Pep #223

Pep #223 brings the whole Riverdale gang together for some classic teen comedy, with the cover's three-panel sequence telling a wonderfully relatable story: Mr. Lodge, in his bathrobe and slippers, sternly forbidding Veronica from watching TV after eleven — only for the next panel to reveal Veronica, Archie, and Jughead happily watching a set they've dragged out into the backyard under the crescent moon. The top banner features the full ensemble of familiar faces peering over the logo, giving the whole cover an energetic, crowd-pleasing feel. At 12 cents, this 1968 Archie Series entry pairs that breezy cover gag with the gloriously wordy story title "Future Plans or What Happened in the Past is What Used to Was, But Not Necessarily What Has to Be!" — promising the kind of lighthearted, witty fun that made Pep a staple of the era.