Archie Comics


Archie Comic Publications, Inc. is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the village of Pelham, New York. The company's many titles feature the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, Sabrina Spellman, Josie and the Pussycats and Katy Keene. The company is also known for its long-running Sonic the Hedgehog comic series, which it published from 1992 until 2016.
The company began in 1939 as M.L.J. Magazines, Inc., which primarily published superhero comics. The initial Archie characters were created in 1941 by publisher John L. Goldwater and artist Bob Montana, in collaboration with writer Vic Bloom. They first appeared in Pep Comics #22. With the creation of Archie, publisher John Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy films starring Mickey Rooney.
Archie Comics was also the title of the company's longest-running publication, the first issue appearing with a cover date of Winter 1942. Starting with issue #70, the title was shortened to simply Archie. The flagship series was relaunched from issue #1 in July 2015 with a new look and design suited for a new generation of readers, although after #32 it reverted to its historic numbering with #699. Archie Comics characters and concepts have also appeared in numerous films, television programs, cartoons, and video games.

History

Independent era

M.L.J. Magazines

1939–1946: early years
, Louis Silberkleit, and John L. Goldwater formed M.L.J. Magazines, Inc., and started publishing in September 1939. The company name was derived from the initials of the partners' first names.
Coyne served as M.L.J.'s bookkeeper and CFO. Coyne and Silberkleit had been partners in Columbia Publications, a pulp company that published its last issue in 1960. Silberkleit had a college degree from St. John's University, was a licensed and registered pharmacist, and had a law degree from New York Law School. His efforts were focused on the business, printing, separating, distribution and financial ends of the company. John Goldwater served as editor-in-chief. Goldwater was one of the founders of the Comics Magazine Association of America, and he served as its president for 25 years. Goldwater was also a national commissioner of the Anti-Defamation League.
M.L.J.'s first comic book, published in September 1939, was Blue Ribbon Comics with the first half full color and the last half in red and white tints. The first issue featured Rang-a-Tang the Wonder Dog. In November 1939, Pep Comics debuted with the Shield, the first US patriotic comic book hero, created by writer and managing editor Harry Shorten and designed by artist Irv Novick. Top Notch Comics was launched in December 1941. Until March 1944, the cover feature of Pep was the Shield when Archie took over the cover. The Shield was a forerunner for Joe Simon's and Jack Kirby's Captain America, being published 13 months earlier.

