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When cartoonist Hank Ketcham’s syndicated comic panel/strip DENNIS THE MENACE became a huge multimedia hit in newspapers, reprint collections in book form and comic books, Archie Comics followed suit with LITTLE ARCHIE. (The series’ title expanded to THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE with its13th issue.) Created by the great Bob Bolling, a wonderful cartoonist (born in 1928) whose work resembles a synthesis of the styles of Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo and Will Eisner (!), LITTLE ARCHIE No. 1 was published in July, 1956. Bolling re-imagined Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and most of the other Riverdale gang as young kids, adding such characters as the runty Little Ambrose, brutish Fangs Fogarty, Evelyn Evernever, Spotty the dog, Caramel the cat, Mad Doctor Doom and his juvenile delinquent assistant Chester to the book’s regular cast. According to journalist (and personal friend of Bob Bolling), Gary Brown: ”In the hardback Archie collection THE BEST OF ARCHIE, Michael Uslan and Jeffrey Mendel tell the story of John Goldwater playing cards with some owners of other comic book companies. They were kidding him about ‘big’ Archie and asked when a little’ Archie was going to appear. Supposedly, that triggered something in Goldwater and he asked editor Harry Shorten for some ideas and character sketches. Shorten assigned Bob Bolling, who had been at Archie only a short time and was doing ‘Pat the Brat’ stories, to the task. Goldwater approved the sketches and Bob drew the first issue. Of course, Bob says he never heard that story and only knows that Shorten told him Goldwater wanted the ‘Little Archie’ ideas. The characterizations and ideas were all Bob’s. In fact, he said he never had a story conference for any ‘Little Archie’ stories. He wrote them, drew them and handed them in. At San Diego 2003, Victor Gorelick was asked about the origin story of ‘Little Archie’ and said he hadn't heard the card playing tale. Typical origin tale of a comic book character, eh? My best guess is that Goldwater received the idea from an outside source, possibly kidding at a poker or golf game, and brought it back to the office. But that's a guess.” When the series was expanded to an 84-page format, cartoonist Dexter Taylor was added to create “Little Archie” stories to pad out the book, but the success of THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE can be laid squarely at the feet of writer/cartoonist/creator Bob Bolling. It was he who gave the series its memorably unique (and utterly charming) tone, crafting stories set in middle America that evoke Hal Roach’s LITTLE RASCALS/OUR GANG series of theatrical shorts while incorporating Bolling’s rather obvious love of animals -- even occasionally employing elements of science fiction and fantasy! Although Bob Bolling has worked on many other stories starring the teenage versions of Archie’s pals ‘n’ gals, it’s his work on THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE that has attracted critical notice that favorably compares this multi-talented creator with the great Carl (UNCLE $CROOGE, DONALD DUCK) Barks, Sheldon (SUGAR & SPIKE, SCRIBBLY) Mayer and John (LITTLE LULU, GHOST STORIES, MELVIN MONSTER) Stanley. Bolling’s clever, sometimes surprisingly emotional writing, his imaginative storytelling and staging and his dramatic, Will Eisner-ish inking make THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE add up to a comic book series unlike any other ever published by Archie Comics. The series was published until its 180th issue in February, 1983. THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE also spawned the spin-off titles LITTLE ARCHIE IN ANIMAL LAND, LITTLE ARCHIE MYSTERY COMICS, LITTLE ARCHIE DIGEST MAGAZINE, LITTLE ARCHIE COMICS DIGEST ANNUAL and fifteen different issues of the ARCHIE GIANT SERIES MAGAZINE, one of which was titled LITTLE ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECIAL. Y’know, that’s a lotta LITTLE ARCHIE!

This issue’s 25-page “Little Archie” “chiller diller” cover-story, “The Egyptian Goddess Mystery“, was written and drawn by Bob Bolling, working in a much more “realistic” style than he usually used in THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE. It begins as the Riverdale newspaper runs a headline story about the towns second bank robbery (as seen on this splash page) in the same week! Little Archie’s young adult friend, Peggy Drake – a determined brunette who’s earned a diploma from a correspondence course in criminology -- is especially interested in these crimes:

PEGGY DRAKE:
DARN! If I were a man, I’d have those crooks behind bars so fast they’d feel the breeze!

