Archie and Me #53
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeArchie and Me #53 is a representative example of the Bronze Age giant-size format that Archie Publications used throughout the early 1970s to deliver an unusually dense roster of Riverdale faculty characters in a single issue. The December 1972 issue assembles virtually the entire Riverdale High staff — from Mr. Weatherbee and Miss Grundy to the then-recently introduced Miss Haggly — alongside the self-contained Li'l Jinx universe, illustrating how Archie routinely used its anthology format to cross-pollinate its separate strips for readers who might encounter one sub-cast for the first time. While not a debut issue for any character in the catalog, it stands as a strong snapshot of how broadly the Archie line had expanded its supporting ensemble by the early Bronze Age, particularly the deepening of the school faculty as a comedic ensemble in their own right.
In "Weight Fate," Mr. Weatherbee faces a surprisingly sweet struggle as he tries to resist the siren call of overeating—until he discovers that a large photo of Archie on his fridge has an unexpected side effect: it keeps his cravings in check. The sight of Archie’s familiar face becomes an unlikely tool in his battle of willpower, turning a simple kitchen moment into a daily test of restraint.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Archie and Me launched in October 1964 and ran through 1987, with most issues built around the comedic friction between Archie Andrews and school principal Mr. Weatherbee — the 'Me' of the title widely understood to refer to Weatherbee himself. By the time issue #53 reached newsstands in December 1972, the series had settled into a giant-size format running approximately 52 pages, allowing room for backup Li'l Jinx strips alongside the Weatherbee-centric lead stories. The 'Approval Approach' story in this issue carries confirmed credits — pencils by Al Hartley and inks by Joe Sinnott — while the cover is tentatively attributed to Dan DeCarlo, though that attribution carries a caveat in the Grand Comics Database.
Trivia · 7 facts
- The series Archie and Me ran from 1964 to 1987, with its stories centered on the comedic relationship between Archie Andrews and Principal Mr. Weatherbee, the implied 'Me' of the title.
- The issue's cover is tentatively attributed to Dan DeCarlo (per Grand Comics Database, with a noted uncertainty); the interior story 'Approval Approach' is credited to penciler Al Hartley and inker Joe Sinnott.
- Story contents include: 'Mum's the Word' (Mr. Weatherbee's secret birthday), 'Approval Approach' (Weatherbee tries confidence-building techniques on Archie), 'Super Cool' (Archie meets Weatherbee in a supermarket), 'Meddle Muddle' (Weatherbee bets on the football team), 'The Write Way!' (a Li'l Jinx and Charley Hawse backup story), 'Something Secret' (Miss Beazley reacts to criticism of her cooking), and others.
- Li'l Jinx, who appears via her backup strip, is a Joe Edwards creation who first appeared in Pep Comics #62 (July 1947); her dedicated series Li'l Jinx Giant Laugh-Out was running concurrently with this issue (1971–1973).
- Li'l Jinx's supporting cast present in this issue — Charley Hawse (a sometimes-bully, sometimes-friend) and Greg (a childhood sweetheart figure) — are core recurring characters of the Li'l Jinx strip; Russ is one of the African-American friends Edwards added to Jinx's circle following the civil rights movement.
- Miss Haggly — described across multiple sources as supposedly Riverdale High's oldest teacher, depicted as white-haired and unexpectedly hip — appears in this issue; her confirmed first appearance was in Archie and Me #50 (August 1972), just three issues prior.
- Miss Phlips, Mr. Weatherbee's secretary and a comparatively newer addition to the faculty ensemble, also appears; she is consistently characterized as younger and more glamorous than the aging core faculty like Grundy, Beazley, and Haggly.
Cast · 15 characters
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Reprints
↩ Reprints Life with Archie #75 (1968)
Reprinted in Archie... Archie Andrews, Where Are You? Comics Digest Magazine #20 (1981), Jughead with Archie Digest #47 (1981), Jughead with Archie Digest #50 (1982), Laugh Comics Digest / Laugh Comics Digest Magazine / Laugh Digest Magazine #42 (1982), Archie's Double Digest Magazine #35 (1988), Archie's Story & Game Digest Magazine #35 (1996), Jughead's Double Digest #69 (2000), Archie's Camp Tales #[nn] (2007), Jughead's Double Digest #173 (2011), Archie & Friends All Stars #25 (2015), Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #310 (2020)
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