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Archie Comics

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Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones characters created by Bob Montana. All characters were based on people he knew in Haverhill, Massachusetts.

Archie's first appearance in Pep Comics #22 on December 22 1941 was drawn by Montana and written by Vic Bloom. With the creation of Archie, publisher John L. Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney.

Archie Comics is also the title of the company's longest running publication, the first issue appearing with a cover date of Winter 1942. Starting with issue #114 the title was shortened to simply Archie.

History

Archie Comics started out in 1939 as MLJ Comics, named after the first initials of its three founders: Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater. Early MLJ titles featured generic superheroes remembered in the lore of comic collectors' trivia. The Shield was the first flag-themed superhero, a year before Captain America. The Comet was the first superhero killed in the line of duty. The Hangman (the Comet's younger brother) might be the most brutal superhero of the 1940s. Roy the Superboy preceded Superboy by half a decade, and Steel Sterling was dubbed "the Man of Steel" before Superman. None remained popular. In 1941, a teenage humor strip called Archie began as a new back-up feature in Pep, replacing Madam Satan. Striking a popular nerve with emerging youth culture, Archie and his gang were such a hit that MLJ changed its name to Archie Comics in 1946.

In the 1950s and 1960s, cartoonist Dan DeCarlo ceased work on Atlas Comics' Millie the Model and brought his influential style to the Archie Comics universe. DeCarlo is primarily responsible for the modern look of the Archie characters, and the creation of popular Archie spin-off comics Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.

The enduring Archie legacy has spanned dozens of Archie titles, including spin-offs, digest collections, and magazines focused on particular characters. Some of the older series feature Archie and his friends cast as superhero versions of themselves or playing spies in a parody of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Some series, such as Life With Archie and Archie at Riverdale High, feature straight adventure and/or mystery stories.

In May 2007, Archie debuted what they call a more "dynamic", realistic art style since its title characters' debut in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941), also features longer serialized stories.

The Archie characters have been continually successful in other mediums since the comic's inception. The Archie Andrews radio program debuted May 31, 1943, and ran on various networks until September 5, 1953. The Archie newspaper comic strip was launched in 1946, and was drawn by Bob Montana until his death in 1975. In 1968, Archie was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon series by Filmation, The Archie Show. In 1969, the teen bubblegum pop band, The Archies, earned a gold record with their #1 hit "Sugar, Sugar". In 1974, a network television pilot was made in an attempt to bring a live-action Archie show but was unsuccessful.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Archie characters were authorized for use in a series of Christian comic books written and drawn by Al Hartley for Spire Christian Comics.

Several attempts have been made to revive MLJ's original superhero line, without success. Today, Archie Comics largely ignores its superheroes. Occasionally, some appear in their comics, if only for the sake of maintaining a trademark.

Lawsuits

The February 1962 issue of Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine featured a parody of the Archie characters in its Goodman Beaver story, Goodman Goes Playboy, written by Kurtzman and illustrated by frequent collaborator, Will Elder (the magazine itself hit newsstands on December of 1960). Attorneys for Archie Comics filed suit shortly thereafter, for copyright infringement. An agreement was reached in March 1964, with $1000 in damages paid, and an apology was issued.

Later attempts to reprint the Goodman Beaver story, with names and artwork altered by Kurtzman and Elder to minimize similarities to Archie characters and trademarks, were again met with threatened legal action by Archie Comics.

However, according to a May 2008 posting on The Comics Journal website: "It resulted in waves of lawyers raining upon the strip’s creators, ultimately leading to Kurtzman and Elder handing the copyright to the story over to Archie and signing an agreement promising never to reproduce it again. Some 40 years or so later, Gary Groth or someone close to him discovered that Archie had forgotten to renew the copyright to the strip, and that it had fallen into the public domain."

As a result, Goodman Goes Playboy can now be reprinted by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, since it no long is copyright by anyone.

Ironically, despite the above legal wrangling, Archie Comics never took any action against Kurtzman, Elder nor publisher William Gaines for the 1954 Mad Magazine story Starchie, which has been reprinted numerous times.

