ARCHIE COMICS #44

and

PEP COMICS #79

(On Newsstands in March 1950)

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Wow, 19 days since my last post! So, today let's do two issues at once again, to make up for lost time!

Another great cover by Bob Montana. This one featuring everything you could want in an Archie cover: Veronica being sexy, Betty annoyed, Jughead amused by it all and Archie realizing he goofed up!

And not a bad looking copy I have there!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Feb. 1950, artwork by Bob Montana)

Reggie showing off some of the colorful phrases of the day…

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Gabby appears here and there throughout the early years, always identified by name, but this issue is a special one for her, as you'll see...!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Betty surprises Archie with a sloppy one…

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Apparently it was all the rage at the time…

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bob Montana?)

I believe, the first mention of Matahatma Gahdi in an Archie Comic and an ad for Katy Keene #1!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Gabby again? Yep, though here, NOT identified by name...

Were they trying to make her a regular character?

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Ad for the upcoming Archie Annual #2

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by various)

Jughead of course is making a joke in reference to the 'Dewey Defeats Truman' headline of November 1948... making this joke about a year and a half late to being topical. Guess it was still funny remark then...!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

Ad for the upcoming Betty and Veronica #1!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by various)

Georeg Frese drew some great females.. 

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

...but, uh, Jughead as a female - not so much!

Now, Jughead as a 

fortune teller is a hit though!

(from Archie Comics #44 - Mar. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

Another Bob Montana cover… in this instance I have a pretty crappy copy...

(from Pep Comics #79 - Feb. 1950, artwork by Bob Montana)

Betty roundhouse punches Archie in a way that would make Jack Kirby proud!

(from Pep Comics #79 - Feb. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda?)

Jughead story with more George Frese art! I really like the layout of this page..

(from Pep Comics #79 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

———————————————————————

Archie’s Rival REGGIE #1

(On Newsstands in February 1950)

and

KATY KEENE #1

(On Newsstands in February 1950)

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Bondage cover! Uh… well that’s not… uh… anyway…

George Frese, who in his short time drawing Archie would emerge as one of my favorite Archie artists, gives us this great cover to Reggie #1!

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

It’s nice to see some regular themes show up… Reggie and Archie trading quality insults!…

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

Mr. Beasley being a perv…

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

How do you spice up a comic with Reggie as the main character? 

Betty and Veronica workout!

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

Mix in a little slapstick violence…

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

And then, more pretty girls - this time all roughed up from the game...

(from Reggie #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

Talk about a tough book to find reprinted. As far as I can tell, it never has been... here's the cover...

(from Katy Keene #1 - Feb. 1950, artwork by George Frese)

But to make up for it, here's Katy Keene's very first story from Wilbur #5!

(from Wilbur #5 - June. 1945, artwork by Bill Woggon)

ARCHIE COMICS #43

(On Newsstands in January 1950)

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Another great cover by Bob Montana. Man, have I got a crappy looking copy of this book... I need to update that!

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bob Montana)

Archie dreams about his future… a future where he has long hair and Jughead is wealthy and married to Betty!

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

Miss Grundy gets in the path of Archie’s karma…and... Hey! You mean that's a wig?

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Samm Schwartz?)

Yep. They were planning a Reggie solo comic even before the Betty and Veronica!

It seems kind of obvious now, but...

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by various)

A Katy Keene tie? Anyone remember these or have one?

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bill Woggon)

Archie becomes Veronica and Betty’s hair styling experiment… this is the Archie Hair issue!

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

What he goes through…

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

Now there’s an Archie you don’t see everyday…

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

Jughead solo story… Veronica seems especially 'perky' there and... is Jughead flirting with her?

(from Archie Comics #43 - Jan. 1950, artwork by Samm Schwartz?)

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PEP COMICS #77

(On Newsstands in November 1949)

and

LAUGH COMICS #37

(On Newsstands in December 1949)

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The last two Archie publications of the year both featured Bob Montana covers. The first on Pep Comics #77, centering around the never ending quest of Archie to ‘get closer’ to Veronica…

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by Bob Montana)

…the other featuring one of my favorite Montana cover females, and centering around Archie’s complete fascination (obsession?) with pretty girls he sees! (I have a really nice copy of this don’t I?))

(from Laugh Comics #37 - Dec. 1949, artwork by Bob Montana)

These are good themes to feature on the cover, because when you open up to the book inside… Archie is right on cue!

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

As timeless as many of these stories seem, every once in awhile something in the story reminds you how long ago they were written and drawn!

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

An advertisement for Jughead #1 and a puzzle page that someone did…65 years ago?

Who would've thought then, that a puzzle filled out in a comic book would be the focus of 10 cent comic book analyzed by people all over the world...

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by ? Looks like Bill Vigoda’s Archie…)

Suzie references Super Duck in Freddie’s dream…

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by uh, anyone know who did these early Suzie stories?)

Here’s a Jughead story featuring a very ethnic looking fortune teller. Seriously, have you ever seen a hooter that big on a female in an Archie comic?

(from Pep Comics #77 - Nov. 1949, artwork by most likely Samm Schwartz)

One of my favorite Archie stories from the 40’s has the awesome title ‘Oh Fudge’ and features the tried and true plot device of an Archie/Veronica misunderstanding.

Bill Vigoda works it to perfection here.

And Betty gets gum in her hair.

(from Laugh Comics #37 - Dec. 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

War Surplus, sold for cheap! It was all the rage back in 1949…

(from Laugh Comics #37 - Dec. 1949, artwork by Samm Schwartz)

A Jughead story, where this time Jughead IS an athlete.

But with some of the same interests.

(from Laugh Comics #37 - Dec. 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

Jughead in a suit! And not too happy about it either!

(from Laugh Comics #37 - Dec. 1949, artwork by Bill Vigoda)

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