Archie #503

Any student buried under a mountain of schoolwork will instantly relate to this January 2001 issue of Archie, where the cover — penciled by Stan Goldberg and inked by Bob Smith — finds Archie standing over a desk piled high with Chemistry, History, and Algebra textbooks, exclaiming to his friends that they really piled on the homework. A red-haired girl looks up in mild exasperation while a bald classmate hunches over his notes, the whole scene lit by a bright desk lamp that perfectly captures that after-school study grind. It's the kind of warm, slice-of-life Riverdale moment that makes Archie such an enduringly enjoyable read.