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Archie
As the forties turned into the fifties, the appeal of Archie grew, as well as the entire genre of humorous teenage comics. As Archie’s popularity grew, almost every other comic book company tried to rival the comic, however, none of them ever did as well as the Archie comic did. Those companies eventually went bankrupt or returned to producing superhero books. Archie's success can be attributed to remaining in tune with the times in terms of fashions, slang, fads and the pastimes of the day.
The 1950's were the decade in which the Archie
comics saw their greatest expansion, branching from the three parent
books Archie, Pep Comics and
Laugh Comics. The first of these was Archie's Girls, Betty and Veronica.
Having begun as a back-up feature in Archie, these two girls, Betty and
Veronica, plotted, schemed, and incessantly fought over Archie and any
other guy they came across, all the while remaining friends. The misadventures
and cat fights of the two girls soon became a staple in Archie comics.
Another conception of the Archie frenzy was Archie’s Joke Book.
It was one of the most unique books of its time; it showed just how creative
and innovative the creators of Archie truly were. This book didn't feature
any actual stories like all the other books, instead it had Archie and
his friends entertaining the readers with loads of gags and jokes. Although
some of them were corny, many were screamingly funny. It should also
be noted here that one of the legends of the comic book industry, artist
Neal Adams, got his start in the business drawing for Archie's Joke Book.