Comic Review : Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #9

It isn’t much of a secret that Archie digests and double digests remain one of the best buys in comics, dollar for dollar. For instance, the 160 page Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #9 is 4.99, only one dollar more than some regular-sized DC and Marvel comics. For that price, in addition to the new eight page story by George Gladir and Pat and Tim Kennedy, “Mission : Most Improbable”— in which some cupids work to fulfill Ethel’s wishing well request for a kiss from Jughead—there are twenty-two other stories, as well as joke pages, Dipsy Doodles, and mazes.

This issue contains classic humor by Archie legends and luminaries, including a classic Frank Doyle and Samm Schwartz tale. In “The Healer,” Doyle manages to wring all the humor he can out of the topic of first aid. Mr. Lodge falls on the ice, and when Archie and Jughead, fearing he has a back injury, try to move him inside, Doyle doesn’t miss a trick. Everything that can happen to Mr. Lodge does happen to Mr. Lodge. As well as being adept with the love triangle and the other established Archie routines, Doyle was a master of black humor and schadenfreude, and by the end of this story we are very glad not to be Mr. Lodge.

“The Healer,” is also a great looking classic story. Schwartz was the one that created Jughead’s new look in the 50s and 60s, a style that is, for the most part, still with us, so it is always good to see his definitive style in the digests.

There are other hilarious stories in these pages. Just telling you a few summaries might make you snicker. In Mike Pellowski and Stan Goldberg’s “Food Freaked,” Jughead’s change of lunch period causes stomach pains that lead to hunger hallucinations.

In Mike Pellowski and Tim Kennedy’s “Spaced Out,” Reggie can’t shake the feeling that Jughead is an alien from outer space. In Reggie’s fantasy, Jughead has a classic burn for Reggie, “yes, I can read your puny mind…even though the brain print is very, very tiny.”

Jughead forgets his lunch in Mike Pellowski and Bill Galvan’s “Lucky Lunch Break,” and realizes it’s a great new way to mooch from his friends, as he ends up with countless contributions to a feast that even Dagwood Bumstead would envy. In Craig Boldman and Rex Lindsey’s “I Came, I Sawed,” Jughead tells the story of how his wood shop project got whittled down to size.

The digest closes with a classic hijinks story from Frank Doyle and Harry Lucey. In “Trail’s End,” Archie and Jughead track Reggie through the snow, only to switch boots with Reggie when it becomes apparent that he’s with Midge, and Moose is close behind in a jealous rage. Doyle and Lucey were one of the greatest comedy teams at Archie comics, and this story shows it, as the subject matter—sly Reggie, jealous Moose—was a common one for Archie at the time, but Doyle and Lucey articulated it with such verve and wit.

Jughead and Archie Comics Double Digest #9 can be found not only in comic shops and quality booksellers like Barnes and Noble, but also in grocery stores and department stores, as Archie digests really get around. Still, if you have trouble locating a copy, you can always go digital on the Archie comics website and app, or comiXology.