Archie Comics

1946–1990s
The Andy Hardy movies were an inspiration for Goldwater to have a comic book about a relatable normal person. Teenaged Archibald "Archie" Andrews debuted with Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones in Pep Comics #22, in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artist Bob Montana. Archie soon became M.L.J. Magazines' headliner, which led to the company changing its name to Archie Comic Publications in 1946. Siberkleit and Coyne discontinued Columbia Publications. In the late 1950s, Archie Publishing launched its "Archie Adventure Series" line with a new version of the Shield and two new characters.
The February 1962 issue of Harvey Kurtzman's Help! magazine featured his parody of the Archie characters in its Goodman Beaver story, "Goodman Goes Playboy", which was illustrated by frequent collaborator Will Elder. Help! publisher Jim Warren received a letter on December 6, 1961, accusing Help! of copyright infringement and demanding removal of the offending issue from newsstands. Warren was unable to recall the magazine, but he agreed to settle out of court rather than risk an expensive lawsuit. Warren paid Archie Comics $1,000, and ran a note of apology in a subsequent issue of Help! The story was reprinted in the book collection Executive Comic Book in 1962, with the artwork modified by Elder to obscure the appearance of the Archie characters. Archie Comics found their appearance still too close to its copyrighted properties, and threatened another lawsuit. Kurtzman and Elder settled out of court by handing over the copyright to the story. Archie Comics held onto the copyright and refused to allow the story to be republished. A request from Denis Kitchen in 1983 to include the story in his Goodman Beaver reprint collection was turned down. After The Comics Journal co-owner Gary Groth discovered that Archie Comics had allowed the copyright on "Goodman Goes Playboy" to expire, he had the story reprinted in The Comics Journal #262, and made it available as a PDF on the magazine's website.
In the mid-1960s, during the period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books, Archie switched its superheroes to a new imprint, "Mighty Comics Group," with the MLJ heroes done in the campy humor of the Batman TV show. This imprint ended in 1967.
In the early 1970s, Archie Enterprises Inc. went public. Just over 10 years later, Louis Silberkleit's son Michael and John Goldwater's son Richard returned Archie Comic Publications to private ownership. Michael Silberkleit served as chairman and co-publisher, while Richard Goldwater served as president and co-publisher. Coyne retired in the 1970s as CFO.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Spire Christian Comics, a line of comic books by Fleming H. Revell, obtained license to feature the Archie characters in several of its titles, including Archie's Sonshine, ''Archie's Roller Coaster, Archie's Family Album, and Archie's Parables. These comics used Archie and his friends to tell stories with strong Christian themes and morals, sometimes incorporating Bible scripture. In at least one instance, the regular characters meet a Christ-like figure on the beach, and listen as he gently preaches Christian values.
Archie launched a short-lived fantasy and horror imprint, Red Circle Comics, in the 1970s. The company revived that imprint in the 1980s for its brief line of superhero comics. Later in the 1980s, Archie planned to publish superheroes again with the Spectrum Comics imprint, featuring a number of high-profile talents, but it cancelled this attempt before publishing a single issue.
Having licensed Archie's MLJ Superheroes in 1991, DC Comics launched its imprint Impact Comics with these heroes.
In 1992, Archie partnered with Sega to create a four-part Sonic the Hedgehog'' comic book miniseries based on the video game series of the same name. This was continued with a full series launch in 1993, which incorporated elements from the 1993 animated series by DiC Entertainment. The series ran for over 20 years, becoming the longest-running comic series based on a video game by 2008.
2000s
On April 4, 2003, Dad's Garage Theatre Company in Atlanta was scheduled to debut a new play by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, 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 gay, that would dilute and tarnish his image." It opened a few days later as "Weird Comic Book Fantasy" with the character names changed. In 2014, Aguirre-Sacasa would become Archie's Chief Creative Officer.
Bill Yoshida learned comic book lettering from Ben Oda and was hired in 1965 by Archie Comics, where he averaged 75 pages a week for 40 years for an approximate total of 156,000 pages.
Archie Comics sued music duo The Veronicas for trademark infringement in 2005 over the band's name, which Archie Comics alleges was taken from the comic book character. Archie Comics and Sire Records reached a settlement involving co-promotion.
In 2007, Archie Comics launched a "new look" series of stories, featuring Archie characters drawn in an updated, less cartoony style similar to the characters' first appearance. There are a total of seven storylines and each one was published as a four-part storyline in a digest series. Also each "new look" story was based on a Riverdale High novel, a series of twelve novels; seven that are published, five that are not. They were published in the 1990s.
TitleFeatured characterComic ReleasePublication DateRiverdale High Novel Counterpart
"Bad Boy Trouble"Veronica, BettyBetty & Veronica Double Digest #151–154July–October 2007"The New Kid. Grrrrr."
"The Matchmakers"JugheadJughead's Double Digest #139–142April–August 2008"First Kiss by Jughead Jones"
"Break-up Blues"Moose, MidgeArchie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest #125–128October 2008 – February 2009"Big children. BIG challenges. Divorced."
"My Father's Betrayal"Hiram Lodge, VeronicaBetty & Veronica Double Digest #170–173May–August 2009"No Archies Allowed"
"Goodbye Forever"ArchieArchie's Double Digest #200–203July–November 2009"Will Archie Comics Have Its Defunct Date?"
"A Funny Kind of Love"ReggieArchie's Pals n' Gals Double Digest #135–138September 2009 – February 2010"Reggie Mantle, Prankster"
"No Baseball for Betty"BettyBetty & Veronica Double Digest #180–183May–August 2010"Hit a Home Run"

In 2008, Archie Publications once again licensed DC Comics its MLJ Super heroes for a DC Universe integrated line, Red Circle.