Archie Comics sued music duo The Veronicas for trademark infringement in 2005 over the band's name, which was taken from the comic book character. Archie Comics and Sire Records (The Veronicas' record company) finally resolved their problems through a co-promotion deal. [1]

Fanfiction.Net received a cease and desist order from Archie Comics to remove any Archie comic based fan fiction from its site, as they are derived from their copyrighted and trademarked properties and were stated to damage Archie's public image. It included public statements by Archie Comics, who have stated that they do not allow (even family-oriented) fan fiction based on Archie comics works. [citation needed] (It should be noted, however, that story contests are frequently run through the official Archie website, allowing fans to create their own stories in accordance with site's rules).

On April 4, 2003, Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta was scheduled to debut a new play, Archie's Weird Fantasy, which depicted Riverdale's most famous resident coming out of the closet and moving to New York. The day before the play was scheduled to open, Archie Comics issued a cease and desist order, threatening litigation if the play proceeded as written. Dad's Garage artistic director Sean Daniels said, "The play was to depict Archie and his pals from Riverdale growing up, coming out and facing censorship. Archie Comics thought if Archie was portrayed as being a total sucker, that would dilute and tarnish his image." [2]

The Archie universe

Archie is set in the small town of Riverdale. The state, or even the general location of the town, is unclear. It is known, however, that John L. Goldwater attended Horace Mann School, which is located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx in New York City. In the early years of Archie, Riverdale was located in Massachusetts, with Mr. Lodge being a senator for that state, but this is no longer considered canon.

For the comics' 60th anniversary in 2002, several geographical and historical hints to the location of Riverdale were printed in every digest issue. At the end of the year, it was revealed that the hints point to Riverdale being located in the "Missouri area," but that officially Riverdale has no location. It is essentially located wherever the reader wants it to be. Indeed, the geography of Riverdale is far too inconsistent for it to be any one specific location (see below).

Characters

The Archie gang (main characters)

Cheryl Blossom: Even Richer and snobbier than Veronica. Competes with Betty and Veronica for Archie

Parents (of the main characters)

Of all the parents, it is Veronica's father and Archie's parents who appear most frequently.

The other parents appear less frequently:

Other Teens/Expanded Archie Gang (supporting)

The Faculty

Other Characters

Cameos by Non-Fictional Characters

From time to time the writers would drop in real people and locations as elements in a story.

  • Comic book creators: Real people involved in the comic book industry appear (usually people from Archie Comics, occasionally from other companies).
  • As a recurring in-joke, the first names of the artists, writers and editors of Archie Comics are often inserted into the comics' dialogue when a random name is needed.
  • Celebrity parodies: Parodies of real life people who are famous and popular when the story is written. When they appear in the comics, their names are usually slightly altered (this is also done with brand names of products and popular culture). This is likely to avoid legal problems and/or to be humorous. There are rare exceptions.

Inconsistent themes and character portrayals

Aside from very basic characteristics, many of the characters' traits, and even personalities, can change from strip to strip, usually depending on the writer.

Character traits

In certain strips, Betty does not mind being Archie's second choice as long as she gets a date with him on occasion, but in other strips she is insulted and upset when Archie considers her a second choice. In addition, sometimes Veronica dominates Archie's love interest and Betty plays a distant second fiddle, while other times both girls seem to have Archie split 50/50 in a heated love triangle. Even though most of the gang have one or more main love interests, they often date other people who appear only once.

There are also inconsistencies surrounding the gang's personality traits. Reggie Mantle is usually portrayed as being part of the gang (sometimes mean and rude, but deep down really a good person), but in other strips he an outsider and an antagonist to Archie and the gang.

In some issues, Moose Mason is portrayed as too dumb to solve the simplest math problem, but in other episodes he can complete tests if he applies himself. A few stories justify this by stating that he has a learning disability and just has to try harder, with the students being very kind and supportive. Midge, Moose's girlfriend, is usually respectful of Moose's limited intelligence, but has been known to make comments suggesting otherwise.

