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That was an excellent article. I’ve become fascinated with the actual talent behind Archie Comics, as writers/artists are not nearly as interchangeable as we’ve been led to believe all these years.

The link ot the Betty Cooper short was fantastic and might be the closest wholesome Betty has done something so… um… aggressive (I could never accuse Betty of being Whorish)

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Lister Sage said on August 17th, 2009 at 2:23 pm

I’m seconding J.H. in praising this article as your enthusiasm for the subject shines through, but I couldn’t help but think of all of this in terms of MGK’s ‘reinvisioning’, shall we say, of the Archie-verse.

For example the idea that Archie’s mom actually dated multiple men and tried to fool her son by simply calling all of them “Fred” could be the fuel for Archie’s philandering ways. (Let me just add that Archie’s mom certainly was a stone cool fox).

The way Archie manipulates Ambrose harkens back to someone’s notion that Archie is playing all of Riverdale for fools all leading to some glorious scheme.

“where Betty imitates her big sister’s gestures”
There so much subtext laden in this sentence when trying to explain Betty’s insanity. What did little Betty saw that Betty is imitating now?

And mention of The Time Traveler’s Wife in the 3 executives post got me think how messed up that would be given Ambrose’s announcement in the “A Fishy Marriage” story.

And your final link about the story about making out: sounds like Mrs. Cooper was looking for a lot more from Mr. Cooper then she got. Maybe that helps explain Betty’s problem: an over active libido.

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Dear God, did Little Archie just get shot by Golgo 13?

That predates the Archie/Punisher crossover by quite some time…

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Noah Brand said on August 17th, 2009 at 3:32 pm

I’ll be damned, those really are excellent. Thanks for the intro to Bolling!

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Fantastic post about a creator I knew exactly nothing about prior to reading it, and now want to know more about because I read it. Thank you.

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Wow. THANK you.

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This is a great post: your love for the material shines through and enlivens the whole piece.

Also, I nearly cried after reading “Caramel Has A Tale.”

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Nice post.

I would love to see someone track down the old Archie artists and writers. There was this one artist in the 1950s who had this very unique inking style that I quite liked…

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In a word — YOWZA!

Great linkage goodness! Thanx so much!

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Finally, after all these years, Hillel Academy meets MGK. Nice post Jaime.

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Great post. I’ll admit, until now, I never had any particular interest in the Little Archie group, but you’ve made a convincing case that the comic, and Bolling in particular, deserve some attention.
Now, if you really want a challenge, explain the virtues of the New Archies…

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This is a very well done article, and the stories were surprisingly good.

I don’t remember reading Little Archie comics as a kid, but I must have, because some of it looks really familiar.

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Sam Kujava said on August 18th, 2009 at 11:28 am

I had the good fortune of writing Archie Comics
stories in the 1980’s, and came up with the idea
of bringing Ambrose Pipps back to the world of
teen-aged Archie, in LIFE WITH ARCHIE #249 (July,
1985). I had the GREAT fortune of having Bob Bolling illustrate the story from my layouts!
It was a dream come true, to have one of my cartooning idols work on my story.

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Jaime, this is a GREAT article about Bob. Thanks o much!

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I’ve done a lot of Bob’s inking the last few years, and it’s been great fun for me. Bob and I did a Little Archie story for Free Comic Book Day a couple of years back, and a new story for the second Little Archie volume Archie put out (still available). If you want to know more about the early days of Archie [MLJ], check out my interview with the late Joe Edwards in Alter Ego #82 and 83.

Sorry for all of the plugs, but I figured some of the readers here might be interested.

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This was great.

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Gary Brown said on August 22nd, 2009 at 8:01 am

Enjoyed your article Jaime. I’m a long-time Bob Bolling fan and happy to say, a long-time personal friend of his. I sent a copy of this along to him. In doing the Comic Book Artist article on him and Dexter Taylor and getting to know Bob over the years, I am always amazed at how thoughtful he is not only about the stories he writes and draws, but also how he respects the characters.
My favorite Bolling story is “The Long Walk,” which not only is a great story, but that map knocked me out when I first saw it.
Unfortunately, a lot of early Archie artists have died — and even more unfortunate, never knowing the genuine praise fans have for them and their work.
Keep up the good work.

