Pep Comics #22 for Sale - First Appearance of Archie Andrews - Where to Buy

Identification plate

Series: Pep Comics (Archie, 1940 series)
Issue: #22
Publication date: December 1941
Key date: 1941-12-00
On-sale date: 1941-10-15
Indicia publisher: M. L. J. Magazines Inc.
Price: $0.10
Pages: 68

Match the book in your hand against this plate before paying an edition-specific price.

Why this issue matters

First appearance of Archie Andrews - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Betty Cooper - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Jughead Jones - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

First appearance of Fred Andrews - the earliest non-flashback appearance on record for this character.

The evidence

Claims here come from the story records for this issue, listed under Sources at the bottom of the file. Character hubs with full evidence tables are coming to this site.

Seq	Story	Type	Pages	Credits	Characters
0	-	cover	1	pencils: Irv Novick; inks: Irv Novick	Bob Dickering, Dusty, The Hangman, Joe Higgins, The Shield, Dustin Simmons
1	Shield G-Man Club	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.25		Joe Higgins, The Shield
2	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	0.75	script: ? [as Joe Higgins]; letters: typeset
3	Death of a Double	comic story	13	script: Harry Shorten; pencils: Irv Novick; inks: Irv Novick	Dusty, Joe Higgins, The Shield, Dustin Simmons
4	-	comic story	11	script: Joe Blair; pencils: Harry Lucey; inks: Harry Lucey	Bob Dickering, The Hangman
5	-	promo (ad from the publisher)	1	pencils: Art Seymour; inks: Art Seymour	Roy Carter, Dusty, Joe Higgins, Roy the Super-Boy, The Shield, Dustin Simmons, Blane Whitney, The Wizard
6	Spumoni the Puppet Master	comic story	7	script: Harry Shorten; pencils: Lin Streeter; inks: Lin Streeter	Danny; Kupkake; Spumoni (villain, introduction); Snapper (dog)
7	A Little Detour to France	comic story	8	script: Bob Wood; pencils: Carl Hubbell; inks: Carl Hubbell	Sergeant Boyle
8	The Breakup of the Sky Pirates	comic story	6	script: Joe Blair; pencils: Ed Smalle; inks: Ed Smalle	Nazis; Sky Pirates [Price; Jolly Roger; Frank Root; Marty Martin]
9	-	comic story	6	script: Victor Bloom; pencils: Bob Montana; inks: Bob Montana	Archie Andrews First, Fred Andrews First, Betty Cooper First, Jughead Jones First
10	The Case of Crummy King	comic story	6	script: Harry Shorten; pencils: Art Seymour; inks: Art Seymour	Eddie "Kayo" Ward
11	The Case of the Sea Serpent	comic story	6	script: Joe Blair; pencils: Paul Reinman; inks: Paul Reinman	Inspector Bentley

Plus 2 pages of advertisements and other matter across 2 sequences, as published.

Where to read it

Collection	Year
Best of the Forties ISBN 1-879794-00-4	1991	On eBay ›
Archie Comics Digest #236	2007	On eBay ›
The Best of Archie #[nn] ISBN 0-399-50493-1	1980	On eBay ›
Archie: His First 50 Years #[nn] ISBN 0-89660-035-1	1991	On eBay ›
Archie Firsts #1 ISBN 978-1-59582-571-1	2010	On eBay ›
Archie Archives #1 ISBN 978-1-59582-716-6	2011	On eBay ›
The Best of Archie Comics #[1] ISBN 978-1-879794-84-9	2011	On eBay ›
Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #260	2015	On eBay ›
Archie #1	2015	On eBay ›

Reading the story costs a fraction of owning the issue. Both routes are on every file.

Before you buy

Golden-age paper is brittle. Ask about page suppleness and check edges for chips in the photos.
Check for trimmed edges, married covers, and clipped coupons - all common on books this old.
Confirm the indicia matches this plate; many golden-age titles changed names mid-run.

Series context

‹ #2122 of 136#23 ›

Sources

Grand Comics Database, issue record (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Found an error in this file? corrections@comicrecord.com