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This Day in Pop Culture

This Day in Pop Culture for December 22

Being born in 1941, Archie Andrews just might be the world’s oldest teenager.

December 22, 2020

1–2 minutes

1941: Archie Makes His First Appearance

People often debate who would make a better date for Archie Andrews – Betty or Veronica, but it was Betty Cooper who the red-haired teen hung out with first when he appeared in Pep Comics #22 which hit newsstands on this day in 1941. Inspired by the Andy Hardy movies of the day, Archie Comics #1 was published a year later. He became so popular that the publisher changed its name to Archie Comic Publications.

In 1943, Archie Andrews became a radio show for the NBC Blue Network which continued to air until 1953. In 1968, Archie made his way to TV with Filmation’s The Archie Show which was shown Saturday mornings on CBS. That show inspired others, and his comics continue to be printed. By 2010, Archie began to develop a second personality. Many comics and “digests” continued to be printed as usual, but a “New Archie” began to emerge as graphic novels with a decidedly different look and feel. Soon, other stories followed with horror themes such as Afterlife with Archie and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

In 2017, a whole new type of Archie appeared on TV. The soapy Riverdale aired on The CW becoming a huge hit despite that the characters and storylines resembled little to what was previously presented on the printed page years earlier. Still, you can still find the good-old-Archie and friends on store shelves as well as the Archie Comics website.