Memory Lane -- Funny Books

Last week I talked about some fad foods that existed when I was a kid.

It seems to me, that except for Archie Comics, I rarely see humorous comic books anymore. They are all about superheros, which is fine in its own way. Superheros have been around almost as long as comic books have, but now that's all there is.

I want to remember some old comic titles that existed when I was a kid, and they really were funny books. Let's talk about Harvey Comics that existed when I was a child. Some of the characters from these books are still part of our culture such as Casper the Friendly Ghost (one of the world's most recognized icons), Wendy the Good Little Witch (who was played by Hilary Duff when she was a still a little girl in the movie Casper and Wendy) or Richie Rich (who was also the subject of a movie). These ones are still part of our popular culture, but others have been forgotten, some deservedly so and others sadly so.

Remember the worlds largest (and dumbest baby) -- Baby Huey! My mother used to say in disgust that she hated that particular comic whenever he showed up in any fashion or form (a comic book or cartoon on TV). He was probably my least favorite as well. Oddly, I can still remember several stories that he was involved in, perhaps more than the comics that I actually liked better.







Then of course there was Casper's pugnacious friend Spooky the tough little ghost. His pushy, tough-guy persona is etched into my memory but I cannot recall any actual stories of him.








Little Audrey was just a little girl who found a lot of strange adventures in her life. There was her friend Little Dot, a girl obsessed with dots. There was Little Lotta who was a BIG girl and the stories centered on her weight, appetite and prodigious strength.









There was also Hot Stuff who was a little demon and of course, my favorite, an inept army private named Sad Sack, who was almost a prototype of Beetle Baily. I was going to post pictures of all of them but Blogger is not letting me. Further information and pictures of them can be seen at Harveyville Fun Times, which is where I found these pictures.

Of course many other titles existed, and there were other companys printing real funny books in the days when comic books did not necessarily mean super heros. Do remember, and did you enjoy these when you were younger?