Panel Discussion: The Art of Archie...

Redartz:  A little over five years ago, my first guest post appeared over at the great Bronze Age Babies blog. Little did I know where that single post would lead! Anyway, the subject of that post was a review of an Archie comic;today's topic is a long-delayed follow up to it.

 Like some of you, I've been a fan of Archie comics for many years. And for most of that time, I had no inkling of the people behind those comics- Archie Comics generally didn't credit the creators until the 1980's. And with the 'house style' intended to keep the Riverdale gang looking consistent througouht the years, determining who did what could be challenging. 

That said, there are definite differences in style among Archie's illustrators. I'm still learning about them, and thought you might enjoy a look as well. Here's a few I most enjoy.
Oh, and a few notes: we're looking at pencillers today, some of whom did their own inks. And the list isn't comprehensive, but at least it's a start. Also, credit must be given to Wikipedia and the Grand Comic Book Database, without which much of this page would be empty.


Harry Lucey

I found his work recognizable long before I knew his name. Clean lines, flawless comic timing, and a great talent for drawing physical action. Look below at Archie's reverberating jalopy, Betty and Veronica having a tug-of-war, and the gang whaling on Archie in a snowbank. Anyone who read Archie comics in the 60's and 70's will find Lucey's work familiar; he was highly prolific. As comparison, perhaps he could be considered the Jack Kirby of Archie comics.

Incidentally, I rather like his somewhat unorthodox rendition of Sabrina, What think you? 

Harry Lucey pencils, Marty Epp inks

Harry Lucey pencils, Chic Stone inks

 

Harry Lucey pencils, Marty Epp inks

Bob White

Bob White's work was commonly seen on covers and interiors of Archie comics of the 50's and into the mid 60's. Quite the illustrator, I like the detail his artwork displays. Check out the look of Veronica "Elizabeth Taylor" on the cover below. And the other covers, with the robotic jukebox and a dinosaur, feature another facet of White's work: a fondness for science fiction and fantasy. Often using aliens, monsters, robots and such, his art illustrated some of Archie's wildest adventures.

Bob White

Bob White

Bob White

Stan Goldberg

Now here's a fellow with a resume. He was all over the industry. While researching this post, I learned that Stan (Goldberg, not Lee) helped design the original color schemes for Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, and other Marvel giants. Often seen credited as a colorist, Goldberg also pencilled and inked, working for Atlas and Marvel. Some years later, he moved over to Archie comics and drew a huge number of stories from the late 60's on into the 90's.  His style was warm, comfortable and familiar to Bronze age readers everywhere.

Stan Goldberg

Samm Schwartz 

Samm was known as the "Jughead" artist, handling Juggie's book for years. But he worked on other titles as well, from the 50's to the 80's. He did take a few years off from Archie to work at  Tower Comics and DC in the mid to late 60's. 

Samm Schwartz

Dan Parent

Dan may not be known to some of you; he started for Archie in the 90's and continues to this day. He has a style well-fit to the traditional look of the Archie gang, yet also brings a more contemporary feel. He was credited with creating the first gay character in Archie comics: Kevin Keller, and has produced many fine stories (recently the fun "Archie Meets Batman 66).

Dan Parent pencils, Dan DeCarlo inks

Dan Parent pencils, Mike Esposito inks

 Al Hartley

Hartley is another artist who has 'made the rounds'. Working for Timely /Atlas in the 50's, he illustrated Patsy Walker, and did stories for some of early Marvel's horror books. He even did an issue of Thor. In the later 60's Al left Marvel and went to Archie, where he did stories for many titles.His style had a ...sweetness...almost a sparkle; lots of emotion and sentiment.  This sentimentality, and his personal conviction, led him to work at Spire Christian comics by the mid 70's. You might remember seeing "Archie's One Way" and other such books, on stands at the time.

Two points of interest: on the "Subject Matter" page, Veronica mentions the names of several boys, much to Miss Grundy's annoyance. Those names refer to some of Archie Comics' big guns: George (George Gladir), Al (Al Hartley), Marty (Marty Epp), Vince (Vince DeCarlo), Bob (Bob Bolling) and Frankie (Frank Doyle).

Then on the Archie /Veronica page, note the inks by Joltin' Joe Sinnott. Very nice.

Al Hartley pencils, Jon D'Agostino inks

Al Hartley pencils, Joe Sinnott inks

Al Hartley

 Bob Montana

Bob Montana was Archie's creator, back in the 40's at MLJ comics. Although he didn't do any comic book work within our Bronze age, he did the Archie newspaper strip until 1975, and some of those strips were reprinted in the Archie comics of our day...

Bob Montana

Bob Bolling 

Bob started working at Archie in the 50's, most notably on "Little Archie". His stories were adventurous, touching, wild, and very clever. Some have compared Bolling's "Little Archie" to Carl Barks' work on the Disney ducks.  