Archie is sometimes depicted as a complete hopeless klutz of only average intelligence, while in other stories he is highly athletic and/or intelligent. While rarely mean-spirited, he sometimes thinks nothing of dating other girls behind Betty or Veronica's backs and even lying about it, while in other appearances, he is scrupulously extremely honest and extremely moral (particularly in the Christian comics produced by Spire).

Betty sometimes appears traditionally feminine, as she can be seen cooking, sewing and cheerleading. Other stories depict her as more of a tomboy, content to wear sporty clothes, go fishing or fix cars. While she definitely has some traits associated with both, there is inconsistency as to which is more prominent.

The location of Riverdale

One of the most ambiguous things in the Archie universe is the geographical location, climate and size of Riverdale. Sometimes it is portrayed as being within driving distance of a beach; at other times there seems to be no beach, when the gang say that they have nowhere to go on a hot day.

Mountains are sometimes said to surround or be located near Riverdale, making it appear to be located in a valley. At other times, the surrounding terrain is more level, and occupied by farm land and woods. One story shows Archie and his father buying lobsters from an old fisherman (lobsters are more common in the northeastern United States).

Rivers and lakes in the area may vary. Normally, the beach (when it appears) is on the ocean, but at least one story declares that the beach is on a lake with no other land in sight. This matches the description of some very large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes (there is at least one real Riverdale in that area).

Snow is very common in the winter, which suggests that Riverdale is in a northern state. Often the gang will be seen on seemingly impromptu and convenient ski holidays. However, beaches are very warm in the summer, and heat waves are occasional. One story has Betty, Archie and Jughead trying to escape a tornado, which would suggest Riverdale is in the Midwest.

In one story, Riverdale is shown on a small map as being in about the same place as Des Moines, Iowa. One plot in the 1990s involved Jughead possibly being forced to move to Ohio, in which Betty, looking at a map, comments that Ohio is extremely far away. In the live-action film adaptation (Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again), Riverdale is explicitly portrayed as being located in California.

Despite Riverdale seeming to be an idyllic small town, occasional stories have taken part in a rough, seemingly crime-ridden part of town. Tall buildings sometimes make Riverdale seem larger than it is supposed to be.

(It should be noted however, that "Riverdale" too is an actual town in Bronx County, New York, a few miles away from the actual headquarters of the publishers of Archie Comics in Mamaroneck. This does not necessarily imply that it is the "Riverdale" in the comics.)

In Tales from Riverdale Digest#28, "The Missing Monument" storyline centers around the statue of Sybil Ladington [sic]. The mispelling of Ludington may be intentional, but the real Ludington statue is in New York state. Perhaps this clue allows us to pinpoint the location of Riverdale with more accuracy.

Other inconsistencies

Regarding the source of the Lodges' wealth, some stories depict Mr. Lodge as a self-made man who grew up poor or middle-class (thus wanting his daughter to study in a public high school to avoid making her a snob), while others depict the Lodge family as having a long history of wealth and famous, wealthy relatives. One comic's punchline ends when Archie is trying to find out how Mr. Lodge gained his wealth with Veronica answering for him: "That's easy; when he married Mom she was worth $40,000,000 at the time."

Each character has numerous relatives who have appeared once and never again. The inside of each character's house is almost always inconsistent, as is the layout of the town. In Archie's Double Digest #165, Archie states that it takes a half-hour to drive from his house to Veronica's. In numerous other strips, Veronica's mansion is within walking distance.

The grade of the main characters usually appears to be Grade 11. In one comic, Miss Grundy says to Archie that when he grows up, he will be a junior in Riverdale High, like he is now, unless he starts studying. In high school, a "junior" is a Grade 11 student, and when their age is given, it is virtually always 16 or 17. However, their grade remains ambiguous.

Once, the class talked with Miss Grundy about their future plans, stating that college is "two years away". When they are on summer vacation, they are always implied to be going to school next year, but it is never mentioned if it will be their last year or not. However, in another story, Archie and Jughead prepare for the prom saying it will be the last time their class will be together, which implies graduation.

Overall, it seems that the writers of the comics have no qualms about changing facts to fit the story even at the expense of continuity. The complete absence of established canon is an often noted aspect of Archie Comics and may be a turn-off to fans of other comics who are accustomed to an established comic universe with strict canon.

