Pep Comics #66
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freePep Comics #66 (March 1948) represents the definitive institutional handover of Pep Comics from its Golden Age superhero identity to a purely humor-driven teen anthology. With the Shield's eight-year run having concluded the previous issue (#65, January 1948), #66 was the first issue to publish without any active superhero lead feature — completing a transition that had been building since Archie Andrews first appeared in #22 back in December 1941. The issue also carries Katy Keene's reader-participation 'Kut-Ups' paper-doll fashion feature, an early example of interactive audience-design content in comics, and maintains the Shield G-Man Club page in a form that was being actively phased out in favor of the Archie Club — making this issue a hinge point between two distinct eras of American humor comics publishing.
In "Home Sweet Home," Archie and his dad take on a DIY home renovation that quickly spirals out of control when their budget falls short and the house ends up sold and condemned. With Bill Vigoda handling both pencils and inks, the story captures the chaos and humor of a family’s ill-fated remodeling attempt, all while Al Fagaly’s cover art perfectly caps off the misadventure.
In "Home Sweet Home," Archie and his dad take on a DIY home remodel that quickly spirals when the budget falls short—leading to a series of mishaps, an unexpected sale, and a surprise condemnation. Now sleeping in a tent on their own front lawn, the pair must figure out how to make things right before the house is gone for good.
In this 1948 Pep Comics gem, Jughead tries to dodge trouble by steering clear of Archie—only to accidentally tumble into a garbage truck and land squarely in the crosshairs of a shotgun-wielding Archie, sending him on a wild, one-panel fall. The story’s classic humor shines in its absurd escalation, all captured in just five pages of pure, unfiltered teen mischief.
In "R.I.P." from Pep Comics #66 (1948), Gus finds himself in a hospital bed—only it’s not his own. After taking over the body of a patient, he’s thrilled by his new lease on life until a news headline shocks him: the man he’s inhabiting was a criminal, and now, thanks to a recent electrocution, his body’s been reanimated.
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By the time #66 reached newsstands in March 1948, editorial authority over Pep Comics had already shifted from MLJ's superhero-era editor Harry Shorten — who had guided the title through #65 — to the fully Archie-branded Archie Comic Publications Inc., a name change in the indicia that had actually begun with issue #57 (June 1946). The art roster for this issue reflects the mature Archie house style of the late 1940s: cover and interior Archie stories by Al Fagaly, the Archie and Jughead humor strips by Bill Vigoda, Bill Woggon writing and drawing Katy Keene, and Joe Edwards handling Li'l Jinx — a stable of artists who would collectively define Archie's look for the next decade. The issue was published on a bi-monthly schedule, consistent with Pep's reduced frequency during the mid-to-late 1940s.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Published March 1948 by Archie Comic Publications Inc. (formerly MLJ Magazines); 52 pages, 10-cent cover price.
- First issue of Pep Comics following the permanent end of 'The Original Shield and Dusty the Boy Detective,' whose eight-year run concluded in #65 (January 1948) — making #66 the title's first fully superhero-free issue.
- The Shield G-Man Club readers' club page, a fixture since Pep Comics #15 (May 1941), appears here in transitional form — it became 'The Archie Club' with the following issue (#67), completing Archie Andrews' full symbolic takeover of the title's institutional identity.
- Interior stories confirmed by MyComicShop's indexed contents: 'Home Sweet Home' (Archie, art by Bill Vigoda); an untitled Katy Keene story (script and art by Bill Woggon); an untitled Jughead story (art by Bill Vigoda); an untitled Li'l Jinx story (script and art by Joe Edwards); and 'Gloomy Gus the Homeless Ghost' (art by Red Holmdale).
- Features a Katy Keene paper doll / 'Kut-Ups' fashion cut-out page — Bill Woggon's reader-sourced fashion concept, in which fan-submitted costume designs were illustrated and the contributing readers were credited by name in the issue.
- Cover art by Al Fagaly, who served as the primary Archie cover and interior artist during this transitional late-1940s period.
- Also includes a Nevada Jones story, confirming the title's use of Western humor strips as part of its broadened post-superhero anthology lineup.
- Issue was digitally reprinted by Archie Comics as part of their 'Archie's Pep Comics' digital reprint line (available via Amazon Kindle/Archie Superstars imprint), indicating ongoing curatorial interest in the 1940s Pep run.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in America's 1st Patriotic Comic Book Hero, The Shield #1 (2002), Archie Archives #9
Key issues in Pep Comics
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