| Issue | #48 |
| Published | January 1979 |
| Cover Price | 0.35 USD |
| Pages | 36 |
| Editing | Richard H. Goldwater |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper; Moose Mason (logo); Midge Klump (logo) |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge; two un-named girls |
| Synopsis | Archie and Reggie decide to crash the girls' pajama party. Reggie knocks on the door jokingly telling the girls to open the door. Veronica asks what will happen if they don't, so Reggie jokingly says he'll huff and puff and blow the door down. Veronica opens the door, saying they'd better open up because Reggie has enough hot air to carry out his threat. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Veronica Lodge; Betty Cooper; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Archie and the girls are eating lunch at a snack bar next to a soccer field. Reggie, dressed in his soccer uniform, kicks the ball around, and brags that he can do anything with his feet, so Archie holds up the bill and says "Let's see you FOOT this bill!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Archie looks at a drooping flower sitting on a nearby table, and decides that maybe it will perk up if he sings to it. He grabs his guitar, and sings a couple of songs, but nothing happens. Reggie then asks "What if Archie promises to stop singing", at which point the flower instantly perks up. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Mr. Waldo Weatherbee; Reggie Mantle; un-named cameraman |
| Synopsis | Archie and Reggie are holding a campaign debate for some school office. Archie is currently holding the position that they're both running for, and Reggie is running against him. Mr. Weatherbee tells them that they each have sixty seconds to give their campaign speech. Reggie says that this won't be a problem for Archie - Archie can tell you his good points in only ONE second |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Typical half-page, 3-panel gag strip. Occupies the top half of the page. The bottom half is occupied by the "Borrow Sorrow" strip. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Jughead Jones; Pop Tate |
| Synopsis | Jughead and Reggie are at the Chocklit Shoppe. Reggie is enjoying a burger, and tells Jughead that he's too old to be asking for a bite of Reggie's burger. Jughead says Reggie's absolutely right, and asks Reggie to lend him a buck to buy his own burger. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Occupies the bottom half of the page. The top half is occupied by "Debate Mate". |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Reggie Mantle; Veronica Lodge (cameo); various un-named Riverdale High students |
| Synopsis | Archie and Reggie are again campaigning for a school office of some sort. They're both in an auditorium, and Archie is at the podium, with Reggie seated nearby. Archie tells his fellow students that if they don't like Reggie as a candidate, then they should vote for him. He continues with "A vote for Archie is a vote for", and in the last panel is interrupted by Reggie, who says "For someone you'll like even less!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Half-page strip. Occupies the top half of the page. Bottom half is occupied by "Jab Confab". |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Moose Mason; Midge Klump |
| Synopsis | Reggie, Midge and Moose are at a dance or night club, and Midge is showing Reggie some disco moves, which of course makes Moose mad. Moose says his fists can't make up their mind - they both want to take the first poke at Reggie. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | This occupies the bottom half of the page, with "Vote Gloat" occupying the top half. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Jughead Jones |
| Synopsis | Reggie is standing outside Pop's with an ice cream cone. As Jughead walks up, Reggie tells him that he's waiting for his date on that corner. Jughead points to a girl and asks if that's her in the yellow dress. While Reggie is looking and telling Jughead that it isn't her, Jughead takes a bit of Reggie's ice cream cone, then asks if that's her by the bus. Reggie says no, that isn't her, and tells Jughead "Boy are you DUMB!". Jughead, having finished the ice cream, walks off wiping his mouth with a handkerchief and says "Not half as dumb as somebody I know!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Midge Klump (cameo); Moose Mason; various other Riverdalians |
| Synopsis | A two-page, 10-panel gag strip featuring various humorous "road signs" for teens: ball-and-shackles sign in a school hallway near a room ("detention room ahead"); a sign outside a house with a crab on it ("crabby neighbor lives here"); a sign inside someone's living room having a picture of a horse's head with a red circle around it and a line through it ("no horsing around in this house"); a sign outside Midge's house with a big fist on it ("Danger! I have a jealous boyfriend"); a sign outside a house picturing an ice cream sundae with a circle around it and a line through it ("occupant on a diet"); a sign in a school building picturing a black flag at half staff, right outside a classroom ("Algebra exam in progress"); Reggie standing next to a sign with a rooster on it ("Braggart lives here"); a sign outside of Moose's house with "SOS" on it ("Occupant would like to borrow money"); a sign outside a house with a large bag of money on it ("I just received my allowance") and a sign with a large frowny-face on it ("I just spent my allowance") |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Although Moose and Midge are never mentioned, it is clear who they are. A girl who looks like Midge is in the house with the "jealous boyfriend" sign in the yard, and a guy who looks like Moose is in the house with the "SOS" sign in the yard. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge |
| Synopsis | The girls are in a classroom with "art class" on the door and notice that Reggie has taken up painting. After Betty mentions this, Reggie says that if they can't say anything nice, then they shouldn't say anything at all. The girls are silent for the next two panels, and in the last panel, Reggie is begging them to say something. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Jughead Jones; Reggie Mantle; Archie Andrews |
| Synopsis | Archie, Reggie and Jughead are at the pool hall. Archie has apparently told Reggie that Jughead has the best touch in town, but Reggie doesn't seem to believe this. In the next two panels, Reggie makes some fancy shots, and Jughead compliments him on them, saying that the first shot is absolutely incredible, and telling Reggie that he's the greatest after the second shot. The 4th panel shows an outside shot of the building, with Jughead telling Reggie that his shots are unbelievable, and then immediately asks Reggie to lend him $5, which Reggie does. The last panel is back inside the pool hall with Jughead holding the $5, and Archie saying "Like I told you Reggie - Jug has the best shots in town!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | The best gag in this strip is the name of the pool hall - "Q Ball's Family Billiards and Pool"... |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Dilton Doiley |
| Synopsis | Reggie has some thoughts about how bright Dilton Doiley is. Readers must find out what Reggie has been saying about Dilton by putting the numbered letters in the same numbered blank spaces. |
| Genre | Puzzle |
| Notes | Numbered letters are on the side - circled letters with the number corresponding to each letter under the circle. The answer to the puzzle is "He not only reads the doctor's eye chart he even translates it!". First letter already filled in, and punctuation marks are drawn in the appropriate places. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Karen (no last name given) |
| Synopsis | Reggie is running for something (the story doesn't say what it is), and his friend Karen tells him that he's going to lose according to the straw poll. Reggie doesn't understand and says he's tried being friendly, tried being popular... Karen says there's one thing he hasn't tried - a little humility. The last panel shows two guys wearing "Reggie" hats (one of whom also has a "Vote Reggie" t-shirt on), carrying him on a cushioned, covered thing (not sure what the name of that thing is), with "REG" in giant letters on a nearby wall, "Get on the REGGIE bandwagon" on the side of the thing Reggie's riding on, large musical notes, a girl in a bikini wearing a "Reggie" sash and various campaign signs - "Vote Reggie Today!", "Reggie - cream of the crop" and "The Great Reggie". |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | This is more of a sight gag. The description should help explain it, but you really have to see this gag to fully appreciate it. The thing Reggie is riding on is exactly like what Roman emperors are often seen being carried on by slaves in the movies. |
| Characters | Charley Hawse |
| Synopsis | Charley is on the phone asking Gigi if she would like to go to the school picnic with him. When she apparently tells him she would, he tells her that's great and that he was getting worried - she was the fifth girl he asked. In the last panel, it is obvious that Gigi hung up on him. |
| Genre | Children; Humor; Gag |
| Script | Joe Edwards |
| Pencils | Joe Edwards |
| Inks | Joe Edwards |
| Letters | Joe Edwards |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Veronica Lodge; Betty Cooper; Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones (bottom gag only) |
| Synopsis | In the top gag, Reggie, Veronica and Betty are at a "National Parks" costume party at the Lodge mansion. Betty says that she came as a mountie so she could always get her man. Veronica asks if they've seen Archie, because he apparently sat on one of her father's cigars and set his costume on fire. Betty says it isn't funny, but Veronica says it is if you've seen his costume. In the last panel, Archie, who is dressed in a singed Smokey the Bear costume, is seen sitting in the punch bowl. In the bottom gag, Jughead has invited Reggie, Betty, Veronica and Archie to dinner, apparently to repay them for all the meals he's sponged off of them. Betty looks at the menu - "cattail soup, cold kale in vinegar, wild mushroom surprise and onion pie". In the third panel, Archie is getting on his jacket to leave, and Jughead asks if everyone has left. Archie says they all lost their appetite and wants to know what Jughead did with the food he prepared. Jughead says he didn't prepare any food - just the menu. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Typical gag bag strip - two four-panel gag strips occupying the bottom half of the page. The top half is occupied by the "Wrong Number" strip. One interesting thing to note about this strip is that there are two gags in the first one. Archie Comics were hugely popular in the US at the time (even more so then than they are now), but were also popular in Canada (and they still are today). Many Canadian readers may not have understood the "Smokey the Bear" gag, since Smokey is affiliated with US National Parks, so the writers through in an equally-funny Canadian gag. One of the many duties of the Mounties (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) is to patrol Canada's national parks. A long-time saying associated with the group is "The Mounties always get their man!". Betty comes dressed as a Mountie so she can always get her man (most likely Archie). This gag would ensure that Canadian readers find the strip funny, regardless of whether or not they knew who Smokey the Bear was. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Archie Andrews; Veronica Lodge |