Bolling has said that his favorite story is one called "The Long Walk" from Little Archie 20. I discovered this tale in one of the "Best of Archie" collections a couple of years ago, and it was instantly one of my favorite comic book stories of all time. 

By the way, Bob is still active today, doing work for the Archie digests....

Bob Bolling

Dan DeCarlo

Dan is perhaps my favorite Archie illustrator. He started out with Atlas Comics, illustrating Millie the Model, among others. He also did a fair bit of magazine illustration, of the fashion and pin-up variety. You can see that influence on the work he did at Archie, from the 50's to the 90's. Absolutely gorgeous illustration, DeCarlo essentially defined the look for the Archie crowd for decades. DeCarlo also created Josie (as in Josie and the Pussycats), and also Sabrina, the Teen age Witch.

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Dan DeCarlo pencils, Rudy Lapick inks

Well, that's all I've got today. We only scratched the surface of Archie Comics, but I hope you enjoyed this brief survey. And I hope you'll share your thoughts about Archie, his art, and anything else Riverdale-relevant!

Sunday Rerun: Archie in Repeaterdale!

Martinex1: Hello and thanks for dropping in for another Repeat and Rerun Sunday!  Today we have a classic post from my pal Redartz!   This was from his guest post gig over at the Bronze Age Babies site from back on March 24, 2015.   Here at BitBA we have had a number of posts around Archie and his gang, and this post started it all.  Thanks for the memories Red, and thanks for covering this week.

Redartz:  You're quite welcome, Marti; and thank you for the kind intro! For those unaware, this was actually the first post I ever wrote. I had no inkling at the time where it would all lead; but then again we never really know where we are eventually headed, do we? 

Hope you all enjoy another (or for those who missed it first time around, a new) look at this book. There will be an updated comment or two at the end. Best wishes, all, and have a good week! 

 

 Archie at Riverdale High #1 (August 1972)  

(BAB 3.24.15) Redartz: We are venturing into some largely uncharted territory today, outside the realms of Marvel and DC, and also leaving the genre of costumed adventurers! In that spirit, I will begin with a little background information for those who may be less familiar with “America's Favorite Teenager”. 

Archie first appeared in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941), making him of age with such Golden Age icons as Batman and Captain America. Throughout the following decades Archie, along with his growing cast of characters, appeared in many comic magazines. In fact, by the 70's, he was featured in so many titles he could rival Richie Rich for space on the spinner racks! One thing these many titles had in common (besides the main cast of characters, of course) was their format:  they generally contained two or three short humorous stories and a couple of  single-page gag strips.. From time to time there were  more adventurous tales, such as those involving Archie's superhero identity  “Pureheart the Powerful” ; yet these stories were still went for the funnybone.      

             
This brings us to our subject today. Archie at Riverdale High (or ARH, for brevity's sake) was intended to be a departure, featuring stories of adventure and drama more serious than had been previously attempted. Another title,  “Life With Archie”, had also begun to feature some weightier stories by this time. But in the case of ARH, this was the purpose from the get-go.

             
A brief interlude: for many years, the creators behind Archie comics were not credited in the books, making identification challenging. Many thanks to the Grand Comic Book Database for the information on the artists and writers for this issue. Indeed, even they are not certain of the identity of the cover penciler, speculating it likely was Stan Goldberg (a name familiar to Marvel fans as a colorist of note). Rudy Lapick is credited as the inker. 

The cover's top third is taken up with the logo (appropriately designed ; looks like they took it off the back of a jersey). The feature story is portrayed with a blue-bordered inset panel featuring Archie and “Pop” Tate ( owner/proprietor of the Choklit Shoppe, Riverdale's chief hangout spot); showing Pop as he tells Archie of the impending loss of the store. The resulting standoff is depicted in the main cover area. Artistically the linework is clean, and follows the traditional Archie house character design. Yet the cover strikes me as a little busy: five word balloons and a blurb! Also, that logo, while striking, might have been better served with a solid-color background. The figures and school building seem to add to the visual overload.

“You Can't Win 'Em All”, story by Frank Doyle, art by Harry Lucey

This is a fairly straightforward sports story, with rivals Archie and Reggie Mantle competing to win the company of Betty and Veronica at the planned Victory Dance following the championship baseball game against Central High.  Unfortunately for Riverdale's team, the Central players score in the first inning! Riverdale manages to prevent any further scoring through the succeeding innings, but is unable to score. To make matters worse, the news is spread that Coach Kleats will be facing a transfer if Riverdale fails to win the championship! So things look glum as the team trails heading into the 9^th. Inning. At this point, things start to brighten for Riverdale (and Coach Kleats) as the team manages to load the bases. Then, with two out, Archie comes to the plate. Down two strikes, Archie launches a grand slam for the win!