See also:

Common Themes in Archie Comics

Archie Getting into Trouble

  • A cash-strapped Archie attempts to borrow or raise money for an impending date with Veronica. Despite his best efforts, he either cannot pay for dinner or his jalopy breaks down. Veronica vows never to date him again.
  • Archie is late for school, accidentally breaks something, or disrupts class.
  • Mr. Weatherbee desperately tries to prevent Archie, Jughead, or both from clumsily disrupting or damaging the school when the superintendent visits. As if on cue, the boys do so anyway. A variation on this theme has Mr. Weatherbee so obsessed with Archie not causing trouble, he brings it on himself.
  • In another variation of the above, after Mr. Weatherbee gets angry at Archie, the superintendent turns up and approves of what Archie is doing. Sometimes Mr. Weatherbee apologises, sometimes he punishes Archie anyway.
  • Archie is at Veronica's house and ends up breaking countless priceless heirlooms. Mr. Lodge angrily kicks him out of the house.
  • Archie (often dragging Jughead along) tries to "make points" with Mr. Lodge by doing chores for him, but fails miserably, causing Mr. Lodge to become very angry and damaging their relationship even further.
  • Mr. Weatherbee, stressed out from Archie's antics, decides to go on vacation or visit a quiet, remote area of Riverdale to relax, but ironically ends up running into Archie.
  • Archie must cram for a test the next day but gets into a series of hijinks.
  • Archie is assigned to do an errand, but he messes up along the way.
  • Archie and/or Jughead attend one of Veronica's posh social events and stick out like a sore thumb.
  • Archie begs for an allowance increase to no avail, and usually ends up getting the money anyway because his moneymaking schemes cause more headaches and money for his parents.
  • In the Lodge mansion, Archie will spoil a high-priced purchase Lodge has made. This sometimes has an unusual twist, such as the priceless item Archie ruined turning out to be a fake.
  • Reggie and Veronica conspire to discomfit Archie, but Archie, or Betty, or Jughead detects this and turns the plot on the plotters.

