Little Dot
Little Dot | |
---|---|
Humor | |
Publication date | Sept. 1953 – Sept. 1973 |
No. of issues | Little Dot: 164 Little Dot Dotland: 62 |
Main character(s) | Little Dot, Peter Polka (father), Little Dot's Uncles & Aunts |
Little Dot is a comic book character published by Harvey Comics about a little girl who is obsessed with dots, spots, and round, colorful objects. She was created in 1949 by writer Alfred Harvey and artist Vic Herman.[1]
Publication history
Dot first appeared in 1949 as a supporting feature in Sad Sack Comics, Humphrey Comics and Little Max Comics. Until August 1953 (issue date) she was referred to as "Li'l Dot". In September 1953, she was given her own series named Little Dot, drawn by Steve Muffati, joining Harvey's growing cast of child-oriented comedy characters.
Like most of the so-called "Harvey Girls", appearing also in the
Apart from the main title, Little Dot, the main character's screwball relatives proved popular enough to rate their own series: three issues of Harvey Hits in 1957, '58 and '59; and a "king-sized" comic titled Little Dot's Uncles & Aunts, published between 1961 and 1974.
Character
Little Dot (real name Dorothy Polka) was a "one-note character" with a reliance on formulaic gags and repetitious images (i.e. Dot's dots). Her stories also involved a considerable amount of slapstick humor and domestic comedy. The character's signature theme only became apparent in 1953, after she was redesigned to conform to the company's emerging house style. Consequently, as Dot became a virtual clone of Famous Studios' Little Audrey (which Harvey was licensing at the time), the 'Dotty' aspect was emphasized so that the two characters wouldn't appear too similar.[3]
Dot's obsessive nature presaged the development of Harvey's quirky child-friendly characters, many of which deviated from the Audrey model by incorporating fantasy elements (
References
- ^ "Vic Herman".
- ISBN 9781605490540.
- ^ Markstein, Don. "Little Dot", Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Accessed Dec. 12, 2011.
- ^ "The Talking Dots", Richie Rich Millions #25, October 1967.