American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
anthology series published by the
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the
Golden Age of Comic Books
The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known chara ...
. The title continued under the
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.1987.
''Pep Comics'' was the comics title that introduced the superhero character The Shield, the first of the super-patriotic heroes with a costume based on a national flag (pre-dating
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
by over a year), The Comet, who was the first superhero to die, and
Archie Andrews
Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,
, who eventually became the main focus of the company's extensive range of publications.
Publication history
''Pep Comics'' (MLJ) (1940–1945)
''Pep Comics'' was the third anthology comic published by MLJ Magazines Inc., the precursor to what would become the publisher Archie Comics. The series was edited by Abner Sundell until issues #22–23 after which Harry Shorten took the reins until issue #65 (Jan. 1948). The first issue was launched in January 1940, following ''
Blue Ribbon Comics
''Blue Ribbon Comics'' is the name of two American comic book anthology series, the first published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc., commonly known as MLJ Comics, from 1939 to 1942, during the Golden Age of Comic Books. The re ...
'' (Nov. 1939) and ''
Top-Notch Comics
''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ...
'' (Dec. 1939). The format of ''Pep Comics'' was very similar to the previous titles; 64 pages of short strips, initially featuring a mixture of science-fiction stories such as "The Queen of Diamonds" (#1–12) by Lin Streeter (renamed "The Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds" in #2 (Feb. 1940)), about a John Carter of Mars-like hero trapped on another planet; the crime fighting story "The Press Guardian" (#1–11) by
Jack Binder
Jack Binder is an American film producer (''The Upside of Anger'', ''First Reformed'', ''Reign Over Me'') and television producer (''The Mind of the Married Man'', HBO) and second unit director active since 1985. With older brother Mike Binder, ...
and
Mort Meskin
Morton Meskin (May 30, 1916 – March 29, 1995)Social Security Death Index, SS# 071-16-1099. was an American comic book artist best known for his work in the 1940s Golden Age of Comic Books, well into the late-1950s and 1960s Silver Age.
Early li ...
and later Abner Sundell and Meskin (retitled "Perry Chase, The Press Guardian" from #7); and three adventure tales, "Sergeant Boyle" by George Biro, about a soldier fighting with the British in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, "The Midshipman", (#1–16) "Lee Sampson, Midshipman" from #6 (July 1940), following Lee Sampson through Navy College to his Graduation, and an adventure based on boxing, "Kayo Ward" (#1–28) by Phil Sturm. The last was similar to "The St Louis Kid" in ''Top-Notch Comics'', both characters progressing through the boxing championships hierarchy throughout their series. Two short humor strips also featured in the first issue, "Jocko" and "Animal Antics", both by Dick Ryan, while "Buttonhead" by Quincy appeared in #2–5.
''Pep Comics'' also starred superheroes and costumed characters, led by cover star and lead feature "The Shield – G-Man Extraordinary" by Harry Shorten and Irv Novick, a character who would remain in the title throughout the MLJ imprint and beyond. The Shield was mainly notable for being the first of the 'patriotically themed superheroes' who wore costumes based on the U.S. flag, 15 months before
Captain America
Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...
was introduced in ''Captain America'' #1 (March 1941). "The Comet" by Jack Cole ran for the first 17 issues alongside The Shield. The Shield and later The Hangman and Black Hood also featured in single page text stories during the MLJ years of the title; all comic books did this through the early 1960s to satisfy U.S. Postal Service requirements for magazine rates. The Shield also headed ''Pep Comics'' readers club from #15 (May 1941) when the '' 'Shield G-Man Club' '' was introduced to the inside front cover of every issue until The Shield finished in #65 (Jan. 1948). Although later to advertise other MLJ titles, during the war years each 'bulletin' was largely filled with patriotic messages, details of local fan-clubs and new members information, all written as if a personal message from The Shield and his sidekick Dusty.
One unusual character who featured in early issues was "Fu Chang, International Detective", whose weird detective adventure stories were in issues #1–11. Written by Joe Blair, with art by Jim Streeter, Fu Chang is a "Chinese scholar and detective, heir to the magic secrets of Aladdin who uses them only to bring peace and good-will to the people of his Chinatown." in stories liberally sprinkled with cod-Oriental talk, evil dragon criminals, and an aura of mysticism. Another was "Bentley of Scotland Yard", a mystery detective story originally by artist Sam Cooper and later Paul Reinman. Each story was in a horror/fantasy vein, with Bentley up against creatures such as a werewolf in #1, a monster in a lake in #2, and hunchbacks, devils and vampires through the first 41 issues of ''Pep Comics''. These would always turn out to be hoaxes, usually perpetrated to cover up a murder or for money or other gain. Each story ended with the same theme: a 'Bentley knows who ...' panel at the end of the penultimate page listing the suspects and inviting the reader to guess who committed the crime, followed by the revealing of the killer and the modus operandi on the final page.
