Archie's first appearance, in Pep Comics 22, December 1941, was drawn by Bob Montana, and written by Vic Bloom . Archie was conceived by John L. Goldwater , who some believe was influenced by the Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney.

History

Archie Comics started out in 1939 as MLJ Comics, named after the first initials of its three founders Morris Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John L. Goldwater.

Early MLJ titles featured generic superheroes, remembered in the lore of comic collector's 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 '40s. Roy the Superboy preceded Superboy by a decade, and Steel Sterling was dubbed "the Man of Steel" before Superman. None remained popular.

Archie began as a back-up feature replacing Madam Satan, and within a year was a hit. So much so that by 1946, MLJ changed its name to Archie Comics. In 60 years Archie still hasn't graduated from high school.

Over the years Archie Comics has published innumerable Archie spin-offs and variant series. Some of the odder 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.. In addition, some series such as Life With Archie and Archie at Riverdale High which featured straight adventure and/or mystery stories.

Several attempts have been made to revive MLJ's original superhero line, without success. Today Archie Comics would rather forget its superheroes, but occasionally some appear in their comics, if only for the sake of maintaining a trademark.

Archie Universe characters

• Archibald "Archie" Andrews
• Betty Cooper
• Veronica Lodge
• Forsythe "Jughead" P. Jones
• Reginald "Reggie" Mantle
• Dilton Doiley, the nerd
• Moose Mason, an athlete who is not so good in his studies and possessive about his girlfriend
• Midge Klump, Moose's girlfriend
• Chuck Clayton, an athlete
• Ethel Muggs, an unattractive looking teenager who always tries to win over Jughead, albeit unsuccessfully
• Aquarius, student, a hippie
• Miss Beazley, the cook in the school cafetaria
• Mr. Waldo Weatherbee, the principal, popularly referred to as 'The Bee'
• Ms. Geraldine Grundy, a teacher
• Mrs. Hagley, a teacher
• Mr. Svenson, school custodian
• Mr. Hiram Lodge
• Professor Flutesnoot, teacher
• Nancy Harris, Chuck's girlfriend
• Pop Tate, owner of the Choklit Shoppe
• Cheryl Blossom
• Coach Kleats
• Coach Clayton
• and all of the teenagers' parents.

Super heroes

The Archie Comics line published the occasional dramatic action-adventure superhero comic.

1940s

• Shield
• Dusty (Shield's Sidekick)
• Comet
• Mr. Mystic
• Black Hood
• Hangman
• The Wizard
• Roy the Superboy (Wizard's sidekick)
• The Web
• Steel Sterling
• Mr. Satan
• Red Rube
• The Fox
• Black Jack
• Captain Flag

1960s (published as Archie Adventure Comics, Radio Comics, and Mighty Comics)

• The Fly (later called Fly-Man)
• Flygirl
• Jaguar
• Lancelot Strong: Shield II
• Black Hood
• Shield III (son of original Shield)
• Comet
• The Web
• The Shadow

(Hangman and The Wizard become villains during that period)

1980s (published as Red Circle Comics )

• The Fly
• Flygirl
• Black Hood II
• Steel Sterling
• Shield II (soon killed off)
• Shield III
• Comet
• Handman
• Fox
• Jaguar
• Mr. Justice

Direct spin-offs

1. Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
2. Josie and the Pussycats

Other series published by Archie

1. Sonic the Hedgehog
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. Katy Keene

Archie comics in technology

The Archie search engine and Veronica search engine were named after the characters Archie and Veronica, while the Jonzy's Universal Gopher Hierarchy Excavation and Display is named after Jughead.

External links

• Official web page
• Archie comic strip
• Big Comic Book DataBase: Archie
• Toonopedia: Archie
• Toonopedia: MLJ/Archie Comics
• A detailed history of Archie Comics