Hot Stuff, the Little Devil #1

History

Warren Kremer — Harvey's art editor for 35 years and the designer who brought animation-quality depth to the company's line at editor Sid Jacobson's urging — is universally credited as the creator and original artist of Hot Stuff. A SDCC panel featuring Kremer's family added a notable production footnote: the character evolved from an earlier, more conventionally rendered devil sketch by Kremer's colleague Steve Mufatti, which Kremer then reworked into the rounded, toddler-proportioned design that appeared in issue #1. Hot Stuff emerged during Harvey's most prolific expansion phase, shortly after Casper and Wendy had established that 'cute monster' characters could anchor long-running solo titles, giving the publisher both creative template and commercial confidence to launch another entry in the same mold.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Hot Stuff the Little Devil, published by Harvey Comics, cover-dated October 1957.
• Created and drawn by Warren Kremer, Harvey's long-serving art editor, who also created Richie Rich and co-defined the visual look of Casper the Friendly Ghost.
• Hot Stuff debuted directly in his own solo title — he never appeared as a backup feature in another book or underwent a tryout run in the Harvey Hits anthology series, which was the standard Harvey audition format.
• The character's defining design elements are all established in this issue: vermillion-red skin, a diaper described in-story as made of asbestos, fire-production abilities, and a sentient pitchfork he calls his 'trusty trident' (nicknamed 'Tridie').
• Hot Stuff's core narrative irony — a devil who instinctively performs good deeds, infuriating his demonic brethren — is the premise of the very first story, in which he introduces himself to the reader.
• The solo series that launched here ultimately ran from 1957 to 1991, producing 177 issues across several hiatuses, with spin-off titles including Hot Stuff Sizzlers (1960), Devil Kids Starring Hot Stuff (1962), and Hot Stuff Creepy Caves (1974).
• Hot Stuff's visual design crossed well beyond comics, being adopted as a mascot by institutions including Dysart High School (El Mirage, AZ), Lindhurst High School (Olivehurst, CA), the 108th Field Battery of the Royal Australian Artillery, and 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron of the Canadian Forces.
• Unlike Casper, Wendy, and Spooky — who crossed over into each other's stories regularly — Hot Stuff was editorially kept in a largely self-contained world throughout the original Harvey run.

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