Reggie Had His Own Comic??

I seem to recall reading that Reggie Mantle, Riverdale's #1 Obnoxious Guy once starred in his own comic! I find that hard to believe! Oh, I'm sure it happened but how and why? Did Reggie.....win? Over Archie and Jughead? Did he "get" Veronica or Betty? What type of stories were there? Did we learn anything about him? Was he less of a jerk?

How could Reggie be the "hero" of a comic?

Also I once read that Big Ethel had her own book. Is that true? How many other of Archie's supporting cast received their own titles, however briefly?

 

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  • I seem to remember this.  As I recall, the book was almost indistinguishable from Archie or Veronica or Betty or Jughead... same style artwork... same gags...same cast of characters.

     

    CALLING MR. SILVER AGE...MR. SILVER AGE TO THE BATPHONE.>>>>>

  • According to the GCD, he's had a number of series attributed to him.

  • This is the series I remember seeing.It started off a Archie's Rival, Reggie and ended up as Reggie And Me I think all Archie stories were much the same with just the spotlight on individual characters, depending on whose book it was.

  • As noted, Reggie has had a bunch of comics, going back to the late '40s. They featured Reggie more prominently, but they didn't change his personality or have him "win" any more than stories in other series. He was usually the butt of the joke, as Archie often is in his comics, but for different reasons.

    Big Ethel hasn't ever had her own series as far as I know. She sometimes was prominent in Jughead stories, but that's about it. Veronica has had a series of titles, especially in which she jet-setted around the world, which are different from the usual fare.  Betty has had some long-running series, but they're pretty much like the usual stuff.

    Possibly the weirdest spin-off was Faculty Funnies, which only ran for five issues, for some reason. It featured all the teachers at Riverdale High. With super-powers.

    -- MSA

  • I just read a comic a few weeks ago that prominently featured Reggie and said to myself, "Man, I would really rather read a Reggie story than an Archie story." Sure he's a dick, but he's interesting.
  • That's always the thing about the villains--they're the ones that have to think ahead, get things started, come up with ideas. The heroes tend to react to their chaos to create order, which is more boring. Heroes usually are only as good as their villains.

    Reggie, though, is more mean-spirited and nasty just for the sake of doing it, which is hard to accept considering all of his talents and the riches he seems to have available (despite his father working for a newspaper). He's interesting to watch but not to root for. I'd rather read about Darth Vader taking over planets than Luke working the farm, but that doesn't mean I *like* him better.

    That said, I've never understood what two gorgeous, attractive girls like Betty and Veronica see in Archie, especially when one of them is so rich she can pretty much do whatever she wants. He's not that good looking or well to do.

    OTOH, Archie *is* a member of the football team, baseball team, basketball team, track & field team, skiing team, and swimming team, the editor of the school newspaper, etc., etc., etc. Amazing that a guy so coordinated and athletically gifted could be such a klutz.

    -- MSA

  • After linking to these sites (Thanks Randy and Sandy), I was a bit surprised to see that

    1. Reggie began in 1949 and only lasted 14 issues.
    2. The title actually was Reggie, not Archie's Rival, Reggie.
    3. That he was enamored with Veronica but not Betty.
    4. When the book was brought back in the 60s, it lasted 4 issues.
    5. And that those 4 issues came out once-a-year!!
    6. When it was revived as Reggie and Me (much like I Love Lucy), it focused on Evilheart, Reggie's super-alter-ego but he didn't seem overly villainous. In facts villains fought him!

    Was Reggie portrayed as rich very often? Did he ever chase after Betty? What was the deal with Midge?

    Also while listing Archie's talents, it's important to note that Reggie was an athlete, musician and somewhat of a BMOC. Was he a good student? Average?  

  • Archie Firsts reprints Reggie's first appearance (from Jackpot Comics #5) as well as all the stories from Reggie #1. FYI...

    http://www.darkhorse.com/Books/17-252/Archie-Firsts

  • Mr. Weatherbee starred in a title, and it was quite long-running (161 issues from 1964 to 1987!), no doubt because they wisely refrained from calling it 'Mr. Weatherbee.' Instead, it carried the more commercial title, 'Archie and Me.'

    In 'Reggie and Me' and 'Betty and Me,' the 'Me' of the title referred to Archie. Obviously not so in 'Archie and Me.'

    Reggie also starred in 'Reggie's Wise Guy Jokes,' which ran 44 issues.
  • I have a theory. Ronnie (do they still call her that?) is only interested in Archie because Betty likes him and he can't make up his mind. If he ever picked Ronnie over Betty she'd drop him in a heartbeat.

    I wonder if they've retconned Veronica into a Kim Kardashian-type with her own reality show etc yet? No?

    Mr. Silver Age said:

    That said, I've never understood what two gorgeous, attractive girls like Betty and Veronica see in Archie, especially when one of them is so rich she can pretty much do whatever she wants. He's not that good looking or well to do.

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