Archie #490

The cover of this December 1999 issue says it all — Archie is mid-climb on a rope ladder, clearly attempting to sneak through a school window, while a stern, bald authority figure (Principal Weatherbee, no doubt) catches him red-handed outside Riverdale High School with the exasperated line, "Sneaking in to school again, Archie?!" It's a wonderfully energetic snapshot of the kind of lovable mischief that has kept Riverdale's most accident-prone redhead in trouble for decades. With cover art by Stan Goldberg and Bob Smith, this issue captures the lighthearted charm that makes the Archie series such enduring fun.