There is a story behind how I came to possess these comic books, since I am not really an Archie Comics fan. My mom grew up reading and loving Archie comics, but I have never been much of a fan, the humor in these books simply not my cup of tea. However, I did learn to appreciate their "Red Circle" cast of heroes (such as The Shield, Jaguar, The Fly, Black Hood, etc.), and in recent years, I have discovered current versions of Young Dr. Masters (who had a two-issue series published by Archie many decades ago) and Fran Frazer, a female photographer/reporter/detective who had a regular feature in Top Notch Comics back in the early 1940s. Well, being a mystery fan, when I discovered a cartoon on one of our streaming networks titled Archie's Weird Mysteries, I was curious. The cartoon was rather kooky, and when I looked it up online, I discovered there was also a comic book series that evolved from Archie's Weird Mysteries to simply Archie's Mysteries. Thus, it was while I was looking for issues of those comics while vacationing in Kentucky earlier this year that I chanced upon the second issue of this series...
Little Archie Mystery is a two-issue series published by Archie Comic Publications, Inc. back in 1963 (featuring cover dates of August and October). This was apparently a spinoff of the
Little Archie series that had begun publication back in 1956 (which a previous spinoff titled
Little Archie in Animal Land having been published from 1957-58). Both the scripts and the art for these two issues were provided by Bob Bolling, who was the original designer of the
Little Archie characters, as well as the writer and artist for the regular series when it began. Bolling stays with the
Little Archie universe of titles until 1965, when he was replaced by Dexter Taylor, while Bolling was moved up to some of the regular Archie Comics titles. Bolling's art style for these two issues strays a it from the comical appearance of the regular Archie Comics characters - although Little Archie himself is drawn in a similar appearance to his teenage self, the rest of the cast and the backgrounds have a more realistic comic book feel to them. Perhaps it was because of the mystery element to the stories, or perhaps the series was aimed at a more serious audience than the typical Archie Comics.
It's actually a shame the series only lasted two issues - both issues offered up some good stories, with fun mysteries mixed with just a touch of humor (after all, this is an Archie comic). The only thing I felt was missing from the two stories was Archie's supporting cast (i.e., Veronica, Betty, Jughead, etc.); instead, Little Archie interacts only with adults in both tales, making it a bit awkward that an elementary school age child would be accepted and permitted to tag along with adults as they investigate crimes in the city! Maybe if the series had continued, we might have eventually seen Little Betty or Little Veronica show up - but, as it stand, we only get these two mysteries, of which Archie was not truly the main "detective" solving the case.
In issue one, we get the "Egyptian Goddess Mystery," which finds Little Archie teaming up with Peggy Drake, a wanna-be detective who has "taken a correspondence course in criminology" and has a diploma to prove it (p. 2)! There have been a series of bank robberies in town, and Peggy is determined to find the crooks and stop them (with Little Archie tagging along). Readers are introduced to Chic Cooper (any relation to Betty??), who is Peggy's somewhat boyfriend that she mainly uses as a driver to take her where she needs to go to investigate her cases. We also meet Police Captain O'Brien, who refuses to listen when Peggy tells him she's determined the criminal mastermind behind all of the robberies is a woman. As the story progresses, we learn that old Professor Hadley is working on a special project with two assistants - but his house and his project have been overtaken by a mad woman who thinks herself to be an Egyptian goddess, hoping to restore her jewels and great fortune by stealing it from others. Of course, Peggy interferes with their plans, and Little Archie manages to bring Chic there in the nick of time to save her and the Professor and stop the criminal from escaping in their boat (Little Archie actually drives Chic's delivery truck off the wharf and into the boat, sinking it, the treasures, and the criminals! How he was ever able to reach the gas pedal - well, that's a question that will probably never be answered...)
In the second and final issue, we read about "The Strange Case of the Mystery Map, with a cover that is basically repeated on the first splash page when you open the book. Readers are given a brief hint of things to come by the announcement that the home of Caleb Warfield is the only home in all of Riverdale that does not subscribe to and receive the
Riverdale Record each morning. The scene then quickly shifts to an antique store that is about to be robbed. An elderly woman is purchasing an old diary, and when the thieves break in, Little Archie happens to be watching when the old woman beats up the two criminals, sending them running off down the street. Little Archie happens to be hanging out with Jimmy Lee (hmmm, makes me think of Jimmy Lee Holt from
General Hospital, but this was well before that character made his first appearance on the show...), who works for the Riverdale Record and wants to do a story on the old woman's amazing feat. She refuses, and when Jimmy and Little Archie follow her, hoping to convince her to give him a story, she shakes them in a very unusual way - by turning into a young woman! Jimmy pitches a story about the woman to Parker Penbinder, the editor of the
Riverdale Record, but it's a no go. While readers learn that the woman is actually the niece of Caleb Warfield, who wanted the diary because it belonged to an old relative and reveals the whereabouts of a family treasure, poor Jimmy is determined to learn the woman's secret (with Little Archie tagging along, of course). The mystery culminates during the town's Civil War re-enactment, when Caleb and his niece locate the missing map (gee - an old diary, a missing map - sounds rather familiar, doesn't it?) and Jimmy and Little Archie locate them! It turns out the map reveals the family treasure is actually in New York City - under the Empire State Building! The final panel shows Caleb Warfield sneaking off to the train station with the final words, "The End?"
Unfortunately for us, that was the end, and we'll never know if Caleb Warfield did find the treasure in New York, where the map showed it to be, and whether he kept his promise to donate whatever treasure her found to the town of Riverdale, That is a
Little Archie Mystery that will forever remain unsolved...
Even with the small amount of participation of Little Archie in the actual mystery-solving process, both issues were pretty enjoyable. Unlike most of the Archie Comics, both issues featured full-length stories (although, the first issue did include a four-page story at the end entitled "A Love Story," in which Little Archie learns a lesson on how much more love can accomplish than yelling and screaming). And since both issues featured entirely separate casts of characters, there is no actual continuity between them. But that is okay, because they are simply fun reads, and after all, isn't that what an Archie comic is supposed to be?
It would have been interesting to see the characters of Peggy Drake and Jimmy Lee used more in the Archie universe - although I did discover that the Riverdale television show had a character named Jillian Drake, who was an ATF Agent - maybe she was inspired by Peggy Drake? Jimmy Lee, unfortunately, never appeared again and had no characters appear with a similar name.
Once I manage to track down all of the issues of Archie's Weird Mysteries / Archie's Mysteries, then we'll find out just how that more modern series compares to this!
RATING: 9 maps hidden in a bottle out of 10 for fun and creative mysteries that make for a very enjoyable read!