| Synopsis | Archie, Reggie and Veronica are on the ski slopes. Reggie keeps following Archie and Veronica, bragging about how he can do any ski stunt they can think of. Veronica and Archie are getting tired of this, and Reggie again says to name a stunt and he'll do it. Archie asks Reggie if he can land on the front end of one ski and on the back end of the other ski. Reggie says that he can, does a flip in the air, and lands just as Archie said - which leaves him stuck in the snow. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Moose Mason; Jughead Jones; Dilton Doiley (cameo); Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | The boys are holding a meeting of the Riverdale Liars Club, apparently trying to see who can tell the biggest lie. Archie starts by saying "Girls!! Who needs 'em?" and that he gets his kicks by collecting butterflies. Jughead is next, and says that he gets up every day at dawn, skips breakfast and jogs his usual 20 miles. After that, Moose gets up and says that after he studies his nuclear physics, he likes to relax with chess. Archie then tells Reggie that it's his turn to tell fibs. Reggie responds by saying that he's never told a lie in his life and isn't about to start now. In the last panel, Reggie is seen looking surprised as he's holding a large trophy that says "1st prize Riverdale Liars Club" on it. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Dilton Doiley; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Dilton and Reggie are walking home from school. Dilton reminds Reggie that he promised to fix him up with a date today. Reggie says that he's a man of his word, and tells Dilton to go to Twelfth and Elm to find a date. Dilton excitedly rushes off to the corner of Twelfth and Elm to find "This building erected September 12, 1925" on the cornerstone of a building there. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Moose Mason; Jughead Jones; Pop Tate |
| Synopsis | Jughead is standing outside, painting a picture of a house. Reggie runs up to him asking for advice because Moose is after him. Jughead, thinking quickly, messes up Reggie's hair and puts a little red paint on Reggie's cheeks. Moose walks up, wanting to know where Reggie is. Jughead tells moose that he already clobbered Reggie, and points to Reggie, who is lying against a fence, looking like he's been clobbered by Moose. Moose walks off, thinking he's getting absent-minded. In the last panel, Jughead and Reggie are at Pop's, and Reggie is telling Pop that Jughead can have all the burgers he can eat. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Betty Cooper; Jughead Jones |
| Synopsis | Reggie brags that his new pen can write underwater. Jughead responds by saying that his pen can write on water. Reggie tells Jughead to prove it, so Jughead sits down on a frozen lake, puts a piece of paper on the ice and starts writing on the paper. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | This is an unusual layout - two stories each occupying half the page, but instead of being separated horizontally, they're vertical. This gag occupies the left-hand side of the page, being separated from "Cube Boob" by a thick black line in the iddle of the page. |
| Characters | Reggie Mantle; Jughead Jones |
| Synopsis | Jughead tells Reggie that he can prepare him for the ski season. Reggie says it's a deal and hands Jughead some money. Jughead puts some ice cubes on a chair and tells Reggie to sit on them. When Reggie asks how this will prepare him for the ski season, Jughead says that it will prepare him for sitting on the icy ski lifts. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | This gag occupies the right half of the page, being separated from "Pen Yen" by a thick black line down the middle of the page. |
| Characters | Archie Andrews |
| Synopsis | This month features only one article - a first-place article from their recent "Space Vacation" contest. The article was written by Cheryl Anderson of Edina, Minnesota. |
| Letters | Typeset |
| Notes | Occupies the top half of the page, with the usual "Archie Club Member" offer on the bottom half of the page. |
| Characters | Archie Andrews |
| Synopsis | The standard offer where readers could become Archie Club members for $0.50 by filling out the order form and returning it with their payment. |
| Characters | Dilton Doiley; Archie Andrews; Moose Mason |
| Synopsis | An ad encouraging readers to order Archie Comics Digest #34 for $1.00 (including shipping) |
| Notes | Offer expired on April 30th, 1979. Occupies the top half of a page. The bottom half is the standard "3 for $1.00 Checklist". |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper |
| Synopsis | Readers can check off their favorite titles and return the order form with their payments to get three titles for $1.00 or individual titles for $0.35 each. |
