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Archie Comics

Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones characters created by publisher/editor John L. Goldwater, written by Vic Bloom and drawn by Bob Montana. The characters were based in part on people the three knew, including Montana's friends in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and people met by Goldwater "in the midwest".

Archie's first appearance in Pep Comics #22 on December 22, 1941 was drawn by Montana and written by Vic Bloom. With the creation of Archie, publisher John L. Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney.

Archie Comics is also the title of the company's longest running publication, the first issue appearing with a cover date of Winter 1942. Starting with issue #114 the title was shortened to simply Archie.

History

Archie Comics started out in 1939 as MLJ Comics, named after the first initials of its three founders: Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater. Early MLJ titles featured generic superheroes remembered in the lore of comic collectors' trivia. The Shield was the first flag-themed superhero, a year before Captain America. The Comet was the first superhero killed in the line of duty. The Hangman (the Comet's younger brother) might be the most brutal superhero of the 1940s. Roy the Superboy preceded Superboy by half a decade, and Steel Sterling was dubbed "the Man of Steel" before Superman. None remained popular. In 1941, a teenage humor strip called Archie began as a new back-up feature in Pep, replacing Madam Satan. Striking a popular nerve with emerging youth culture, Archie and his gang were such a hit that MLJ changed its name to Archie Comics in 1946.

In the 1950s and 1960s, cartoonist Dan DeCarlo ceased work on Atlas Comics' Millie the Model and brought his influential style to the Archie Comics universe. DeCarlo is primarily responsible for the modern look of the Archie characters, and the creation of popular Archie spin-off comics Sabrina, the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats.

The enduring Archie legacy has spanned dozens of Archie titles, including spin-offs, digest collections, and magazines focused on particular characters. Some of the older series feature Archie and his friends cast as superhero versions of themselves or playing spies in a parody of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.. Some series, such as Life With Archie and Archie at Riverdale High, feature straight adventure and/or mystery stories.

In May 2007, Archie debuted what they call a more "dynamic", realistic art style since its title characters' debut in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941), also features longer serialized stories.

The Archie characters have been continually successful in other mediums since the comic's inception. The Archie Andrews radio program debuted May 31, 1943, and ran on various networks until September 5, 1953. The Archie newspaper comic strip was launched in 1946, and was drawn by Bob Montana until his death in 1975. In 1968, Archie was adapted into a Saturday morning cartoon series by Filmation, The Archie Show. In 1969, the teen bubblegum pop band, The Archies, earned a gold record with their #1 hit "Sugar, Sugar". In 1974, a network television pilot was made in an attempt to bring a live-action Archie show but was unsuccessful.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the Archie characters were authorized for use in a series of Christian comic books written and drawn by Al Hartley for Spire Christian Comics.

Several attempts have been made to revive MLJ's original superhero line, without success. Recently at Comiccon 2008 it was announced that the characters have been licensed to DC.

   Lawsuits

The February 1962 issue of Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine featured a parody of the Archie characters in its Goodman Beaver story, Goodman Goes Playboy, written by Kurtzman and illustrated by frequent collaborator, Will Elder (the magazine itself hit newsstands on December 1960). Attorneys for Archie Comics filed suit shortly thereafter, for copyright infringement. An agreement was reached in March 1964, with $1000 in damages paid, and an apology was issued.

Later attempts to reprint the Goodman Beaver story, with names and artwork altered by Kurtzman and Elder to minimize similarities to Archie characters and trademarks, were again met with threatened legal action by Archie Comics.

However, according to a May 2008 posting on The Comics Journal website: "It resulted in waves of lawyers raining upon the strip’s creators, ultimately leading to Kurtzman and Elder handing the copyright to the story over to Archie and signing an agreement promising never to reproduce it again. Some 40 years or so later, Gary Groth or someone close to him discovered that Archie had forgotten to renew the copyright to the strip, and that it had fallen into the public domain." As a result, Goodman Goes Playboy can now be reprinted by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, since it is no longer copyrighted by anyone.

Ironically, despite the above legal wrangling, Archie Comics never took any action against Kurtzman, Elder nor publisher William Gaines for the 1954 Mad Magazine story Starchie, which has been reprinted numerous times.

Archie Comics sued music duo The Veronicas for trademark infringement in 2005 over the band's name, which was taken from the comic book character. Archie Comics and Sire Records (The Veronicas' record company) finally resolved their problems through a co-promotion deal.

Fanfiction.Net received a cease and desist order from Archie Comics to remove any Archie comic based fan fiction from its site, as they are derived from their copyrighted and trademarked properties and were stated to damage Archie's public image. It included public statements by Archie Comics, who have stated that they do not allow (even family-oriented) fan fiction based on Archie comics works.[citation needed] (It should be noted, however, that story contests are frequently run through the official Archie website, allowing fans to create their own stories in accordance with site's rules).

