How Sabrina the Teenage Witch Celebrated the Bicentennial

Well here's a disappointing entry into our Bicentennial Comics catalog. Archie Comics did a lot of great Revolutionary War-themed comics in 1976, so I had high hopes when I found out about Sabrina the Teen-age Witch # 34, cover dated September of that year but actually published in July. I didn't have a description of the issue, but it looked like it might fit in with so many other Archie comics of the era. After all, the cover has a pretty vague patriotic theme, with Sabrina wearing a cute little red-white-and-blue halter top:

Unfortunately, that's it as far as Bicentennial content goes! This issue contains several stories -- each of which is actually quite a bit of fun -- but not a mention of anything timely.

Well, I take that back. There's one more Bicentennial mention in this issue, but it's not from any of the stories. It's actually just from an ad on the back cover:

Oh well. Every Bicentennial comic that I unearth can't be a gem. Better luck next time!

How Archie Comics Celebrated the Bicentennial (part 2)

Some comic books started their Bicentennial stories a bit early. Here's one of the earliest I've found, issue 36 of the awkwardly titled Archie's TV Laugh-Out. Officially dated December 1975 (which means it probably shipped to newsstands a few months before that), you'd never know this is a Bicentennial comic from the cover, which makes fun of 1974's "The Towering Inferno":

But opening the cover reveals nothing towering, burning or remotely inferno-like. Instead we get a great five-page story called "Bicentennial Banter," in which we find Archie and the gang preparing for their roles in a Bicentennial costume pageant.

Of course, Archie and Reggie have to spend the beginning of the story making fun of Jughead and arguing over who will play George Washington (Reggie wins because his dad bought the costumes). After that rather standard Archie-style interplay, though, things gets really interesting. Betty, Veronica and the other female "gang" members show up and ask about the pageant's roles for women. Archie, incredulous, asks, "Female parts? What female parts?"

Reggie quickly offers up Betsey Ross as an answer, but that's not enough (and way too easy). In response, the women spend the next page quickly listing several important women from the Revolutionary War, as well as the essential roles all women took on during the era. Check it out below:

Click to view full-size

Kids reading this back in 1975 probably had to run to the encyclopedia to find out more about these women. For me, reading this story in 2016 sent me instantly to the Google machine to look up names like Sally St. Clair and Lydia Darragh (whose name is actually misspelled in the comic). Wow. What a great little history lesson this five-page comic turns out to be. As far as I'm concerned, it's a minor classic. Archie Comics itself must agree -- they reprinted the tale in the book Archie Americana: Best of the Seventies.

I'd love to find out who wrote and drew this story. As with everything Archie published back then, it lacks creator credits. Even the Grand Comics Database (an essential reference) hasn't catalogued the writer or artist yet. That's a shame. If anyone out there knows, please chime in.

The rest of this issue doesn't have any Bicentennial content, but it's all pretty good. There's a nice mix of stories and one-page gags about Sabrina, Archie, Mr. Lodge, and a few other Archie characters. The highlight is probably a Josie story about littering -- a nice tie-in to the "keep American beautiful" campaign that was still in full swing in the mid-seventies.

I'll return to Archie's TV Laugh-Out in the near future, as the title actually contained a huge number of Bicentennial stories throughout 1976, more (as far as I can tell) than any comic except Captain America. Who knew TV laughing was so patriotic?

How Archie Comics Celebrated the Bicentennial (Part 1)

Welcome back to another look at the comic books of 1976! This time we take a dive into one of the best Bicentennial comics that I have found so far, Life with Archie # 172.

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...

More Bicentennial Comics Revealed!

My initial research into Bicentennial comics was pretty thorough, but I know that quite a few titles were likely to appear. And so they have. A few folks have kindly pointed out some additions, while other issues revealed themselves through the advanced search functions at mycomicshop.com and the Grand Comics Database. Will there be more? Oh, I'm quite sure that there will, but for now, here are the latest additions to my list:

One of several underground comix covering American history that year.

These three Archie's T.V. Laugh-Out issues join one other that was already on my list. Oddly enough, issue 41 doesn't appear to have any Bicentennial content. That might bear investigation.

This came out in 1977 but covered the editorial cartoons published in 1976. I look forward to reading this. I'm sure it will reveal a lot about what was going on in this country that year.

One more for my crossover underground comix collection.

From what I can tell, this series reprinted current comic strips. I look forward into tracking this down to see what's inside.

Will Eisner!

Is this a Bicentennial issue or is Sabrina just wearing a red-white-and-blue bikini top? Only further research will tell.

I never even heard of this title. 

It's going to take me quite a while to track down all of these books and issues, but that's half the fun of this whole project! If you know of any more that I'm missing, please feel free to let me know!