Spooky the Tuff Little ghost 78

Spooky promises a diamond necklace to his gal, Poil, as he gets mixed up with Uncle Safari to look for treasure in 1964's "The Lost Jewels." I will guess this art is by Howie Post; but it doesn't have the high degree of craziness found in some of his art. The inking here is a bit smoother also; but the cartoony Gollywonks make me think it was Post who drew this story.

Spooky and Poil from Spooky 107: 1968

Happy Valentine's Day!












Thanks MASTERBOWLER for the scans.

Howard Post: R.I.P.

Another veteran comic book artist died recently, Howard (Howie) Post. He was another of those cartoonists I enjoyed without knowing who he was. It wasn't until he created Anthro for DC comics when I discovered his name and was surprised that he also drew many of the Hot Stuff and Spooky comics I loved from Harvey Comics.

Post's cartoonish comic style was more angular and lively than another Harvey Comics artist I admire, Warren Kramer. Like Kramer, Post also had a more realistic style and could be a versatile artist. Thanks for all your hard work.

Spooky and Casper

In the 1960's, the place to see the classic monsters was on TV. I would guess that every television market had at least one horror host hawking their weekly creature features. On the cover to Harvey Comics' 1966 The Tuff Little Ghost, SPOOKY, a trio of the classics monsters are leaping out of a TV screen to spook ol' Spooky himself.

For the cover of Casper, Strange Ghost Stories, #8, from 1976, the friendly, and much too saccharine, ghost turns the tables on the classic monster trio and gives them a shock.

A few weeks ago I went over to the city and visited the Cartoon Art Museum. If you find yourself in San Francisco, and you are a fan of these Harvey comics, you should take the time to look at some of the original art. I found some photos of the August 2008 opening here.

cover art © Harvey Cartoons