| Notes | This month's titles: Archie's Joke Book #253; Betty & Veronica #278; Laugh #335; Pep #346; Life With Archie #202; Jughead #285; Little Archie #139; Archie #277; Archie At Riverdale High #60; Archie's Pals 'N' Gals #129; Everything's Archie #72; World of Archie #480. The last one was part of the "Giant Series". Offer expired April 30th, 1979. Top half of the page was the "Think Small" offer. |
| Characters | Archie Andrews |
| Synopsis | An offer allowing readers to send in for the current year's Christmas specials. |
| Notes | Issues available: Archie's Christmas Stocking #476; Betty and Veronica Christmas Spectacular #477; Archie's Christmas Love-in #478; Sabrina's Christmas Magic #479. All four issues were part of the Giant Series. Prices were 35 cents each, 3 for $1 or 4 for $1.25. Offer expired April 30, 1979. Postage and handling included. |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Moose Mason; Reggie Mantle; Midge Klump |
| Synopsis | Reggie tells Archie that he and Midge are entering in a tandem skateboard contest (guy skateboards while holding girl). He tells Archie that he will be wearing a helmet and knee pads for protection. Archie then tells him that he'll need more protection. When Reggie asks why, Archie says "Here comes jealous Moose!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Reggie Mantle; Betty Cooper; Mr. Waldo Weatherbee; Veronica Lodge (cameo) |
| Synopsis | At an awards ceremony, Mr. Weatherbee tells Reggie that they're awarding him a trophy for athletic achievement. Reggie says he's speechless. As he continues to talk, Archie whispers to Betty that Reggie is now going to take all night to tell them why. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Half-page strip. Occupies the top half of the page with "$uit [Suit] Hoot" occupying the bottom half. Betty and Archie are in the audience. Veronica is not seen or mentioned, but a girl with black hair is sitting to the left of Archie in the audience. |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Veronica Lodge; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | At a dance, Archie tells Veronica and Reggie that his new disco suit is unique. Reggie agrees, adding that it's the only one ever turned down by the thrift shop people. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Half-page strip. Occupies the bottom half of the page, with "Talk Squawk" occupying the top half. |
| Characters | Jughead Jones; Archie Andrews; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Archie, Reggie and Jughead are walking down the street. Reggie tells Archie that Jughead said he could get Reggie four suits for $1. Reggie asks where his four suits are, and Jughead picks up a deck of cards from a display saying "Playing Cards $1.00", then tells Reggie "Right here! Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades!" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Occupies the top half of the page. Bottom half is occupied by "Prize Praise" |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Moose Mason; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Archie and Reggie are sitting at a booth at a restaurant (possibly Pop's/The Chocklit Shoppe), and Reggie is going to tell Archie his big complaint about Moose. Moose leans over the back of the booth and says "Let's hear it!". Frightened and not wanting to get hurt by Moose, Reggie says "There just isn't enough of his sweet disposition to go around" |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Notes | Occupies the bottom half of the page. Top half is occupied by "He's a Card" |
| Characters | Archie Andrews; Veronica Lodge; Reggie Mantle |
| Synopsis | Archie has converted his guitar into a skateboard, and is impressing Veronica by being able to play the guitar and skating at the same time. Veronica tells Reggie that he doesn't seem to be impressed. Reggie yawns, says he isn't and says that he's heard better guitar playing. |
| Genre | Teen; Humor; Gags |
| Characters | Jughead Jones; Reggie Mantle; Archie Andrews |
| Synopsis | Reggie is in the hospital, badly banged up after a skiing accident. Jughead walks into the room and congratulates him. Jughead says he checked with the book of records, and Reggie was right - that trick he did on one ski was the only time it's been performed. |
| Notes | This picture contains an inside joke - Reggie has two casts (one on his arm and the other on his leg). One cast is signed by Archie, Moose, Josie, etc. Most of the names on the other cast are names of people who worked for Archie Comics at the time - Vic (Victor Gorelick), Dan (Dan DeCarlo), Barry (Barry Grossman), Dick (Dick Malmgren), Jim (Jimmy DeCarlo) and Tom D. (Tom DeCarlo). |
| Characters | Josie McCoy; Valerie Brown; Alan M. Mayberry; Alexandra Cabot |
| Synopsis | Valerie tells Josie that Alan M has just received an invitation to go on Alexandra's yacht. Josie talks to Alan and asks him to give up going on the yacht. When he asks for one good reason, Josie whispers something in his ear. Pleased with that reason, he asks for another, and Josie says Hostess Cherry Pies. When Valerie asks what the first reason was, Josie says that it was Hostess Apple Pies. Sometime later, Alan, Josie and Valerie are seen enjoying a picnic with one another, and Alan is happily munching on a fruit pie. Another panel shows Alexandra on her yacht, wondering what Josie had that her yacht didn't. In the last panel, Josie and Valerie say that they hope Alexandra doesn't discover the irresistible appeal of Hostess Fruit Pies. |
| Notes | Ad appears on the back cover |