So I was looking at some ’60s Archies the other day, and noticed a handful of sophisticated ladies just wandering the streets of Riverdale:
The odd thing is that 1) these are just background characters — with the exception of Archie checking one out in the second panel up there, they don’t interact with the story, and 2) they’re not drawn in the traditional Archie house style.
A quick search of my Archie Comics collection didn’t turn up any other examples of this, which is unfortunate, as I was planning on just posting a gallery of them today. However, I did spot some other strange shenanigans.
For example, in Archie #143 (February 1964), the story “The Kisser Strikes” relates the pulse-pounding tale of a mysterious menace sneaking up on girls and giving them a hearty smooch. Veronica is the first victim:
The next day, all the Riverdale High gals are excitedly buzzing over the possibility of being assaulted: “Something should be done about him!” one says, only to have another reply “nothing drastic like stopping him, I hope!”
At night, Reggie and Archie investigate, following their suspect Jughead, who appears to be following a young lady through the park. The woman is attacked by the Kisser, unfortunately while out of sight of Arch ‘n’ Reg. They split up, looking for Jughead…and when Archie is temporarily felled when he runs into a low-hanging branch, the mysterious Kisser takes advantage and plants a kiss right on him! Immediately afterward, Reggie enters the scene with a firm grip on Jug, and thus no longer a suspect!
The next day, Reggie begins to claim that Archie made up the story of being kissed the night before, and thus must be the Kisser! To prove it, the Riverdale High girls decided to “provide him with lots of targets,” and basically throw themselves into his arms. Archie, for some reason, wants nothing to do with it, and runs for cover! Spotting Betty, he asks for her help, and she drags him to some secluded wooded glen. Exhausted from being run ragged by those “nutty gals,” Archie falls asleep…at which point, Betty bends over him and plants a mysterious Kisser-style kiss! Archie immediately “wakes,” revealing that this was all an elaborate trap to ensnare Betty, the real suspect:
That seems like a fairly weak motivation, given that Betty probably could kiss Archie (the only male victim) whenever she pleased…so we’re left with a story where Betty dressed up in an overcoat and a hat so she could run around kissing girls.
“Plane Crazy” (from Life with Archie #37, May 1965) starts off with Betty and Veronica hanging out in the Lodge mansion, practicing the Twist, when yet another mysterious stranger busts into the house and, um, well, ties the girls up:
This opening chapter just feels like someone working out some issues, as a bound Veronica rolls around the room, opening a drawer with her gagged mouth to retrieve scissors to cut their ropes.
However, given the Google searches I’ve seen in my referral logs, this is what some of you are looking for, so never let it be said I didn’t deliver:
Add in the supporting evidence from pal Dorian’s two posts, you’re kinda left wondering…wasn’t one of Archie’s founders responsible for the Comics Code Authority?
