"Guardian Devil" is a story from Archie at Riverdale High No. 28 1975. It is one of the more serious Archie stories, but is not without humor.

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

Archie and Betty are at the beach and see a little boy about 9 or 10, looking very despondent. Suddenly, the little boy sneaks up behind a teen-age girl and snatches a sandwich from her basket. Archie and Betty chase the boy and confront him about the theft. At first he tries to lie and say that the girl is his older sister; when that doesn't work, he admits that he ran away from home and reveals that his name is Paul. Paul truthfully explains that he has no father and his mother is in the hospital. He goes on to say that he is staying with his Uncle Sidney from whom he ran away two days ago. Paul insists that his uncle is "no good." Archie gives Sidney a pep talk about getting along with relatives one doesn't like and then he and Betty bring him home.

Paul's uncle is a rather young guy, not much older than Archie. He receives the boy with open arms and appears to be a concerned guardian. But, as Archie drives away, he is suspicious of Sidney's uncle. Betty tells Archie that they cannot get involved because it's a "family matter." Archie, however, sees things a little differently and enlists the aid of Big Moose.

That evening, Archie and Moose stand outside of Paul and Sidney's house as Archie explains the situation. Just then, a car leaving the house speeds by, almost hitting Archie and Moose as the driver laughs. They then hear loud music coming out of the house and discover a wild party going on.

Archie goes to the door and asks to see Paul. Uncle Sidney tells Archie that he's asleep. Archie asks how the child could possibly sleep with all of the noise. Uncle Sidney tells Archie to get lost. When Archie persists, Uncle Sidney says, "You'll see that brat over my dead body!" Enter Big Moose. Moose is only too happy to oblige as he grabs Uncle Sidney and throws him in the other room, knocking him out. Suddenly, Archie and Moose discover that the window to Paul's room is open and that he's run away again. Archie throws a bucket of water over the uncle's head and brings him to. Archie then puts the fear of God in Uncle Sidney by reminding him that he could go to jail for neglect or worse if anything happens to the boy. Moose ends the party by chasing all of Uncle Sidney's friends out of the house. At this point, between Moose's threats of physical violence and Archie's threats to call the police, Uncle Sidney is beside himself with fear for his own safety. In a panic, he runs off into the swamp to look for Paul, but Paul is actually hiding in the bushes of the yard. Archie already realized this, but let Uncle Sidney run into the swamp anyway. Archie then asks Paul if his uncle hit him. Paul says that he shoved him around, locked him in his room, and was pretty mean. Suddenly, Uncle Sidney comes running out of the swamp, bitten by dozens of mosquitoes, his body now practically covered with nothing but welts.

The next scene has Archie, Moose, and Paul in the hospital room where Paul's mother is staying. Paul explains to her that he's going to be staying with Archie's friend Veronica who has a pool and everything. Paul's mother thinks it's wonderful, but asks what happened to his Uncle Sidney. Paul, Archie, and Moose explain how he met up with all those mosquitoes and while Uncle Sidney will be okay, they feared that the mosquitoes may have gotten sick. The three of them bust out laughing as Paul hugs his grateful (but confused) mother.


Now I really liked this vintage story, but I had to ask myself "why", since one of my biggest complaints with modern Archie comics is that they're too preachy.  Here's what I think the difference is. Unlike many modern Archie stories, this vintage story didn't sacrifice humor to make its point. Most importantly, it didn't lock the characters into these roles for continuous issues. Archie and Moose were the heroes in this story, but in the next story, Archie could once again be a bumbling fool and Moose could be a mean bully. The story had something to say, made its point, and moved on. I like that.

Yes, this is another classic. It is a perfect example again of Archie stories that aren't complete slapstick that are very good! Why don't they do more stories like this! Last month's "Veronica Leaves Home" storyline was a good one though. I wonder if it'd be better if they devote one title to the action/adventure stories.