Let's enjoy a great character who has gone sadly unappreciated here: Wendy, The Good Little Witch! Like Casper, with whom stories are often shared, Wendy is simply and purely good. The following stories demonstrate her good heart beautifully and also exemplify what I love about Harvey Comics from this period: They are beautifully done stories, with magnificent cartooning, done for kids without the slightest wink to adults. The following artwork, including the cover, is all Warren Kremer - one of the all-time greats (Wendy, The Good Little Witch No. 10, February, 1962).
Thanks for sharing this! I remember reading these stories when I was a kid. I never knew the artist's name until recently (probably learned it here), but I totally agree that he was a great artist for the Harvey characters. These two stories are both very clever and a little off-beat. I'm sure a good little witch must be a tough character to write, but these stories really effectively convey her personality, particularly the cartoonist story. Although I'm sure that even without Wendy's magic wand interfering, a cartoonist would have a hard time keeping Wendy from getting out of character--at least for long.
ReplyDeleteWill we get the other two stories in this issue any time soon? Some great memories here!
Scarcrow: Since you asked, I'll post the Casper and Spooky story included in this issue next post. I loved that first story and wonder if it might be based on one of Harvey's artists wishing to jazz Wendy up a bit, but finding her character simpy too good to mess with.
Deleteoops, sorry,Scarcrow - I won't be able to post the rest of the stories - They are to damaged (scribbled throughout by previous owner) to post.
DeleteHarveys are always fun, Thanks Mykal for sharing!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, KW!
DeleteI think that when people think of comic book witches, poor Wendy gets upstaged by Archie's Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
ReplyDeleteAin't it the truth? The squeaky wheel always gets the grease, even in the comic book world of witches.
DeleteDoesn't this sort of thing ALWAYS happen when an EC Comics artist comes to work for Harvey? Great Stuff1
ReplyDeleteJoe: Great stuff, indeed. I believe Kremer was one of the all around great artists that ever worked in the medium.
ReplyDeleteJust got around to reading this story...that was a good one! Speaking as an artist myself, sometimes my characters seem to do what they want regardless of what I want them to do (although Mervin has the opposite problem of Wendy...I just can't make him do something nice!).
ReplyDeleteLove your stuff, Debbie!
DeleteThanks for the post Mykal! You have opened my eyes to the beauty of these Harvey artists with this and your previous posts! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure, Rich!
DeleteWOW! I'm so happy do discover this blog :) So much to read...
ReplyDeleteBTW -> If you love Disney comics as well, you might enjoy this story I did...
http://panmilus.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-adventures-of-gyro.html
Stories published in the late '60s and during the '70s show Wendy having a feisty streak. That came out whenever she saw people mistreating Casper or one of her other friends.
ReplyDeleteI know! She was very protective of Casper.
DeleteOf course. Even if they couldn't outright say it (despite showing the two on outings together, regularly), Casper was Wendy's "boo", to use a colorful play on words.
DeleteThereaIRNO: That was the feeling.
DeleteI remember stories drawn by Ernie Colon showing the great resourcefulness of both Casper and Wendy. I hope you can reprint the story in which Casper and Wendy are in a conflict with "The Master of Evil." It's obvious who The Master of Evil really is but I guess Harvey had a policy back then which prohibited the use of the word "Satan."
ReplyDeleteColon always brought the darkest edge to Harvey comics.
ReplyDeleteMYKAL, have you ever heard of Casper & The Spectrals? Wendy's amazing in that.
ReplyDeleteLionel: I have not - I'll have to check it out.
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