Archie Andrews, the red-headed, freckle-faced teenager of comics who has touched so many people’s lives, has been a member of the family for 65 years of Michael Silberkleit’s life.

Silberkleit, a Rye resident since 1981, is the chairman and publisher of Archie Comic Publications, located in Mamar-oneck. He and Richard Goldwater, the president and publisher, are the sole owners and have run the business since 1982, when they bought it from the founders, their fathers.

Archie was introduced in December 1941, as one story in a Pep Comics superhero comic book. The first stand-alone Archie comic book was published at the end of 1942. “The plan was to switch from a superhero fighting evildoers to an everyman with humor,” said Silberkleit. “Archie comics are good and wholesome, and may be a first real reading experience for children. We make sure they are safe, clean reading.”

Some things never change, yet, after 65 years, Archie and his pals in Riverdale, perennially 17-year-old high school juniors, have managed to stay current. “In the ’40s, they would throw spitballs at each other to communicate,” Silberkleit said. “Now, they text message, IM and BlackBerry each other. They also wear seatbelts when they drive.” In Riverdale though, there are certain constants: There is no crime, no one gets arrested and no one ever disrespects their parents or teachers or the law. “Archie is the ideal small-town teenage boy. His biggest problem is deciding which of two girls to take to the prom. Who wouldn’t want to be like him?”

Silberkleit has worked only for Archie Comics. “They started us at the bottom,” he said, referring to himself and Goldwater. “I worked in the warehouse hand-wrapping subscription copies, labeling and stamping them and then taking them to the post office. I was the lunch-getter and chauffeur. I was at Grand Central Station selling comic books to children departing by train for summer camp, and I would make the rounds and check the dealers. I still check the dealers.”

Silberkleit thinks that the original Archie stories were probably influenced by his parents’ generation’s view of their children. At this point, he says, “Archie reflects all of us. Particularly in the syndicated newspaper strip, lots of the gags reflect what’s happening in our lives.”

The corporate offices have everything Archie, including cultural memorabilia from decades past. The license plate on the company car reads “Jughead.” On Silberkleit’s wall is a photo of his old sailboat on whose mainsail is a giant image of Archie. “Everyone else out sailing would wave to me when they saw it,” he said.

In keeping with the times, Archie Comics has an interactive website, www.archiecomics.com, which gets about 20 million hits a month. “Kids write to us, and we write back to every one of them,” said Silberkleit.  There are also plans for a feature-length, live action film which already has a script, and there is interest in a Broadway musical.

In addition to books about Archie and his friends, Archie Comics publishes Josie and the Pussycats, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which ran on network television for eight years and now appears daily in syndication. The typical Archie reader is 7-14 years old; 60% are females. Sales of all Archie comics and digests are about 700,000 per month, and research shows an average of seven children read each book, bringing readership to almost five million a month. “We are dealing with young readers,” said Silberkleit. “We are very careful about grammar and correct usage. Because all of the words in the balloons are hand-drawn, we can’t use spell check, so we have meticulous proofreaders.”

The commitment to kids was evident recently in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “When the homeless were evacuated to Houston, we thought of all those children living in the Astrodome and what it would be like day after day,” said Silberkleit. “We contacted the Board of Education and arranged to send thousands of Archie books for the kids.”

Archie Comics has new PTA/PTO fund-raising program. They offer brochures that the students can take home and ask their parents to send in for subscriptions, graphic novels and comic and digest collector sets.  For every order, the PTA/PTO will keep 50% of monies received.

“Our comic books appeal to Middle America,” Silberkleit said. “They offer good, clean, believable fun. We are proud of our 65 years, and believe our success rests on not having drifted from our basic characterization. We have lots of scenes in school. Archie is often late for class, Jughead loves to eat and Reggie is a wise guy but still cool. Veronica is the rich girl, Betty the girl next door, and even though they are rivals for Archie’s affection, they’re close friends who stand up for each other.”

In addition to the U.S. market, Archie books are popular in India. In fact, they are the largest selling comic books in that country. Work is now underway on an Arabic version of Archie for a Kuwaiti publisher who wants to distribute it in the Middle East. It is likely that the girls in the book will be modified to accommodate that market, Silberkleit said.

Is this a dream job? “I’ve never thought I’d like to work somewhere else in all my years here,” said Silberkleit. “And, I’m regularly surprised when I meet a prominent businessman, a bank president for example, who, when he sees my card, calls his family over to tell them, ‘Hey, this is the man who publishes Archie comics!’”

By Paula Gamache – The Rye Record - February 9, 2006