With issue #11 (Jan. 1941), "Fu Chang, International Detective", "Perry Chase, The Press Guardian" and "The Rocket and the Queen of Diamonds" ended. To replace them, issue #12 (Feb. 1941) introduced two new characters. "Danny in Wonderland", a surreal fairy-tale adventure by Harry Shorten and Lin Streeter with stories loosely based on fairy tales such as " Cinderella", "
Pinocchio
Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...
", and The " Little Mermaid" (#12–39), while Ted Tyler, "The Fireball" (#12–20), '' 'sworn enemy of all who use fire for evil purposes' '' was a fireman who gained flame powers from a mixture of chemicals while fighting an arson attack. "Lucky Larson", a test pilot, filled the third place (#13–15). Further major changes came with the next two issues. "Lee Sampson, Midshipman" ended in #16 (June 1941); and Madam Satan was introduced in the same issue. Madam Satan, a dead villainess with a green face and the kiss of death, "the scourge of man, ready to go forth and leave a trail of misery and suffering in her wake" actually first appeared on the cover of the previous issue #15 (May 1941). She was written by Abner Sundell and initially drawn by Harry Lucey, although Joe Blair wrote her later adventures.
Next a superhero died for the first time in comics history, issue #17 (July 1941). "The Comet" series ended with him being shot by gangsters while rescuing his brother in the first tale of "The Hangman" by Cliff Campbell. Hangman took The Comet's place in ''Pep Comics'' from that issue, and also featured on every cover from #17 to #42. Issue #17 also saw "Kayo Ward" become a hobo after being terribly disfigured by a fire in the church he is getting married in.
Madam Satan ended in issue #21 (Nov. 1941), her place taken in #22 (Dec. 1941) by the first appearance of one of the biggest-selling comics characters of the 20th century,
Archie Andrews
Archibald "Archie" Andrews, created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom,
, and what would become the core of his friends Jughead and Betty Cooper, whose family has just moved into the neighborhood, written by Vic Bloom and drawn by
Bob Montana
Robert William Montana (October 23, 1920 – January 4, 1975) was an American comic strip artist who created the original likenesses for characters published by Archie Comics and in the newspaper strip ''Archie''.
Early life
He was born in Stock ...
. Over the next few years humor strips would slowly ease the costumed heroes and adventure tales out of ''Pep Comics'', and Archie would become ''Pep Comicss and the Archie Comics imprint's most popular character; but when originally introduced, Archie was a six-page strip that was not even mentioned on the cover.
Issue #26 (April 1942) had a 'Remember
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the ...
' cover, with The Shield, Dusty and The Hangman ringing the
Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American independence, located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of the Pennsylvania State House (now renamed Independen ...
while a
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
ese and a
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
soldier were tied up in the bell-rope. The patriotism of ''The Shield G-Man Club'' was added to by the introduction of ''The Young Soldiers of America Club'' in #30 (Aug. 1942), to which membership was gained by buying war savings stamps and sending in a pledge form printed in ''Pep Comics''. Each month, ''Pep Comics'' printed lists of readers who had done so. Continuing the war emphasis, "Captain Commando and the Boy Soldiers" also began in #30, following a teaser advertisement in #29 (July 1942). On a lighter note, issue #31 (Sept. 1942) had "Sergeant Boyle" visiting the MLJ offices after he had failed to send them details of his latest exploits for them to publish, while #34 (Nov. 1942) contained a one-page text piece, 'Meet the Editor', about Harry Shorten. Artist Gil Kane's first work was on the "Bentley of Scotland Yard" story '' 'The Case of the Laughing Corpse' '' in ''Pep Comics'' #38 (April 1943)
A new emphasis on humor grew from issue #40 (July 1943), just after ''Pep Comics'' went to 10 issues a year. "Sergeant Boyle" ended in #39 (June 1943), as did "Danny in Wonderland". They were replaced by a
Li'l Abner
''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn b ...
