Number 1569: The naked Archie

In this tale of teen tension and body dysmorphic disorder from Archie Comics #27 (1947), Archie takes a shower in front of a leering, sadistic personal trainer.  It isn’t such a big deal except for our usual expectation of more clean, wholesome fun from an Archie comic book. That cleaned-up Archie came later, when the transition from the wild-and-wooly days of Archie’s publisher, MLJ Comics, was fnally complete. This story, drawn by longtime Archie artist Bill Vigoda, is part of that earlier style.

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From the same issue, here’s a titillating look at Archie’s girls, Betty and Veronica. Click on the thumbnail:

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Number 1073


IN the swim with Betty and Veronica

Were you startled by the new look Betty and Veronica?

Check out a 1947 interpretation of our pulchritudinous pair from an artist who signs the splash page I.N., and is in fact Irving Novick. Irv did Black Hood strips for MLJ. He later did extraordinary work at DC.

At the time Harry Shorten was the editor, and there's an in-joke about "Shorten's Beach." The writing was on the wall at MLJ as they made the transition to the Archie teenage comics they're still living on. Maybe Irv wasn't getting enough work after the postwar demise of the superheroes, and Shorten gave him the assignment.

It's a fascinating strip, if only for Novick's artistic interpretation. Did he do any more of these?

From Archie #27, 1947:








Betty got herself into a similar situation ten years later, in Archie Annual #9, 1957-58.

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Number 122


Sexy Suzie, Kinky Katy and Booby Betty


When the Comics Code was written in late 1954, and implemented with issues published in 1955, one of the chief promoters were the folks at Archie Comics. Archie Comics had claimed the moral high ground with their line of "wholesome" teenage books. They might have forgotten their origins. Before Archie came along they published some of the rowdiest and sometimes ghastly superheroes in the business. Anyone who can come up with a hero called The Hangman probably doesn't have the word "wholesome" in mind.

These pages and panels are all culled from one coverless issue of what I presume to be Pep Comics. Based on internal evidence I place it about 1953, a couple of years before the Comics Code. One of the provisions of the Code was that women wouldn't be shown with body parts accentuated. Even after the Code Archie Comics got away with showing the charms of Betty and Veronica. I mean, a code's a code, unless it interferes with the public's right to see accentuated body parts.

The Archie public, even pre-Code, was a pre-teen/teenage girl market. I'm sure the sexy stuff was meant to lure in the big brothers, too.

The "Suzie" pages are eye-catching and eye-popping, especially the splash, with Suzie spread out on the love seat like a hooker in a brothel. I'm also wondering about the guy who looks to be a shade older than the teenage boy who is his "rival." How old is the guy with the mustache, anyway? And what's he doing hanging with a teenage girl? (Heh-heh-heh…)

Click on pictures for full-size images.

 Katy Keene was a strip supposedly aimed strictly at young girls. When I dragged out this comic and my wife saw Katy the first words out of her mouth were, "Oh wow! Déjà vu!" It had been over 40 years since Wifey had seen a Katy Keene pinup page, but she knew instantly who she was. Once you've seen Katy, you don't forget Katy. I'm sure there are plenty of adult males out there who see Katy and also say, "Oh wow! Déjà vu!" Bill Woggon did the artwork, but the sly dog had help from his readers in designing the clothes. He also got to draw a really pretty girl. I don't mean to disparage gay people, but the guys in the strip always looked gay to me. And Sis was a total washout. Woggon should have tossed her and just shown Katy having lingerie parties with her supermodel friends. That would put the "strip" in comic strip! Incidentally, the page is full of phallic symbols.

Betty, of Betty and Veronica fame, is shown in these two pages from an otherwise typical, tired Archie gag storyline, as having young, nubile breasts. Accentuated body parts, as it were.

As Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder pointed out in Mad #12, in his later years "Starchie" regretted not taking advantage of the situation with Betty, who threw herself at him. Look at the panels with all of the hearts flying. I'm sure if Archie were human he'd have a heart-on for Betty, too. Archie, can you say "menage a trois?" In those pre-Code days Archie was a total dipstick for not inviting both Betty and Veronica over to his house when his Mom and Pop were out.

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Number 44

COVERING IT: Classic Golden Age comic book covers: Archie Halloween.

Poor Archie. When I was a teen I should've had his problems.

Archie didn't seem to have to work; none of his friends did. They just hung out at Pop's Choc'lit Shop, drank sodas, drove their jalopies (how long has it been since the word "jalopy" has been used, anyway, and where the hell did it come from in the first place?), and went on dates.

Archie had a problem of too many girlfriends. He also had the problem of a smooth hustler, Reggie, liking one of his girlfriends and making plays for her.

Archie reminds me of the son of a woman I know. The woman told me, "My son is in love with a beautiful girl who treats him bad, and another girl who isn't quite as beautiful loves him very much, and would treat him great. Of course he goes for the beautiful one who treats him bad." I told her it sounded like the triangle of Archie, Betty and Veronica and she gave me sort of a look as if to say, "You're reducing my son to a comic book character." Well, of course, comic books are real life, and our real lives are just lines on paper. At least to an old comic book fan, anyway.

It's amazing how many stories can be gotten from a simple triangle. Maybe Archie should have joined a polygamy cult and had both Betty and Veronica, or they could have some sort of kinky arrangement they couldn't mention in Comics Code approved comic books.

I'm sure that Archie comics were aimed at pre-pubescent girls. Or were they? Why would a girl want to read about a guy's problems with two girls? Would she identify with that? Was it aimed at young boys? Why would they want to read about a guy and yuchhy girls anyhow?

I read Archie when I was a kid, but I was a comics fan, I read everything (but no westerns and no love comics; I had my limits). I don't remember thinking this was anything like real life, except to wonder how two beautiful and desirable girls would go for a dorky-looking guy like Archie. You've got to admit, he wasn't drawn to look like a stud that girls would fight over.

Archie has been popular enough on the newsstands to keep going continuously for over 60 years. That's a long time to have a triangle going, and if it were real life by now the once beautiful teenage girls would be fighting over an equally elderly Archie at the Senior Citizens' Center.

I like this old Halloween cover from a 1940s issue of Archie, but in the opposite way from how it was intended. I can't imagine why anyone thought putting Archie on a broomstick with a witch's hat was funny. I see some hidden symbolism is the long broomstick with the pumpkin head between Archie's legs. If you had a couple of babes like Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge fighting over you your broomstick would be long, too.

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