Richie Rich: Most Published Comics Character in History?

I found this quote at a website devoted to Harvey Comics:

'Richie became a major Harvey star, but did not have his own title until 1960. Prior to that, he made two starring appearances in the 'Harvey Hits' anthology series. After that, Richie made up for lost time by adding 'Richie Rich Millions', 'Richie Rich Dollars and Cents', etc. At one point in the 70s, Richie was starring in 32 different titles every two months! More issues and stories have published about Richie Rich than any other character, possibly in the entire history of comics books, with over 2000 issues to his credit.'

Is this true? Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Archie have been appearing at the rate of about one comic a week for decades (more if you take into account specials and guest appearances). Richie may have gotten ahead of these guys in the 1970s, but they have had plenty of time to catch up or pass him.

It's a shame that Richie Rich and the other Harvey characters aren't being published. It would be nice to see either DC or Marvel start collecting those classic comics as trade paperbacks. Richie Rich, Casper, Hot Stuff, Baby Huey, Spooky, and the rest deserve to be back in print!

<< More issues and stories have published about Richie Rich than any other character, possibly in the entire history of comics books, with over 2000 issues to his credit.'

Is this true? Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Archie have been appearing at the rate of about one comic a week for decades (more if you take into account specials and guest appearances). Richie may have gotten ahead of these guys in the 1970s, but they have had plenty of time to catch up or pass him. >><BR><BR>

Number of issues aside, I guess you'd have to factor in how you define 'stories.' Richie would typically have 4 or 5 stories with beginnings, middles and endings per issue, while on the super-hero side of things, it can take a year or two to spin an 'epic' these days.

Of course, those books wouldn't sell in today's comic shops, so it would be best if they were revamped- maybe something like Ultimate Hot Stuff, cowritten by Bill Jemas and Ron Zimmerman. Or Caspar would be revived as the spirit of vengeance. Some of you may feel this is missing the point of the character but it just shows how mature comics are these days. Friendly ghosts are for kids. Angry ghosts are ART. Really.

I find it very unlikely that Richie Rich is the most published comic character, particularly if the 2000 issues figure is accurate.

I'll note that even the person quoted doesn't seem to saying anything definative. Notice the word 'possibly' in the last sentence.

Let's see how Superman stacks up:

Action Comics

I beleive the 2000 number is accurate, but their probably haven't been very many Richie Rich comics made since the seventies. So the total's probally still under say 2500, or if we want to really generous lets sat 3000.

Now start with the 2162 super issues you found.

Once you add Superboy (in all his various titles), Supergirl, Jimmy Olsen, Lois Lane, Super Friends, Superman Family, Justice League, Superman Adventures, many many geust appearances, and well over a hundered issues of one shots and mini-series. Superman should clear 3000 easy.

Even though I'm very sceptical about Richie Rich being the most published character ever he still was an amazingly popular character.

I liked him myself when I was a kid. Though I rarely read his comics (I think I only read one), I watched his saturday morning cartoon all the time.

It would be easy enough to count up those issues if you knew which issues actually had Superman in them. I don't believe he was always in Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen, and he wasn't always in JLA. Also, would you considered images of Superman within stories (such as flashbacks) to constitute appearances? I've got Superman at 2162 comics, so he could should easily clear 3000, but you would need some fair way of counting them.

If he wasn't the most published character in comics history, he's certainly high up there. Just looking at how Superman stacks up against him, I would say Richie would have to be in the top five or perhaps even the top two or three. The only strong contenders to have more appearances would be Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, and Archie. Related characters from those books (Cadbury, Lois Lane, Commisioner Gordon, Veronica, Betty, Jughead) would probably round out the top ten. Richie Rich may not be the most published character, and even if he is Superman and others would soon pass him, but he does appear to be near the top of the list.

I read the comics all the time. When I was a kid I enjoyed picking up Casper, Richie Rich, Hot Stuff, Spooky, Sad Sack, and the others from the spinner rack at the local supermarkets. Those were the first comics I read. Older fans don't seem to have much respect for Casper, Richie Rich, Archie, Jughead, and those other kiddie comics, but those are the comics that made most of us comics fans.