ARCHIE

ARCHIE
THE GEOMETRY OF LOVE
MLJ
UPTOWN GIRLS AND BOYS
SPANGLISH
THE ARCHIE SHOW
SIX DEGREES OF ARCHIE
SCHOOL'S OUT
ENTER THE MATRIX
SPIES LIKE US

ARCHIE

The face. Those eyes. That wavy red hair. There is no mistaking the likeness of the sixteen-year-old Archie. He's the all-American boy in the all-American town. A role model for every wayward teen movie character to follow, look at Ferris Bueller or Marty McFly or Peter Parker and you'll see a little of Archie in them.

THE GEOMETRY OF LOVE

Archie's love is divided between the rich and refined vixen brunette, Veronica Lodge and the poor and athletic blonde girl next door, Betty Cooper. Betty is humble, Veronica is the snob and they often throw down over the affection of the little redheaded boy. Things are appeased when Archie fronts his garage band neatly named, 'The Archies'. Betty, Veronica, Reggie and Jughead make up the supporting cast as well as the supporting parts of the band.

MLJ

Archie first appeared in Pep Comics on December 22, 1941 and was drawn by Bob Montana and written by Vic Bloom. John L. Goldwater was the original creator and was involved with the comics' development for many years. Some speculate Goldwater's creation of Archie was inspired by Mickey Rooney in the Andy Hardy movies. Archie Comics eventually became a mainstay title of MLJ Comics which was created in 1939 by Morris Coyne, Louis Silberkleit and John L. Goldwater. The company takes its name from the first letters of their names, MLJ.

UPTOWN GIRLS AND BOYS

The sleepy little town of Riverdale is on the north end of the Bronx just outside New York City and was made famous by Archibald 'Archie' Andrews, Elisabeth 'Betty' Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Forsythe 'Jughead' P. Jones, Reginald 'Reggie' Mantle, Dilton Doiley, Moose Mason, Midge Klump, Chuck Clayton, Ethel Muggs, Aquarius 'the hippie', Ms. Beazley, Mr. Waldo Weatherbee, Ms. Geraldine Grundy, Mrs. Hagley, Mr. Hiram Lodge, Professor Flutesnoot, Nancy Harris, Pop Tate, Cheryl Blossom, Coach Kleats and Coach Clayton. Pretty flashy names for a bunch of bumbling kids and their apathetic school teachers.

SPANGLISH

The Spanish version of Archie Andrews is Archie Gomez. I'm only guessing but I have to assume that the story still takes place in Riverdale and Archie Gomez is a redheaded boy like the original.

THE ARCHIE SHOW

"The Archie Show" was a short lived animated version of the Riverdale gang that ran in '68 and '69. The series was written John L. Goldwater and Bob Ogle. Goldwater created the original comic while Ogle was an
established animation screenwriter who adapted, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas". The show was anchored by the voice talent of Dallas McKennon. McKennon voiced Archie, Hot Dog, Mr. Weatherbee, Pop, Mr. Ledge and Coach Cleats. He later played 'Stud of the Year Octogenarian' in the 1992 film, "Frozen Assets". More fascinatingly, McKennon's wife is named, Betty.

SIX DEGREES OF ARCHIE

On "The Archie Show" the characters of Jughead, Moose and Dilton were performed by the talented Mr. Howard Morris. Howard Morris was a Hanna Barbera regular who directed the TV pilot for "Get Smart". He also performed Army tour productions of "Hamlet" and "Macbeth" for Maurice Evans Special Entertainment Unit in World War II. During this time he was a Sergeant to Carl Reiner who also performed with him in these productions. Carl Reiner's son, Rob Reiner acted in the 70's sitcom, "All in the Family". On the show he played, Michael 'Meathead' Stivic to his TV-father-in-law, Carroll O'Conner, who played the starring role of Archie Bunker. Archie Bunker has absolutely nothing to do with Archie Comics, but isn't cool to know? In unrelated news, John Erwin voiced the character of Reggie but was better known for his role as Teddy on "Rawhide" and giving a voice to He-Man and
Morris the Cat.

SCHOOL'S OUT

After graduating from Riverdale High School with the rest of the gang, Betty went on to teach grade school in Midvale. Midvale is the home to another MLJ comic book creation, 'Josie and the Pussycats'.

ENTER THE MATRIX

Archie and the gang have left a lasting impression of modern technology. There are three file transfer protocol search engines named after them, 'Archie', 'Veronica' and 'Jughead'. Each Internet search engine is unique from the other, but basically they are designed to hunt for files in very specific places. They were originally implemented in 1990 by tech savvy students at McGill University in Montreal.

SPIES LIKE US

Aside from the numerous spin offs with various other Archie related characters there was also a collection of alternate-universe-style Archie stories, two of the oddest saw the gang cast as superheroes and another as spies in a parody of the 'Man form U.N.C.L.E.