Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17

Debutant's and Danger!

For some reason I find Veronica saying 'Jackass' so much funnier (or unexpected) than if it would have been Betty... seeing Archie's reaction (and thinking it's about him)... this is a cover that still makes me laugh out loud!

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with cover art unknown, but my guess is George Frese)

The nearby rich girl school is called 'Van Snewt', Veronica is throwing a party, Archie can't wait to go and Reggie, as always, has a wisecrack.

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

And of course, Archie is Archie... did they really talk that way back then?

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Some people think this dark sense of humor that younger people have these days is a new thing... Archie Comics shows us it's NOT. Story by Frank Doyle with art by Harry Lucey (credits provided from the reprint in B&V Friends Double Digest #237).

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey)

Even with adding an extra M to his name, Samm Schwartz is often times left to take a back seat to Harry Lucey, Dan DeCarlo and others, but... Samm was a master at over the top action comedy!

His work would get more refined over time (which is a good thing), but it never lost its slapstick comedy action!

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by Samm Schwartz)

And Bill Vigoda... he's the senior Archie artist at this point, having been with the company since 1943. I really like how he framed this whole sequence...

Moose is a controversial character in this day and age - seen as an abusive boyfriend to Midge - but back then it made for some funny, over the top, situations.   

(Archie's Girls BETTY and VERONICA #17 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by Bill Vigoda)

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 ARCHIE COMICS - November/December 1954

(PEP COMICS #107 cover-dated January 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with cover art unknown, but my guess is Bill Vigoda)

One of the characters that they feature in Pep is Wilbur, a book that lags behind most of the other Archie titles. Here, Writer/Artist Joe Edwards manages to get the word 'asinine' in an Archie Comic!

(PEP COMICS #107 cover-dated January 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by Joe Edwards)

An AD for Wilbur, disguised as a comic book story...

(PEP COMICS #107 cover-dated January 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by ?)

Joe Edwards would do a fair amount of Wilbur stories but... that's a George Frese cover. I'm a big fan of Freses's work, and he sure was a workhorse in his day, but... I wonder why Archie Comics never much mentions or remembers him?

Laurie looks different than Betty, but Linda sure does look like Veronica.... and this joke... WOW! How'd they get away with that???

(WILBUR COMICS #59 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

The book is almost all one page or half page gags with a variety of artists. The one multi-page story features a scene that would be viewed as a bit Politically Incorrect in this day and age!

(WILBUR COMICS #59 cover-dated March 1955, on newsstands December 17th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

The first issue was a whopping 15 cents (and 52 pages), but it must've not sold as well as they hoped, because issue #2 is 36 pages and 10 cents. Didn't help apparently, as this would be the last issue of Archie's Mechanics.

(ARCHIE'S MECHANICS #2 cover-dated 1954, on newsstands December 15th, 1954, with cover art by Bill Vigoda?)

There was actually a tremendous amount of useful information in these - everything from how to make a umbrella cover from old neck ties to how faucets work - but I guess it just didn't go over. No gags or stories at all...

(ARCHIE'S MECHANICS #2 cover-dated 1954, on newsstands December 15th, 1954, with art by various)

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 ARCHIE COMICS #72 - How to Spot a Hoodlum!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with cover art unknown, but my guess is Bill Vigoda)

It's November 1954 and even before Rock n Roll ramps up in America, a new form of Juvenile Delinquency is scaring the crap out of parents. Elvis has released his first single, 'That's Alright', but it'll be his second single 'Good Rockin' Tonight' that'll really signal to parents where this new music is coming from. Chuck Berry will break out the following year...

But that's too early to influence what we have in this issue... THAT is most likely influenced by Marlon Brando's 'The Wild One' movie from February of that year. 

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Want to know how parents viewed it back then? They were FREAKED out!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

But never fear, Archie is here to tell us how to spot these characters!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Hold on a second! That looks like Jughead!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Oy Vey...

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Meanwhile the squeaky clean kids of Riverdale decide to test out their new 'smear-proof' lipstick on Reggie... talk about Juvenile delinquency!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey)

But Veronica isn't keen on it when it's Archie! I love Harry Lucey's use of body language in his art!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey)

This is one time that Betty is going to get her man!

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey)

The gang gets mad at Miss Grundy for being to strict, and really let her have it in discussion, but when faced with hearing she's getting let go by the school, they group together to keep that from happening. It may sound corny in a day and age of casual sarcasm, but it was this deep down good nature of these characters that gave them lasting appeal.

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

Archie Comics was great at promoting their other books. The Ads were a work of manipulation themselves. How could we resist?

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by various)

Some slapstick violence, courtesy of Reggie...

(ARCHIE COMICS #72 cover-dated January/February 1955, on newsstands November 10th, 1954, with art by George Frese)

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