Quote from: Ronny G on September 07, 2017, 07:10:44 PM
Thanks for the info! I thought she started out in other comics first--sorta like Sabrina started out in the pages of Archie's Mad House. Thanks for clearing that up.
Regarding the other Best of Josie you pictured. I had pre-ordered it on amazon when it first showed up, but as the date approached, they cancelled it. I don't think it exists either. 
Would you happen to know about Katy Keene? I would like to read some of her old stories. I know some were reprinted in the digests, but they seem to be sporadic.  Do you have, or do you know of a list of reprinted Katy stories like the one you are doing of Josie.

Katy Keene reprints have occasionally shown up in B & V Friends Double Digest. There was one in the latest issue, but it's from the Andrew Pepoy series of shorts which ran in ARCHIE & FRIENDS, and I suspect you're referring to the earlier ones. (I actually rather liked Pepoy's 21st century update of the character, all of which have been reprinted in a trade paperback collection, Katy Keene: Model Behavior from 2008.) There hasn't really been a digest title which had Katy reprints as a regular feature, but a few of them showed up in 2009-2012 in Betty and Veronica Double Digest #168, 169, 175, 178, 179, 185, 196, 197, and 199. Some of those issues (and others in-between) had Ginger reprints, too. Katy may possibly have been in other issues around that time, but I don't have a complete listing of contents of all the issues.

One thing I'm curious about is that whenever I do see Katy Keene reprints, they're never reprints of the 1980s series (another which I liked, of the few I've actually had a chance to read). The 1980s series of Katy Keene comics might still be found relatively more easily than her original series that ran from 1949 to 1961, so here's a list of them:

KATY KEENE SPECIAL #1 - 6 (September 1983 - October 1984)
KATY KEENE (Vol. 2) #7 - 33 (December 1984 - January 1990)
KATY KEENE COMICS DIGEST MAGAZINE #1 - 10 (1987 - 1990)

It seems to me that if you're looking for the most Katy stories you can get in one place, finding copies of those 10 digests would be your best bet. Unfortunately I don't own them myself, and the contents aren't indexed at the Grand Comics Database, so I can't tell you what the stories are, but it was a regular-size (96-page) digest, issued 4 times annually. Hope that helps.

Here's a typical issue's cover:

Quote from: Ronny G on September 07, 2017, 05:18:40 PM
If you're a Josie fan, I recommend IDW's Archie Hardcover book, "The Best of Dan DeCarlo" Volume 4. I have all 4 volumes, but vol. 4 is my favorite because it has a six Josie stories (pre-Pussycats) nicely reproduced in large format on quality paper. Two of the stories are from Pep and Laugh before she got her own series.

No, (She's) JOSIE #1 was her true first appearance. Some people think it was Archie's Pals 'n' Gals #23, but that actually hit the stands a week or so later. During the 1960s, PEP and LAUGH were the true anthology titles where you might find any of the Archie characters. Some issues even had short comics featuring The Jaguar, or The Fly (or Fly-Girl), for a while. Josie was in some issues of each of those titles before Archie's TV Laugh-Out came along, but it was while she had her own comic book.

What I want to know about is this cover image....



Found that on the internet, with a claim that it was published April 24, 2012 by Archie Comics (supposedly a 160-page hardcover). The design actually looks more like one of the IDW books, but I'm not yet convinced that this thing actually exists. It's possible, though, if it were some sort of exclusive deal made by Archie Comics with a major bookseller, and wasn't available elsewhere, like the comic shop direct market.

Y'know, seeing Archiecomicxfan215's new Jughead t-shirt sort of made me curious (it's been a while since I looked) about what kind of Archie Comics t-shirts designs are out there these days. The short answer is, "tons of them". THIS ONE, however, was the coolest design I think I found (and it could even pass as a casual Halloween costume)!

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on September 07, 2017, 10:02:56 AM
I just got this.  I love the size!  GREAT collection.