Yes, the ending was pretty predictable; Coach's job is safe and Archie gets the girls. In a typical teen humor book, one really wouldn't expect anything different. Two points of interest about this story, however:

First, the description of the game action was pretty accurate. References to a sacrifice and working the pitch count show that writer Doyle is familiar with America's pastime. In fact, much of the story reads like the play-by-play from a radio announcer. I  wonder how many readers actually understood the term “Texas Leaguer”...

Second, the artwork by Harry Lucey is worth mention. I consider him the 'Sal Buscema' of Archie comics. Lucey's figures are simple and streamlined, and effectively express the exaggerated action of humor strips. He has a lightness to his line, his backgrounds minimal. Contrast this to Stan Goldberg ( perhaps we can call him the John Romita Sr. of Archie), who displays a heavier, curvier (?) style as shown in the second story. Lucey's artwork is frequently featured in Bronze age (and earlier) Archie stories, particularly when more physical action is depicted. 

“Second Chance”, writer Harry Doyle, pencils Stan Goldberg, inks John D'Agostino

The cover feature opens with Archie entering the Choklit Shoppe, only to find “Pop” Tate in despair. It seems the entire block upon which the shop sits has been condemned! Jughead enters, thinking it all to be a joke; but realizes the gravity of the situation upon reading the legal notices Pop has been given. When Jug asks how this can be, Pop informs him that the 'powers-that-be ' can do whatever they want (ah, cynical adulthood!).

The news spreads across Riverdale, bringing disbelief that the iconic Choklit Shoppe is soon to be history. It also brings Archie and his friends back to the shop to learn who gave the orders to level the building. They learn that the Greystone Building Corporation is responsible, and so proceed to pay the Corporation a visit. To the kids' dismay, however, they are informed that Greystone is committed to “progress”, in the form of a brand new building complex. In fact, the representative ushers the group out the door while dismissing their concern as “sentimental hogwash” (I presume this gentleman was not a public relations man..).

As if things weren't bad enough, upon hitting the sidewalk Archie's friend Dilton runs up to give them more news: Pop has barricaded himself in his shop and is ready to be demolished along with it! Indeed, the wrecking ball is ready, and the crew chief seems willing to put it to immediate use, Pop or no Pop (a bit melodramatic, yes; he could be Snidely Whiplash in disguise). Archie warns him that to proceed would amount to murder, so the wreckers decide to hold off for one more night. 

This gives Archie and friends a little hope- they head for Veronica's father, Hiram Lodge (the most powerful man in town). Surely he can prevent the destruction of the Choklit Shoppe! But no, when they first attempt to persuade him to intervene, he gives them the same answer they got from Greystone. That is, until they actually told Mr. Lodge the ultimate victim of said progress. Now Hiram gets on the phone to his troubleshooter, trying to track down the source of the construction plan. Even he has difficulty unraveling the trail of holding companies, so they take the final step: put it on the computer ( yes, that was a big step, in 1972; today five minutes with a smartphone could have clarified everything)!

Well, as it turns out, the man at the top of the command chain is Mr. Lodge himself. Thus a quick visit to the worksite sends the demolition crew packing, and the group into Pop's to celebrate. As with the first story in this issue, the ending could have been seen coming; we all know Pop's will continue to serve up sundaes and burgers till doomsday. Yet the story kept my interest, and I recall as a twelve-year-old reading it and enjoying the melodrama. Doyle and Goldberg played it straight, eschewing the jokes and gags. At the time this comic was on the stands, my favorite tv show was “Emergency”; I tuned in weekly to see what crazy rescues and potential disasters were looming. This title, Archie at Riverdale High, offered the same plate of ever-changing high drama ( soon to appear were stories featuring blizzards, broken elevator shafts, near drownings, etc.). So , at least for me, the book delivered what it promised. This was the first Archie comic I followed religiously, and actually the first comic I ever collected from issue #1. Of course, within two years I'd leave it behind for Marvel, but at the time this comic was tops on my list. It still holds a special sentimental spot up there, even now...

Redartz:  A few final thoughts on this book, if I may. Over the past couple of years, I've added substantially to my Archie library. Thanks, largely, to the benefit of (as Doug and Karen from the good ol' BAB called it) "the golden age of reprints". In particular, "The Best of Archie" series, small books packed with hundreds of pages, have brought back loads of classic Archie stories and art.  That said, I still pick up 'floppies' as the occasion arises. Especially this title. As noted in the original post, ARH held a special appeal for me. So, I still look to complete that series. Have you ever searched out Archie back issues? Many of us have pursued Marvel and DC, and overall they are fairly common in decent condition. Archies,however, must have really seen a lot of use- they are seldom found in the higher grades.

Oh, and one more note. Archie Comics has, for a couple of years, been putting the Riverdale gang on the stands in new, updated (yet still enjoyable ) form and appearance. But news is out that current Archie talent Dan Parent is creating a new series, hearkening back to the classic look. Another example of how Archie Comics publishing has a good feel on the pulse, and a wise tendency to promote their vast library.