parody, "Catfish Joe" (#40–48) and "Li'l Chief Bugaboo" (#40–47); "Bentley of Scotland Yard" ended in #41 (August 1943), replaced by the slapstick voyages of "Marco Loco, Adventurer" (#42–52) by Carl Hubbell. Even The Shield was presented with two offbeat humor stories in #41–42 as he dealt with the chaotic antics of an alien, 'Monstro the Martian', although his stories did return to their darker side after that. This humor was also reflected on the covers, as from #41 The Shield shared the spotlight with Archie Andrews, appearing mainly as a background stooge for Archie's japes. The Hangman ended in #47 (March 1944), and although he was replaced by another costumed character, Black Hood in #48 (April 1944), the humor continued to take over. The Shield last appeared on a cover with #50 (September 1944), after which Archie featured on every cover until the end of the series in 1987. The publishing frequency dropped to quarterly between 1944 and 1946. Issue #52 (March 1945), saw the arrival of Harry Sahle's dizzy blond "Suzie", who could never keep a job long.
Archie's rise in popularity continued, and ''Pep Comics'' was used to further this. Issue #42s 'G-Man Club' page (Sept.1943) was all about Archie having a regular radio spot on the National Broadcasting System, and the cover announced in a large banner across the page '' 'Archie Talks – Tune in Your Radio over the Blue Network' '' while depicting The Shield and Hangman in blue shadows watching Archie recording in the studio. By #49 (March 1945), the first 52-page issue, the cover was bannered '' 'Starring Archie Andrews' '' and he became the lead story from then on. Except for appearances in #59 and #60 (both from 1946), the recently introduced Black Hood disappeared after issue #51 (Dec. 1944), leaving only The Shield as a non-humor story. Issue #53 (June 1955) began a family strip "The Twiddles" by
Bill Woggon
William Woggon (January 1, 1911 – March 2, 2003) was an American cartoonist who created the comic book '' Katy Keene''.
Woggon was born the fourth of six children in Toledo, Ohio, and he grew up there. Fascinated by an art correspondence ...
, "Pokey Oakey" (#53–55) who had previously been in ''Top-Notch Comics'' and "Willie the Wise-Guy" by Red Holmdale. By #56 (March 1946) the cover sported the legend '' 'An Archie magazine' '' and for the first time there was no MLJ triangle; in the following issue, #57 (June 1946), the indicia read 'Archie Comics Publications Inc', and the MLJ era of ''Pep Comics'' was over.
Featured series: ''Pep Comics'' (MLJ)
* "The Shield" – superhero (#1–65) 'with Dusty the spectacular boy detective'
* "The Comet" – superhero (#1–16)
* "Sergeant Boyle" – war adventure (#1–39)
* "Queen of Diamonds" – science fiction (#1–#12)
* "Fu Chang, International Detective" – adventure (#1–11)
* "Bentley of Scotland Yard" – mystery detective (#1–41)
* "The Press Guardian" – (#1–11) "Perry Chase, The Press Guardian" from #7
* "The Midshipman" – war adventure (#1–16) "Lee Sampson, Midshipman" from #6–16
* "Kayo Ward" – boxing adventure (#1–28)
* "Buttonhead" – humor (#2–5) "Prince Buttonhead" in #5
* "Danny in Wonderland" – surreal fantasy adventure (#12–39)
* "The Fireball" – superhero (#12–20)
* "Lucky Larson" – adventure (#13–15)
* " Madam Satan" – supervillain (#16–21)
* "The Hangman" – superhero (#17–47)
* "Archie" – humor (#22–411)
* "Jolly Roger and his Sky Pirates" – war adventure (#21–27)
* "Wings Johnson of Air Patrol" – #28 from ''
Top-Notch Comics
''Top-Notch Comics'' is an American comic book anthology series that was published by MLJ Magazines Inc., more commonly known as MLJ Comics, during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. From issue #28 it was re-titled ...
