ARCHIE COMICS #41

(On Newsstands in Aug 1949)

And then… it began. 

MLJ was about to expand and in the process, make some moves that would have a lasting effect to this very day!

For Archie, we start here with the first of ten consecutive Bob Montana covers, which will culminate with maybe the most popular one of all time…

But one step at a time…

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Bob Montana)

‘Thock’ indeed! Ray Gill has a meeting of minds between Archie and Jughead…

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Ray Gill)

Leading to Archie having some hallucinations… 

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Ray Gill)

Yep… Betty AND Veronica as mermaids… Archie thinks he’s hallucinating again!

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Ray Gill)

Fred Andrews easily distracted…

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

And out of nowhere… A Samm Schwartz Archie story! (Signed and everything) The Archie roster of artists is starting to grow!

(As far as I know, this is his first ‘Archie’ work that is signed)

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Samm Schwartz)

Great Goulessarian! Here’s an Ad for the upcoming Annual!

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by probably Bill Vigoda)

Jughead plays the ladies man with Veronica… yes! It really happened!

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Ray Gill)

Betty decides to take her loan back after she finds out what it was for! Veronica!

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Samm Schwartz)

And believe it or not, Jughead ends up on a date AGAIN with Veronica in this issue, going horse back riding when Archie can’t…

(from Archie Comics #41 - August 1949, artwork by Ray Gill)

Wait… what’s this? An AD for a new title from MLJ?

This needs some investigation…

Find some more modern Archie stories here:

Or find some of the older classic stories in these great collections:

ARCHIE COMICS #40
Sept-Oct 1949

(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Bill Vigoda cover art)

     The first story in Archie Comics #40 ‘The Renting Agent’ is centered around Veterans of the war and their need to find temporary housing until they got back on their feet. It’s an early example of Archie Comics presenting a message in one of their stories about a hot topic of the day....

   (Housing construction had slowed to practically nothing during the Great Depression and had virtually stopped during World War 2, as everyone in the country rallied around the war effort. As more and more veterans returned home, the need for adequate housing quickly became a serious issue, leaving many homeless...)

(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Bill Vigoda art)

Archie prepares for his first shave!
(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Bill Vigoda art)

The sign of true success.... hawking products for your radio program!
(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Unknown artist - but it looks like Vigoda)

Within the context of the story, of course, it makes sense, but outside of it...!
(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Bill Vigoda art)

An ad for the first Archie Annual appearing on stands in October of 1949!
(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 Unknown artist)

Jughead’s first official solo strip!
(from Archie Comics #40, Sept-Oct 1949 art by... Hmm...)

Yes, the first Jughead solo strip was a sign that Archie Comics was getting ready to expand in a big way....

Find some more modern Archie stories here:

Or find some of the older classic stories in these great collections:

ARCHIE COMICS #36 - #39

Jan-Aug 1949

Archie gets into enough trouble without putting a shotgun in his hands!

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

It's amazing how long Betty has been head over heals for Archie... her patience is astounding....

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

...but even that gets tested occasionally!

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

Now Veronica can be a little more aggressive with her thoughts!

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

Which is unfortunate for Archie, who always seems to put himself in compromising situations...

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

Speaking of compromising situations...

(from Archie Comics #36, Jan-Feb 1949 Ray Gill art)

Fan Club ad


(from Archie Comics #37, Mar-Apr 1949 Bill Vigoda art)

Archie gets to drive a real car...

(from Archie Comics #37, Mar-Apr 1949 Ray Gill art)

Same Schwartz shows some style in his Betty and Veronica story....

(from Archie Comics #37, Mar-Apr 1949 Samm Schwartz art)

In particular 'the 50's female nose' which started showing up in these stories...

(from Archie Comics #37, Mar-Apr 1949 Samm Schwartz art)

Jeannie, a French Displaced Person, comes to live with Archie and shows off her accent...

(from Archie Comics #38, May-Jun 1949 Bill Vigoda art)

We need more Jughead! That's what this blog needs! From one of the earliest Joe Edwards drawn Archie stories!

(from Archie Comics #38, May-Jun 1949 Joe Edwards art)

Another one of the Uncle Bumble stories... you'd think that guy would know better than to visit!
Though I posted this more for Veronica's 'profile'...

(from Archie Comics #38, May-Jun 1949 Joe Edwards art)

Fan Club ad. They seemed to change these up every month!
Which is ok!

(from Archie Comics #38, May-Jun 1949 Ray Gill art)

Betty takes Archie by surprise...

(from Archie Comics #39, July-Aug 1949 Ray Gill art)

Veronica takes Betty by surprise...

(from Archie Comics #39, July-Aug 1949 Ray Gill art)

Veronica takes Archie by surprise...

