Comments on: Bob Bolling And The Pursuit Of Melancholy Innocence

By: Hello, Darkness, my Oldest Friend: 10 Things that terrified a little child. | The Occult Section

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 02:20:16 +0000

[...] The article, and link to the comic: http://mightygodking.com/index.php/2009/08/17/bob-bolling-and-the-pursuit-of-melancholy-innocence/ [...]

By: Weerada Sucharitkul

Weerada Sucharitkul — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 22:23:30 +0000

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?

By: kelly cavin

kelly cavin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 20:59:15 +0000

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

By: Mary Warner

Mary Warner — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:50:17 +0000

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.

By: Gary Brown

Gary Brown — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 12:01:54 +0000

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.

By: Kenny

Kenny — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 05:07:16 +0000

This was great.

By: JimInks

JimInks — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 20:55:02 +0000

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.

By: Scott Shaw!

Scott Shaw! — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:47:11 +0000

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

By: Sam Kujava

Sam Kujava — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:28:16 +0000

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.

By: Lia

Lia — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 10:13:59 +0000

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.

By: Person of Consequence

Person of Consequence — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:28:02 +0000

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…

By: 10FootBongz

10FootBongz — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 03:26:15 +0000

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

By: buzz

buzz — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 02:35:43 +0000

In a word — YOWZA!

Great linkage goodness! Thanx so much!

By: William George

William George — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:38:08 +0000

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…

By: Krinn DNZ

Krinn DNZ — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:29:34 +0000

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.”