Today we have another story from the awesomeness that is Larry T., hurrah! And it features the first appearance of Bascomb the chauffeur. Also, we have a first on this Richie Rich blog which is that a new fan club member was excited to find Richie stories, but was sad there were no pages dedicated to his favorite character, Hot Stuff. So, while I am ambivalent towards Hot Stuff, I do have some HS comics lying around and I thought it would be a nice welcome gesture to post one. So, here we go with some commentary from dear Larry…
I’ve always liked Bascomb. I’d even prefer him over Cadbury. Although Cadbury is a perfect butler, he is so multi-talented and I would almost even consider him part of the Rich family, as he is so involved with all of them. However Bascomb is not as prominent and appears to be younger than Cadbury- but his disposition and passion for his career is probably why he stands out to me. Plus, his “can-do” attitude and positive thinking (I even liked the space between his front teeth, LOL what a nice “unpretty” touch for the character 😀 )
I believe this is the first story featuring the chauffeur. It is from an early 1962 issue of “Little Dot DotLand” before Bascomb appeared in the Richie Rich titles. It clearly introduces him as another one of the trusted estate staff who is the best at what he does. I always wondered why he was dressed as a gestapo, but maybe he was imported from a war-ridden country (he does have a British dialect though…. “Dash it All”).
Anyway, on to the story, enjoy!
Even though the story moves forward as a “do-or-die” tale, there are a few articles of weirdness which I caught reading it way back when for my first time. I asked myself:
- “How did Mrs. Rich drive ALL the cars to her picnic and why did she leave Bascomb behind? Isn’t chauffeuring his job there?
- They don’t pay the gardener enough to buy a decent car for himself?
- Bascomb’s other career must have been as a circus acrobat
I suppose Bascomb will end up fishing with the Riches until he can drive them all home (Mr. Rich would have taken another one of the cars up there initially 😉 ).
Or a helicopter or ‘copter as they always call it in Richie Rich comics may have to come for them. And you’d think the gardener might just loan them his cruddy car, quite rude to make someone pay for a bucket of bolts.
Thank you, Larry!
This story is one in a genre of “Bascomb transporting the Riches in odd ways” and I have added another similar story to a previous post in this mileau.
Check out the new story here:
https://richierichcomicsfanclub.wordpress.com/2013/12/16/mrs-rich-gets-her-flirt-on/
And now to a WHAT? HOT STUFF story? How strange! I am hoping this is a good one as I am not a connoisseur of Hot Stuff, but it seemed pretty fun. Enjoy!
Curious that the blue devil would be Hot Stuff’s twin as the adults all look nothing alike so the devils seem to have pretty distinct facial features. I also am curious where he got his diaper from back in the day. I wonder if the adult devil in the boxer shorts is based on someone as his look seems very specific. Maybe someone who worked at Harvey?
We had a comment below asking if there were any Richie Rich/Hot Stuff crossovers and a friend sent me this from the Comic Book Database:
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this little rest stop in Hot Stuff land!
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