Pep #404

This January 1986 issue of Pep delivers a thoroughly entertaining two-panel cover by Dan DeCarlo, featuring Coach Grundy in her orange tracksuit promising an "inspirational half-time pep talk" to her girls' soccer team — only for the bottom panel to reveal her true motivational strategy: "Win, or I'll pile on the homework!" Archie lurks in the background as the team, dressed in blue-and-gold uniforms, reacts with wide-eyed alarm in the locker room. It's a warm, funny snapshot of Riverdale humor that captures everything charming about Archie Comics' slice-of-life storytelling at 65 cents a pop.