Betty and Veronica’s Rivalry

  • The prom is coming up and Archie cannot decide who his date will be.
  • Archie accidentally invited two girls to the same date at the same time, which he usually does not realize until the last minute. He tries to run between one date and the other without getting caught by either. Sometimes he is caught, sometimes he gets away with it.
  • In a variation of the above, one character may break a date to go with another person, but runs into that person while on the date and has to hide from them. Archie and Veronica are the usual offenders.
  • Veronica abuses her wealth and connections in order to upstage Betty (such as hiring a renowned fashion designer to provide her with a dress, while Betty is left at home sewing by hand). Often, Veronica ends up dissatisfied with the results (for example, Betty independently creates an identical dress by hand).
  • Betty (in love with Archie) and Reggie (in love with Veronica) unite to try and sabotage Archie and Veronica's relationship
  • Betty or Veronica develops a plan to separate Archie from the other. Her plan usually backfires on herself. Can also happen with Archie and Reggie.
  • Middle-class Betty and wealthy Veronica wonder what it would be like to be in the other's shoes.
  • Despite the fact that Betty sews her dress by hand and Veronica spends quite a bit of money on her own, they end up with the same thing and have a fight.
  • Archie decides to finally choose between Betty and Veronica once and for all (but never does).
  • Jughead shows Archie how badly he is treating Betty. Archie takes Betty out to dinner or to a movie instead of Veronica, who is incensed.
  • Betty and Veronica compete for Archie's affections. Ex: Cooking for him, in which Betty always wins.
  • Veronica gets jealous of Betty's constant contact with Archie during an extracurricular activity, such as Archie being on an athletic team, and tricks her into switching to some other pursuit. Then she finds out Archie has just suffered an injury that put him off the team for the season, and he winds up with Betty anyway.
  • Moose is jealous because Reggie is talking to his girlfriend, Midge. Moose beats up Reggie. Sometimes, Reggie has a plan that he thinks will help him get past Moose, or out of a beating, but it backfires. Occasionally, it will be Archie who gets caught for some reason talking to Midge (almost always in a nonromantic way), and chased or beaten by Moose.
  • An assortment of characters go to the beach. While there, Archie and Reggie love to look at the scantily clad women. Occasionally they organize "girl watching" contests.
  • A character learns that the person he/she dates is spending time with someone he/she doesn’t know, which makes him/her jealous. However, by the end of the story, we learn that the new date in question is actually a cousin, a pet, or some other non-romantic and innocuous subject.
  • The boys become lifeguards and have many adventures while saving drowning people and flirting with the women on the beach.
  • Reggie sabotages Archie's sporting equipment so that he can win first place uncontested or play in the important game and therefore get all the girls. However, the plan backfires when the girls opt to take care of the injured Archie rather than favoring Reggie the sporting hero.
  • Veronica's father tries to introduce Veronica to men other than Archie.
  • Jughead runs away from women, especially Big Ethel.
  • Jughead decides to take a break from eating. He either winds up hating it, or begins dating. Things would go awry if he hates it, but if he dates, he may wind up dating many girls at once.
  • Cheryl Blossom decides to "slum it" in Riverdale and all the boys (especially Archie & Reggie) flock to her, leaving Betty & Veronica very jealous. The two always find some way to either A) run her off or B) keep Archie away from her.
  • Archie and Betty go to the beach where Archie is paying attention to all the other girls there (ie. looking, chatting up), rather than Betty. Betty thus tries to get Archie's attention away from the girls. The story usually ends with Betty getting her way.
  • Jughead actually gives dating a try. He may enjoy it more than he thought he would, but no permanent couple is formed.
  • Nancy is angry at Chuck because he often pays more attention to his cartooning than to her.
  • Dilton’s friends attempt to help him get over his shyness so that he can meet girls. He usually succeeds beyond their expectations.
  • Reggie pairs Dilton with a girl as a practical joke. The girl is either new to Riverdale, or is a girl with a dominating attitude, or in some other way too much for Reggie to handle. The girl becomes fascinated with Dilton and pleads with him for affection and dates.
  • Two characters appear to be dating the same person, resulting in one or both getting jealous of the other. In the end, the two turn out to be dating identical twins.

At School

  • The boys challenge the girls or the Riverdale High faculty to a game or sport. The boys think it will be an easy win, but they either end up getting defeated, or they win, and find that either the prize wasn't worth it, or everyone cheers for the girls because they tried.
  • A rivalry develops between the gang at Riverdale High and students at another high school (who are either depicted as being villanous, or counterparts of Riverdale High.) over a competition or athletic event. The rival students will either cheat or sabotage Riverdale High's efforts, but this would either backfire or Archie and the gang foil their plans, allowing Riverdale to win.
  • In a variation of the above, the rival school (notoriously Central High) steals the Riverdale High mascot or other important item. The Riverdale High students find a way to get it back.
  • Pop, Mr. Weatherbee, Mrs. Grundy, or Ms. Beazley decide to retire, and Archie and the gang persuade them to stay. For members of the faculty, one variation has the person in question actually retire, but their replacement proves to be so unbearable that the gang has no choice but to convince them to come back.
  • Archie gets frustrated with the punishment Mr. Weatherbee metes out to him for tardiness. Either his efforts only make matters worse, or he is delayed en route by a sudden occurrence.
  • Moose is failing something, and is not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports unless his grades pick up. One of the school teams needs him to win a game. They usually get him to pass a makeup test in time, but their efforts sometimes backfire.
  • Reggie pulls some prank designed to get Archie in trouble with Mr. Weatherbee or a teacher, so Archie will be sent to detention while Reggie is free to move in on Veronica. Sometimes he succeeds; sometimes a teacher, or Svensen, or Jughead intercepts Reggie's plans and he suffers the consequences.
  • A guy would accidentally bump into Midge. Moose thinks the guy is flirting with her (even though they usually aren't) and he either beats up the person unfairly, or Midge explains what happened.