Deducing that Riverdale’s Central Bank will be the next one hit by the robbers, Peggy and Little Archie (who’s “packing” his slingshot) “stake out” the institution on the following day. While the trenchcoat-wearing duo wait (hey, it’s a cold day), Little Betty Cooper’s older brother Chic drops by on his rounds as the deliveryman for Kindly Mother Kelly’s Home Bakery. As an armored truck picks up a shipment of money, Peggy asks Chic for help:

PEGGY DRAKE:
I’ve got a hunch that armored truck that just left might be held up…let’s follow it!

CHIC COOPER:
NO! You and your hunches! Kindly Mother Kelly isn’t so kindly about me giving rides to people! And I wish you’d jump off this dick kick…al you ever jaw about when we date…is crime detection!

(“Dick kick”? Oh, yeah, as in “private dick”…) Indeed, although she isn’t present to see it. Peggy’s theory is an accurate one. Stopped at an intersection, the armored truck’s guards fail to notice a pedestrian who uses a honed-sharp umbrella tip to puncture one of the vehicle’s tires. When the guards climb out to repair the flat, the pedestrian holds a gun on them and, joined by an assistant, he uses explosives to crack open the truck’s “money chamber” and load the loot into a nearby sedan. As a police patrol car gives chase, the robbers drive their car inside a waiting van of the “Mystic Moving Company”. There, more men enclose the sedan in a huge wooden crate. Later, stopped by a police roadblock, the van driver explains what he’s carrying:

VAN DRIVER:
‘Nothin’ but a load of machinery for Professor Hadley up at the Old Cliff House.

The local police are familiar with Professor Hadley:

POLICEMAN #1:
Professor Hadley must get lonely up there in Cliff House!

POLICEMAN #2:
I understand he has two assistants on that project of his.

POLICEMAN #3:
Project?

POLICEMAN #1:
Yes, he’s rented the Old Cliff House to further develop an explosive – and something could go wrong!

POLICEMAN #2:
I’m glad he’s working out of town.

When she and Little Archie hear of the robbery, Peggy frantically researches another of her “hunches”:

PEGGY DRAKE:
I’ve checked all the robberies in the Riverdale area from way back…and we’ve never had so many unsolved crimes as in the last six months!! The bank jobs are just the latest, but before those, there were the way out ones.

LITTLE ARCHIE:
Way out ones?

PEGGY DRAKE:
Yes, first a number of jewelry stores were robbed, then the museum in Walmouth nest, the museum in Carson City –

LITTLE ARCHIE:
These same bandits rob museums too?!?

PEGGY DRAKE:
Yes!! It all follows a PATTERN! Everything that was stolen, except the money, relates to ANCIENT EGYPT! An expert, looking at all their loot, will tell you that it once belonged in a royal palace…one that was ruled by a GODDESS! Little Archie, the leader of this gang of thieves is a WOMAN!

LITTLE ARCHIE:
The ringleader is a woman?!?

PEGGY DRAKE:
Why not? Women are far more clever than men…although this one must be some kind of a nut! She must fancy herself a QUEEN…living with those priceless relics and plenty of money…shy, SHE’S BUILT HER OWN KINGDOM!!

LITTLE ARCHIE:
Gee! Then this kingdom must be nearby! But where?

PEGGY DRAKE:
I don’t know, but a woman would want all those jewels and things right where she can see them! I think Police Captain O’Brien ought to have all this info that my investigation has uncovered!

Unfortunately, squinty-eyed, chain-smoking Captain O’Brien dismisses Peggy’s theory:

POLICE CAPTAIN O’BRIEN:
Sure, and we’ve trouble enough tryin’ to track down real thieves without runnin’ after any Egyptian goddesses! But thanks, kids!