Yeah, I'm surprised what a difference it makes. It's not like you ever have to strain your eyes reading a digest-sized reprint, or even the slightly larger "Best of Archie Series" TPB format, or the one they used to use for the "Archie & Friends All-Stars". But it's really nice to see them printed at the same size as the original comics. Even better on the larger, magazine sized pages used for the Archie Comics Super Specials and those IDW "Best of" Archie artists hardcovers. Maybe the ultimate (even though it only reprinted selected stories from the first two hardcover volumes of IDW's The Best of Dan DeCarlo) was that ARCHIE by Dan DeCarlo Treasury Edition, with pages that measure almost 10"x 13"!!

Quote from: Archiecomicxfan215 on September 07, 2017, 08:48:19 AM
My boyfriend brought me this shirt from Hot Topic

Lucky for you! JUGHEAD would have spent the money on food! 

Now we're caught up to last month, and we're back to print comics with ARCHIE'S BIG BOOK: MAGIC, MUSIC & MISCHIEF trade paperback collection. I'm not going to list the Sabrina and Little Archie stories here, because they're not relevant to a comparison between collections focusing on Josie.

ARCHIE'S BIG BOOK: MAGIC, MUSIC & MISCHIEF Vol. 1	(111 pages)	source of 1st publication	Aug. 2017	writer	penciller	inker
A Gym Dandy - Chapter I	8 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Neat Workers - Chapter II	6 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Muscle Hustle - Chapter III	5 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Track Down - Chapter IV	6 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Footlight Follies - Chapter I	8 pages	JOSIE #2	Aug. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
The Bright Side - Chapter II	6 pages	JOSIE #2	Aug. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Show Biz Blues - Chapter III	5 pages	JOSIE #2	Aug. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
It's Curtain Time - Chapter IV	5 pages	JOSIE #2	Aug. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Sweater Girls - Chapter I	8 pages	JOSIE #3	Oct. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Bad Sort - Chapter II	6 pages	JOSIE #3	Oct. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Native Nuisance - Chapter III	5 pages	JOSIE #3	Oct. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Force Feed - Chapter IV	5 pages	JOSIE #3	Oct. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vincent DeCarlo
Off To A Good Start	11 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Take Me To Your Leader	10 pages	JOSIE #51	Oct. 1970	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Please Take Note	5 pages	JOSIE #55	June 1971	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Sing A Song of Sixpence	6 pages	JOSIE #59	Dec. 1971	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Club Crisis	6 pages	JOSIE #93	Dec. 1976	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
The Image	5 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #98	Dec. 1984	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg	Rudy Lapick

Once again, stories exclusive to this collection are listed in RED, which includes a complete reprinting of the stories from SHE'S JOSIE #2 & 3! Worth it for that alone, IMO, even if you're mainly a digital reader collecting all the other digital exclusive collections.

Moving on to Mar. 2016, another digital exclusive Josie collection was released as part of the ARCHIE 75 SERIES. This was the 12th in that series to be released.

ARCHIE 75 SERIES (#12)  - JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS	(83 pages)	source of 1st publication	Mar. 2016	writer	penciller	inker
A Gym Dandy	8 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Neat Workers	6 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Muscle Hustle	5 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Track Down	6 pages	JOSIE #1	Feb. 1963	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Beach Fashions (pin-up)	1 page	JOSIE #17	Dec. 1965		Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Rebellion	8 pages	JOSIE #20	June 1966	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Vince DeCarlo
Decisions, Decisions	6 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Pussy Footing	5 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Using His Head	11 pages	JOSIE #48	June 1970	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Quiet on the Set	8 pages	JOSIE #50	Sept. 1970	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Think Jinx	6 pages	JOSIE #56	Aug. 1971	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
My Brother's Keeper	8 pages	JOSIE #65	Oct. 1972	Frank Doyle	Stan Goldberg	Mario Acquaviva
Some You Win	5 pages	JOSIE #98	Oct. 1978	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick

The only story in this collection that doesn't appear in any of the other Josie collections is "Rebellion", and though it's a great story, is it worth the price of the collection for that one 8-page story? Once again, we get a complete reprint of JOSIE #1, but if you have the SHE'S JOSIE digital exclusive collection, you don't need it again. To be honest, I can't really see any reason to purchase this one unless you just want a complete set of the ARCHIE 75 SERIES.

