The Adventures of Little Archie #43
The Adventures of Little Archie #43 (Summer 1967) is a pivotal issue in the Little Archie run because it features an early — and for many readers, a defining — appearance of Fangs Fogarty, the snaggle-toothed bully who became one of the most distinctive characters exclusive to the series and a meaningful foil for the younger versions of Archie, Betty, and Veronica. Fogarty belonged to a cohort of Little Archie-original characters — including Spotty, Ambrose Pipps, and the South Side Serpents — who collectively distinguished the children's sub-universe from the main Archie continuity, giving it its own cast of supporting players that readers cared about independently. The issue also represents the Dexter Taylor era of the series in full swing: Taylor had assumed sole responsibility for the main Little Archie stories after Bob Bolling departed with issue #38, and #43 exemplifies the lighter, gag-oriented direction the book took under his tenure. Decades later, Fangs's profile grew substantially when the character was adapted and reimagined for The CW's Riverdale television series, underscoring the lasting cultural reach of characters first developed in the pages of Little Archie.
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Bob Bolling created the Little Archie concept in 1956 at the direction of Archie publisher John Goldwater, who wanted an elementary-school-aged counterpart to the main teen line, and Bolling — already working alongside Dexter Taylor from the earliest issues — built the series into a genuinely eclectic mix of slice-of-life comedy, adventure, science fiction, and sentiment that set it apart from any other Archie title. After Bolling's final story in the original run appeared in issue #38 and he was reassigned to the regular Archie comics line, Dexter Taylor took over full-time; Taylor's editorial mandate reportedly included making the young characters behave more like their teenage counterparts, which gradually shifted the book toward conventional Archie-style comedy. By issue #43, the summer 1967 giant-sized format the series had carried since #19 was still in place, and the book was a 68-page package mixing Taylor-drawn Little Archie stories, Bob Bolling cover art, and Joe Edwards's Li'l Jinx backup strips — a format that had defined the series for years.
Trivia · 7 facts
- Fangs Fogarty — described across multiple sources as a fat, snaggle-toothed bully who tormented Little Archie, Little Jughead, and Little Reggie — appears in the story 'A Case For Trouble' alongside Little Betty and Little Veronica; Fogarty is one of the most prominent characters original to the Little Archie series and does not have a direct counterpart in the main teen books.
- The issue contains multiple stories including 'History's Parade' (pencils Dexter Taylor, inks Jon D'Agostino), 'The Right Color,' 'A Change of Plans,' 'Just a Small Story,' 'A Case For Trouble,' and a Li'l Jinx feature ('Make a Wish!') scripted and drawn by Joe Edwards.
- Cover art is credited to Bob Bolling, even though by this point Bolling had departed the main Little Archie stories; Taylor handled the interior strip content with D'Agostino on inks for at least some stories.
- Hap Holliday, Li'l Jinx's father, appears in the Joe Edwards Li'l Jinx backup — the Li'l Jinx strips were a regular companion feature throughout the Adventures of Little Archie run, always written and drawn by Edwards.
- Fangs Fogarty would eventually cross over into the main Archie continuity in a story titled 'Blast from the Past,' first printed in Archie's Double Digest #117 (August 2000), and was later reimagined as a character on The CW's Riverdale (Season 2 onward), played by Drew Ray Tanner.
- The series introduced characters — including Spotty (Little Archie's dog), Ambrose Pipps, Fangs Fogarty, and the South Side Serpents — who had no equivalent in the teen Archie continuity, making Little Archie a semi-independent universe within the Archie line.
- Both Bob Bolling and Dexter Taylor received the Inkpot Award for their work on Little Archie at San Diego Comic-Con in 2005.
Cast · 14 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Little Archie is invited to Veronica's party for her high-society friends and discovers he doesn't belong in that crowd.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).