''
* "Captain Commando and the Boy Soldiers" – costumed hero/war (#30–52, 54, 56)
* "Catfish Joe" – humor (#40–48)
* "Lil Chief Bugaboo" – humor (#40–47)
* "Marco Loco, Adventurer" – humor (#42–52)
* "Black Hood" – superhero (#48–51, 59, 60 and text stories in many issues)
* "Suzie" – humor (#52–56)
* "The Twiddles" – humor (#53–56)
* "Pokey Oakey" – humor (#53–55)
* "Willie the Wise-Guy" – humor (#53–56)
Pep Comics (Archie) (1945–1987)
With the change of ''Pep Comics'' statement of ownership from MLJ to Archie Publications Inc. from issue #57 (June 1946), the transfer from adventure and humor titles accelerated on a publication frequency that varied from 5 issues a year in 1947 to bi-monthly the following year. ''Top-Notch Comics'' ongoing series "Dotty and Ditto" had transferred to ''Pep Comics'' with issue #57 (June 1946), although it ended in #58 (with a guest appearance in Dotty's dreams by the Shield, Archie, and Suzie). New long-running series began, "Gloomy Gus the Homeless Ghost" in #59 (Dec. 1946), Bill Woggon's " Katy Keene The Pin-Up Queen" a model whose stories were filled with costumes designed by readers (who were given namechecks in the issue their designs appeared in) replaced "Suzie", and Li'l Jinx arrived in #62 (July 1947), replacing Black Hood—who had made two final appearances in #59–60 and revealed his identity to the world, becoming a detective. All these humor strips would continue in ''Pep Comics'' for years, Katy Keene running until #154, although Bill Woggon had stopped drawing her with #126, and Li'l Jinx staying to the end.
"The Original Shield and Dusty the Boy Detective" finally ended their run in ''Pep Comics'' in #65 (January 1948), after two reprint stories in the last two issues, after which ''Pep Comics'' became an all-humor title. The "G-Man Club" became "The Archie Club" the next issue.
Published details of sales of ''Pep Comics'' in the 1960s from the 'Statement of Circulation' show that average sales of the title were between 269,504 in 1960 and 292,572 in 1969. During the 1970s this dropped to between 231,963 and 100,827,Thompson, Maggie, Brent Frankenhoff and Peter Bickford, eds. ''Comic Buyer's Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books'' (Krause Publications, 2008) although publication frequency crept up to nine times a year by 1964, after which ''Pep Comics'' returned to monthly publication.
Issues #218 (June 1968) and #227 (March 1969) featured Archie and his friends as pop band 'The Archies' on the covers, a fictional band which was later put together for real, also as The Archies.
There was a minor revival in superhero characters between #150 (Oct. 1961) and #160 (Jan. 1963), when Archie Comics included a short run of stories featuring their recent superheroes The Fly, Flygirl and The
Jaguar
The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...
in loose rotation, plus one extra Jaguar story in #168 (January 1964). In addition, issue #393 (Mar. 1984) contained an appearance by Martin Greim's talking animal character
Thunderbunny
Thunderbunny is a comic book about a boy who transforms into a superhero resembling a large pink humanoid rabbit. It was created by Martin Greim.
Publication history
Thunderbunny's first appearance published by a major company was '' Charlton Bull ...
, when Archie Comics briefly licensed the character.
''Pep Comics'' published its 200th issue in October 1966, its 300th in April 1975, and its 400th in May 1985—an issue which included cameos of all the Archie Comics staff. However, by then sales had slipped from their previous levels to 55,164. The series lasted until #411 (Mar 1987). A number of the "Archie Giant Series Magazines" in the late 1980s and early 1990s carried the ''Pep Comics'' name, but it has not been revived since. However, in August 2009 Michael Uslan announced that five one-shot comics reviving the Archie-as-superhero 'Pureheart' concept would be released in 2010, one of those titles being ''Pep Comics''.'' 'Michael Uslan to script Pureheart the Powerful for Archie Comics' '', Archie Publications websit August 3, 2009 A special one-shot 'Pep Comics featuring Betty and Veronica' was published for the May 2011 Free Comic Book Day.
* ''Pep Comics'' Archie stories have been reprinted in a large number of other Archie Comics titles over the years, particularly within the multiple digest magazine titles.
* Some Golden Age superhero titles have been reprinted sporadically since, but the adventure and crime series have not.
* Most, if not all, of The Jaguar, Fly and Flygirl stories from ''Pep Comics'' #150–160 and #168 were reprinted several times in random order in a resized black and white format by Alan Class Comics in the U.K. during the 1960s and 1970s.
Footnotes
References
* Overstreet,Robert M., ed. ''Official Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide'', 38th Edition (Gemstone Publishing, 2008)
* Thompson, Maggie, Brent Frankenhoff and Peter Bickford, eds. ''Comic Buyer's Guide Standard Catalog of Comic Books'' (Krause Publications, 2008)
* Circulation figures – The Comics Chronicles http://www.comichron.com/