Undercover Archie

PEP COMICS #43 - #50 - On newsstands August 1943

As much as Pep #42 seemed to be spiced up, overall the remainder of Harry Sahle's run on the book in Pep Comics would be pretty tame. Either MLJ wanted more of the focus on Archie's new self-titled Archie Comics, or the mainstream popularity of Archie would steer them toward a more family friendly type of comics. There'd be growing pains based upon which artist was drawing it, of course, but the cheesecake would be ramped up more once Sahle left the book. 

An ad for the Radio Show from Pep #43:

For whatever reason, many of Sahle's stories in Pep Comics, didn't even feature Betty or Veronica, or if they did appear, it was a brief cameo at the beginning or the end of the story. Some of those cameo's though would occasionally feature a kiss (but usually on the cheek).

From Pep Comics #43:

From Pep Comics #44:

Though sometimes..... (from Pep Comics #46):

Sahle did have one of the funnier moments in the run (that would be repeated in one form or another for decades), when Archie gets a camera and decides to be a photographer. It leads to this exchange...'Snapping the Snapper!' (from Pep Comics #48):

Which led to:

Unfortunately, he also gave us Mr. Weatherbee in his boxer shorts! (From Pep Comics #49):

Lastly, here are a couple of two pages splashes he did from Pep Comics #44 and #45. Why he got away from doing these is anyone's guess, he really went all out on them.