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THE
INSIDE SCOOP PART
TWO: THE EXPANDING EMPIRE (1950-1970)
While MLJ produced their own brand of superheroes to compete with the likes of Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, The Sub Mariner, Wonder Woman and the like, its founders realized that in order to entertain younger readers, and, in particular, female readers, they needed to go in an entirely different direction. John Goldwater wanted to create a comic book character that was grounded in reality, and prove that an ordinary person could be just as popular. And thus were the wheels set into motion that would eventually result in Goldwater's creation of the phenomenon known as Archie. Goldwater's inspiration for Archie Andrews came partly from the old Mickey Rooney movie series, "Andy Hardy", crediting an actual high school friend of his, named, ironically enough, Archie. During their days at the New York Teacher's Training School, Goldwater recalls, "I felt like Jughead to him. I was a very loyal friend." With his lead character in hand, Goldwater brought together a stable of writers, editors and artists, including Bob Montana who would create the likeness of the original characters and become the principal artist on the strip, and one of the most popular.
Dubbed, "The Mirth of a Nation", the visibility of Archie grew, as did his popularity. Readers were demanding to see more of Archie and his friends, and the powers that be at MLJ readily satisfied those demands. The company increased Archie's presence in the still superhero prevalent Pep Comics, culminating with Archie's first appearance on the cover of Pep #36 in 1943. Then, in Pep #49, Archie got the lead story in that book over The Shield. By 1944, MLJ's superheroes were slowly starting to be phased out in favor of the ever increasingly popular Archie. Katy would quickly become a fixture in Wilbur and other Archie series comics until she got her own regular comic in 1949. By then, Bill had assembled quite a charming cast of characters to go along with Katy, chief among them: her rich and glamorous rival, Gloria Granbilt; pretty, but superstitous redhead Lucki Lorelei; K.O. Kelly, Katy's pugilistic boyfriend and Randy Von Ronson, a wealthy suitor of Katy and a rival of K.O. It was no secret that a goodly amount of servicemen were fans and readers of Katy. What made Katy Keene so immensely popular with fans was that readers were encouraged to send in fashion designs for Katy and her friends. Not just fashions, but designs for houses, cars, boats, just about anything, with recognition given when their designs were shown in the book. And, when it came to fashions for Katy, Gloria and Lucki, it wasn't just girls who submitted designs -- boys and grown men of all ages submitted fashions as well! Katy would enjoy enormous success, second only to Archie himself until her book was cancelled in 1961. PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE |
The
legend that is Archie Comics began inauspiciously in 1939 with
the birth of a new comic book company called MLJ Magazines,
named after it's three partners and founders, Maurice Coyne
("M"), Louis Silberkleit ("L") and John
Goldwater ("J"). The company's first title was called
Blue Ribbon Comics, which was followed by Top Notch Comics and
then, in January 1940, Pep Comics. Among MLJ's growing stable
of superheroes was The Shield, said to be the comic book industry's
first patriotic hero who battled the villainous Axis powers.
Without
any fanfare, the very first Archie story appeared in the hero
laden pages of Pep Comics #22 in December of 1941. In that story,
Archie (for some odd reason demanded to be called Chick) sought
to impress the new girl in the neighborhood, Betty Cooper. Despite
warnings from his woman hating chum Jughead Jones, Archie wound
up getting into all sorts of trouble when he tried to do a highwire
act at a traveling circus. The kids all looked to be no more
than 12 or 13, but by the time they appeared in their next story,
they were teenagers. 
Comicdom's
most famous, and fabulous rich girl, Veronica Lodge made her
debut in Pep Comics #26 (April 1942), and life would never again
be the same for poor Archie. In this story, Veronica had just
moved to Riverdale and Archie somehow managed to get a date
with her. When Jughead tells Arch that Veronica was a rich debutante,
Arch, forever hard up for cash, lands a job at a swanky restaurant,
which just so happens to be the same one he takes Veronica to,
thus leading to the sort of chaos readers would come to expect
for years to come from Archie. 
When
Archie #1 hit the newsstands later that year, Veronica's origin
was revised. In this new telling, Veronica receives a mushy
love note from Archie, asking her to be his date at the prom.
On a lark, the flighty heiress accepts, putting Archie in a
bind since he was going steady with Betty at the time. In a
pinch, Arch gets Jughead to be her escort, and, after giving
her poison ivy from, of all places, a graveyard, chaos again
erupts, but later on, Veronica convinces her parents to move
to Riverdale, mostly because she likes the town, and partly
to get back at Archie! 
One
of the emerging themes that made Archie so popular with his
growing legion of fans was "The Eternal Love Triangle".
Archie #7 (March 1944) heralded the beginning of the teenage
menage a trois between Archie, Betty and Veronica. This story,
in which Archie tries to keep a movie date with both girls at
the same time on the same night at the same theater, would be
the catalyst for thousands and thousands of stories over the
decades as perpetually indecisive Archie had nothing but trouble
trying to choose between sweet and lovable Betty or rich and
spoiled Veronica. 
During
World War II, as America fought in Europe and the Pacific, pin-up
girls like Betty Grable became enormously popular with soldiers,
sailors and Marines, and this led to the emergence of the most
popular pin-up girl in the history of comic books----Katy Keene!
Created by Bill Woggon, Katy, debuting in Wilbur Comics #5 (1945),
was a tall, dark haired beauty queen who atttracted all kinds
of male suitors while keeping her cute but mischieviously candy
crazed kid sister out of trouble. Katy, like Archie, was an
overnight smash, thus leading to more appearances. 
In
1946, a dramatic turning point was reached as MLJ Magazines
adopted the name of what had now become it's flagship character
and officially became Archie Comics Publications. The change
coincided with the new editorial direction which focused mainly
on the humorous exploits of Archie Andrews and his friends and
less on superheroes. In the fall of that year, Archie Comics
released Laugh Comics which, like Pep, would feature Archie
and other humorous characters. Then, just before the decade
ended, yet another title was added: Archie's Pal Jughead. 
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