Today in Comics History, April 5: Happy birthday, Victor Gorelick!

Born on this day in 1941: Editor-in-Chief of Archie Comics Victor Gorelick!




from (top) "Editor's Notebook" in Archie (1959 series) #369 (Archie, August 1989);
(middle and bottom) Marvel Age #136 and #138 (Marvel, April 1994 and July 1994)

Today in Comics History, October 31, Halloween: "Archie Comics Are Fun Comics!"

from Afterlife with Archie #1 (Archie, September 2013); script by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa; pencils, inks, and colors by Francesco Francavilla, letters by Jack Morelli

Today in Comics History, August 18: Happy birthday, Robert Redford!

Born on this day: actor, director, and whatta dreamboat Robert Redford! He was on the cover of a Marvel comic book issue #1!


from ALF #1 (Marvel, March 1988), photograph plus pencils by Dave Manak, inks by Marie Severin
But it's true: the real Bob hasn't appeared in many comic books, but here's a genuine modeling job that paid off big for him in the comics world!


cover of Young Love (1949 series) v. 4 #1 [#31] (Prize, March 1952), photographer uncredited and unknown

Today in Comics History, July 1: Happy birthday, Debbie Harry!

Born on this day, the very coolest of days to have a birthday: singer, songwriter, and actress Deborah Harry, singer/songerwriter/actor and lead vocalist of the band Blondie!


cover of Look-In #11/1979 (ITV, 10 March 1979), painting by Arnaldo Putzu

Today in Comics History, June 5: Witness for the HOT-secution!

from "Jury Jest" in Archie's Joke Book Magazine #93 (Archie, October 1965), creators unidentified and unknown

Today in Comics History, May 9: Ronnie's Plastic Man cosplay is unconvincing but compelling

from "Jury Jest" in Archie's Joke Book Magazine #93 (Archie, October 1965), creators unidentified and unknown

Comics Do Shakespeare: Hamlet, Act 6: Wait, wait, wait. Archie has a lucky foot?!?

"Bore Chore" from Archie's Joke Book Magazine #204 (Archie, January 1975), creators unknown

Today in Comics History, February 14: And now, Archie in a diaper

from "Valentine's Day Dilemma" in Betty and Veronica Double Digest #209 (Archie, March 2013), script by Greg Crosby, pencils by Pat Kennedy, inks by Jon D'Agostino

Fun with Comics: This Archie comic reminds me of TV's Frank and Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter!

from "Little Dog Lost" in Archie and Me #45 (Archie, October 1972), script by Dick Malmgren (?), pencils and inks by Al Hartley, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida




from Mystery Science Theater 3000 "Colossus and the Headhunters," season six, episode 5 (Best Brains, August 20, 1994), starring Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Jim Mallon; directed by Kevin Murphy

Today in Comics History, April 26, 1777: History momentarily distracts Veronica Lodge from shopping

from "The Missing Monument" in Archie at Riverdale High #37 (Archie, July 1976), pencils by Bob Bolling, inks by Chic Stone, letters by Bill Yoshida

Archie's Generic Celebrities Month, Day 30: Not Actually Veronica Lodge

Hey, we're at the end of Archie's Generic Celebrities Month! What do you think about that, Reggie Mantle?


Panel from "Teen Paparazzi" in Archie & Friends #116 (April 2008), script by George Gladir, pencils by Fernando Ruiz, inks by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Jon D'Agostino
Actually, Reggie, no, because to qualify as a Generic Celebrity in Riverdale, you have to have a soundalike name to the original. For example, what happens to Veronica Lodge when her name is misspelled on her driver's license!:


Panels from "A Fishy License" in Betty and Veronica (1987 Series) #106 (December 1996), script by Hal Smith, pencils and inks by Dan DeCarlo, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida
So pretty much the rest of the story is taken up with the wacky hijinks of Betty chauffeuring Veronica around town and then Ronnie takes her driver's license test again and gets a new license and then here we go:


There you go, folks: Archie's Generic Celebrities Month. i hope you has as good a time as we did with Jangelina Olie, Wuce Brillis, and Cenedibt Bumbercatch. And what about you, Cheryl Blossom?

