Richie Rich (character)

Richard "Richie" $ Rich Jr. (often stylized as Ri¢hie Ri¢h) is a fictional character in the Harvey Comics universe. He debuted in the comic book Little Dot #1, cover-dated September 1953, and was created by Alfred Harvey with artists Warren Kremer and/or Steve Muffatti. Dubbed "the poor little rich boy", Richie is the only child of fantastically wealthy parents and is the world's richest kid. He is so rich, his middle name is a dollar sign, $.
During Harvey Comics' heyday from 1950 to 1982, Richie was the publisher's most popular character, eventually starring in over 50 separate titles, including the long-running comics 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.
Although created in 1953, Richie did not have his own title until 1960. Once he did, however, he quickly became Harvey's most popular character, eventually starring in over fifty separate titles. The flagship, Richie Rich, ran 254 issues from 1960 to 1991 (with a hiatus from 1982 to 1986), followed by a second volume that ran an additional 28 issues from 1991 to 1994.
Other long-running titles were Richie Rich Millions (113 issues from 1961 to 1982), Richie Rich Dollars and Cents (109 issues from 1963 to 1982), and Richie Rich Success Stories (105 issues from 1964 to 1982).
In 1972, Harvey realized that Richie was its most lucrative character, and introduced five new Richie Rich titles: Richie Rich Bank Book, Richie Rich Diamonds, Richie Rich Jackpots, Richie Rich Money World and Richie Rich Riches. By the mid-1970s, says historian Mark Arnold, "Richie was starring in 32 different titles every 60 days... Certainly Richie was the most successful feature in American comic books in the 1970s."
Harvey ceased publishing in 1982, but started up again in 1986 under new ownership; this hiatus resulted in the cancelation of many titles. Richie (along with many of the Harvey characters) has 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.
Despite negative stereotypes associated with his incredible wealth, Richie Rich is portrayed as unfailingly 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, with a round cherubic face and parted blond hair. His typical attire is a waistcoat, a white shirt with an Eton collar (which is obscured by a giant red bow tie), and blue shorts. He was occasionally shown attending school in his hometown of Harveyville. Other times he is classmates with Little Dot and Little Lotta in Bonnie Dell.
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 world's biggest bank account, Richie is an altruistic adventurer who travels the world helping the less fortunate!" The new Richie was joined by updated versions of his robot maid Irona and his butler Cadbury.
A half-hour comedy series titled Richie Rich debuted in 2015 on Netflix, with Jake Brennan starring as Richie Rich, along with Joshua Carlon, Jenna Ortega, Lauren Taylor, Kiff VandenHeuvel, and Brooke Wexler. However, the series is very different from the original and the rest of the original main characters were replaced, like Herbert Cadbury their butler and Professor Keenbean head of Rich's research and development, the only exception is Irona. Unlike the comic book version, Richie is not born wealthy and is a self-made trillionaire. Unlike the comics in this series, Richie has a sister, instead of being an only child, and both of them are raised by a single parent, their father. The show was executive produced by Jeff Hodsden and Tim Pollack from The Suite Life of Zack & Cody and A.N.T. Farm. The show was produced by AwesomenessTV and DreamWorks Animation.
In 2012, Richie Rich was shown in MetLife's "Everyone" commercial during Super Bowl XLVI.
Published by Harvey Comics unless otherwise noted