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Huge Josie and the Pussycats Fan

Started by Ronny G, August 27, 2017, 05:11:36 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

Ronny G

Hey all! My name is Ronny G. I've been lurking here for a few months, so I finally decided to join in on the fun. I've been an Archie comics fan for a long time! My interest began because of the Josie and the Pussycats cartoon tv show from the seventies. I was about in first or second grade.  Yes, I'm that old! I looked forward to watching the show every Saturday! There were no VCRs back then, so a week seemed like an eternity! LOL That led to my first subscription to the Josie comic book. In those days, they would FOLD the book in half(!) the long way vertically and slip it ito a brown paper sleeve! As I grew older, I appreciated the artwork of Dan Decarlo more and noticed he drew for Betty and Veronica, too! I would buy archie comics off the rack for 25 cents back in the seventies. As I got older, I would go to every comic store in my town and look for old issues of Archie comics. This was before ebay. I now have every single issue of Josie and the Pussycats. I really like reading the old comics because it takes me back to a simpler time, plus some of the stories are genuinely funny and the artwork is appealing.

Vegan Jughead

Welcome Ronny!!!  I've had a crush on Josie forever! 

DeCarlo Rules

#2
Welcome to the forum, Ronnie. Our stories are quite similar. Josie and Sabrina are my two favorites, largely based on having watched those TV cartoons as a kid. Like you, my initial re-interest in Archie Comics came about through an appreciation of Dan DeCarlo's work, in those books published by Fantagraphics and IDW collecting some of his work, and through two of the earliest trade paperback collections ACP put out, The Best of Josie & the Pussycats (2001) and Betty & Veronica Summer Fun (2003). After that my interest became attracted when the multipart storylines began appearing, especially the work of Dan Parent.

Strangely enough, I always felt Josie was the least defined, personality-wise, of all the characters in her self-titled series. Melody and Pepper (from the pre-Pussycats She's Josie incarnation of that title) were always the ones I found most interesting, and after that, Alexandra and Valerie. Even Alex is more interesting, in his own way. Josie seems nice, and she's pretty. She's the leader of the group, and sometimes is fought over for her attention by Alex and Alan M. (or before that, Alex and Albert in She's Josie). Other than that though, there isn't much I can say about what makes her character distinctive. There's a lot more to say about Melody, Pepper, Alexandra, and Valerie. (Alan M.'s kind of bland, when you get down to it -- in fact, so bland that he seems to have been quietly dropped after the original Josie series was cancelled in the early 1980s, and barely anyone noticed. He's made scant appearances since then.)

Just like with Archie, Josie is the character that the others seem to orbit around, like planets in a star system, but just like I feel about Archie, all of the real interest seems to be what's happening with the satellite characters, not with the star. Josie doesn't seem to be the one that initiates action or even reacts to situations as much as the other characters. Plot motivation for stories always seems to be initiated by Alex, Alexandra, or Melody, but never from Josie, who just seems to be the one caught up in the center of the whirlwind. Both Pepper and Valerie seem to play a similar role in the stories for their respective but non-overlapping eras, equivalent to the role Jughead frequently plays in Archie stories (stories where Jughead is the star more often operate by a different logic), that of the detached cynical observer, the smartest or most sensible of the group, and the one most likely to offer a creative solution to any given problem.

Vegan Jughead

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 28, 2017, 04:24:33 AM
Welcome to the forum, Ronnie. Our stories are quite similar. Josie and Sabrina are my two favorites, largely based on having watched those TV cartoons as a kid. Like you, my initial re-interest in Archie Comics came about through an appreciation of Dan DeCarlo's work, in those books published by Fantagraphics and IDW collecting some of his work, and through two of the earliest trade paperback collections ACP put out, The Best of Josie & the Pussycats (2001) and Betty & Veronica Summer Fun (2003). After that my interest became attracted when the multipart storylines began appearing, especially the work of Dan Parent.

Strangely enough, I always felt Josie was the least defined, personality-wise, of all the characters in her self-titled series. Melody and Pepper (from the pre-Pussycats She's Josie incarnation of that title) were always the ones I found most interesting, and after that, Alexandra and Valerie. Even Alex is more interesting, in his own way. Josie seems nice, and she's pretty. She's the leader of the group, and sometimes is fought over for her attention by Alex and Alan M. (or before that, Alex and Albert in She's Josie). Other than that though, there isn't much I can say about what makes her character distinctive. There's a lot more to say about Melody, Pepper, Alexandra, and Valerie. (Alan M.'s kind of bland, when you get down to it -- in fact, so bland that he seems to have been quietly dropped after the original Josie series was cancelled in the early 1980s, and barely anyone noticed. He's made scant appearances since then.)

