Laugh Comics / Laugh #97
Laugh Comics #97 (April 1959) marks the final appearance of the 'Pat the Brat' backup feature within the Laugh Comics anthology, closing out a chapter of Archie's multi-character humor experiment as that strip retreated entirely to its own standalone title. The issue also captures Katy Keene — Bill Woggon's fan-interactive fashion star — at the height of her original run, just two years before her solo series wrapped in 1961 after 62 issues. As a late-Silver Age Archie anthology, it showcases the full breadth of Archie's stable: teen humor, children's strips (Li'l Jinx), fashion comedy (Katy Keene), and Wilbur Wilkin relationship gags, demonstrating how the publisher used Laugh Comics as a proving and rotating ground for characters with their own series.
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Published in April 1959, the issue carried a ten-cent cover price and ran 36 full-color pages, placing it squarely in Archie's Silver Age anthology period when the company rotated an unusually wide cast of features through its flagship humor title. Cover art was produced by Harry Lucey (pencils) and Terry Szenics (inks), the regular Archie creative team of the era. The Katy Keene stories were scripted and pencilled by Bill Woggon with inks by Hazel Marten and Kathryn Bill, while the Li'l Jinx strips were written and drawn by Joe Edwards, who had created Jinx for Pep Comics back in 1947 and personally based the character's misadventures on his own experiences as a father. A one-page 'Count Off' piece by Joe Harold appears to have been among the earliest outings for the character eventually known as Shrimpy, with surviving production art suggesting the feature's name was still undecided at press time.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published April 1959 by Archie Publications; 36 pages, full color, ten-cent cover price.
- Cover art by Harry Lucey (pencils) and Terry Szenics (inks).
- This issue marks the final appearance of the 'Pat the Brat' feature within Laugh Comics, though the character continued in its own dedicated series (Pat the Brat, 1956 series) at the time.
- Katy Keene stories written and drawn by Bill Woggon (with inks by Hazel Marten and Kathryn Bill); Katy had debuted in Wilbur Comics #5 in summer 1945 and was billed as 'America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions,' with reader-submitted fashion designs incorporated into strips with published credit.
- Li'l Jinx stories scripted and drawn by Joe Edwards, who created the character for Pep Comics #62 (July 1947) and based her adventures on his own parenting experiences.
- The Li'l Jinx supporting cast present in this issue — Charley Hawse, Greg, and Gigi — were recurring neighborhood friends established across the feature's long anthology run.
- A one-page story ('Count Off') by Joe Harold, featuring the Brando and Peggy characters, appears to be an early — possibly the first — outing for the character later known as Shrimpy, with surviving original art showing the feature name was still in flux during production.
- The issue assembles characters from at least five distinct Archie feature properties in a single anthology: Archie/Riverdale cast, Katy Keene, Li'l Jinx, Pat the Brat, and the Wilbur Wilkin strip (featuring Laurie Lake and Wilbur).
Cast · 22 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Warned that Archie is coming over, Mr. Lodge and Smithers hide as many priceless heirlooms as they can and set out worthless junk pieces for Archie to accidentally break.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).