Yuletide Tidings PEP COMICS "Archie in 'Christmas Cheers' "

It's comics' all-American boy...as most of you don't know him...

...a buck-toothed, layabout, closer to Reggie (who doesn't appear in this tale), than the wholesome teen of today!
(BTW, for an explanation of War Bonds, and why Archie's dad invested part of his son's $50 check, go HERE!)

Written by Harry Sahle and Ed Goggin, penciled by Sahle and inked by "Ginger" (Virginia Drury), this story from MLJ's Pep Comics #46 (1944) is notable for the debut of two characters; Pop Tate, owner of "Pop's Chocklit Shop" (Called "Tate's" in this tale), and Gabby, a short-lived character who screwed-up other people's lives by continually blabbing things others were not meant to know!

As you can see, the original Bob Montana character designs (which Sahle and Drury matched almost exactly) had not yet been updated to the streamlined Dan DeCarlo versions, which serve as the primary templates of the characters from the 1950s to this day!

Next Week:

We don't know what we'll publish...yet!

But, You'll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

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DARK SHADOWS "Touchy Situation" Conclusion

When Last We Left Our Heroine...

It's almost Christmas at Collinswood and with most of the Collins family away, Victoria Winters visits Barnabas Collins at his home in the original mansion tucked away at the edge of the property.

But there are others around Collinswood...others who don't belong!

One is an itinerant wanderer who, desperate for food, enters thru an unlocked window.

And, the empty mansion proves to be a tempting target for two recently-released convicts who plan to take everything they can carry.

Victoria encounters the criminals, who chase her to the edge of the cliff, where she now hangs precariously...

That's a story for another time...

This was #1 of the second four-issue miniseries based on the 1991 revival.

There was one more mini-series in the works, but it ended after only one issue was printed as the publisher abruptly went out of business.

Next week is Thanksgiving, so we'll present a Turkey Day tale!
You''ll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

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DARK SHADOWS "Touchy Situation" Part 1

Remember the gothic tv soap opera Dark Shadows?

This is it...but it's not it!

Confused?

Read on, and all will be explained...

 This is why we call these chapter endings "cliffhangers".
Story by Maggie Thompson, art by Jose Pimentel.

This never-reprinted comic series from 1993 presented new stories based on the prime-time revival that ran for half a season in 1991.
(Despite excellent ratings for the first couple of episodes, later eps were constantly pre-empted by news coverage of the first Gulf War, and the show never regained the audience.)

The tv series revival adapted the original soap opera's storyline from the point where Barnabas Collins was freed from his coffin in the present to the first time-travel story featuring newly-arrived nanny Victoria Winters witnessing how Barnabas became a vampire in 1795 Collinsport.

The comic presented sequel stories that went in a different direction than later tales in the original tv series, creating a new continuity, much like the 2009 Star Trek movie did.

Before we forget, be here tomorrow for the conclusion to this tale!
You''ll Cry Your Eyes Out If You Miss It!

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Halloween HeartBreak MENACE "Fake!"

 Remember the old adage "Don't judge a book by it's cover"?

 Here's the codicil; "It goes both ways"!

Illustrated by Al Eadeh, this tale from Atlas' Menace #10 (1954) follows the classic trope of golddigger tripped up, not by her own greed, but by the fact her husband (who still loves her) is not even human!

Remember, the target audience for horror (as opposed to romance) comics was 8-14 year old boys, to whom girls were "yukky".

And for whom Lois Lane , the nosy reporter who was always trying to either expose Superman's secret identity or trick the Man of Steel into marrying her, was the typical woman!

Next Week:

We Don't Yet Know What We'll Present, But We Guarantee That...

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Gothic Tales of Haunted Love

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Super-Spy-Love JET DREAM & HER STUNT GIRL COUNTERSPIES "Achilles Heel"

We Return to One of Our Most Popular Categories...

...with a cautionary tale about handsome men featuring an all-woman crimefighting team that predates Charlie's Angels by almost a decade!

This short tale by writer Dick Wood, penciler Mike Sekowsky, and inker Frank Giacoia is from Gold Key's Man from U.N.C.L.E. #13 (1967).

Jet Dream and Her StuntGirl CounterSpies appeared in 4-page tales in the middle of the book from #8 to #22, then appeared in a book-length story in a one-shot comic.

It's never been reprinted, and very few of the stories are available on the Net...until now!

We're re-presenting the entire series, beginning with the premiere currently at our "sister" blog Heroines!™. and crossing over with "brother" blog Crime & Punishment™!

Next Week: Another Tale of Romance (and/or Seduction) with an Amazing Woman Warrior!
You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

Prom Night: Dream or Nightmare? JETTA OF THE 21st CENTURY "Jet Jaunt"

It's Prime Time for Prom time...Even If It's in the Future...as Seen from the 1950s!

(We didn't skip the 1950s, just moved it down the line)

But, in teen humor comic books (even set in the future), things never go smoothly!

 

OK, maybe it's just as well that we of the real 21st Century still don't have flying cars...

As you might have guessed, Archie artist Dan DeCarlo was the illustrator for this tale from Standard Comics' Jetta of the 21st Century #5 (1952), which was actually her first issue!

(Issues 1-4 were a romance comic called Today's Romance!)

Next week:

Our Final Prom Story, Set in the Swinging '70s! And we can guarantee that...

You'll Cry Your Eyes Out if You Miss It!

(Oh, you've heard that, eh?)

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Dan DeCarlo's Jetta