Twelve-Cent Archie

BART BEATY is a professor at the University of Calgary, where he heads the department of English. He has written several books, including Fredric Wertham and Critique of Mass Culture, Unpopular Culture: Transforming the European Comic Book in the 1990s, and Comics Versus Art.

• The Twelve-Cent Archie 3How to Write (Archie) Comics 8Story Length 11The Archie Hierarchy 12Archie Andrews 16How Well Does Archie Speak French? 19Bowling 19Harry Lucey’s Rhythm 21Veronica Lodge 26Riverdale, USA 29The Daily Strip 31Footnote 33“Why Is It Always between Archie and Reggie?” 34Archie’s Jalopy 37It’s as Easy as A-B-V 38United Girls Against Jughead 41Archie Giant Series 43Invisible Paint 44Archie Comics versus Art 46Betty Cooper 49Riverdale’s Racial Problem 52Fashion 55Betty’s Ponytail 56Self-Plagiarism 57Archie’s Sweater Vest 61Jughead Jones 63Beatniks, Hippies, and Other Undesirables 66Dilton Doily 68Moose 69Reggie Mantle 70Jealousy 73“Are You Familiar with Shakespeare, My Young Ignoramus?” 76“I Never Squeaked a Pip, Either!” 78Jughead’s Hat 79Fantastic Elements 82Archie’s Joke Book 83Often Imitated, Never Duplicated 84The Historical Archie 88Mutually Assured Destruction 90Betty = Veronica 91Head over Heels 92Mr. Weatherbee 94Caveman Archie 95Life with Archie 99What Is the Zip Code for Riverdale? 102Cover Art 103Fairy Godmothers 106Dan DeCarlo’s Foreground Portraits 107Archie as an Adventure Comic 108Text Pieces 111Previously on Archie 113Notes for the Norton Anthology 115Archie : Arch :Archiekins 118Eep! Omigosh! And Other Unusual Contributions to the Language of Comics 119Archie’s Black Book 121Laugh and Pep: The Residual Titles 122Pureheart the Powerful 124Errors 127Midge 128You Can Take the Boy Out of Riverdale . . . 130Archie Club News 132Veronica’s Mother 133Mr. Lodge 133Betty’s Parents 137Jingles 137Li’l Jinx 139Archie’s Gender Politics 140Should Archie Marry Betty or Veronica? 143Big Ethel 145The Mayor of Riverdale 148Worst. Archie. Story. Ever. 149Archie the Klutz 150Celebrity Culture 153Jughead’s Dipsy Doodles 154Imitation Is the Lowest Form of Flattery 156Surf and Ski 158Samm Schwartz’s Art 160Self-Referential Metafictions 163Riverdale High 166Who Cut Veronica’s Hair? 167Little Archie 169Credits 173Juvenile Delinquency 174Teenese 176The Archies 177Pop Tate’s Choklit Shoppe 182Unusual Panels 184Smithers 185The Archie Archive 186Fads and Fashions 189Borderless Panels 190A Comic About Nothing 192Fred (and Mary) Andrews 195The Banjo in Archie Comics 196Wordless Stories, or Nearly So 197Hot Dog 201Dan DeCarlo’s Split-Horizon Girl 203The (Nearly) Perfect Archie Story 206The Myth of Archie 209Archie and Me 210Index 213

"Archie gets, at last, academic and theoretical consideration in Bart Beaty's wildly readable Twelve-Cent Archie." (PopMatters) "Fascinating" (New York Magazine) "Whether you’re interested in the differences between Harry Lucey’s Archie and Bob Montana’s, or simply haunted by the signifying structure that is Betty Cooper’s ponytail, there’s something here for everyone who’s ever read an Archie comic." - Scott Bukatman (author of The Poetics of Slumberland: Animated Spirits and the Animated Spirit) "Funny, insightful, and perfectly paced, this is a highly enjoyable volume of criticism, one that would be equally at home in the ivory tower or by the porcelain throne." (Quill and Quire) "For readers interested in the history and form of comics as art, Beaty offers analyses of visual humour, borderless panels and the central authors and illustrators of this era. Twelve-Cent Archie will satisfy cultural critics, Archie fans and comics fans more broadly ... This book is as fun and satisfying as reading an Archie digest." (Alberta Views) "In its analytical vignettes on such a wide variety of topics, Twelve-Cent Archie attempts - and succeeds - not in ending our questions about Archie, but in showing us how many more questions we ought to be asking." (Children's Literature Association Quarterly) "exciting and often deeply funny" - Neale Barnholden (English Studies in Canada) "Archie gets, at last, academic and theoretical consideration in Bart Beaty's wildly readable Twelve-Cent Archie." (PopMatters) "Fascinating" (New York Magazine) "Whether you’re interested in the differences between Harry Lucey’s Archie and Bob Montana’s, or simply haunted by the signifying structure that is Betty Cooper’s ponytail, there’s something here for everyone who’s ever read an Archie comic." - Scott Bukatman (author of The Poetics of Slumberland: Animated Spirits and the Animated Spirit) "Funny, insightful, and perfectly paced, this is a highly enjoyable volume of criticism, one that would be equally at home in the ivory tower or by the porcelain throne." (Quill and Quire) "For readers interested in the history and form of comics as art, Beaty offers analyses of visual humour, borderless panels and the central authors and illustrators of this era. Twelve-Cent Archie will satisfy cultural critics, Archie fans and comics fans more broadly ... This book is as fun and satisfying as reading an Archie digest." (Alberta Views) "In its analytical vignettes on such a wide variety of topics, Twelve-Cent Archie attempts - and succeeds - not in ending our questions about Archie, but in showing us how many more questions we ought to be asking." (Children's Literature Association Quarterly) "exciting and often deeply funny" - Neale Barnholden (English Studies in Canada)