He wrote a number of books on the history and theory of cartooning, with special focus on the comic strip.
In 1973, Harvey began writing about comics and cartooning for The Menomonee Falls Gazette.
The 1990s saw publication of Fantagraphics Books' Cartoons of the Roaring Twenties in two volumes, collected and edited by Harvey.
In 1998, Harvey was guest curator for the Children of the Yellow Kid exhibition at the Frye Museum in Seattle, for which he also provided the catalogue.
His most recent book is Insider Histories of Cartooning: Rediscovering Forgotten Famous Comics and Their Creators (2014) from UPM.