Speaking of Little Archie, on Page 4 in Panel 4, you see a picture of Little Archie's pet dog, Spotty. One of the gags we throw around the Archie offices is the question of what happened to Spotty and why he isn't around by the time of Archie's teen years. Most of us conclude Spotty is probably up in Doggy Heaven somewhere.

Spotty's creator, Bob Bolling, actually drew him into a few "big" Archie stories and even gave him a big part in one of his great '80s "Archie and Me" stories, looking maybe a little older but not much.



So I guess depending on who's writing/drawing, Spotty is either alive (but aging slowly) or dead. It's sort of like Betty's cat Caramel, though I guess Caramel appears more often in the "big" stories. And let's not even get into the issue of Ambrose, Evelyn, Fangs...

So I guess depending on who's writing/drawing, Spotty is either alive (but aging slowly) or dead. It's sort of like Betty's cat Caramel, though I guess Caramel appears more often in the "big" stories. And let's not even get into the issue of Ambrose, Evelyn, Fangs...

Actually, I've read a 'teen' story that featured Ambrose's return to Riverdale after all these years. It was reprinted in "Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #20". It was really nice, and drawn in a very dark, mature manner, as Archie angsts over how badly the Good Ol' Gang treated Ambrose back in the day. It was a little weird at the end, because Teen Ambrose had no hard feelings, and thought the gang was his best friends (despite the way they treated him), but you don't get many Archie stories with that level of character depth.

Apparently there was another story featuring Fangs Fogarty returning to Riverdale as well, now called "Smiley". Archie's Double Digest #117 had that one.

I have seen a few of the "adult Spotty" appearances- there was one where the Andrews family considered another puppy, and they mentioned already having Spotty, who was just sitting around on the porch. I remember one story having Archie admit that he "Cried when I lost my dog, and I'm not afraid to admit it" when the boys were discussing showing their feelings to others, so maybe that was one writer's way of telling us that the dog had croaked .

Loved the issue, Fernando. Art was superb as usual.
My favorite bit is with "Ms. Beazly" & Reggie. I won't say more. Don't want to spoil it.

Loved the issue, Fernando. Art was superb as usual.
My favorite bit is with "Ms. Beazly" & Reggie. I won't say more. Don't want to spoil it.

Thanks, Gigi! That scene got a lot of raised eyebrows around the office. Got to give the credit to the great Tom De Falco. I only drew what he wrote.

I picked up my comp copy of Archie #612 Part 3 of "THE MAN FROM R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." today from the Archie offices. I hope everyone picks this one up. Let me know if you spot all the Easter eggs!

I just bought #611.  The story's looking pretty decent.  Love the zombies!