SCOTT SHAW! SATURDAYS…
By SCOTT SHAW!
Didja know that Richie Rich collected comic books? If you look closely at the issue below, you’ll notice that he was very specific in his choices… they were all published by Harvey Comics! And many of those starred Richie himself!
How many Richie Rich comics were published, anyway? Back when kiddie comics were a commonplace genre, it seemed like there were a few new comics that starred Richie Rich adorning spinner racks across the nation every week!
1962
Well, it was an illusion, and a clever one at that. Once the Harvey brothers realized that Richie Rich was their best-selling comic, new Richie titles began to pop up… but none of them were monthly. Some were one-shots, some were bi-monthly, and some were quarterly, all cleverly scheduled so that there were would be a few new Richie Rich comics for sale any given week.
Here’s a list of all of the different titles and issue numbers of the Realm of Richie.
Harvey Collectors Comics: 16 issues
Richie Rich: 258 issues
Richie Rich: 28 issues*
Richie Rich & Billy Bellhops: 1 issue
Richie Rich & Cadbury: 29 issues
Richie Rich & Casper: 45 issues
Richie Rich & Dollar the Dog: 24 issues
Richie Rich & Dot: 1 issue
Richie Rich & Gloria: 16 issues
Richie Rich & His Girl Friends: 16 issues
Richie Rich & Jackie Joker: 48 issues
Richie Rich Adventure Digest: 7 issues
Richie Rich and His Mean Cousin Reggie: 3 issues
1966
Richie Rich & Professor Keenbean: 2 issues
Richie Rich and the New Kids On The Block: 3 issues
Richie Rich and Timmy Time: 1 issue
Richie Rich and…: 11 issues
Richie Rich Bank Book: 59 issues
Richie Rich Best of the Years: 6 issues
Richie Rich Big Book: 2 issues
Richie Rich Big Bucks: 8 issues
Richie Rich Billions: 48 issues
Richie Rich Cash: 47 issues
Richie Rich Cash Money: 2 issues
Richie Rich Diamonds: 59 issues
Richie Rich Digest Magazine: 42 issues
1968
Richie Rich Digest Stories: 17 issues
Richie Rich Digest Winners: 16 issues
Richie Rich Dollars and Cents: 109 issues
Richie Rich Fortunes: 63 issues
Richie Rich Gems: 43 issues
Richie Rich Giant Size: 4 issues
Richie Rich Gold Silver: 42 issues
Richie Rich Gold Nuggets Digest: 4 issues
Richie Rich Holiday Digest Magazine: 5 issues
Richie Rich Inventions: 26 issues
Richie Rich Jackpots: 58 issues
Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest: 10 issues
Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest: 12 issues
1967
Richie Rich Millions: 113 issues
Richie Rich Money World: 59 issues
Richie Rich Money World Digest: 8 issues
Richie Rich Profits: 47 issues
Richie Rich Relics: 4 issues
Richie Rich Riches: 59 issues
Richie Rich Success Stories: 105 issues
Richie Rich Summer Bonanza: 1 issue
Richie Rich Treasure Chest Digest: 3 issues
Richie Rich Vacation Digest: 1 issue*
Richie Rich Vacation Digest ’93 Magazine: 1 issue
Richie Rich Vacation Digest Magazine: 1 issue
Richie Rich Vacations Digest: 9 issues
1977
Richie Rich Vault of Mystery: 5 issues
Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery: 42 issues
Richie Rich Zillions: 33 issues
Richie Rich, Casper and Wendy – National League: 1 issue
Super Richie: 4 issues
Superichie: 14 issues
Therefore, if you’re a Richie Rich collector, there are 58 titles and 1,547 comics out there waiting for you. And since these kiddie comics were ignored by pre-teen and older collectors, many of the early Richie Rich (and other) Harvey funnybooks are scarce and therefore, expensive! Richie Rich might even have second thoughts about acquiring every single one, even though each one bears his name!
Richie’s editor, Sid Jacobson (1929-2022), definitely knew how to squeeze out new stories for all of those Richie Rich titles. But when he shifted over to Marvel’s new Star Comics line for the kiddos in the 1980s, he proved to be a man with a tiny sense of imagination.
In the first wave of Star Comics was Royal Roy, a wealthy teenage prince, who closely resembled a slightly older version of Richie Rich. Since the readers of Royal Roy were noticing his resemblance to Richie Rich – right down to their identical initials – why wouldn’t Harvey Comics’ staff? Soon, Marvel received a “cease and desist” letter from Harvey’s lawyer.
Unlike Richie Rich’s 1,547 comics, Royal Roy lasted for a whopping six issues, so if you’re yearning for Royal Roy’s Vaults of Mystery, you might switch to collecting Harvey’s Bunny — “The Queen of the In-Crowd” — another Oddball series that deserves to be unveiled… and will! Stay tuned, folks!
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MORE
— ODDBALL COMICS: 1961’s BATMAN #145 — THE SON OF THE JOKER. Click here.
— ODDBALL COMICS: 1967’s CHARLTON PREMIERE #2. Click here.
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For over half a century, SCOTT SHAW! has been a pro cartoonist/writer/designer of comic books, animation, advertising and toys. He is also a historian of all forms of cartooning. Scott has worked on many underground comix and mainstream comic books, including: Fear and Laughter (Kitchen Sink); Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie); Simpsons Comics (Bongo); Weird Tales of the Ramones (Rhino); and his co-creation with Roy Thomas, Captain Carrot and his Amazing Zoo Crew! (DC).
Scott also worked on numerous animated cartoons, including producing/directing John Candy’s Camp Candy (NBC/DIC/Saban); Martin Short’s The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley (NBC/Hanna-Barbera Productions); Garfield and Friends (CBS/Film Roman); and the Emmy-winning Jim Henson’s Muppet Babies (CBS/Marvel Productions), among many others. As senior art director for the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency, Scott worked on dozens of commercials for Post Pebbles cereals with the Flintstones. He also designed a line of Hanna-Barbera action figures for McFarlane Toys.
Scott was one of the comics fans who organized the first San Diego Comic-Con, where he has become known for performing his hilarious Oddball Comics Live! slide shows.
Need funny cartoons for any and all media? Click here! Scott does commissions!
May 4, 2025
I got every first issue of the first wave of Star Comics by mailing in box tops. I was 10. Of course, as a fan of Richie Rich, I noticed the similarities right away too, including the alliterative, same letter initials. While Royal Roy was fine, he was no Wally the Wizard or Top Dog.
May 4, 2025
I agree with Lisa Simpson that Casper was the ghost of Richie Rich, atoning for the sins of capitalism.
May 5, 2025
Not that I WANT a resurrection of Richie Rich by any means, but I do admit if they wanted to bring the character back as some kind of Tik-Tok/Instagram “influencer”, then it could work.
Doesn’t mean I am dying to read the adventures of a person that is going to have more money that I could ever dream of even seeing…
May 10, 2025
I remember there being lots of alternative Richie Rich titles—Billion, Zillions, Gems, etc.—and thanks to this article I understand why they made them. But as a kid, I always wondered what was distinctive about these other titles. Unless they mentioned a specific character in the title, they just seemed like regular Richie Rich stories.