Seriously, folks, this is a great comic. It's fun, informative, and beautifully drawn. Kids must have loved this issue when it first came out. The copy that I tracked down through mycomicshop.com is tattered and torn, but that just proves that it was probably read dozens of times over the years.
Heck, I've read it a few times already myself. It opens with Archie and the Riverdale gang taking a Bicentennial class trip to Washington, DC. They hit up the Jefferson and Lincoln memorials, the White House and then, on page 3 (this story moves along at a pretty brisk pace) the National Archives, where they get to stand in awe before the Declaration of Independence.
Archie becomes entranced by the Declaration, so much so in fact that he magically transports to 1773 and the Boston Tea Party. By page 5 (again, moving along pretty quickly) he's in fake Native American garb hurling tea "with a vengeance" into the bay.
Soon after that he's chased by Redcoats who threaten to hang him! (This may be a kids' comic, but it doesn't sugar-coat anything!)
How does Archie escape? Well, Jughead grabs him and pulls him through an open door -- only it's not Jughead, it's Paul Revere wearing Jughead's face. Soon the two of them are riding through the streets shouting "The British are coming! The British are coming!"
The don't get far before they're ambushed by yet more Redcoats -- this time led by his nemesis, Reggie!
Of course, Reggie calls them "scum" and underestimates them, letting them go, considering them beneath his contempt.
Meanwhile, history continues to speed up and condense. Moments later there's the crack of a musket firing -- "the shot heard round the world" -- and the Revolution has officially begun.
Flash forward one more page and Archie has taken another leap through history. This time he's at the actual signing of the Declaration of Independence, along with John Hancock and Ben Franklin (who looks kinda like Mr. Weatherbee).
This scene lasts a few more pages before ZAP, Archie flash-forwards once again and ends up at Valley Forge. He sympathizes with the suffering soldiers, then zaps again to the Battle of Yorktown and the end of the Revolution.
Yup, the entire Revolutionary War is condensed into just a few comic-book pages, but writer Frank Doyle and artist Stan Goldberg packed the story with action, humor and smart details. It won't pass for a history book, but it certainly encourages readers to learn more.
This story has definitely stood the test of time. Heck, I'd call it a classic. I think Archie Comics agrees: it was reprinted in 2010 in Archie: The Best of Stan Goldberg, a book I plan on tracking down as soon as possible.
For anyone else, thought, it may be worth tracking down the original, for two reasons: (a) it's awesome and (b) because it has two extra bonuses. First, there's a one-page "Bicentennial Name Game," in which readers can unscramble words from letters that are hidden in images of the flag, the Liberty Bell and the Bill of Rights. That's kinda fun. Even better, though, is the one-page "Li'l Jinx" story by Joe Edwards called "The Bicentennial Spell." This is a great little commentary on exploitative commercialism around the Bicentennial -- or as Jinx calls it, the "buy-centennial."
All around, a great issue. It will be hard for whatever I cover next to beat it!
So what does come next? I haven't decided yet, but it just might involve a trip to a city called Metropolis...
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