Richie Rich (comics)

Richard "Richie" $ Rich, Jr. (often stylized as Ri¢hie Ri¢h)^[1][2][3] is a fictional character in the Harvey Comics universe. He debuted in Little Dot #1, cover-dated September 1953, and was created by Alfred Harvey and Warren Kremer. Dubbed "the poor little rich boy," Richie is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents and is the world's richest kid. So rich, his middle name is a dollar sign, $.^[4]

During Harvey Comics' heyday (1950–1982), Richie was the publisher's most popular character, eventually starring in over fifty separate titles, including such long-running comics as Richie Rich, Richie Rich Millions, Richie Rich Dollars and Cents, and Richie Rich Success Stories.

In 2011 Ape Entertainment began publishing a new licensed Richie Rich comic book series, taking the character in a very different, action-oriented, direction.^[5]

Publication history

Cover of Richie Rich No. 254 (Jan. 1991), the final issue of the flagship series.

Although created in 1953, Richie didn't have his own title until 1960. Once he did, however, he quickly became Harvey's most popular character,^[6] eventually starring in over fifty separate titles. The flagship, Richie Rich, ran 254 issues from 1960 to 1991 (with a hiatus from 1982–1986), followed by a second volume which ran an additional 28 issues from 1991–1994. Other long-running titles were Richie Rich Millions (113 issues from 1961–1982), Richie Rich Dollars and Cents (109 issues from 1963–1982), and Richie Rich Success Stories (105 issues from 1964–1982). (Harvey ceased publishing in 1982, but started up again in 1986 under new ownership;^[7] this hiatus resulted in the cancellation of many titles.) Richie (along with many of the Harvey characters) have been published only sporadically since 1994.

Writers for the Richie Rich comic books and syndicated comic strip included Sid Jacobson, Lennie Herman, Stan Kay, and Ralph Newman. Richie Rich's most famous illustrator is Warren Kremer. Other illustrators included Ernie Colón, Sid Couchey, Dom Sileo, Ben Brown, Steve Muffatti, and Joe Dennett.

Character

Despite any negative stereotypes associated with his incredible wealth, Richie Rich is portrayed as kind and charitable. (In fact, his moniker is "the poor little rich boy.") He lives in an expensive mansion and owns at least two of everything money can buy. Richie appears to be around seven to ten years old and wears a waistcoat, a white shirt with an Eton collar (which is obscured by a giant red bow tie), and blue shorts. He occasionally attends school in his hometown of Richville. Other times he's classmates with Little Dot and Little Lotta in Bonnie Dell^[8]

Ape Entertainment

For the Ape Entertainment comic book series debuting in 2011, the character was updated by emphasizing his altruistic side: "A mix of James Bond and Indiana Jones with the bank account of Donald Trump, Richie Rich is an altruistic adventurer who travels the world helping the less fortunate!"^[9] The new Richie was joined by updated versions of his robot maid Irona and his butler Cadbury.^[5]

Supporting characters

Rich family

• Mr. Richard Rich Sr. – Richie's father; an industrialist (first appearance Little Dot #3)
• Mrs. Regina Rich – Richie's mother (first appearance Little Dot #1)
• Aunt Noovo Rich (a pun on the French term nouveau riche) – Richie's wealthy but very eccentric aunt who is crazy about posting signs; has a tendency to show off her wealth. She is Mr. Rich's sister.
• Aunt Mintley – Oft-bewildered aristocrat.
• Aunt Cleo — animal lover
• Uncle Worry – Richie's uncle, former coach of a professional football team known for its long losing streak
• Uncle Stormy – Another of Richie's uncles, whom Richie initially mistakes for an impostor named Blackie Bludsoe in one issue
• Dollar – Rich family dog, a "Dollarmatian" (like a Dalmatian, but with dollar signs instead of spots).

Van Dough family

• Reginald "Reggie" Van Dough Jr. – Richie's mean cousin, known for playing constant pranks on everyone, most notably Richie and his family, which causes his father to punish him. Treats his servants shabbily (often by calling them "peasant," which causes them to call him "monster", but they swiftly correct themselves and call him Master). (first appearance Little Dot #2)
• Reginald Van Dough Sr. – Reggie's father, often angered with Reggie's non-stop pranks, and often punishes him for them (usually by spanking).
• Vanessa Van Dough – Reggie's mother; not as quick to punish Reggie for his pranks, but she doesn't tolerate Reggie's unabashed cruelty either. It is never clearly determined whether Vanessa is related to Richie's mother or his father.
• Penny Van Dough – Reggie's baby sister, she talks only in "baby talk." The curl on her head is shaped like a dollar sign.