Other Story Themes

  • Archie and his friends help Pop Tate get more business, or they prevent a greedy businessman from shutting him down.
  • Jughead shows everyone an item that he claims endows him with great luck, and Reggie and/or Veronica are skeptics. But when all sorts of events occur that support Jughead's claim, they do everything in their power to steal it.
  • In true Three's Company fashion, one character eavesdrops on another and misinterprets what they're saying.
  • A character develops short-lived paranormal abilities, such as predicting the future. They lose this ability by the end of the story.
  • Jughead eats an incredible amount of food, often in a food-eating contest. People watching him are amazed.
  • Archie loses an important document or item that Mr. Lodge has asked him to deliver to a business associate. However, the document inexplicably still reaches its destination (i.e. via the wind), which causes a confusing moment for Archie when Mr. Lodge thanks him for a job well done at the end of the strip.
  • Reggie mocks Jughead's apparent stupidity or incompetence, then falls victim to Jughead's hidden cunning.
  • Betty investigates a strange occurrence in the area. Sometimes, she gets help from her friends, like Moose and Dilton, to solve the case.
  • Archie saves Mr. Lodge from being swindled by a crooked business associate.
  • Mr. Lodge is convinced that Veronica needs to learn to value money and forces her to get a job. After a series of occurrences, she is forced to quit either by her father or by being fired, and sometimes ends up spending more money than she would have made.
  • Jughead eats his friends (Archie, Betty, and Veronica) out of house and home.
  • Archie and Jughead's parents comment on how lazy they are and attempt to get them to either clean their room or do some sort of chore around the house.
  • Archie (sometimes Jughead) usually disrupts some con-men from stealing other people's money.
  • Jughead does something to prove that he will do absolutely anything for food.
  • Archie is terrorized by a bully, or rowdies in areas distant from his home or the school. Usually Jughead scouts out the situation--sometimes even questioning the person Archie pointed out to him as the bully--and solves the problem. Sometimes, they call in Moose, who is stronger than the bully.
  • Chuck creates a concept for a new comic book, often basing the characters on his friends.
  • The gang get jobs at a summer camp where their teachers work as counsellors during the summer. They end up going on an adventure in the forest, possibly getting lost, or may have many mis-adventures trying to settle down with the children.
  • The school suffers a wave of vandalism, theft, or something similar, and Archie, Jughead, or even Reggie, is accused or at least suspected. Archie or Betty does some detective work and identifies the culprit, and finds a way to force the real culprit out into the open.
  • Any time a character cooks up an elaborate scheme to get his or her way (Veronica getting Archie away from Betty, Archie getting Mr. Lodge to like him, etc) the plan usually backfires.
  • Archie picks up on a mystery in Riverdale, sometimes including the Lodges and their money, and shows a smarter, more good-hearted side of him.
  • Archie finds some sort of belonging on the ground, such as a purse. Archie does the right thing and finds the owner, but Reggie thinks that is stupid--the purse contains little or no money, for example. However, this usually results in Archie getting some kind of reward or a date with a pretty girl--whose aged grandmother was the owner of the lost purse, for example--leaving Reggie in the cold.
  • Archie and friends go on a vacation together.
  • In a variation of the above, one or more of the group travels, sometimes to other parts of the country, sometimes abroad, and, despite much humorous bungling, stops a criminal operation.
  • Jason Blossom (sometimes aided by his friend Cedric) will cook up some scheme to cause Archie or other "townies" humiliation; the hand of fate (often unwittingly aided by Jason's sister Cheryl) upsets Jason's plans, to his own dismay and humiliation.

Little Archie

Little Archie comics were originally produced in the 1950s. This series featured the familiar teenagers as Elementary School-age children. It became the longest running alternate universe published by Archie Comics. A number of Little Archie series were produced, and new stories are occasionally published even today.

It introduced a number of characters that had never before existed in the Archie continuity. These included Archie's dog Spotty, Betty's cat Caramel, Betty's older brother Chic and older sister Polly, and new kids Ambrose Pipps and Fangs Fogarty. This made the series more non-canonical. However, around the 1990s, the creators of Archie Comics began to tie Little Archie in to the main continuity by featuring appearances by these characters. Some became recurring characters in the gang's teenage years. Additionally, stories that take place in the main continuity sometimes feature flashbacks to the gang's childhood.