Just like with Archie, Josie is the character that the others seem to orbit around, like planets in a star system, but just like I feel about Archie, all of the real interest seems to be what's happening with the satellite characters, not with the star. Josie doesn't seem to be the one that initiates action or even reacts to situations as much as the other characters. Plot motivation for stories always seems to be initiated by Alex, Alexandra, or Melody, but never from Josie, who just seems to be the one caught up in the center of the whirlwind. Both Pepper and Valerie seem to play a similar role in the stories for their respective but non-overlapping eras, equivalent to the role Jughead frequently plays in Archie stories (stories where Jughead is the star more often operate by a different logic), that of the detached cynical observer, the smartest or most sensible of the group, and the one most likely to offer a creative solution to any given problem.


Agree with everything you wrote!  However, that's why I think I love Josie so much.  She's mysterious.  I know something is going on and I want to get closer to her to find out! 

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on August 28, 2017, 06:30:07 AM

Agree with everything you wrote!  However, that's why I think I love Josie so much.  She's mysterious.  I know something is going on and I want to get closer to her to find out!

The allure of woman of mystery, eh?

There are a scant few stories where Josie actually seems to have something more important to say or do than her friends, that don't involve some dating drama with Alan or Alex. One is Holly G's "O Solo Mio", where she accidentally started a solo career doing musical commercials, and another is the story (forgot the title now) where the band was experiencing a stall-out in their career, and Josie started thinking about going back to school. While she's conflicted about her musical career, she goes on a camping sabbatical, leaving Val and Mel to play a gig themselves with the "help" of Alexandra. The stories rarely seem to focus on Josie like that though.

Vegan Jughead

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 28, 2017, 07:50:31 AM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on August 28, 2017, 06:30:07 AM

Agree with everything you wrote!  However, that's why I think I love Josie so much.  She's mysterious.  I know something is going on and I want to get closer to her to find out!

The allure of woman of mystery, eh?

There are a scant few stories where Josie actually seems to have something more important to say or do than her friends, that don't involve some dating drama with Alan or Alex. One is Holly G's "O Solo Mio", where she accidentally started a solo career doing musical commercials, and another is the story (forgot the title now) where the band was experiencing a stall-out in their career, and Josie started thinking about going back to school. While she's conflicted about her musical career, she goes on a camping sabbatical, leaving Val and Mel to play a gig themselves with the "help" of Alexandra. The stories rarely seem to focus on Josie like that though.


Thanks I gotta find that!  I like Holly G's stuff!

Ronny G

#6
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on August 28, 2017, 12:29:29 PM

Thanks I gotta find that!  I like Holly G's stuff!


Thanks for the welcomes everybody! "O Solo Mio" appeared in Archie & Friends #52. I haven't figured out the camping story...yet! I do think Holly G is one of Archie's better artists in recent years. I also like the multiple covers that Rex W Lindsey did of Josie & the Pussycats on Archie & Friends. They managed to keep Dan Decarlo's classic look of the characters while bringing their styles up-to-date.


I do agree that Melody, Valerie, Alex, and Alexandra had bigger personalities than Josie. Josie is more of the "straight man"--or woman. She knew how to surround herself with funny characters much like Mary Tyler Moore, and Bob Newhart did on their ensemble TV shows.

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on August 28, 2017, 12:29:29 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on August 28, 2017, 07:50:31 AM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on August 28, 2017, 06:30:07 AM

Agree with everything you wrote!  However, that's why I think I love Josie so much.  She's mysterious.  I know something is going on and I want to get closer to her to find out!

The allure of woman of mystery, eh?

There are a scant few stories where Josie actually seems to have something more important to say or do than her friends, that don't involve some dating drama with Alan or Alex. One is Holly G's "O Solo Mio", where she accidentally started a solo career doing musical commercials, and another is the story (forgot the title now) where the band was experiencing a stall-out in their career, and Josie started thinking about going back to school. While she's conflicted about her musical career, she goes on a camping sabbatical, leaving Val and Mel to play a gig themselves with the "help" of Alexandra. The stories rarely seem to focus on Josie like that though.

Thanks I gotta find that!  I like Holly G's stuff!

Look no further than THE BEST OF JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS TP, where Holly G's "O Solo Mio" is reprinted.

I checked out the GCD for clues and found the other story where Josie takes a break from the band to go camping. It's notable for a rare later appearance of Josie's parents (when this was first published in ARCHIE GIANT SERIES #584, Sept. 1988, Josie's last name was James) and the story is called "Cat at the Crossroads", an 11-pager written by Kathleen Webb with art by Stan Goldberg. I know I don't own that original comic, so I guess I must have read it when it was reprinted in ARCHIE'S FUNHOUSE JUMBO COMICS #20 (July 2016). I don't think Kathleen Webb wrote a lot of Josie stories, but it doesn't surprise me to discover she's responsible for one of the most memorable ones to me. I'll have to double-check, but I think it might have been included in that BEST OF JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS: GREATEST HITS digital exclusive collection as well.

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