The Friendly Ghost, Casper #2

History

Harvey had been publishing Casper comics under license since 1952, but on July 27, 1958 the company purchased the entire Famous Studios cartoon library and character rights outright, precipitating the retirement of the long-running *Casper the Friendly Ghost* title (which ended with #70) and the immediate launch of *The Friendly Ghost, Casper* beginning with issue #1 in August 1958. Issue #2 followed just one month later, staffed by the same Harvey bullpen: pencils and covers by Warren Kremer, who had shaped the character's softer, friendlier comic-book design since his arrival at Harvey in the late 1940s, with Spooky backup art by Howie Post (credited as Howard Post in some issues). Editor Sid Jacobson's approach — giving Casper a stable supporting cast, feet, and ghost-friendly parents rather than dwelling on his origins — had already been established in the earlier series and carried forward intact into this relaunch.

Trivia · 8 facts

• Published September 1958 (some sources indicate October 1958) by Harvey Comics as the second issue of the relaunched 'The Friendly Ghost, Casper' series (1958–1991), which ran for 242 issues.
• The series launched directly after Harvey purchased the entire Famous Studios character library and cartoon shorts on July 27, 1958, making these early issues the first Casper comics published under full Harvey ownership rather than license.
• Cover pencils and interior Casper story art (the three-part 'Red Robbing Hood' sequence) are by Warren Kremer, the artist most closely associated with defining Casper's Harvey-era visual identity.
• The Spooky backup story 'The Faker' — in which Spooky's sore throat forces him to send a stand-in cousin — is drawn by Howard (Howie) Post, who was Spooky's primary artist throughout the early series.
• The Ghostly Trio (Fatso, Stinkie, and Stretch) appear in an untitled story, reflecting their growing role as Casper's mischievous uncles and foils in the Harvey comic-book continuity.
• The issue contains a house advertisement for Harvey's Blondie and Dagwood comics (a licensed newspaper-strip property Harvey had published since the 1940s), explaining the indexing of Blondie Bumstead, Dagwood Bumstead, and Daisy.
• A 'Popeye Color TV Set' advertisement appears in the issue; Popeye, Olive Oyl, and Swee'Pea are indexed as ad characters rather than story participants — Harvey distributed Popeye-branded merchandise at this time, though it did not hold the Popeye comics license.
• A house ad for the Spooky solo title also appears, reflecting Harvey's strategy of cross-promoting its growing stable of ghost-themed titles within each Casper issue from the very beginning of the relaunched series.

Cast · 11 characters

Full credits