Archie & the Riverdale Gang Level Up in Archie Comics #1, at Auction

Archie Andrews and the Riverdale gang have been entertaining followers for over 80 years, and Archie Comics #1 was a key milestone alongside the path of that historical past.  This situation, cover-dated Winter 1942 and hitting newsstands round November 15, 1942 is Archie’s first true cowl (after showing on the cowl of Jackpot Comics as a small inset), edging out his Pep Comics #36 cowl by three weeks.  Archie Comics #1 is arguably the second that Archie turned a franchise, the first public signal of the idea’s success, resulting in numerous spinoffs each in and out of doors of comedian books.  An vital second in American comedian guide historical past, there’s an Archie Comics #1 (Archie, 1942) CGC Apparent FN/VF 7.0 Moderate (P) Off-white to white pages up for public sale in the 2023 January 12 – 15 Comics & Comic Art Signature® Auction #7338 at Heritage Auctions.

Archie was created by Bob Montana, John L. Goldwater, and Vic Bloom for Pep Comics #22, only a 12 months previous to the launch of Archie Comics #1.  Outside of additionally turning into a characteristic of Jackpot Comics about two months after his debut in Pep Comics, there was little seen indication of the character’s rising reputation in that first 12 months.  Typically, a break-out characteristic in an anthology would possibly count on to hit that title’s cowl early on, begin shifting as much as the entrance of the comedian, or be the topic of reader polls that may point out the idea’s rising success.  None of that occurred in the character’s early months.  Even Pep Comics’ inside entrance cowl editorial, which frequently talked about reader suggestions about specific options, by no means talked about Archie once more inside that first 12 months, after noting his debut in Pep Comics #22 by commenting that folks needed some laughs in these grim, war-era occasions.

Nevertheless, the fast bounce to an extra anthology title in Jackpot Comics would appear to point that MLJ had religion in the idea from the starting.  As we have famous in different public sale posts in latest occasions, the writer appeared extra astute than most in monitoring market traits, and was not afraid to make strikes after they noticed such traits coming.  It’s doubtless that the shift of the Top-Notch Comics title to grow to be Top-Notch Laugh Comics with situation #28 in 1942, 5 months previous to the debut of Archie Comics #1, was one in every of the early indicators of the place MLJ noticed their market heading.  While the superhero character Black Hood was nonetheless an everyday characteristic in each situation, they started to experiment with all kinds of humor in the sequence as properly.

However MLJ decided that Archie was destined for stardom, they actually hit their mark, and renamed their total firm Archie Comics in 1946.  A comic book that has skilled robust demand for many years, there are at the moment 70 entries for Archie Comics #1 on the CGC Census, with solely six entries above CGC 7.0 in both restored or unrestored situation. This restored copy is a superb likelihood to get a nice-looking copy at a less-than-astronomical worth.  To participate in the public sale, new bidders ought to try the FAQ on the bidding course of and associated issues at Heritage Auctions.

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