Moving on with the next digital exclusive JOSIE collection, JOSIE AND THE SCAREDY CATS was released in Oct. 2015.  It was later re-released with altered cover image as PEP DIGITAL No. 166.

Josie and the Scaredy Cats	(96 pages)	source of 1st publication	Oct. 2015	writer	penciller	inker
The Ghost of Dark Valley Manor	16 pages	JOSIE #57	Sept. 1971	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
What Kind of Ghoul Am I	14 pages	JOSIE #64	Sept. 1972	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
My Brother's Keeper	8 pages	JOSIE #65	Oct. 1972	Frank Doyle	Stan Goldberg	Mario Acquaviva
Follow the Leader	6 pages	JOSIE #66	Dec. 1972	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
The Swamp Mist Monster!	8 pages	JOSIE #67	Feb. 1973	Frank Doyle	Stan Goldberg	Mario Acquaviva
Breath of Evil	8 pages	JOSIE #67	Feb. 1973	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
The Falcon's Claw	8 pages	JOSIE #68	Apr. 1973	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Jim DeCarlo
Terror in the Park	6 pages	JOSIE #69	June 1973	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Fraidy Cat Friday	5 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #82	July 2004	Hal Smith	Stan Goldberg	Jon D'Agostino
Return to Nightmare Nursery	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #58	Aug. 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Studio Scare	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #84	Oct. 2004	Abby Denson	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski

The stories "The Ghost of Dark Valley Manor", "What Kind of Ghoul Am I", "My Brother's Keeper" and "The Swamp Mist Monster!" also appeared later in the Aug. 2017 BEST OF JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS trade paperback collection, but the rest of the stories (listed here in RED) haven't appeared in any other JOSIE collections. Another reason to get this collection and the previous GREATEST HITS digital exclusive if you're buying digital, and skip the digital version of the 2017 BEST OF collection. We also get another excellent story from Holly Golightly's run on ARCHIE & FRIENDS, "Return to Nightmare Nursery" -- this one's a sequel to the Frank Doyle/Bob Bolling classic story from LIFE WITH ARCHIE #125 (Sept. 1972), which was not a Josie story!

Quote from: SAGG on September 07, 2017, 04:19:43 AM
Is there a link where I can see Schultz's work on Peanuts, DR? Thanks in advance....

Nothing specific that I could find. Jeff Schultz doesn't seem to have much of a presence on the internet. No facebook or twitter page, blog or website of his own that I could find. In trying to search for images, I found that Boom Studios' PEANUTS series has since been discontinued, and there's a possibility that the estate of Charles Schulz did not want new Peanuts comics to be created by other writers and artists (there were some hints that Schulz' will specified as such), and that Boom Studios was creatively interpreting that directive to mean no new comic STRIPS (in newspapers) but not including comic BOOKS. I don't know if the previously-released Boom Studios' PEANUTS comics are still available in digital format, but that's your best bet, besides finding back issues or trade paperbacks.

Quote from: SAGG on September 06, 2017, 11:24:22 PM
Schultz to me never left the house style. Parent evolved form DeCarlo's...

Dan Parent was largely mentored early in his employment at ACP by Dan DeCarlo, and you can find many stories from the early days of Dan P's career that are co-credited to the two Dans. The "traditional Archie Comics style" was Dan DeCarlo's style, and every artist who was employed by ACP after Dan started working there was encouraged to study his work, and adhere to that style as closely as possible. That didn't apply to artists who started working for ACP before DeCarlo came on board full-time in 1958, like Harry Lucey and Samm Schwartz, but to everyone else, yes. Even the younger generation of artists who started at the company in the late 1980s/early 1990s stuck very close to the house style until the 21st century, when they were at last allowed to express their individuality a little more distinctly.