Later, while Peggy fumes to Chic, she notices a delivery slip he drops; it lists a lot of bakery products to be delivered to Professor Hadley and his two assistants. In fact, he makes a similar deliver to the Old Cliff House every week. Suspicious of this, Peggy convinces Chick (with a threat of withholding their upcoming date together) to take her and Little Archie along on his next delivery. Soon, they arrive at the Old Cliff House; from the delivery station wagon, Peggy sees Professor Hadley accepting the baked goods, noticing how scarred his wrists are. On their way back to town, she shares her thoughts:

PEGGY DRAKE:
Chic! Professor Hadley’s being held prisoner! His wrists are scarred from his chains!

CHIC COOPER:
What? You’re lumpy, Peggy!

PEGGY DRAKE:
Don’t you see? The robbers are hiding in the Old Cliff House and they just let him out to pick up the order so it will look legit!

CHIC COOPER:
(Groan) This is what comes from watching old TV flicks. Speaking of movies, don’t forget our date tonight!

With only Little Archie believing her, Peggy gets yet another hunch, one that tells her that the mysterious gang’s next robbery will be their last – and she’s certain that it will take place at the Riverdale Museum. An hour later, inside the museum, Peggy explains to her red-haired, freckled partner:

PEGGY DRAKE:
You see. Little Archie, this is one of the better Egyptian collections, and it has ONE SPECIAL ITEM that our goddess must have --

LITTLE ARCHIE:
HEY! What’s that under your coat?

PEGGY DRAKE:
Shhh! My best HOMING PIGEON…have to keep him on tranquilizers so he won’t louse me up!

As the museum’s closing time approaches, Little Archie leaves, while Peggy hides inside a closet. That evening, skipping her date with Chic Cooper and avoiding the museum’s night watchmen, the brunette detective climbs inside a gold inlaid “inner coffin” supposedly made for an ancient Egyptian goddess:

PEGGY DRAKE:
Gosh! I just realized how creepy this all is!

Meanwhile, a familiar-looking van approaches the Riverdale Museum. It disgorges a crew of robbers who quickly subdue the night watchman and steal the mummy case containing Peggy, taking it to Old Cliff House! Inside, the gang meets with their demented female mastermind. Suddenly, Peggy’s tranquilized pigeon still, it’s cries alerting the criminals that there’s an intruder in their midst! Fleeing through the twisting corridors of Old Cliff House, Peggy locks herself in a vacant room, she hastily scribbles out a message, then attaches it to the leg of her still-drowsy messenger-bird. But one of the gunmen’s bullets knocks the carrier pigeon off of the roof before it can take to the sky and the criminal “queen” orders that Peggy be chained “with the others”. The next morning, Little Archie shows up in Peggy’s back yard, where he encounters her father and Chic Cooper:

MR. DRAKE:
Little Archie! Have you seen Peggy? I have the police looking for her!! She’s disappeared…

CHIC COOPER:
We had a date last night and –

LITTLE ARCHIE:
M-Mister Drake, I PROMISED Peggy I wouldn’t tell – but I just heard the museum was robbed…and (sniff) the pigeon --

MR. DRAKE:
Museum? Pigeon? What are you talking about?

Suddenly, Peggy’s pigeon shows up – with a bleeding wing! They find Peggy’s note tied to its leg:

PEGGY’S NOTE:
Tell Capt. O’Brien I’m at Old Cliff House. I was right about everything! Hurry, Peg