On April 4, 2003, Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta was scheduled to debut a new play, Archie's Weird Fantasy, which depicted Riverdale's most famous resident coming out of the closet and moving to New York. The day before the play was scheduled to open, Archie Comics issued a cease and desist order, threatening litigation if the play proceeded as written. Dad's Garage artistic director Sean Daniels said, "The play was to depict Archie and his pals from Riverdale growing up, coming out and facing censorship. Archie Comics thought if Archie was portrayed as being a total sucker, that would dilute and tarnish his image."

Jughead's Revenge, an American punk rock band was forced to split up after a lawsuit from Archie Comics in April 2001.

Other series published by Archie Comics
Sonic the Hedgehog
Sonic X
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures
Street Sharks
The Mighty Mutanimals
Nights into Dreams...
Koosh Kins
Mantech
Hanna-Barbera Comics
The Flintstones
The Jetsons
Scooby-Doo
Hanna-Barbera All-Stars
Hanna-Barbera Presents
Space Ghost

   Superheroes

At various points, Archie Comics has experimented with publishing various superhero titles. Beginning with the companies "very first comic publication" - Blue Ribbon Comics #1 (Nov. 1939), and continuing throughout the 1940s with titles such as Zip Comics, Jackpot Comics, Hangman Comics, Shield-Wizard Comics and Pep Comics. This last title was, "before Archie came along in issue #22... home to the first ever patriotic superhero, The Shield."

During "Archie's Silver Age (late 1950s through the 1960s)," the Shield led other characters in the Joe Simon/Jack Kirby title The Double Life of Private Strong, while Simon & Kirby soon added another title - The Adventures of the Fly - which in turn was later joined by The Jaguar. "By the mid-'60s, the superheroes were back in full force" with Mighty Comics Presents and The Mighty Crusaders featuring "all of Archie's superhero characters teaming up for epic adventures."The Mighty Crusaders comprised: The Fly, The Shield, Jaguar, Steel Sterling, Captain Flag, The Comet, Fly Girl, Firefly and The Fox.

Many of these characters were later sold to DC.

   Red Circle Comics

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In October 1973, Archie's new "Red Circle Comics" imprint debuted with Chilling Adventures in Sorcery #3 (formerly Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as told by Sabrina), later morphing into Red Circle Sorcery with issue #6, running for a further six issues, until issue #11 (Feb, 1975). A small handful of other shortlived, non-Archie, titles were published by Red Circle Comics before - in 1978/79 - two digests were published collecting some of the Archie Superhero comics from the previous decade. These were Archie's Super Hero Special and Archie's Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine - the latter notable for printing a previously-unpublished revamp of the Black Hood by Gray Morrow and Neal Adams.

In the 1980s, Archie's superheros returned. Initially published by JC Comics in JCP Features #1, (Dec 1981), in March 1983, the first issue of Mighty Crusaders appeared, leading to a procession of new titles under the Red Circle Comics banner, soon to be rebranded (in February 1984) the "Archie Adventure Series," before cancellation in September, 1985.

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Red Circle Comics, Mighty Comics Group, Radio Comics

Mighty Comics Group, sometimes referred to as "Archie Adventure Series" and "Radio Comics", refer to the attempt(s) by Archie Comics to revamp and publish superhero (and non-Archie) comics in the mid-1960s. There were basically two phases to this attempt, and they would try again in the 1980s under the name of Red Circle Comics.

   Phase 1: 1970s

The Red Circle Comics line was first used to publish Chilling Adventures in Sorcery in October, 1973. This title was originally Chilling Adventures in Sorcery as told by Sabrina with its first 2 issues. With the 3rd it was renamed and published under the Red Circle Comics line. With issue 6 it was renamed Red Circle Sorcery and lasted until issue 11 (Feb, 1975). A series called Super Cops would publish one issue in July 1974. Shortly thereafter, Mad House (a retitle of Mad House Glads) would also be published under the Red Circle Comics line starting with issue 95 (Sept, 1974). This would end after #97 (Jan, 1975), when the title reverted back to being a standard Archie humor title.

In 1978 and 1979, Archie published 2 digests collecting their superhero materials from the 60s. The first was titled Archie's Super Hero Special. The second issue was titled Archie's Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine, and is notable for publishing the previously unpublished revamp of the Black Hood done by Gray Morrow and Neal Adams. There was nothing on their covers to indicate they were Red Circle titles. You had to read the indicia.