Richie's friends

• Gloria Glad – Richie's redhead crush, notorious for her regular refusal of the many luxurious gifts Richie offers, and for her disdain for the open display of money, diamonds and other forms of wealth in Richie's household, despite his efforts to conceal it from her. Regardless, she always wins his attentions in comparison to Mayda Munny.
• Mayda Munny – (whose name is a play on the phrase "made of money") Richie's snobby ravenette wannabe-girlfriend, who never wins his attentions. Immensely jealous of Gloria, and often angry when her plans to snare Richie's attention backfire on her. Like Reggie, Mayda is snobbish and addresses those beneath her as "peasant".
• Freckles and Pee-Wee Friendly – Richie's poor but most-prized friends (first appearance Little Dot #2)
• Billy Bellhops – A redheaded boy who worked as a bellhop at his father's hotel. Premiered in "Richie Rich and Billy Bellhops" in 1977 but was short-lived.^[10]
• Timmy Time – An extraterrestrial boy who time-travels to present-day Earth with his robot friend Traveler (landing on the Riches' private beach) from the year 2019 in search of tholarine, a substance he needs for spaceship fuel back in 2019. Premiered in "Richie Rich and Timmy Time" in 1977 but was short-lived.^[11]

Rich employees

• Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury – The Riches' butler who attends to the Rich estate. British born, Cadbury gives the image of propriety and servility. When need demands, however, he becomes a tough, gun-toting man of action. He is also a master hypnotist, ventriloquist and wood-carver.
• Irona – The Riches' robot maid and Richie's bodyguard
• Bascomb – The Riches' chauffeur
• Chef Pierre – The Riches' chef extraordinaire
• Mr. Cheepers – Mr. Rich's accountant
• Mr. Woody – The incompetent Rich estate carpenter whose work falls apart with a light touch
• Nurse Jenny – The Rich family nurse; was Richie's nanny when he was a baby
• Professor Keenbean – The head of the Rich research and development department and Richie's personal tutor
• Professor Mindblow – A worker at the research and development department.
• Chadwick – The Riches' assistant butler
• Minnie Mintz – One of the Riches' cooks
• Captain Fuzzby – A member of the Riches' estate police

Villains

• The Onion – A recurring villain with horrible onion-powered breath capable of knocking victims unconscious with a trademark "hashoo!"
• Dr. Blemish – A recurring villain, an evil genius scientist and nemesis of Prof. Keenbean.
• Dr. N-R-Gee – A recurring villain with the distinguishing feature of a huge red light bulb for a head, caused when scientist Phil Lament (a pun referring to a light bulb's "filament") suffered an electrical accident in his lab.
• The Condor – A billionaire mastermind with his own terrorist army, and the Rich Family's worst enemy, whose only desire is to take over Mr. Rich's empire.

In other media

Animated TV series

• Beginning in 1980, Richie Rich appeared in his own Saturday morning cartoon show, Richie Rich where Richie Rich was voiced by Christian Hoff and then Sparky Marcus. The show aired on The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show from 1980–82 and The Pac-Man/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show from 1982–84. In the animated version, Richie and his pals are somewhat older, around 12 years old. In the cartoon, Richie wears a red sweater with the letter "R" in front. Gloria was voiced by Nancy Cartwright, with the voice talents of Dick Beals as Reggie Van Dough, William Callaway as Professor Keanbean, Joan Gerber as Irona and Regina Rich, Christian Hoff as Freckles and Pee-Wee, Stanley Jones as Cadbury and Mr. Rich, and Frank Welker as Dollar.
• In 1996, the second and most recent Richie Rich animated television series aired in non-network syndication, starring Katie Leigh as the voice Richie Rich and Irona. The series ran for 13 episodes and portrayed Richie in his "classic" tuxedo outfit. The show also features the voice talents of Jeannie Elias as Freckles, Gloria Glad, Reggie Van Dough, and Pee-Wee, René Auberjonois as Richard Rich, Chef Pierre, and Professor Keanbean, Pat Fraley as Dollar, Martin Jarvis as Cadbury and Bascomb, and Susan Silo as Regina Rich.
• Richie Rich was parodied in the Adult Swim cartoon Robot Chicken with the TV show MTV Cribs, where the character is portrayed as a playboy and a rapper, and he shows his house on the same style as the MTV show.