Jeff Schultz always seemed like the one who was earliest able to master the DeCarlo style, and he never seemed to vary from that right up to the present. I can detect very little difference between his earlier work and his most recent work, and I must admit it took me some time at first to even be able to distinguish Jeff's work from DeCarlo's on uncredited stories from the 1990s. Nor is Jeff's uncanny ability to closely mimic another artist's style limited to Dan DeCarlo's, as anyone whose seen his work on Boom Studios' PEANUTS comic book can attest. Jeff is a fantastic artist, and I can't wait to see those new issues of his and Darin Henry's SUPER 'SUCKERS!

06-06-17:
JIMMYS BASTARDS #3
KINGSMAN RED DIAMOND #1 (of 6)
STAR WARS ADVENTURES #1
ASTRO CITY #47
DASTARDLY AND MUTTLEY #1
ONE PUNCH MAN GN VOL 12
THE BLOODY CARDINAL (OGN) by Richard Sala
CAPTAIN HARLOCK SPACE PIRATE: DIMENSIONAL VOYAGE GN VOL 01
THE BLACK BEETLE: KARA BOCEK HC by Francesco Francavilla

But getting back now to the listings of contents of the various JOSIE collections, the next one to be released (in Dec. 2014) was the largest so far at 308 pages: BEST OF JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS: GREATEST HITS! In many ways this is sort of a prototype for the BEST OF print collection just released in August 2017, but there would be many changes in contents between the 2014 digital exclusive collection and the 2017 trade paperback collection. This digital exclusive collection would also be re-released later with an altered cover design, as PEP DIGITAL #123.

BEST OF JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS: GREATEST HITS	(308 pages)	source of 1st publication	Dec. 2014	writer	penciller	inker
Decisions, Decisions	6 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Pussy Footing	11 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Off to a Good Start	5 pages	JOSIE #45	Dec. 1969	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
A Moment of Truth	7 pages	JOSIE #55	June 1971	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
A New View	5 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #84	Feb. 1982	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg
Head Count	6 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #95	June 1984	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Jim DeCarlo
Oh Solo Mio	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #52	Dec. 2001	Dan Parent	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Dog Daze	6 pages	JOSIE #82	June 1975	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Jim DeCarlo
Bad News Boys	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #53	Jan. 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Stage Fright	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #55	Apr. 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
The Driving Force	6 pages	JOSIE #77	Aug. 1974	Dick Malmgren	Stan Goldberg	Jon D'Agostino
Litter by Litter	6 pages	JOSIE #51	Oct. 1970	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Photo Oops!	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #68	May 2003	Angelo DeCesare	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Say Cheese!	1 page	ARCHIE'S PALS 'N' GALS #194	Jan. 1988	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg	Rod Ollerenshaw
Pussycats on the Runway!		ARCHIE & FRIENDS #85	Nov. 2004	Abby Denson	Fernando Ruiz	Rich Koslowski
Sounds Silly to Me...	5 pages	JOSIE #47	Apr. 1970	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
The Swingers	6 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #97	Oct. 1984	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
What Price Failure	6 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #96	Aug. 1984	George Gladir	Dan DeCarlo	Jim DeCarlo
Safe & Sound!	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #73	Oct. 2003	Angelo DeCesare	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Club Crisis	6 pages	JOSIE #93	Dec. 1976	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Ice Princess of the Lost Civilization	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #54	Mar. 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Gig Gala!	5 pages	LAUGH #4	Dec. 1987	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg	Hy Eisman
Fame Blame	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #70	July 2003	Angelo DeCesare	Al Bigley	Al Milgrom
The Brad-to-Be!	5 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #79	Mar. 2004	Angelo DeCesare	Dan Parent	Jon D'Agostino
Take Me to Your Leader	10 pages	JOSIE #51	Oct. 1970	Frank Doyle	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
A Singular Idea	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #63	Dec. 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Alexandra's Liberation	8 pages	JOSIE #53	Feb. 1971	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Gimmick Happy	6 pages	LAUGH #1	June 1987	Bill Webb	Stan Goldberg	Jon D'Agostino
Melody Malady	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #80	Apr. 2004	Angelo DeCesare	Dan Parent	Jon D'Agostino
Think Jinx	6 pages	JOSIE #56	Aug. 1971	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Costume Capers	5 pages	LAUGH #16	Aug. 1989	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg	Mike Esposito
Go Figure!	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #69	June 2003	Angelo DeCesare	Al Bigley	Al Milgrom
Show Offs!	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #76	Dec. 2003	Angelo DeCesare	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Backstage Pass	11 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #56	June 2002	Holly Golightly	Holly Golightly	John Costanza
Using His Head	11 pages	JOSIE #48	June 1970	Dick Malmgren	Dan DeCarlo	Rudy Lapick
Music for the Masses, Chapter 1	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #48	July 2001	Dan Parent	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Music for the Masses, Chapter 2	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #48	July 2001	Dan Parent	Rex W. Lindsey	Bob Smith
Music for the Masses, Chapter 3	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #49	Aug. 2001	Dan Parent	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Music for the Masses, Chapter 4	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #49	Aug. 2001	Dan Parent	Rex W. Lindsey	Rich Koslowski
Isle be Your Dream Date!	6 pages	ARCHIE & FRIENDS #83	Aug. 2004	Angelo DeCesare	Dan Parent	Jim Amash
The Image	5 pages	ARCHIE'S TV LAUGH-OUT #98	Dec. 1984	George Gladir	Stan Goldberg	Rudy Lapick
It Starts with a Kiss!	22 pages	ARCHIE #608	June 2010	Dan Parent	Bill Galvan	Rich Koslowski