   Titles

Archie's Super Hero Special (1978)
Archie's Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine #2 (1979)
Chilling Adventures in Sorcery (October 1973- February 1974) 3 issues (#3-5), retitled Red Circle Sorcery
Mad House (September 1974 - January 1975) 3 issues (#95-97)
Red Circle Sorcery (April 1974 - February 1975) 6 issues (#6-11 - #s 6, 7, and 10 featured stories by T. Casey Brennan.)
Super Cops (July 1974) 1 issue (one-shot)

   Phase 2: 1980s

In the 1980s, Archie would make a more concerted effort to reuse their superheroes. The first appearance was actually in JC Comics's JCP Features #1, in Dec of 1981, which reprinted the new Black Hood materials that appeared in Archie Super Hero Comic Digest Magazine #2. In March of 1983, the first issue of Mighty Crusaders appeared, which led to many new titles under the Red Circle Comics banner. With the February 1984 issues, this line had been renamed the "Archie Adventure Series." By September of 1985, the entire line had been cancelled. The next attempt at using the characters would have been the promised "Spectrum" line, but that line never came out because the changes to the characters were considered too radical by Archie Comics' management. Archie's super-heroes were later leased to DC Comics for use in its short-lived !mpact line. Since then, there have been only occasional appearances in Archie titles, probably to preserve their ownership.

 Titles

The Black Hood (June 1983 - October 1983) 3 issues
Blue Ribbon Comics (November 1983 - December 1984) 14 issues
The Comet (October 1983 - December 1983) 2 issues [was to be a six issue mini-series]
The Fly (May 1983 - October 1984) 9 issues
Lancelot Strong: The Shield (June 1983 - August 1983) 2 issues, retitled Shield-Steel Sterling
Mighty Crusaders (March 1983 - September 1985) 13 issues
Original Shield (April 1984 - October 1984)
Shield-Steel Sterling (December 1983) 1 issue (#3), retitled Steel Sterling
Steel Sterling (January 1984 - July 1984) 4 issues (#4-7)

 Characters

Black Hood II (nephew of original Black Hood)
The Comet
Darkling
The Fly
Flygirl
The Fox II (son of original Fox)
Hangman II (son of original Hangman)
The Jaguar
Mr. Justice
Lancelot Strong: Shield II (soon killed off)
Shield III (son of original Shield)
Steel Sterling
The Web II (son of the original)

 Marvel

Red Circle was also used as a cover logo from the mid-Thirties until 1957 for Martin Goodman's line of pulp magazines, some of the paperbacks his company produced and also for some comics. Goodman also published Timely Comics, the company that would eventually become Marvel Comics. Titles published under the "Red Circle Magazines" heading included My Romance (1948), the second issue of which included an 'open letter' from Marvel forewarning readers of the attention of critics such as Fredric Wertham, and reminding them to be dilligent.[1] Other titles published as "Red Circle Magazines" included Comic Capers a funny animal title, Hedy Devine Comics and Snafu.

Beyond the similar name, the "Red Circle" branded comics and publications from Archie and Timely/Marvel are in no way related.

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   !mpact

Archie's super-heroes were later leased to DC Comics for use in its short-lived !mpact line, "and while many of their titles received critical acclaim, there were already too many superhero comics flooding the market."

Impact Comics was an imprint of DC Comics that was aimed at younger audiences. It was begun in 1991 and ended by 1993. (The initial "I" in the logo looked like an exclamation point, but the name of the imprint was not actually !mpact.)

Its titles featured the adventures of altered versions of superheroes licensed from Archie Comics including the Fly, the Comet, the Shield, the Jaguar, the Web, and the Black Hood. Changes included making the new Jaguar a woman and making the Web an organization instead of a solo hero. This was a second attempt to revive the old Archie heroes, the other one being the Red Circle line of comics in the early 1980s.

In an effort to reach out to kids who were not aware of the direct market system, DC Comics attempted to sell Impact Comics titles through newsstands. However, due to internal conflicts, that never happened. The imprint eventually collapsed due to poor sales. A final series The Crucible was initially intended to relaunch the line, but instead served as its finale. Since then, Archie Comics has used some of their superheroes in cameo roles, but the company has yet to utilize them in any significant way, finally selling them to DC.[1] [2]

DC comics have announced that they will introduce the Impact characters into the DC universe in the series The Brave and the Bold. The series will be taken over by the famous writer J. Michael Straczynski and many of the stories will introduce the Impact heroes by way of them partnering up with an established DC Universe Character

   Titles

The Black Hood (12 issues, plus annual)
The Comet (18 issues, plus annual)
Crucible (6 issues, wrapped up line)
The Crusaders (8 issues)
The Fly (17 issues, plus annual)
Impact Winter Special (one-shot)
Impact Who's Who (3 issues, plus binder)
The Jaguar (14 issues, plus annual)
The Legend of the Shield (16 issues, plus annual)
The Web (14 issues, plus annual)

   Characters

American Crusaders (Original Shield, Captain Commando, Firefly, Doc Strong, and Black Witch) [50s superhero team]
American Shield (Shield III)
Black Hoods I, II, III
Black Jack
Black Witch
Bob Phantom
Captain Commando
Comet
Crusaders (Shield, Fly, Comet, Jaguar, Fireball, and The Web)
Doc Strong
Dusty (sidekick of Original Shield)
Fireball
Firefly
The Fly
Fox
Hangman
Jaguar
Original Shield
Shield II
Shield IV
Shield Kid (S.K.) (Shield V)
Steel Sterling
The Web (now a group)