Undercover Archie

ARCHIE REDO

The idea of the comic book was originally a collection of already printed stories repackaged as a collection. Throughout the years of course, we've seen reprints, and we've seen repackaging of reprints (in subtle and also in sometimes underhanded ways).

In the early days of Archie, before anybody would think to keep track of such things, MLJ did a few story make-overs, that here in hindsight it's pretty easy to see.

But they didn't just reuse an idea... they straight out reused the story with some art and color touch ups and included it just like it was a new story. 

It wasn't.

Bob Montana had come back from the military but was busy getting the Archie Newspaper strip going. Archie was in both his own book and Pep Comics, and was getting ready to run in Laugh Comics as well. They hadn't yet, gotten Woggon or Novick to do the Betty and Veronica stories, so Bill Vigoda had his hands full.

The answer? Touch up an old story that ran from 4 years ago.

No one will remember! (I wonder if anyone at the time DID remember?)

Now YOU, with my help, may remember this story from Pep Comics #27 (May 1942), done by Bob Montana, the 5th or 6th Archie story ever done, about him accidentally getting nominated for class president.

If you missed it, you had a second chance to read a touched up version of it in Archie Comics #18 (Feb 1946) as it's represented almost word for word! Vigoda changed some faces and someone changed some dialogue, but... it's the same story, taken from Montana's art.

Minus credit for Montana.

Here's the second page of the story, original and redo:

In Jackpot #7 (Summer 1942), Bob Montana wrote and drew the first Archie Christmas story (I guess they didn't quite have their writing/publishing time frame down yet). 

Here once again, we see it reused in Archie Comics #19 (March 1946) and missing that little 'by Montana' box. 

You may remember this heart warming scene from the splash page of Jackpot #5 (Spring 1942) and the first appearance of Reggie Mantle, introducing himself to Archie. Touch up and color correction or a complete make over? Either way, Bob Montana didn't get any credit for the newer version that Bill Vigoda DID in Archie #21 (1946).

They could've done it a lot more than they did and probably gotten away with it, but for the most part, I see it as probably being as much of a deadline issue as anything.

Two of the stories they used were from Jackpot Comics which only lasted 9 issues (Becoming Jolly

Jingles in the Summer of 1943 and only lasting 7 more issues after that), so it made sense to maybe update them and include them for readers who missed it the first go round.

Maybe.

Anyway, here's the cover to Jolly Jingles #10, featuring the first appearance of Super Duck!
(Created by Archie cover artist Al Fagaly!

You can find all of these old stories in beautiful remastered color and crisp clean pages in any of these collections from Dark Horse Publishing! Buy them all!