Pep #357

Archie means well — that much is clear from this cheerful 1980 issue of Pep, where he belts out "Happy Birthday to You" on electric guitar while a silver-haired man clutches his ears in agony and a dark-haired young woman asks the punchline-ready question floating in a speech bubble above a festive birthday cake. The whole gang peeks in from the top of the cover, framing the birthday chaos with the warm ensemble energy that made Archie Comics Group a household staple. It's a perfectly silly snapshot of Riverdale at its most good-natured, rounding out a fun issue that also features the story "Yearn to Earn.