Who was born in 1941, is 70 years old this year but still has a full head of red hair, freckles and hasn't yet graduated from high school? What cute and clueless kid is perpetually torn between a blonde cheer leader type and a curvaceous but snotty femme fatale?
Well, it's Archie, of course - the open faced, eternally engaging juvenile from the comic strip "Archie."
The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco is marking this milestone with "70 Years of Archie Comics," a retrospective featuring 40 pieces of original art by more than 10 contributors to the comics. The show includes comic books, strips, layout scripts and sketches dating from the Archie Comics debut in 1941 to the present. "Archie" was an instant success, though the 1950s and '60s are widely considered the golden era; at their peak in 1969, "Archie" comic books sold one million copies a month.
The original creator, Bob Montana went to high school in Haverhill from 1936 to 1939, and his sketchbook, an illustrated diary of life in Haverhill, was the true origin of Archie Comics. After four years in the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Montana returned in 1946 to launch the Archie newspaper comic strip, which he drew until his death in 1975. Archie's first appearance in Pep Comics #22 on December 22, 1941, was drawn by Montana and written by Vic Bloom. With the creation of Archie, publisher Goldwater hoped to appeal to fans of the Andy Hardy movies starring Mickey Rooney. Archie Comics is also the title of the company's longest-running publication, the first issue appearing with a cover date of Winter 1942. Starting with issue #114, the title was shortened to simply Archie.
What began as a strip has gradually evolved into an industry, with syndication, multiple spin offs, a radio program, a TV cartoon show and a bubble-gum band called the Archies. Remember their hit song, "Sugar, Sugar"? If you don't, don't bother to Google it - even if it was fun, it's still relentlessly square.
But then, Archie was (and is) square and wholesome, living in a magical suburban world with no crime, no drugs, no cultural or racial conflict. Real life seldom intrudes in Riverdale. Archie may try desperately to be hip but he just can't cut it. In a series of the cartoons in the exhibit, Archie and his father have a conversation about Archie being a dangerous juvenile delinquent.
Needless to say, he fails on all counts.
"For preteen readers, the Archie universe represents a teenage life they hope to have, and for adults, it's what we wish our teen years had been like -- especially if you're a guy who dreamed about having two super-attractive girls fighting over you, or if you ever wished you could eat unlimited quantities of pizza and burgers without getting fat!" Morrison says.
While over the years the fashions have been updated, he adds, "the publishers have traditionally been ... reluctant to show the characters dealing with controversial subjects." Recently, though, African-American characters like Chuck Clayton, and Valerie of Josie and the Pussycats, a fictional rock band, have been introduced, as has the openly gay Kevin Keller, the newest student at Riverdale High.
A display case with comic books presenting a more relevant Archie includes a cover with Barack Obama and Sarah Palin sharing a jumbo chocolate milkshake, sipping through separate straws, of course. "Archie: The Married Life," posits two alternate scenarios, one where Archie marries Veronica and the other in which he marries Betty -- a recipe for nirvana or disaster depending on one's perspective.
However, the alternate story lines on who Archie would marry certainly got the media going back in 2009; Rachael Maddow even covered the story with an "Archie punks everyone" in which Kent Jones covers the “controversy” by pointing out that if we look at things from their viewpoint, the girls likely have other, different comic book fantasies.
http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/05/22/archies-marriage-on-rachel-maddow-show/
The Cartoon Art Museum is also presenting the first museum exhibition celebrating 70 years of DC Comics’ Emerald Knight! Over 60 pieces of original artwork will be on display, featuring highlights from some of the most celebrated artists in Green Lantern’s publishing history Iconic works by Silver Age artists Gil Kane and Neal Adams will be exhibited, along with classic stories and covers by Joe Staton, Mike Mignola, George Perez, Brian Bolland, Brent Anderson, Bill Sienkiewicz, Golden Age Greats Irwin Hasen and Green Lantern co-creator Martin Nodell.
The Cartoon Art Museum hosts cartoonist Knave Murdok on Saturday, August 20, 2011, from 1pm to 3pm, as part of its ongoing Cartoonist-in-Residence program. Museum visitors will be offered the chance to talk to Murdok about cartooning and view his work. This event is free and open to the public.
70 Years of Archie Comics through December 4, 2011. 655 Mission St, SF 94105
Children under 5 free. Wheelchair Accessible
http://cartoonart.org
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