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Royal Roy

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Royal Roy
Royal Roy #1 (April 1985)
Publication information
PublisherMarvel Comics
First appearanceApril 1985
Created byLennie Herman (writer) and Warren Kremer (artist)

Royal Roy: A Prince of a Boy is a 1985-1986 bimonthly comic book from Marvel Comics' younger-readers' imprint Star Comics. It was created by Lennie Herman and Warren Kremer.

Publication history

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Royal Roy began in April 1985 as an answer to the successful Harvey Comics Richie Rich series. Its title character was the young Prince Roy of Cashelot, a fictional kingdom whose name was a portmanteau of "cash" and "Camelot".[1] Like Richie, Roy was surrounded by wealth and luxury but wasn't spoiled by it; in many ways, he was just like any other young boy. Also like Richie, Roy had a sweet-natured middle-class girlfriend (Crystal Cleer) and a wealthy, abrasive acquaintance (Lorna Loot) who vied for his affections.

In late 1985, Harvey Comics sued Marvel for copyright infringement, claiming that Royal Roy was a blatant copy of Richie Rich.[2] Longtime Harvey creator Lennie Herman had created Royal Roy for Star Comics; Herman died in 1983[3] before the first issue of Royal Roy was published. Artist Warren Kremer, the co-creator, was also the co-creator of Richie Rich.

Royal Roy was cancelled after six issues in March 1986 and Harvey's lawsuit was dropped.

X-Babies

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An updated version of Royal Roy (along with Planet Terry, Top Dog, and Wally the Wizard) is featured in the four-issue X-Babies miniseries published by Marvel Comics in late 2009.

References

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  1. ^ Markstein, Don. "Royal Roy". Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Harvey Sues Marvel Star Comics, Charges Copyright Infringement", The Comics Journal #105 (Feb. 1986), pp. 23-24.
  3. ^ "Harvey Veteran Lenny Herman Dies", The Comics Journal #87 (December 1983), p. 21.
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