Live action TV series

Netflix has ordered a half-hour comedy series titled Richie Rich with Jake Brennan starring as Richie Rich, along with Joshua Carlon, Jenna Ortega, Lauren Taylor, Kiff Vanden Heuvel, and Brooke Wexler. The show is executive produced by Jeff Hodsden and Tim Pollack, from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and A.N.T. Farm. The show is produced by DreamWorks Animation.^[12]

Movies

• Richie Rich, a live action film adaptation, was released in 1994, with Macaulay Culkin as the titular character, Edward Herrmann as Richard Rich, Christine Ebersole as Regina Rich, Jonathan Hyde as Cadbury, Michael McShane as Professor Keanbean, John Larroquette as the evil Laurence Van Dough, and Frank Welker providing special vocal effects. It was produced by Silver Pictures Davis Entertainment and released by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label.
• A live-action sequel, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish, followed in 1998. This film starred David Gallagher as the titular character replacing Macaulay Culkin, Martin Mull as Richard Rich, Lesley Ann Warren as Regina Rich, Keene Curtis as Cadbury, Don McLeod as Irona, Michelle Trachtenberg as Gloria, Eugene Levy as Professor Keanbean, and Jake Richardson as Reggie Van Dough.

Titles published

Published by Harvey Comics unless otherwise noted

• Richie Rich
  • vol. 1 (Nov. 1960 – Jan. 1991)—254 issues
  • vol. 2 (Mar. 1991 – Nov. 1994)—28 issues
• Richie Rich Adventure Digest
• Richie Rich and... (Oct. 1987 – May 1990)—11 issues; each issue had a different guest star whose name became a part of the title for that issue only
• Richie Rich and Billy Bellhops
• Richie Rich and Cadbury (Oct. 1977 – Jan. 1991)—29 issues
• Richie Rich and Casper (Aug. 1974 – Sept. 1982)—45 issues
• Richie Rich and Casper in 3-D
• Richie Rich and Dollar (Sept. 1977 – Aug. 1982)—24 issues
• Richie Rich and Little Dot
• Richie Rich and Gloria (Sept. 1977 – Sept. 1982)—25 issues
• Richie Rich and His Girlfriends (Apr. 1979 – Dec. 1982)—16 issues
• Richie Rich and Jackie Jokers (Nov. 1973 – Dec. 1982)—48 issues
• Richie Rich and New Kids on the Block
• Richie Rich and Professor Keenbean
• Richie Rich and Reggie
• Richie Rich and Timmy Time
• Richie Rich Bank Book (Oct. 1972 – Sept. 1982)—59 issues
• Richie Rich Best of the Years Digest
• Richie Rich Big Book
• Richie Rich Big Bucks
• Richie Rich Billions (Oct. 1974 – Oct. 1982)—48 issues
• Richie Rich Cash (Sept. 1974 – Aug. 1982)—47 issues
• Richie Rich Cash Money
• Richie Rich, Casper, and Wendy
• Richie Rich Diamonds (Aug. 1972 – Aug. 1982)—59 issues
• Richie Rich Digest (Oct. 1986 – Oct. 1994)—42 issues
• Richie Rich Digest Stories (Oct. 1977 – Oct. 1982)—17 issues
• Richie Rich Digest Winners (Dec. 1977 – Sept. 1982)—16 issues
• Richie Rich Dollars and Cents (Aug. 1963 – Aug. 1982)—109 issues
• Richie Rich Fortunes (Sept. 1971 – July 1982)—63 issues
• Richie Rich Gems (Sept. 1974 – Sept. 1982)—43 issues
• Richie Rich Giant Size
• Richie Rich Gold and Silver (Sept. 1975 – Oct. 1982)—42 issues
• Richie Rich Gold Nuggets Digest
• Richie Rich Holiday Digest
• Richie Rich Inventions (Oct. 1977 – Oct. 1982)—26 issues
• Richie Rich Jackpots (Oct. 1972 – Aug. 1982)—58 issues
• Richie Rich Million Dollar Digest
• Richie Rich Millions (Sept. 1961 – Oct. 1982)—113 issues
• Richie Rich Money World (Sept. 1972 – Sept. 1982)—59 issues
• Richie Rich Money World Digest
• Richie Rich Movie Adaptation
• Richie Rich Profits (Oct. 1974 – Sept. 1982)—47 issues
• Richie Rich Relics
• Richie Rich Riches (July 1972 – Aug. 1982)—59 issues
• Richie Rich Success Stories (Nov. 1964 – Sept. 1982)—105 issues
• Richie Rich Summer Bonanza
• Richie Rich Treasure Chest Digest
• Richie Rich Vacation Digest
• Richie Rich Vacation Digest Magazine
• Richie Rich Vacation Digest '93 Magazine
• Richie Rich Vaults of Mystery (Nov. 1974 – Sept. 1982)—47 issues
• Richie Rich Zillionz (Oct. 1976 – Sept. 1982)—33 issues
• SupeRichie

See also

• Rollo (in Nancy)
• Wilbur Van Snobbe (in Little Lulu)
• Lord Snooty (in The Beano UK Comics)
• Royal Roy, (a Star Comics answer to Richie Rich)

References

External links

• Richie Rich at the Internet Movie Database
• Richie Rich at the Comic Book DB