A few contradictions remain between Archie and Little Archie. One is that, in Little Archie, the Riverdale High faculty is the Riverdale Elementary faculty. Archie has established that characters like Mr. Weatherbee have worked at Riverdale High too long to have ever been elementary school teachers when the gang was young.

In the 1980s, the creators experimented with a different art style which made the characters less realistic and less like the art style used in the main continuity. Their heads became unnaturally large, their arms, legs and bodies were disproportionate in length, and their eyes were simply pupil-dots without irises or scleras. However, this was eventually dropped, and Little Archie reverted to its old style.

In 1969, Little Archie inspired a segment within the "Funhouse" segments of The Archie Comedy Hour (which is not the same as the later "Archie's Funhouse" series). This segment however was called "The Little Archies".

Super heroes

The Archie Comics line published the occasional dramatic action-adventure superhero comic.

1940s
1960s (published as Archie Adventure Comics, Radio Comics, and Mighty Comics)

(Hangman and The Wizard become villains during that period)

1980s (published as Red Circle Comics)

Archie would later license their superheroes to DC Comics for use on the Impact imprint in the 90s.

Archie and his friends as super heroes

Archie and his friends sometimes appear in stories in which they turn into superheroes to fight varied villains. They normally change from street clothes to superhero costumes and back again in a split second. Below are the characters with their superhero identities:

Archie spin-off titles

Currently published titles

  • Archie (Winter 1942— )
  • Archie and Friends (Sept 1992— )
  • Archie Digest Magazine (Aug 1973— )
  • Archie's Double Digest Magazine (1981— )
  • Archie's Holiday Fun Digest Magazine (1996— )
  • Archie's Pal Jughead Comics Vol. 2 (June 1993—, #46—)
  • Archie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest (Nov 1992— )
  • Betty (Sept 1992— )
  • Betty and Veronica Vol. 2 (June 1987— )
  • Betty and Veronica Digest Magazine (Nov 1980— )
  • Betty and Veronica Double Digest Magazine (1987— )
  • Betty and Veronica Spectacular (Oct 1992— )
  • Jughead and Friends Digest (June 2005— )
  • Jughead's Double Digest Magazine (Oct 1989— )
  • Sabrina, the Teenage Witch Vol. 2 (Jan 2000— )
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (June 1993— )
  • Sonic X (Sept. 2005— )
  • Tales From Riverdale (Archie Comics) (May 2005— )
  • Veronica (Apr 1989— )

Defunct titles

  • Archie 3000!
  • Archie Americana Series
  • Archie Annual Comics Digest Magazine
  • Archie Archie Andrews Where Are You? Digest
  • Archie and Me
  • Archie's Explorers of the Unknown!
  • Archie at Riverdale High
  • Archie's Car
  • Archie's Family Album
  • Archie's Giant Series (revolving one-shot and recurring titles similar to Dell's Four-Color series; early issues had longer page counts, but by the 1980s this had ended)
  • Archie's Joke Book
  • Archie's Oneway
  • Archie's Pals 'n Gals
  • Archie's RC Racers
  • Archie's Sonrise
  • Archie's Sports Scene
  • Archie Story & Game
  • Archie's T.V. Laugh-Out
  • Betty And Me
  • Betty's Diary
  • Cheryl Blossom
  • Everything's Archie
  • Jughead's Pal Hot Dog
  • Jughead with Archie Comics Digest Magazine (1973-2005)
  • Jughead's Diner
  • Jughead's Jokes
  • The Jughead Jones Digest Magazine
  • Jughead's Time Police
  • Knuckles the Echidna (spin-off of Archie's Sonic the Hedgehog comic series)
  • Laugh
  • Laugh Comics Digest
  • Life with Archie
  • Pep
  • Reggie And Me
  • Reggie's (Wise Guy) Jokes
  • Riverdale High
  • Veronica in [Place Name]
  • World of Archie

Archie Comics in pop culture

The film Chasing Amy, in which all the main characters are comic book writers/artists, includes a scene in which two of the characters debate the sexuality of Archie.

