Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #225
Published February 1974
Cover Price 0.20 USD
Pages 36
Editing Richard H. Goldwater
Notes Part of a panel from the story "Nothing But The Tooth" is seen above the logo.

Cover Details - "Welcome to Transylvania!"

Characters Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper; Jughead Jones; Veronica Lodge; Reggie Mantle
Genre Teen; humor
Pencils Dan DeCarlo
Notes Part of a panel from the story "Nothing But The Tooth" is seen above the logo.

6 page Jughead story "Sign Out"

Characters Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones; Reggie Mantle; Pop Tate; un-named bookstore owner
Synopsis Archie and Reggie are at Jughead's house, and Reggie is going through a pile of old books on a table. He asks Jughead if they're first editions and Jughead says they are. Reggie asks Jughead if he's kidding, and Jughead tells Reggie that nobody's asking him to believe it. Reggie continues looking through the books, and, apparently surprised by what he sees, says "Gulp!" and "Eep!". Archie asks Jughead about it, but Jughead shushes him. Jughead asks Reggie if something's wrong, and Reggie tells Jughead that it's crazy, but he has this thing about junk. Jughead and Archie both say that they didn't know this, and Reggie says that it's not for anything valuable - just worthless old junk like those books. Reggie convinces Jughead to sell the books to him for $20, and Reggie runs off excitedly with the books. Archie asks about the "first editions" and Jughead says "First ones I ever had!" (emphasis on "I") - besides, he TOLD Reggie that he wasn't asking him to believe him. He then tells Archie that he found them in the trash outside the library and that the books were too worn out to repair. Meanwhile, Reggie is seen running into a rare book dealer. He tells the owner that the books are first editions, and that they're autographed too. The owner looks puzzled at the autographs - "Bill Shakespeare", "Chuck Dickens" and "Hank Longfellow" [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]. He then looks at another book and Reggie thinks the books are worth a small fortune. The man says he likes that book's autograph - "To our pal Jughead from Cleo and Marc Antony". Reggie asks what book that autograph appears in, and the dealer says that it's the 1970 World Almanac. Reggie then realizes that he's been had. He finds Jughead and complains that Jughead wrote in the books. Jughead says he did and that he was just fooling around with a new pen he got - besides, as Reggie said, they were just worthless old books anyway - and only an idiot would take the autographs seriously... Reggie walks off saying he got a big laugh out of them, trying not to let on that he actually believed the autographs (even though Jughead and Archie already know this). In the last panel, Jughead and Archie are seen sitting in Pop Tate's. Pop is holding a piece of paper that says "Best Wishes, Ben Franklin" on it. He says that he doesn't need another autograph of Ben Franklin - how about some cash for a change? Archie says that Jughead is a wild man with his pen and tells him to pay Pop - he's GOT $20. Jughead says that there wasn't any harm in trying.
Genre Teen; Humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Samm Schwartz
Inks Samm Schwartz
Letters Samm Schwartz
Notes This is a great example of Jughead outwitting Reggie.

1 page Archie text article "Archie Club News"

Characters Archie Andrews
Synopsis The monthly feature showcasing winning articles from Archie Club members. This month's winners are Diane Smith of Cleveland [$5 First Prize for her article on the dangers of smoking] and Tadhg O'Connor of Danburg, Connecticut [$3 Second Prize for their article on hamsters].
Script Diane Smith; Tadhg O'Connor
Letters Typeset
Notes Top half of the page contains the two winning articles. Bottom half is the obligatory offer to join the Archie Club. Membership cost 25 cents.

1 page Li'l Jinx filler "Just Like in Big Business"

Characters Li'l Jinx; Hap Holliday
Synopsis Li'l Jinx is selling her paintings outside her house. Her dad asks her how business is going, and she says not too good. Her dad says her paintings are good, and asks her how much a particular painting is. Li'l Jinx says that it's $1, and her dad says that's a little high. Li'l Jinx says in her dad's case, she can give him a discount
Genre Children; Humor
Script Joe Edwards
Pencils Joe Edwards
Inks Joe Edwards
Letters Joe Edwards

6 page Jughead story "Scare Fare"

