Pep Comics #110
Pep Comics #110 (July 1955) is a snapshot of the Archie Comics anthology at full mid-century stride, showcasing the publisher's most enduring humor characters in a single issue just as the Golden Age was giving way to the Silver. Most significantly, it features Li'l Jinx — the mischievous young daughter of Hap and Merry Holliday created by Joe Edwards — at a pivotal point: she had been a backup strip in Pep since her debut in 1947 and would spin off into her own title the very next year, in 1956. The issue also carries a Katy Keene story by Bill Woggon, one of the most interactive and reader-participatory features in comics history, at the height of her popularity as a Pep backup. Together these strips make #110 a useful marker for how Archie's anthology model worked in practice, rotating a stable of distinct, creator-driven features that each built their own loyal readership.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
Pep Comics launched in 1940 under MLJ Magazines and ran for 411 issues until 1987 under the Archie Comics imprint, making it one of the longest-running anthology titles in American comics. By the time issue #110 appeared in July 1955, the book had long since completed its transition from superhero anthology — home to The Shield and The Comet in the early 1940s — to a humor-strip showcase anchored by Archie Andrews, who had first appeared in Pep #22 (December 1941). Joe Edwards's Li'l Jinx strip and Bill Woggon's Katy Keene feature were both well-established recurring presences in Pep by this point, each continuing the editorial pattern of using Pep as a nursery for characters who might eventually support their own titles.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Pep Comics #110 was cover-dated July 1955, published by Archie Comics (formerly MLJ Magazines).
- The issue contains the story 'Archie in Be Prepared!', in which Archie visits an ailing Veronica only to find her father, Mr. Lodge, unexpectedly at home.
- Li'l Jinx, created by cartoonist Joe Edwards, appears in a story titled 'Do It Yourself'; she is the mischievous young daughter of Hap and Merry Holliday and had debuted in Pep Comics #62 (July 1947).
- Edwards based Li'l Jinx's misadventures on his own experiences as a parent; her unusual nickname stems from being born on Halloween.
- By 1955, Li'l Jinx was a well-established backup strip one year away from graduating to her own title: Li'l Jinx #1 launched in 1956.
- Katy Keene, Bill Woggon's fashion-forward model character, also appears as a backup feature; Woggon's strip encouraged readers to submit original clothing designs that were drawn and credited in subsequent issues — one of the earliest examples of systematic reader-participation in comic books.
- Wilbur Wilkin, the lovestruck teenager who had first appeared in Zip Comics #18 (September 1941) — three months before Archie's debut — also appears in this issue as a backup feature, as he did across various Archie anthology titles of the era.
- Pep Comics ran continuously from January 1940 through March 1987, totaling 411 issues; issue #110 falls near the end of what is conventionally classified as the Golden Age.
Cast · 8 characters
Full credits
Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
▸ Reveal full plot — may contain spoilers
Archie has been tying his jalopy to objects when he parks so his car won't blow away just in case a hurricane comes along. Thinking Mr. Lodge is in Chicago, Archie goes to see Veronica when he hears she is ill.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).