Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3

I'll Be a Monkey's Uncle!

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with cover art unknown, but my guess is Bill Vigoda)

Jughead falling in love? Not after Archie explains what could be the worst possible scenario...

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey and story by Frank Doyle)

This story was most recently reprinted in Jughead's Double Digest #14 (December 1992)

Jughead is pretty good at making Hand Shadows, but...

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Samm Schwartz)

In today's world, this would be humor too dark for comedy. Ugh. To me it's funny. They still use this over-the-top CLEARLY symbolic behavior to convey a feeling in manga nd anime. Maybe that's why I read more of THAT than American comics...

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Bill Vigoda?)

Jughead comes up with a costume idea for Reggie (for $5), and creates a spaceman outfit out of long underwear and a fish bowl. Yep, they used to make them that way! The long underwear with an open flap in the back for bathroom use was commonly called a union suit. The flap itself was often referred to as an "access hatch", "drop seat", "fireman's flap", or "crap flap”!

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by George Frese)

The only time I'm aware this has been reprinted was in the UK edition of Archie Annual #9 (February 1956) in black and white.

Reggie finds out that Moose's real name is Marmaduke, and him and Archie laugh about it, but then wonder what Jughead's real first name is. He isn't telling, so they go to City Hall and pay the dollar to get told it's 'Henry'. f course we see that the check is Jughead's Uncle, and Jughead thanks him and hands him a cigar, his Uncle declaring, "The Pleasure Was All Mine, Frothingham!"

No. That would NOT be Jughead's real name, lol. It would later be revealed as 'Forsythe Pendleton Jones III'.

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art unknown, by Harry Lucey and story by Frank Doyle)

This story, also, the only time I'm aware this has been reprinted was in the UK edition of Archie Annual #9 (February 1956) in black and white.

  

If you ever want to know the difference between Archie Comics and some of the competitors, THIS is a classic example of it. Frank Doyle writes a story that... well, Jughead finds some monkey extract and says it's supposed to give you a pep, and so they decide to give Mr. Weatherbee a drop. Meanwhile an organ grinder loses his monkey that just so happens to be wearing a suit like Weaterbee's and... As crazy as it sounds, Harry Lucey's art pulls it off.

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey and story by Frank Doyle)

I love this reaction!

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Harry Lucey and story by Frank Doyle)

    ALSO the only time I'm aware this has been reprinted was in the UK edition of Archie Annual #9 (February 1956) in black and white... a couple of great stories here that NEED to be Reprinted!

Advertising for the Annuals! (Inside front cover)

Archie Comics was in full swing!

(Archie's Pal JUGHEAD Annual #3  cover-dated 1955, on newsstands December 31st, 1954, with art by Various)

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  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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LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 - Driving Safely is NEVER out of Fashion!

I bought this beat-up looking copy for $1

Life With Archie, in it's original run, had longer stories that usually involved some more serious happenings and in this issue we get it on the splash page, though I'm going to hold off on that until later in the post.

Here we get a functional Samm Schwartz cover that perfectly convey's Archie fear... not for laughs really... he LOOKS like he's scared out of mind...

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with cover art by Samm Schwartz)

Early on a new student shows up... Patty Pringle (a long, lost cousin of Oogie Pringle?), her only appearance that I'm aware of, and of course Archie is all over it...

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

Archie naturally wants to help Patty Pringle get her fashion designs in the show and to show her appreciation she gives Archie a kiss (notice the spinning bow-tie), and his timing, as usual, isn't very good...

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

Remember the days when an annual, or a summer special or a Christmas special was a GREAT thing?  Now it all seems like a cheap money grab! But boy, back in the day, you just couldn't wait for these big, multi-page specials...

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964)

So what we have here is your typical Archie story... Archie's trying to keep Moose from beating him up by making Midge the star of the fashion show and pleasing both Veronica and Betty by making each of THEM the star of the fashion show, AND trying to get Patty Pringle's fashion ideas used (there's a hot shot designer in town for the show who insists it's all HIS designs to be used)... sounds like business as usual in Riverdale right? 

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

Nope. This is LIFE with Archie. A 'Rain Swept Mountain Road' and the van carrying the Designers' dresses skids off the road and crashes down the mountain! (The driver jumps out and saves himself at the last minute - it's not THAT hardcore)

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

So of course they have to use Patty's designs, at the last minute and... ah well, you know how it ends... Archie gets one on the LIPS this time!

(LIFE WITH ARCHIE #25 cover-dated January 1964, on newsstands November 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

LAUGH COMICS #160 - Those hidden Pepper Appearances!

I bought this ok looking copy for $2

This rather innocent-looking $2 comic came out on the newsstands in May of 1964 and sometimes we forget (because some of these old worn Archie Comics can be cheap) is that THAT was the same month as Amazing Spider-man #15 and Superman #170.  Of course... the 'Beatles' reference should've given it away immediately... I'm not too sold on that 'Beatles haircut' that Dan DeCarlo drew either (and it's rare to say that about anything he drew!)

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with cover art by Dan DeCarlo)

Whenever a story started out with Archie in his jalopy, you could pretty well count on it being a problem for him. It's a funny contrast to see him in that and Reggie next to him in his sleek sports car convertible. (Hey, Archie's IS a convertible too!)

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with art by Bob White)

Archie's just not the same guy anymore. I know it's not 'PC' and all of that, but his never-ending lust for any beautiful girl within eyesight was a part of the character for 50+ years... 

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with art by Dan DeCarlo)

Josie may be remembered for having 44 issues with Pepper, before becoming Josie and the Pussycats (her last appearance was actually in #41, so they must've been planning ahead), though really she had a lot more appearances than that. like most Archie world characters, they appeared as side stories in Laugh and Life with Archie, and really anywhere they could fit in an additional story.

*Note: Technically, according to the indicia, it was 'Josie' for #1-3, 'She's Josie' for #4-16, just 'Josie' again for #17-44 and then, of course, 'Josie and the Pussycats' for the rest of the series (#45-106).

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with art by Dan DeCarlo)

I loved these Summer Specials. 

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with art by Harry Lucey)

Not sure where Archie is possibly quoting from but I wracked my Google search as much as possible. I thought for sure it might be some James Bond quip that eluded me (at this point 'Dr. No' and 'From Russia With Love' had been out and 'Goldfinger' was coming in the summer), but... zilch.

(LAUGH COMICS #160 cover-dated July 1964, on newsstands May 1st, 1964, with art by Dan DeCarlo)