Archie's Joke Book Magazine #281

A perfect snapshot of summer's end, this 1981 issue opens with Archie cycling alongside a blonde companion, declaring "I've never felt better!" — until she casually mentions school starts soon, and his mood crashes just as fast. Stan Goldberg's three-panel cover tells the whole joke with cheerful efficiency, capturing that universal late-August dread with a grin. Inside, writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo Jr. keep the laughs coming across a full lineup of Riverdale gags.