Archie's Generic Celebrities Month, Day 26: Not Actually the Real Sonic the Hedgehog, Even Though Archie Comics Could Totally Guest-Star Him If They Wanted To

Panels from "Pet Department" in Betty & Veronica Double Digest #216 (November 2013), script by George Gladir, pencils by Jeff Schultz, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida

HARRY HEDGEHOG

PLEDGES THAT

HE WILL KILL YOU

Credit where credit is due dept: That series of increasingly-zoomed panels at the bottom is inspired by and dedicated to American Favorite Comics Blogger Since 1969, Mike Sterling, who calls it the "freak out". Catch him talking about that very technique over at Progressive Ruin today!

Archie's Generic Celebrities Month, Day 23: Not Actually Any of These Companies Which Probably Have Pretty Good Copyright Lawyers

Panel from "Spellbound" in World of Archie Double Digest #36 (March 2014), script by George Gladir, pencils by Tim Kennedy, inks by Ken Selig, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida





Panel from "Mystery of the Ages" in B&V Friends Double Digest #229 (November 2012), script by Mike Pellowski, pencils by Jeff Shultz, inks by Al Milgrom, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida





Archie Sunday comic (original date unknown), reprinted in Betty and Veronica Double Digest #201 (July 2012), script by Craig Boldman, pencils and inks by Henry Scarpelli





Panel from "My Dad...the Supermodel!" in Betty & Veronica Double Digest #204 (October 2012), script and pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Jim Amash, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida





Panel from a Betty and Veronica story that I forgot to label my scans with the name





Panel from "Online & Out of Line" in Betty and Veronica Spectacular #45 (January 2001), script and pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida





Panels from "Online & Out of Line" in Betty and Veronica Spectacular #45 (January 2001), script and pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida





Panel from "The Great All-American Pembrooke-Riverdale Food Eating Contest! Munchie Mania! Part 1" in Archie at Riverdale High #97 (June 1984), script by Rich Margopoulos, pencils by Stan Goldberg





Panel from the Josie and the Pussycats story "A Singular Idea" in Tales from Riverdale Digest #26 (March 2008), script by Bill Golliher, pencils by Rex Lindsey, inks by Rich Koslowski, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida

So remember, shop at all these famous generic Riverdale businesses! Don't forget to bring your MustardCard or your American Excess!

Archie's Generic Celebrities Month, Day 20: Not Actually Johnny Depp Again, Nor Is It Lindsay Lohan

Hey look, a different Johnny Depp expy than before!


Panel from "Teen Paparazzi" in Archie & Friends #116 (April 2008), script by George Gladir, pencils by Fernando Ruiz, inks and letters by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Barry Grossman
Also shown but not identified...well, let's call him Lemuel J. Sackson, who is being considered for the lead in the new Jughead action flick. "I want more monkey-flicking anchovies on my Monday-to-Friday pizza!"


GEEZ TUCK YOUR SHIRT IN JOHNNIE

Archie's Generic Celebrities Month, Day 16: Not Actually Star Trek

Veronica's cousin Marcy is an enthusiastic fangirl. I am sure there are entire threads on internet discussion boards devoted to Marcy not being a "true" fan and how her admiration for a TV show that ultimately teaches tolerance and understanding is a feminist attack on the genre.


Panel from "Space Case" in Veronica #137 (May 2003), script and pencils by Dan Parent, inks by Jon D'Agostino, colors by Barry Grossman, letters by Bill Yoshida
I picked this story because it was actually used, virtually verbatim, as a quest storyline in the Archie Riverdale Rescue iOS sim game for the iPhone and iPad, which I've been playing for the past couple months.


I highly recommend it — you can finally give Jughead a girlfriend! — but it's too bad there's no way to credit the creators whose comic book work has been mined for the game. To be fair, when an Archie character is unlocked in the game, you can also access the story in which he/she first appeared — but there's no creator credits.

Also, this story also contains TOGA CHEWBACCA, the one Star Wars action figure variant I've been waiting for all my life.