Stories listed above in RED don't appear in any other collections. Apart from stories which appear in both this collection and the Aug. 2017 BEST OF JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS trade paperback collection, this collection has fewer stories repeated from the remainder of the collections. The main negative point of this collection compared to the 2017 BEST OF collection would be that the stories in this collection aren't presented in chronological order of their original publication. Bottom line: If you're buying digital, get this collection rather than the digital version of the 2017 BEST OF collection. It has fewer pages, but more stories that are unique to this collection. If you're a print comics only person, then this digital exclusive collection isn't even an option for you.

Quote from: Ronny G on September 05, 2017, 10:05:21 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on September 05, 2017, 07:27:15 PM
Millie and Chili weren't particularly imitative of Betty & Veronica.

Right. What I really meant to say (but had trouble articulating), was it looked like Marvel was copying the look of B&V. I knew the character's were different, but their facial features were similar. They just changed the hairstyle. Their noses and eyes were the same as B&V. The nose in particular, I always associate with B&V. They could've done a crossover appearance, and they would've fit right in. 

If it SEEMS like Archie Comics invented something, a genre or a style... that's just an illusion, caused by an ignorance of history. Really all that the company can be credited with is a publishing decision to commit their lot (beginning in 1943), for better or worse, to a single genre -- comedy. 1943 is the year they made that decision, and the company had converted all of its books (and most of its features) to that genre by 1946, at which point they changed their name to Archie Comic Publications.

As far as how their Archie Comics "house style" of artwork evolved, the only thing the company can be credited with is keeping Dan DeCarlo employed. HIS style became the Archie Comics style, but his style was never derived from, or influenced by, Archie Comics artists who came before him -- in fact, when asked to draw B&V in Bob Montana's style, he balked at the idea as extra work he'd rather not bother with (and eventually John Goldwater relented). All they really had to do was instruct the other artists to draw it like Dan's style as much as possible... and that's certainly something that isn't protectable by copyright, so it was just as easy for another publisher to issue the same instructions.

In fact, if you were ignorant of the artists' names, you could have looked at a Betty & Veronica comic book in 1960, and said "Hey, did you notice they're now copying the old Millie the Model style?"

Quote from: Ronny G on September 04, 2017, 06:19:19 PM
I surprised that Mr. Goldberg also drew for Chili. I am familiar with the comic book but I always felt it was a poor imitation of Betty and Veronica.

