlights how much better this would be in color. I grew up with casper and richie rich comics and they were color. They give an excuse about original prints being B&W in the book - but let's be frank, they did it to lower the cost. And it is AWFUL!