The American sitcom Friends episode "The One that Could've Been", Chandler writes for Archie Comics and sells a story based on working as Joey's assistant.

In the Duel Masters episode, "Win, Lose, or Draw", a girl named Betty greets Shobu. She introduces her friends, whose names are Veronica, Archie, and Reggie.

In the Mystery Science Theater 3000 parody of Eegah, Joel, Crow, and Tom Servo often refer to Arch Hall Jr. as "Archie" and sometimes make references to the comics.

In the Seinfeld episode The Wink, the character Kramer enters Jerry's apartment and is greeted "Hi, Jughead!" by Jerry. Kramer then greets each person in the apartment in reply by referring to them as Archie Comics characters: "Archie, Veronica...Mr. Weatherbee."

The 1994 pornographic film Cherry Pie, which featured such stars as Jenna Jameson and Kylie Ireland was a spoof of the Archie comics.

In Hey Arnold episode Monkey Business, Helga mentions Jughead, Veronica, and Betty.

In Mad Magazine, during its comic-book phase, writer Harvey Kurtzman and artist Bill Elder created an article titled "Starchie." "Starchie Standrews" is a juvenile delinquent, offering to treat "Salonica" (Veronica) to a Scotch-and-Soda, and threatening "Biddy" (Betty) and "Mr. Weathernot" (Mr. Weatherbee) with physical violence. Starchie and his sidekick "Bottleneck" (Jughead) decide to take "Wedgie" (Reggie) for a "last ride," and push him out of a moving car. "Bottleneck" takes off his mask and appears as Edward G. Robinson. Starchie winds up in prison as a middle-aged, balding man, still wearing the checkered slacks, sweater, white shirt, and bow tie, and torturing himself for chasing "Salonica" when "Biddy" 'threw herself' at him. ("Jerk! Fool! Idiot!")

In Gordon Korman's Island Trilogy one of the men in charge of the boat cannot remember the teenagers names and ends up calling them all character names from Archie Comics.

Experimental comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre's third album, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers, contains a spoof of Archie Comics called "High School Madness," featuring two high school boys named "Peorgie" and "Mudhead."

In the Entourage episode "The First Cut Is the Deepest," Ari Gold tells Vincent Chase that the only role available to him is Jughead in a live adaptation of "Archie and Friends". Vince retorts, "I'm more of a Reggie".

In the Robot Chicken episode entitled Veggies for Sloth, there is a parody of the film Final Destination featuring Archie and the gang. It has Archie characters dying in ways similar to specific characters from the film, such as Jughead dying in a bathtub like Tod Waggner, or Betty being hit by a bus like Terry Chaney. It also parodies the very long chain of events killing Ms. Valerie Lewton in the film with its own ridiculous chain of events that seem like a Rube Goldberg machine, with a candle burning a rope, dominoes set up like the face of death, and a car dangling above Ms. Grundy conveniently. Unfortunately, the DMCA demanded that the sketch had to be taken off of the Season 2 Uncensored DVD release of the episode because of copyright infringement.

In one episode of Malcolm In The Middle, Malcolm and Stevie are attempting a science experiment and Reese can be seen in the background reading a comic book. Reese comments to himself, "I wish Reggie would kill Archie and take over this stupid comic!"

The award winning indie comic Love and Rockets contains several long-running strips written and illustrated by Jaime Hernandez inspired by Archie Comics-style characters, art, and situations, but with a Mexican-American cast and a more mature punk rock sensibility.

The pop punk band The Riverdales is loosely based on the comic and includes various references to the comic in their lyrics, including the band name. References include the song "Veronica Hates Me," "Hampton Beach," "Blood on the Ice," among others. The band is a side project of the 80s pop punk band Screeching Weasel.

In one Zits comic, Jeremy's band is seen debating the band's name. Two suggestions were Jughead's Hat and Veronica's Bikini.

Archie comics in technology

Although the Archie search engine was not named after Archie Andrews, many users made this association; subsequently, the Veronica search engine was named after Veronica Lodge, and "Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy Excavation and Display" is named after Jughead.

See also

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