Archie Andrews has always had girl trouble. Turns out that it’s nothing new, as girl-next-door Betty will attest. But this time, it’s not HER fault. Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of The Adventures of Little Archie #20 awaits!

THE ADVENTURES OF LITTLE ARCHIE #20

Writer:  Bob Bolling
Penciler: Bob Bolling
Inker: Bob Bolling
Colorist: Uncredited
Letterer: Bob Bolling
Editor: Richard Goldwater
Publisher: Archie Comics
Cover Price: 25 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing:
Release Date: July 27th, 1961

Previously in The Adventures of Little Archie: Though Archie Andrews himself dates back to the winter of 1941, it was 1956 when publisher John Goldwater decided to launch a title featuring Archie’s adventures as a boy. (I’m not saying that Superboy being a success at DC Comics had anything to do with it, but they both featured their publisher’s biggest character having adventures as a child.) Bob Bolling, who had been illustrating the adventures of Pat The Brat, a Dennis The Menace clone, was chosen to spearhead the whole affair, creating entirely new designs for the Riverdale gang. Not only that, Bolling wrote, drew, and lettered the bulk of each 80-page Little Archie issue. Fans of the CW Riverdale series might note that he created the South Side Serpents as foils for Little Archie and his gang, which paid big dividends in teen drama. Though celebrated for his adventure stories (leading to comparisons to Good Duck Man Carl Barks), Bob’s favorite tale of all his Archie work is much simpler… and much sweeter. It begins with Betty watching out her window as Archie walks Veronica home from school.

Betty’s attempt to woo the boy of her dreams is witnessed by a kind of Greek Chorus, consisting of a teddy bear, a policeman, and a witch, a trio of dolls sitting on her dresser. Though young Master Andrews doesn’t seem interested in her affections, the idea of a super strawberry soda at Pop’s gets his attention, and he is confused into saying yes. While Betty swoons that she gets a turn with the cutest waffle-headed boy in Riverdale, Archie immediately tries to think of a way out of his predicament. The next day, Betty puts on her prettiest, frilliest dress, and the Old Witch worries that something is wrong with her owner.

The most interesting part of Bolling’s redesigns of Archie, Betty, et al. is the level of realism that he puts into the backgrounds, settings, and facial expressions. Even with the chibi proportions of the main characters, it’s less cartoony than the then-modern-day Archie stories. Witness the path that Archie takes through Spook Woods to try to get Betty to give up and go home.

The first “Follow Billy’s Dotted Line!” Family Circus strip was still a year or so in the future when this issue came out, but it’s not hard to think that it was an influence on that strip and, by extension, to other childhood adventure strips, including Calvin & Hobbes. It’s also worth noting that, even though Archie is a jerk motivated only by his sweet tooth, Betty’s embarrassment does register with him. He starts feeling bad about his decision when she resignedly suggests that they just go home. It’s a little heartbreaking to see her so crestfallen, even for Archie, who does the unthinkable for most comic protagonists.

He apologizes! Not only that, he offers to walk her home all week AND buy her a strawberry soda. He even agrees to let her memorialize the afternoon by snipping a lock of his hair! (That’s commitment. My grandmother woulda killed me if somebody lopped off a chunk of hair, sweetheart, or never so.) Of course, her dolls once again provide the thematic commentary to close things up.

The Witch doll bears no small resemblance to EC Comics Old Witch, host of The Haunt of Fear, which again is hard to attribute to mere coincidence. All in all, The Adventures of Little Archie #20 features a lead story by Bolling wherein Archie finds the last plesiosaur, a short tale where he spars with Veronica’s perfect cousin, and a story from the point of view of a hermit crab, but it’s easy to see why this tale is the creator’s favorite of all his Little Archie work, earning as it does a dead solid 5 out of 5 stars overall. There’s something incredibly satisfying about seeing old-school Archie Comics that fire on all cylinders, doing perfectly what no other comic publisher was ever quite able to replicate.

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