Little Archie Giant Comics #17
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeLittle Archie Giant Comics #17 (on sale October 1960, cover-dated Winter 1960–61) is a representative showcase of Bob Bolling's creative peak on the series — the last several issues before the title retitled to The Adventures of Little Archie with #19. The issue blends Bolling's signature tonal range in a single volume: a dialogue-free strip, a fully rhyming Christmas story, and a multi-page adventure that uses the contrast between realistic adults and cartoonish children to carry genuine emotional weight about predators and the natural world. It also brings together, under one cover, the two great child-ensemble strips Archie published in this era — Little Archie and Li'l Jinx — demonstrating how Archie Comics used its oversized 'Giant' format to cross-pollinate its youth-oriented features.
In "The Big Loser," Little Archie ventures to Moosehorn Lumber Camp with his father, where he bonds with Pocahontas, the lumberjacks' loyal dog, after she’s injured protecting her puppies from a cougar. When a lumberjack named Pierre is trapped in an avalanche, Little Archie must brave the wilderness alone to find help—only to face the same cougar that threatened Pocahontas, forcing him to flee for his life. Written and illustrated by Bob Bolling, this 1960 adventure captures the spirit of young courage in the wild, with cover art by Bob Bolling.
In "The Big Loser," Ambrose’s relentless pursuit of being Little Archie’s pal takes a surprising turn when he steps in to race Reggie’s ice boat on Crystal Lake—though Little Archie never agreed to the challenge. The stakes are high, the ice is slick, and Ambrose’s enthusiasm might just outpace his sense of direction.
In "Cougar," Little Archie finds himself deep in the wilderness of Moosehorn Lumber Camp, where he bonds with Pocahontas, the lumberjacks’ loyal dog. When Pocahontas is injured protecting her puppies from a cougar, Little Archie’s adventure takes a dangerous turn—soon after, he and lumberjack Pierre are caught in an avalanche, leaving him alone and injured as he flees a second encounter with the same fierce predator.
When Mary’s chocolate cream pie vanishes during supper, suspicion swirls between Fred and Little Archie—each blaming the other. With the case too tricky for the usual suspects, it’s up to Ambrose to untangle the truth behind the missing dessert.
In "The Perfect Day," Little Archie sets out to spend an entire school day without breaking a single rule—much to the growing frustration of Mr. Weatherbee and Miss Grundy, who can’t stop watching for the inevitable slip-up.
Betty’s stuck in bed with a cold, but that doesn’t stop her from falling head over heels for the dramatic radio soap opera *The Romance of Jill and Bill*. Once she’s well enough to return to school, she’s determined not to miss a single episode—so she sneaks a tiny portable radio into her backpack.
ComicBooks.com Value
Find on ebay
Read it digitally
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
The Little Archie Giant Comics series launched in 1957 as a companion to the standard Little Archie title, giving Bob Bolling — the sole writer-artist of the series during this period — the extra page count to develop longer adventure stories alongside shorter gag strips. Bolling wrote, drew, and inked every story himself, assisted on coloring by studio-mate Dexter Taylor, working under editor Richard H. Goldwater with considerable creative latitude from editor Harry Shorten. Issue #17 went on sale October 14, 1960, and sits near the end of the 'Little Archie Giant Comics' series banner; with issue #19 the title became The Adventures of Little Archie.
Trivia · 10 facts
- Published by Archie Comic Publications Inc.; on-sale date October 14, 1960; cover date Winter 1960–61; edited by Richard H. Goldwater.
- Bob Bolling served as sole writer and artist of all Little Archie stories in this period, writing, drawing, and inking every story with colorist assistance from Dexter Taylor.
- The issue includes a multi-page Bolling adventure story set at Moosehorn Lumber Camp, featuring Little Archie, his father Fred, a cougar, and a lumberjack named Pierre — noted by GCD annotators as a prime example of Bolling weaving action-adventure with environmental/nature themes, including the moral that predators act from their own reasons.
- A Christmas story in this issue is told entirely in verse ('Twas a few days before Christmas...'), with Reggie navigating a school gift-exchange — one of Bolling's experiments with unconventional storytelling formats.
- The issue also contains a story told with no dialogue whatsoever, illustrating Bolling's range as a purely visual storyteller.
- Li'l Jinx (created by Joe Edwards, who first appeared in Pep Comics #62, July 1947) appears in this issue alongside her supporting cast including Greg — consistent with her recurring presence in the oversized Little Archie format throughout this era.
- The 'Shrimpy' strip — Archie's thinly veiled Peanuts tribute, which first appeared in this series with issue #11 — continues here as an ongoing back-up feature.
- Little Ambrose Pipps, a Bolling original created specifically for the Little Archie universe (and the only such character to spin off into his own one-shot title, Little Ambrose #1, September 1958), appears prominently in multiple stories, including one where he steps up to race on Crystal Lake on behalf of a reluctant Little Archie.
- At least one story from this issue ('Little Archie fakes being sick') was later reprinted in Laugh Comics Digest #162 (January 2001), Archie's Funhouse Double Digest #18 (March 2016), and World of Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #117.
- All issues in the Little Archie Giant Comics series were distributed with a Canadian edition carrying a 35-cent cover price versus the U.S. 25-cent price.
Cast · 21 characters
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Little Archie Comics Digest Annual Magazine #12 (1983), Little Archie Comics Digest Annual Magazine #14 (1984), Little Archie Comics Digest Magazine #29 (1988), Laugh Comics Digest / Laugh Comics Digest Magazine / Laugh Digest Magazine #162 (2001), Archie's Double Digest Magazine #131 (2002), Archie Comics Digest #247 (2008), Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #224 (2012), Archie's Funhouse Double Digest #11 (2015), Archie's Funhouse Double Digest #18 (2016), Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #271 (2016), Archie's Big Book #1 (2017), Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #294 (2019), Archie Milestones Jumbo Comics Digest #4 (2019), Betty & Veronica (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #290 (2021), Archie 80th Anniversary Jumbo Comics Digest #5 (2022), Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #327 (2022), World of Archie (Jumbo Comics) Double Digest #117 (2022)
Variants (1)
Reviews
Reader reviews
No reader reviews yet.