What a Guy! was created when Bill and Bunny were visiting with Bunny's daughter and her family. Bunny's grandson was an early
"latchkey" child. Bill and Bunny were amazed at his very "grown-up" comments and used him as the prototype for Guy Wellington Frothmore, who became the focus of a comic strip. Bill Hoest died on November 8, 1988, from complications of
lymphoma at
New York University Medical Center. His widow, Bunny Hoest, announced that
What a Guy! and the other Hoest strips would continue "in perpetuity" with Bunny Hoest as writer and drawing on the "large amount of work" Bill had prepared before his death. Bill Hoest's "cartooning assistant," John Reiner, told
Newsday, "Hoest left up to two years' material in various stages of completion in his files." Reiner, who had already taken over drawing duties, would continue to draw
What A Guy! and the five other Hoest comics then in production. (The other five were the syndicated
The Lockhorns and
Agatha Crumm;
Laugh Parade and
Howard Huge for
Parade magazine; plus
Bumper Snickers for
The National Enquirer.) This arrangement lasted until the strip ended in 1996.
What a Guy! was one of the comics featured on
Morning Funnies cereal boxes in 1988 and 1989, and the strips were collected in ''What a Guy! What's the Latest?'' (Tor, 1990). ==Reception==