Mr. Drake calls the police and Chic – with Little Archie in tow -- heads for the Old Cliff House in his delivery car. Meanwhile, the “crime goddess” and her gang are preparing a motor launch to transport her booty to an offshore freighter which will take her to her “island kingdom” in the Caribbean. What’s worse, they plan to leave Peggy, Professor Hadley and his assistants – helplessly chained inside Old Cliff House – with a timing device set to detonate his experimental explosive in four minutes! Meanwhile, Chic and Little Archie have arrived outside. Evading the artifact thieves’ gunfire, Chic forces his way inside Old Cliff House, while Little Archie waits for the police to arrive. But when he sees the crooks’ take off in their motor launch, the redheaded kid jumps behind the wheel of the Kindly Mother Kelly’s Home Bakery delivery car, releases the hand-brake and putting it into “neutral” gear. As Little Archie steers the vehicle down the winding road leading to a the dock below, the “goddess” order her goons to stop Little Archie -- who “drives like a maniac” – with their gunfire. Gaining momentum, the delivery car speeds onto the dock, racing right onto their getaway boat, sinking it! Little Archie swims to the surface in time to see Old Cliff House explode in a huge pyrotechnic display! He’s relieved to find Peggy, Chick, Professor Hadley and the others safe, having hid behind a formation of rocks to shield them from the force of the blast. Later, Captain O’Brien and his men show up to take the would-be “goddess” (who’s name or back-story we never do learn, darn it)”

CAPTAIN O’BRIEN:
Well, you two certainly DID clean up the mystery surrounding all the robberies and you’ll be cleaning up a reward too…

LITTLE ARCHIE:
Yeah, but it’s sort of too bad though –

PEGGY:
How’s that, Little Archie?

LITTLE ARCHIE:
I never did get to use my slingshot!

Also included in this ”Giant” issue of THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE are the stories and features:

• A black-and-white inside-front-cover ad for the “Mike Marvel System”, offering mail-order courses in his “secret new Dynaflex Method”.

• A house ad for subscriptions to THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE (referred to here as LITTLE ARCHIE MAGAZINE), offering a free “Little Archie” coloring book.

• “Little Archie” in “A Love Story”, written and drawn by Dexter Taylor. – When he overhears his son impatiently yelling at his dog Spotty while trying to teach the pooch a trick, he observes, “Less yelling and more love might help, Little Archie!” Then, while he enjoys a cigar, Mr. Andrews relates a story about an old man who shined shoes near where his office. He was always accompanied by his black-and-white dog Queenie and kept all of his money in an open cigar box. One day, a passerby sees the money, grabs it and runs, but the old man’s dog chomps down on his right wrist, forcing him to drop the stolen swag. When the thief knocks the pooch to the ground, Mr. Andrews intercedes, knocking out the sidewalk robber with a roundhouse left punch to the jaw. Then, after the police arrive to take the crook into custody, Mr. Andrews calls a taxi to take Queenie to a veterinarian. The vet reassures the old man that she’s only bruised and will be “as good as new” in a few days. Mr. Andrews remembers that “I could almost feel the tremendous flow of love between the old man and his dog.” Sometime later, on his way to work, Little Archie’s father is approached by the old man, who says, “M-Mr. Andrews! Me and Queenie have to be moving on, but my dog here would like to give you something to repay you!” Queenie’s gift is her “best” puppy who’s “chock full of love”, an orange dog with the same black markings as his mother. Of course, Mr. Andrews reveals that the pup was young Spotty, and explains, “Give a dog some love and a dog will give back more than its share!” Little Archie’s dashes to hug Spotty, “Here I am trying to teach Spotty something…and Spotty has something more important to teach me!”

• A page that features an ad for the “Best Values Co.”, offering $11,750.00 for a 1804 Silver Dollar and an ad that invites funnybook readers to “Hatch Your Own Live Sea Circus” (“Just add water and you’ve got ‘Instant Life.’”)

• A black-and-white inside-back-cover strip-ad for “White Cloverine Brand Salve”, drawn by “R.T.” -- the same cartoonist who drew dozens of strip-ads for “Fleer’s Dubble Bubble Bubblegum”.

• A back-cover ad for the “E-Z Math Program” that claims “Now You Can Solve ‘Tough’ Math Problems Like This!”

ODDBALL Factoid – Cartoonist Bob Bolling is also an accomplished surrealist painter!

**Many thanks to Gallant Gary Brown for his help with this week’s ODDBALL COMICS spotlight on LITTLE ARCHIE and salute to cartoonist Bob Bolling!**

For more from Scott Shaw!, visit his Web site at http://www.shawcartoons.com/.

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