Hot Stuff, the Little Devil #2

History

Hot Stuff himself had debuted just two months earlier in October 1957's issue #1 — notably without a trial run as a backup feature in Harvey Hits, reflecting genuine publisher confidence in the character from the outset. The actual editorial hand shaping the early issues was Sid Jacobson, who served as the real working editor behind Leon Harvey's credited masthead role; this arrangement, documented in the fan-history volume The Best of the Harveyville Fun Times!, was typical of Harvey's internal structure at the time. Warren Kremer — who had been brought into Harvey in 1948 specifically to bring an animation-influenced design sensibility to the line — was the creative engine for both the lead strip and the new Stumbo backup, working under Jacobson's editorial oversight. The issue was published by Illustrated Humor Inc., Harvey's publishing imprint, and went on sale October 15, 1957, carrying a December 1957 cover date in line with the period's standard newsstand dating conventions.

Trivia · 8 facts

• First appearance of Stumbo the Giant, a backup character created by Warren Kremer (with writing credited to Larz Bourne on Wikipedia), who debuted in a story introducing his world of Tinytown and its residents including Officer O'Floodle.
• Cover-dated December 1957; actual on-sale date documented by the Library of Congress as October 15, 1957 — just two issues and roughly two months into the Hot Stuff series.
• The issue is only the second appearance of Hot Stuff himself, who had debuted in issue #1 (October 1957) — meaning the title's two most enduring characters were both established within its first 60 days of publication.
• Published by Harvey Comics under the Illustrated Humor Inc. indicia; actual editor was Sid Jacobson, though the credited editorial role listed Leon Harvey (vice president) and Robert B. Harvey (business manager/vice president).
• Stories and art by Warren Kremer, who served as the series' primary artist and Harvey's top art editor for 35 years; he had been brought to Harvey in 1948 to introduce a more animation-influenced visual style to the comics.
• The issue contains Hot Stuff stories alongside the debut Stumbo backup strip; the Hot Stuff lead involves an altercation between Hot Stuff and a dim-witted giant, while the Stumbo feature independently establishes the Tinytown setting and its comedic giant-scale-vs.-tiny-town dynamic.
• Material from this issue was reprinted in Hot Stuff Sizzlers #2 (November 1960) and in a foreign edition (Spooky the Tuff Little Ghost, Magazine Management, 1976), indicating the stories retained commercial value for Harvey's reprint program over nearly two decades.
• Stumbo went on to appear in at least eight Harvey titles and received his own solo series, Stumbo Tinytown, which ran from August 1963 to November 1966 — a lineage that traces directly back to this issue's debut backup strip.