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Mary Warner said on August 24th, 2009 at 12:50 am

Bob Bolling was the first Archie writer or artist whose name I knew. I had a Little Archie digest when I was a kid, which surprised me when I read the Bolling stories, because I’d only seen Dexter Taylor up until then, and Bolling was so different. (And this digest had the story in which they tried to mail Ambrose to Europe.) After reading this digest I really wanted to know what had happened to Bolling, then in the early ’80s, a couple of new stories appeared. The only one I remember was about Little Veronica spending a day with a girl on the ‘wrong side of the tracks’. That story was notable for being the first time I’d ever seen MRS Lodge, after a full decade of reading Archie books. (I’ve only seen her once since then, but I haven’t read Archie regularly in years.)
I was stunned to see Bolling again in the free issue a couple of years ago, but I was extremely disappointed in the story itself. It would be bland even by Dexter Taylor standards. On the plus side, I did finally get to see Chic Cooper, whom I’d seen mentioned a few times in old Bolling stories, but I’d never actually seen him appear. I’d wondered if he was related to Betty.

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kelly cavin said on September 15th, 2009 at 4:59 pm

wow great article yes bob is a great artist and he is awesome friend and his wife is so lovely thank you

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Weerada Sucharitkul said on March 6th, 2010 at 6:23 pm

Thanks for this great article on Bob Bolling. I’ve long been a a big fan of Archie comics, and especially Bob’s style, as a little girl. I was always particularly fond of Bob’s story and there was a bittersweet melancholic and childhood touch to it that I find hard to see anywhere else, especially in today’s more modern comics, video games, animation, TV series, etc. It is both nostalgic and familiar yet wistful to read Bob’s creations at the same time. It is amazing what he can truly create – he is one of the artists who can evoke such an emotion from his readers.

Is Bob still drawing any of the comics these days?

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[…] Archie Comics Double Digest #257, which arrived in my mailbox Tuesday, leads off with a Bob Bolling-illustrated Little Archie story—not written by him, as so many were, but bearing his distinctive rounded drawing style. (Things flow and rolling in Bolling stories; even his people are round and pudgy.) Bolling’s still alive, in his mid-‘80s. When did he do this story? (A wonderful appreciation of Bolling, “Bob Bolling and the Pursuit of Melancholy Innocence, by Jaime Weinman, can be found here. […]

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I remember a Weasel Williams story from 1969. It was in the year I turned 13, an interesting year to me in more ways than one.

If I have recalled the storyline correctly, Little Archie had been granted a position of trust by Mr Weatherbee and given the key to the office where the exam papers were stored. Weasel contrives to steal the key for a few seconds to make an impression in clay from which he manufactures a duplicate.

Little Archie beats a confession out of that juvenile scumbag Weasel in Mr Weatherbee’s presence. So all turns out right with God and the world in the end.

I rather felt sorry for Weasel. He did not seem to have any family. He lived alone in a spooky dilapidated Addams-Munsters house infested by bats AND with his own name on the mailbox. Poor kid. Were the social workers sitting on their hands????????

That is the only Weasel Williams appearance with which I am familiar.

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Steve Carras said on August 19th, 2015 at 12:47 am

I remmeber PollY! Betty’s later (in the modern era) seen older sister, who about 30 years ago
DID appear in a regular Betty comic.

She looks exactly like teen Betty!

Looking at her, I can hear Janet Waldo’s voice coming out (must be watching Josie, and also Judy Jetson so often!). Thanks for the post…(somehow I wish that you’d reactivate SOMETHING OLD, NOTHING NEW!)

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[…] articles and blogs I discovered over the course of researching this one. First, this lovely article on Bob Bolling; then this list of the top Archie artists; and finally, this rather risqué (but funny!) blogpost […]

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[…] to Bolling. When I turn my emotions off and try to look at it objectively, I will concede that Bolling is the greater talent. He is the better illustrator, clearly, and is responsible for what is probably the best Little […]

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SANDRA Rola said on November 25th, 2019 at 12:44 pm

I had the privilege to meet Bob Billing and one day he made a personal picture of Archie right in front of me signed to me. A cherished Memory. And gave me an autographed copy of the 65th anniversary bash.

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Mr. Bob Bolling’s “Little Archie” style was OVER Dramatic and the SAD stories PAINFUL to Read-a-Long for my PERSONAL taste…

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