Millie and Chili weren't particularly imitative of Betty & Veronica. Millicent Collins and Chili Storm (whose first appearance was in Millie the Model #5 in 1947) were both professional models who worked for the Hanover Modeling Agency, and as such, they naturally competed for work assignments and attention (especially with their handsome boss, Mr. Hanover). Chili often displayed jealousy of Millie (a small-town girl only recently arrived at the agency) and was vain and egotistical (what -- a professional model vain and egotistical!? How unrealistic...!). In terms of her personality, how she related to the star of the series, and how her character functioned within the plots of the stories, her closest analog at Archie Comics would probably be Alexandra Cabot.

Marvel didn't really have a book in which the two characters were both equals, and also best friends who had an ongoing rivalry, but the closest comparison would probably be with the title Patsy and Hedy. Both characters were high school girls, with Patsy the red-headed and virtuous "girl next door" type, and Hedy her dark-haired jealous rival, scheming to steal attention (and dates) away from Patsy, but Patsy was always the obvious hero and good-girl character, and Hedy the 'villain', who nearly always gets her comeuppance at the end of the story.

There was at least one title that Marvel did, that could be charged as a "clone" of Archie Comics, and that was KATHY "The Teen-Age Tornado!". It ran for 27 issues, from 1959-1964, and came uncomfortably close to B&V, as drawn by Stan Goldberg in a style as close as possible to Dan DeCarlo's (but once again, Kathy was the star, and her brunette frenemy Liz, merely a supporting character -- ironically, before BETTY ever got her own title at Archie Comics). Marvel was perhaps stinging from the then very recent loss of DeCarlo during Goodman's moratorium on purchasing new stories while he scrambled to cut his former line of 50+ titles down to a mere 16 bi-monthlies, and once Archie Comics had gotten their hooks into him, it seemed unlikely they were ever going to let DeCarlo NOT have enough art assignments to keep him busy. (Still, he managed to sneak in those gag pin-ups for Goodman's mens' magazines for the next 4 years, but the money involved must have been too good to pass up.)

Quote from: Ronny G on September 04, 2017, 06:19:19 PM
After reading the behind the scenes stuff, I now have more sympathy for Mr. Goldberg, and will cut him some slack the next time I read one of his latter stories where I feel the art is sub-par.


I surprised that Mr. Goldberg also drew for Chili. I am familiar with the comic book but I always felt it was a poor imitation of Betty and Veronica. I knew it was DC trying to copy the Archie style, but I didn't know it was one of Archie's own artists working for the competition.

I guess you could look at it that way, with 20/20 hindsight. But the reality is, Goldberg was just doing the same thing he'd been doing for the last 20 years... working in the production department at Marvel during the day as a full-time employee and the company's main colorist, while working on freelance art assignments at night (at that particular time, Millie the Model and Millie's Rival Chili for Marvel, Scooter and Binky's Buddies for DC, and various titles for Archie Comics). Since Stan G was capable of drawing both "straight" and humor style comics, I don't think there was ever a month that went by in those entire 20 years that his artwork didn't appear in some Atlas/Marvel comic book.

And yes, publishers paid attention to what was selling well for the competition, so the high sales and expanding number of titles published at Archie Comics coincident with the arrival of Filmation's The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch cartoons on Saturday morning television did not go unnoticed by DC and Marvel, and led to them trying to get a piece of that market with a few titles done in the teen humor house style of Archie Comics. DC resurrected one of their old teen humor characters dormant since 1961, Binky, and converted another title, Swing With Scooter, to that style. Marvel converted Millie the Model back from soap-opera dramatics to its original humor style, and added a spinoff comic for Chili. Let's not forget that the "teen humor house style of Archie Comics" was synonymous with Dan DeCarlo's style, and this was exactly the time when Richard Goldwater determined that DeCarlo should become responsible for drawing ALL of Archie Comics humor title covers. The same Dan DeCarlo who'd been responsible for great sales in the 1950s on Atlas girl humor comics like My Friend Irma (about a ditzy blonde) and Millie the Model.

Which does beg the "What if... ?" question of what Archie Comics would have been like (or whether they'd have even survived this long) had former Marvel artists like DeCarlo, Goldberg, and Hartley not chosen Archie Comics as their major employer after 1958.