(from Archie Comics #39, July-Aug 1949 Ray Gill art)

...and Archie takes Betty by surprise!

(from Archie Comics #39, July-Aug 1949 Ray Gill art)

None of these stories have been reprinted anywhere yet (that I'm aware of), but you can find some great vintage Archie stories from this era in any of these books:

    

DAN PARENT Sketchbook

Available at danparent.com!

Here's a link to his store: Dan Parent Store

I don't want to show too much because, it's not my artwork to show for free all around the internet, but for review purposes, here's a horrible scan done by me of a two page spread inside.

Tons of sketches, unused artwork, Archie characters dressed as other characters, cover ideas, etc.

If you're an Archie, and/or a Dan Parent fan, you should have this!

Just a quick note: If you want to make sure you get all 10 

of the variants for the DEATH of ARCHIE in July, 

I'm set up for taking Pre-Orders! 

FREE SHIPPING!

CLICK HERE for PRE-ORDER!!!

ARCHIE COMICS #34 - #35

Sept - Dec 1948

After doing the lead story in the previous issue, just like that, Ray Gill was one of the regular artists on Archie’s main book! Maybe Vigoda needed a vacation. Here though, we get the first real glimpse of Harry Lucey's take on Archie!
Of course, he'd later go on to put a defining look to the series.....

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 with art by Harry Lucey)

 Actually, Vigoda probably DID need a vacation, as he'd been doing everything Archie for the last 2 years!

But he wasn't going anywhere - he'd be around doing Archie stories for another decade.

But for now, in the main Archie book, Gill would get his chance to shine for awhile.

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Harry Lucey art)

Ray Gill would become the main regular artist for bit, even though his real thing was writing.

Gill had come from Novelty Press where he’d been making a living in comics for the last ten years. He is one of the least talked about early Archie artists, disappearing from comics almost all together after he finishes this year and a half run on the main title.


From: SangorShopMay 19, 2014 at 4:58 PM

Ray Gill (1918-1984) career in comic books runs from around 1937-1954. He spent most of his carrer, working for LLoyd Jacquet's Funnies, Inc, which produced material for both Novelty and Marvel, among other places. He did mostly writing for Funnies, but also served as an editor in the early 1940s. Indeed he gave Mickey Spillane his first writing job. Gill's first work for Archie was as a writer. He left to become an editor and a junior partner co-owner at Stanley Morse's publishing empire. And left comics in 1954 to become an editor at Fawcett books, where he edited books such as "How to do low cost plumbing repairs" etc. And of course, his brother Joe was the staff writer at Charlton comics.

Readers feel free to send in any additional info on some of these creators! I'll gladly print them in the post!
Special thanks to SangorShop and also check  out his History of Comics blog! (http://sangorshop.blogspot.com)

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Ray Gill art)

Gill's clean style seems to be the perfect transition between Vigoda (who was starting to show the Montana Newspaper Strip influence) and what would eventually become the house style for Archie.

But in particular, Samm Scwartz's 'softening' of the look of Betty and Veronica, which probably doesn't get the recognition it deserves, would lend itself to the overall style of Archie Comics in general.

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Samm Scwartz art)

Ray Gill though, gets to introduce us to Dilton Doiley in the comic!

Sort of.

(Yes, I know this characters name is 'Dilbert'. Actually Dilton first appeared in Montana's Newspaper strip about 5 months earlier, and wouldn't make a 'Dilton' appearance in the comic book until Pep Comics #78 in January of 1950, but c'mon! You know that's him!)

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Ray Gill art)

A rather wordy fan club ad!

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Unknown art)

And just like that, BillVigoda is back with a cover to Archie, the first non-Al Fagaly cover in over two years.

And Hot Fudge Sundae's were only 25 cents!

(from Archie Comics #35, Nov-Dec 1948 Bill Vigoda cover art)

Vigoda also has a 9pg story ‘The Old Home Town’...but the rest is Ray Gill...

(from Archie Comics #35, Nov-Dec 1948 Ray Gill art)

...who teaches us the art of Archie's babysitting!

(from Archie Comics #35, Nov-Dec 1948 Ray Gill art)

Same Schwartz's Betty and Veronica stories were starting to really look good, and the influence would be well noticed by George Frese!

And: ‘The Sport of Queens’ features the first Mr./Mrs. George Cooper (Betty's Mom and Dad!)

(from Archie Comics #35, Nov-Dec 1948 Samm Schwartz art)

Another example from the previous issue.

Which incidentally featured another 'artiste' out to 'render' our two lovely heroines, this one modeled after Bob Montana himself!

(from Archie Comics #34, Sept-Oct 1948 Samm Schwartz art)

Another fan club ad!

(from Archie Comics #35, Nov-Dec 1948 Unknown art)

These stories and more can be found in: