Out for a stroll

Dealing with the question of Casper's origin was a difficult one for editors - first at St. John, where Casper debuted in strip form in 1949, and later at Harvey, where he would achieve his greatest popularity.

At first, Casper was nothing more than the ghost of a little boy who sought to make friends rather than scare people. Later, however, the editors at Harvey sanitized his origin such that Casper was the ghost child of ghost parents, thereby avoiding the dilemma of addressing a young boy's death.

Casper, the Friendly Ghost - No. 19, April 1954 issue.