Characters Betty Cooper; Jughead Jones; Stanley (boy Betty is babysitting)
Synopsis Jughead walks up as Betty is talking to a boy she's babysitting. Stanley wants Betty to tell him a story, but Betty says she's afraid he won't sleep tonight if she does. He says that the other night he fell asleep watching "The Green Blood of the Vampire Ghouls" and Jughead encourages Betty to tell him a story. Betty agrees, but tells Jughead he's too old for that stuff and that he doesn't have to stick around. Jughead says he likes storytelling and sticks around anyway. Betty proceeds to tell them about a wicked king. One morning this king woke up to find that there wasn't any breakfast. He screamed ("Eeyagh!"), and got really mad. He raced across the country with his arm, ravaging, pillaging and destroying. Anyone who dis-pleased this king was thrown in jail. He was by far the rottenest of the rotten kings, and is seen literally jumping on people. The story continues. Once this king came upon an island of happy contented people - and proceeded to sink the entire island with everyone on it. The king painted people red and put them in a field with vicious bulls. But the bulls weren't half as vicious as the king. He conquered the world - even putting his own family into slavery. The heat of his anger continued to get hotter until it eventually melted the entire world. After the story finishes, Stanley asks Jughead if the story scared him too. Jughead says it's the most horrifying story he's heard in years. In the last panel, Jughead is obviously frightened by the thought of no breakfast, which Stanley and Betty can't believe.
Genre Teen; Humor
Script George Gladir
Pencils Samm Schwartz
Inks Samm Schwartz
Letters Samm Schwartz

1 page Archie Comics Digest advertisement "160 pages of stories and fun"

Characters Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper; Dilton Doiley; Midge Klump; Jughead Jones; Li'l Jinx; Reggie Mantle; Moose Mason; Ethel Muggs
Synopsis An ad for Archie Comics Digest #4
Notes Price was 50 cents for a 160-page digest. Offer didn't expire. Postage and handling paid.

6 page Jughead story "The Rope Trick"

Characters Jughead Jones; Reggie Mantle; Pop Tate; two un-named girls
Synopsis Jughead is walking along. Two young girls are standing there with a jump rope. One girl tells Jughead that her mom said he was a champion rope-skipper when he was a kid. The other girl asks if Jughead will teach them how to skip rope. Jughead proceeds to tell the girls that he can't, and about his reputation for hating girls. The girls convince him to show them anyway, and Jughead and the girls look around to make sure nobody's around. Jughead then proceeds to show off his skills and teach the girls how to skip rope. Suddenly, Reggie pops up from a nearby bush with a movie camera, saying how most guys get a new movie camera and nothing interesting happens - but not him... He then runs off to show the film to the rest of the gang, even though Jughead pleads with him not to. The girls, realizing that this is really their fault, decide they can't let a nice guy like Jughead get destroyed by Reggie's evil pranks, and proceed to trip him with their rope. Jughead jokingly says how awful it is that Reggie's new camera opened and all his film is ruined. In the last panel, we see Jughead sipping sodas with the two girls at Pop's, as Pop Tate is wishing he had a camera - nobody would ever believe that scene.
Genre Teen; Humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Samm Schwartz
Inks Samm Schwartz
Letters Samm Schwartz

5 page Jughead story "Nothing But The Tooth"

Characters Archie Andrews; Miss Geraldine Grundy; Jughead Jones; Veronica Lodge; Reggie Mantle; Mr. Waldo Weatherbee; un-named spoiled brat; un-named brat's mother
Synopsis Jughead has gotten a role as Dracula in the school play. Dressed as a vampire, complete with cape and fangs, Jughead walks through the halls of Riverdale High and down the streets of Riverdale practicing his lines. Archie and the gang decide to follow him to see where he's going. As he's walking down the street, a kid is running away from his mom. Archie and Veronica both agree that the kid is a spoiled brat as his mom chases after him. His mom tells him that kids who don't obey their mothers get into all kinds of trouble. Just as the kid is telling his mom that this isn't true, Jughead walks up, spreads his cape, and, looking sinister, says "Walcome to Transylvania!". This frightens the kid, who goes running back to his mom, and jumps up, hugging her neck and saying that he'll be good and doesn't want to be sent to Transylvania. Grateful, the mother gives Jughead $20. Jughead takes the money and goes to eat at a nice restaurant (still dressed as Dracula) while the gang looks on wondering how he managed to get so lucky.
Genre Teen; Humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Samm Schwartz
Inks Samm Schwartz
Letters Samm Schwartz
Notes Transylvania is a historic region in Romania. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transylvania for more information.