Marvelous Maureen


Marvelous Maureen is a comic book character created by Lori Walls who appeared in comics published by Archie Comics. She first appeared in Pep Comics #383. Her adventures were all scripted and penciled by Walls, with most stories being inked by Jon D'Agostino. Marvelous Maureen's adventures are in the vein of a humorous science fiction soap opera, with an ongoing storyline that ultimately stretched over twenty episodes. Trina Robbins & Catherine Yronwode described the Marvelous Maureen stories as "light-hearted and fanciful," but ultimately felt that the feature bore "little resemblance to the Archie school humor-style." After appearing in almost every issue of Pep from Apr. 1982 to Sept. 1985, the character never appeared again.

Publication history

Marvelous Maureen was featured as a backup story, in every issue of Pep Comics from #383 to #402, except issue #400. Maureen's adventures also appeared in four consecutive issues of Laugh Comics from Nov. 1982–July 1983. In addition, a crossword featuring Maureen was printed in Archie's Pals 'n' Gals, #164. Altogether, more than 140 pages of "Marvelous Maureen" content were published.
Each episode of "Marvelous Maureen" ended with a caption box urging readers to send in ideas for costumes, weapons, spaceships, and monsters to the Archie offices.

Background

Lori Walls is the sister of Jeannette Walls, author of the memoir The Glass Castle. The character Marvelous Maureen is named after their younger sister Maureen Walls. Lori Walls was working in-house at Archie when she was given the reins of "Marvelous Maureen."
Other than Marvelous Maureen, the only other comics credits by Lori Walls were published by Archie Comics during the same period 1982–1985, mostly being activity pages, puzzles, and the like:
  • "Everyday Gremlins," Archie's Mad House #130 — 3 p.
  • "Valley Girl Fashions," Betty and Veronica #324 — 2 pp.
  • "Betty and Veronica's Breezy Summer Fashions," Archie Giant Series #529 — 2 pp.
  • "Puzzle Page!," Pep Comics #400 Pep Comics #400 — contributed artwork to a company-wide jam

Character biography and storyline

Maureen is a normal Los Angeles teenager obsessed with sports, rock music, clothes, and comic books. She is blonde and wears glasses. One day she discovers an abandoned alien spaceship in her back yard, gets in, and blasts off. She soon discovers a spacesuit inside the ship, and donning it, becomes Captain Maureen/'Marvelous Maureen. Along with her sidekick, Mortimer, she battles the Grossniks, a bug-like alien race.
Mortimer — a gloomy human-dog hybrid alien with a lion's tail.
Gumbrayne — the main antagonist, leader of the Grossniks, who bears a strong resemblance to Darth Vader without his helmet.
Silver Beetle — a robot that sings parodies of Beatles songs.
Wonder Blunder — a silly man dressed in a caped costume who is part of "The United Group of Humans." Often referred to as "W.B.," Wonder Blunder is a sort of love interest for Maureen and Clarissa. Wonder Blunder was created by reader Keith Kaplan of New York City.
Clarissa DuBois — a teenage girl from the planet Izod who becomes Maureen's ally and then "frenemy."
Reptilicus — reptilian humanoid who befriends Maureen and becomes part of the gang. Created by reader Michael Hyden of Oklahoma City.
Monsiour DuBois' — Clarissa's father, who is turned into a slime monster during their adventures.

List of appearances

  • "Marvelous Maureen Blasts Off, or The Goldilocks Syndrome," Pep Comics #383
  • "Marvelous Maureen Fights the Grossniks, or Shelf-Preservation," Pep Comics #384
  • "Marvelous Maureen Jumps Bail, or the Jailhouse Balk," Pep Comics #385
  • "Marvelous Maureen Annoys the Grossniks, or The Great Brake-Away," Pep Comics #386
  • "Fantasy Fashion," Pep Comics #386
  • "Marvelous Maureen Goes Shopping," Laugh Comics #375
  • "Marvelous Maureen Makes a New Friend, or City Fights," Pep Comics #387
  • "Marvelous Maureen Maintains Her Minerals," Laugh Comics #376
  • "Jabberjaw's City Street Map," Laugh Comics #376
  • "Marvelous Maureen Takes a Bath, or Pendulums Are the Pits," Pep Comics #388
  • "Marvelous Maureen Grabs a Car," Laugh Comics #377
  • "Marvelous Maureen Ditches Her Guests," Pep Comics #389
  • "A Cross Word From a Dragon," Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #164
  • "Marvelous Maureen Argues with an ANJ!," Laugh Comics #378
  • "Marvelous Maureen Learns Her Alphabet, or Biding the Bullets," Pep Comics #390
  • "Marvelous Maureen Turns Up Again, or Over Easy, Please," Pep Comics #391
  • "Marvelous Maureen Knows Her Nutrients," Pep Comics #392
  • "Episode 15: Marvelous Maureen Gets Off Her High Horse, or Spies and Seek," Pep Comics #393
  • "Episode 16: Wards a Whammy, or "When Diplomacy Fails, Fire Works"," Pep Comics #394
  • "Episode 17: Marvelous Maureen Wakes Up Mortimer, or 'DuBois' New Bod," Pep Comics #395
  • "Episode 18: Marvelous Maureen Makes a Transfer, or a Dud Plan," Pep Comics #396
  • "Instant Inedibles," Pep Comics #397
  • "Roc Beat," Pep Comics #398
  • "Rescue Party Poopers," Pep Comics #399
  • "Bugs a la Carte," Pep Comics #401
  • "Marvelous Maureen: The Cut-Rate Red Carpet," Pep Comics #402