Archie Comics #71
Archie Comics #71 (1954) is the second issue published under the stripped-down 'Archie' masthead — a branding shift that had just taken effect with #70 — signaling the publisher's confident pivot away from anthology-style titling toward a star-character identity that would define the line for decades. The issue assembles an unusually rich cross-section of the Archie universe's mid-1950s stable in a single package: core Riverdale regulars alongside satellite characters from several different Archie-published titles, including Ginger Snapp (whose own solo series had just concluded), Wilbur Wilkin (the pre-Archie teen character who technically predates the franchise's namesake), and a Fearless Fosdick feature — a licensed parody strip borrowed from Al Capp's Li'l Abner. That density of crossover characters across a transitional issue makes #71 a useful snapshot of how expansive and experimental the Archie publishing line actually was at the height of the early 1950s teen-humor boom.
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By 1954 Archie Comic Publications — rebranded from the original MLJ Magazines imprint in 1946 — was operating a sprawling slate of teen-humor titles under the editorial direction built by John L. Goldwater, the publisher who had originally conceived Archie with artist Bob Montana and writer Vic Bloom in 1941. The renaming of the flagship title from 'Archie Comics' to simply 'Archie' beginning with #70 was an editorial housekeeping move reflecting the character's dominant brand recognition. Specific writer and artist credits for the individual stories in issue #71 have not been confirmed in currently indexed databases, and the Grand Comics Database entry for this issue does not yet carry a full story index.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Archie Comics #71 is only the second issue published under the shortened 'Archie' title, a branding change that took effect starting with issue #70.
- The issue features Wilbur Wilkin, who actually predates Archie himself — Wilbur debuted in Zip Comics #18 in September 1941, roughly three months before Archie's debut in Pep Comics #22 (December 1941), and carried his own series for approximately 15 years.
- Ginger Snapp appears in this issue; her solo series ('Ginger') had run for only ten issues in 1952 before ending, and she was conceived as a female counterpart to Archie — right down to having a Jughead-like best friend named Dotty.
- Ickky Jones, Ginger's nerdy admirer cataloged among this issue's characters, is one of the more distinctive supporting players in the Ginger Snapp corner of the Archie universe — a proto-Dilton type described as more confident with girls than his look-alike counterpart in Riverdale.
- Fearless Fosdick — a parody of Chester Gould's Dick Tracy originating inside Al Capp's Li'l Abner newspaper strip — appears alongside the Archie characters; by 1954 Fosdick was also appearing in Wildroot Cream-Oil advertisements in comic form.
- The villain Anyface, listed in the issue's character index, is drawn from the Fearless Fosdick mythology, where Fosdick's nemesis Anyface (created by fictional cartoonist Lester Gooch) can assume any face.
- Suzie, another Archie-published teen-humor character whose own long-running title 'Suzie Comics' ran from Spring 1945 through August 1954, appears here at almost exactly the moment her series concluded.
- The core Riverdale cast present — Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, Reggie, Moose, Midge, Pop Tate, Mr. Weatherbee, Miss Grundy, Coach Kleats, Hiram Lodge, and Fred Andrews — represents essentially the full golden ensemble of mid-1950s Riverdale as it had solidified by that point in the franchise's history.
Cast · 20 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Moose has a part in the school play that requires him to have bad eyesight except when wearing glasses. He's having trouble remembering that, so Betty and Veronica tell him to stay in character until the next rehearsal. Reggie and Archie run into Moose later, where Moose stays in character of not being able to see without the glasses. When Midge comes by, Reggie drops the glasses and he and Archie both kiss Midge, thinking Moose won't be able to see them. We next see Archie and Reggie in the hospital after Moose has gotten his revenge.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).