Giving Devil His Due : School’s New Logo Ain’t Hot Stuff, and That’s Good

The devil logo that’s been in a long and hot controversy at Mission Viejo High School has been changed again, probably for the final time.

The prankish little devil image looked too much like Harvey Comics’ Hot Stuff character and the comic book company wanted a piece of the profits from the sale of school athletic team merchandise.

So a committee assigned to solve the problem tinkered and came up a little devil that has a slightly more mischievous grin, just enough difference to set it apart from Hot Stuff.

Students were notified of the new logo on the final day of school last week, according to Robert Metz, the school’s former principal who was recently named director of secondary education for the Saddleback Valley Unified School District.

“There was some conflict on the copyright,” Metz said Wednesday. “But our committee worked through that and came up with this depiction.”

Thus ends another episode in a long dispute over the red-faced devil.

The school mascot got national press last year when students claimed they were being disciplined for wearing patches depicting a fierce devil logo that was the school emblem until administrators banned it in 1986.

Officials acted under pressure from some local fundamentalist Christians who objected to the devil image, but the old logo remained popular among many students who continued to wear it on caps and jackets.

School officials denied that students were being punished for wearing the devil emblem, but agreed to hold an election for the student body to choose a new mascot.

The candidates included the fierce devil, a raging bull, a bulldog that had replaced the Satan image in 1986, and a cute, impish devil.

The majority of students favored the cute devil, but their choice drew immediate protest from Harvey Comics Entertainment Inc., which owns the trademark on a similar character known as Hot Stuff.

The comic book firm wanted 20% of revenue from sales of merchandise bearing the logo, such as school caps and T-shirts, said Terry Shepherd, a school instructor who initially headed the committee assigned to find a modified logo.

Harvey Comics “dropped it down to 10%,” said Shepherd, who resigned from the committee and was not part of the group when it finally chose the new mascot. “But I think the (school athletic) booster club wanted to get a new logo.”

The latest logo elicited more yawns than interest from students interviewed Wednesday.

“I don’t think anyone will immediately notice any difference,” said Rob Weathers, 16.

Matt Olsen, 17, who graduated from Mission Viejo High School last year and whose father is a member of the logo committee, said “there will always be a few people who aren’t going to be happy with it.