Green Publishing's Roly-Poly Comics #11

[Robb_K]

Clearly this is a late 1945 reprint of several stories and features from MLJ's Top-Notch Laugh Comics #40, issued in early Autumn of 1943.  The three characters portrayed on its front cover were obviously originally drawn as MLJ's Archie, Veronica and Jughead, especially given the letter "S" on the Jughead figure's sweater.  Green Publishing reprinted comic book material from unrelated publishers, MLJ, Fawcett, Farrell, Charlton, Fox Features, National Allied, etc, some of them as recently as only 2 years after their original publication.  I cannot believe that MLJ would sell the original artwork or printing plates to their Top-Notch Laugh and other comics material to Green for reprinting a mere 2 years after they first hit the newstands, especially when their own company was going strong with Archie's skyrocketing success.  I believe that Green must have bought the printing plates to this book and its unrelated front cover from the liquidation of warehouse stock from one of MLJ's early printer's going out of business (similar to Israel Waldman's methods of acquiring printing material for his IW and Super Comics reprint series).  The front cover doesn't remind me of any published MLJ cover on "Archie", "Pep" or other series.  But, if it wasn't ever published on an MLJ comic book, it must have been a cover that was planned for one of them, drawn up, and then cancelled.  Veronica looks like the early Veronica from 1945.  It seems clear to me that Archie's and Jughead's faces were redrawn by an Artist hired by Green.

I am curious to know what other posters here think about this, and if they know whether or not this cover layout was published by MLJ on an Archie-related comic book.

[Yoc]

Hi Robb,
Or Green had a new cover made by some random artist.  He's not very good.
Just a thought.  IW went that route.

-Yoc

[Robb_K]

Hi Robb,
Or Green had a new cover made by some random artist.  He's not very good.
Just a thought.  IW went that route.

-Yoc

Yes, Green hired artists to draw a few front covers when it would have been too dangerous to have used a cover with extremely popular well-known characters that would alert the copyright and trademark owners that Green was committing rights infringement.  But then, they would draw different characters in newly-staged scenarios.  This is too obvious that the 3 original characters were Archie, Veronica, and Jughead(The letter "S" remaining on the sweater makes it clear that he WAS originallJughead).  it's obvious to me that Green must have obtained at least a copy of the original art, and had the hired artist just draw new faces so their infringement wouldn't be obvious.  Drawing only new faces for Archie and Jughead (The girl's looks much too much like Veronica of that time) and pasting them onto the original, would cost a LOT less than writing, staging, penciling and inking an entire new cover.  Not having been a big Archie fan, I am not an expert on the covers on which Archie appeared in 1941-46.  As far as I remember, all the Pep Comics he appeared in had The Shield on their front covers.  I also know that it wasn't on the cover of Archie #1-12, nor the 2 Jackpot Comics containing his stories.  So, I think it must have been a never-used by MLJ cover planned for "Archie Comics", but cancelled.   

[SuperScrounge]

I look at 'Veronica's' head an it seems too low on her shoulders, like it was cut and pasted from another drawing (or was just a bad drawing).

Also 'Archie's' pose looks more like something you would see in a splash page. Maybe this was from a splash page and various elements were 'squished together to make it fit on a cover.

I found it amusing that the colorist colored part of 'Jughead's' arm the background color making it look like he has a severed arm. 

[Robb_K]

I look at 'Veronica's' head an it seems too low on her shoulders, like it was cut and pasted from another drawing (or was just a bad drawing).

Also 'Archie's' pose looks more like something you would see in a splash page. Maybe this was from a splash page and various elements were 'squished together to make it fit on a cover.

I found it amusing that the colorist colored part of 'Jughead's' arm the background color making it look like he has a severed arm. 

Thanks.  Come to think of it, Archie, Veronica, Jughead (and maybe Betty, too?) going to a western Dude Ranch in an early '40s story seems to ring a memory bell with me.  I wonder which MLJ series printed that story?