The Adventures of Little Archie #24
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeThe Adventures of Little Archie #24 is the first appearance of Mad Doctor Doom and his teenaged accomplice Chester, who went on to become the most durable villains in the entire Little Archie corner of the Archie universe. The issue arrived on newsstands in the fall of 1962 at almost the same moment Marvel's Fantastic Four was introducing its own Doctor Doom, making the shared name one of the more intriguing coincidences of the Silver Age — with scholarly consensus firmly treating the two as independent creations rather than any act of deliberate imitation. Beyond its villain debut, the issue showcases Bob Bolling's distinctive ambition for the series: a single anthology issue manages a superhero-adjacent action story, a slice-of-life domestic comedy, a crime caper, and a judo bildungsroman, demonstrating why Little Archie is widely regarded as the most creatively expansive of all the Archie spin-offs.
In "The Gentle Way," a 1962 classic from The Adventures of Little Archie, a bank robber hides his loot at the bottom of Carson's Creek—just as Little Archie, Reggie, and Moose dive in, searching for old bottles. Written, drawn, and inked by Bob Bolling, with colors by Victor Gorelick and lettering by Bolling himself, this issue captures the charm and quiet mischief of early Archie comics, all under a cover by Bob Bolling.
When Mad Doctor Doom rigs toy robots from Tacky Toy Company with hypnotic devices, chaos erupts in the town—especially when Chester Punkett and his boss encounter the mind-controlled machines during a routine shopping trip. With un-named shoppers and clerks caught in the robotic spell, it’s up to Chester and his boss to outwit the mechanical menace before the whole town falls under Doom’s control.
When a bank robber hides his loot at the bottom of Carson's Creek, Little Archie, Reggie, and Moose stumble into the mystery during a casual dive for old bottles—just as the thief returns to reclaim his fortune. With the un-named policemen on the scene, the boys find themselves in a sticky situation they never saw coming.
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Bob Bolling, the primary writer-artist driving the Little Archie series since its 1956 launch, created both Mad Doctor Doom and Chester entirely on his own — the villain's now-signature green skin, however, was not part of Bolling's original vision. As Bolling recalled in a 2005 Comic-Con International interview, it was colorist Victor Gorelick who made that choice unilaterally, prompting Bolling to ask him 'what did you color him green for?' before eventually embracing the look. The issue also contains a semi-autobiographical element: the lead story, 'The Gentle Way,' in which Little Archie takes up judo over his mother's objections, was inspired by the fact that Bolling himself was taking judo lessons at the time, as he confirmed in a March 2004 Comic Book Artist interview.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of Mad Doctor Doom and his assistant Chester Punkett, who became the most popular recurring villains in the Little Archie series (GCD, scans-daily, CBR, Rip Jagger's Dojo).
- Mad Doctor Doom's green skin was not scripted by creator Bob Bolling — it was an on-the-fly coloring decision by Victor Gorelick, as Bolling confirmed in a 2005 Comic-Con International interview.
- The issue was published Fall 1962 (cover-dated September 1962) by Archie Comic Publications; 68 pages; cover art and interior stories by Bob Bolling and Dexter Taylor.
- The lead villain story is titled 'Robots of Doom': Mad Doctor Doom implants mind-control devices in toy robots distributed to a department store, with Little Archie — accidentally shielded inside a knight's helmet — the only person who escapes hypnosis and defeats the scheme.
- The issue is a genuine Silver Age anthology, containing at least five distinct stories by two creative teams: Bob Bolling ('The Gentle Way,' 'Robots of Doom,' 'One Quiet Night,' 'Makes the Eel Kneel') and Dexter Taylor ('The Lucky Day,' 'The Flying Ace'), plus a Li'l Jinx humor page by Joe Edwards and a non-fiction historical article on Jamestown, Virginia.
- The 'Robots of Doom' story was reprinted in Archie Annual Digest #28 (1976) and again in Archie Classics – The Adventures of Little Archie (2004 series) #1, with artwork restoration credited to Jamison Services.
- The Archie name 'Doctor Doom' and Marvel's Doctor Doom (Fantastic Four #5, 1962) share only a coincidental naming overlap; both publishers independently revived a Golden Age villain name from Fox Features' Science Comics #1.
- Mad Doctor Doom's legacy has continued into the 21st century: the character has appeared in mainstream Archie continuity (Archie #610) and his daughter Medusa Doom was introduced in Betty and Veronica Friends Forever: Spy Girls #1.
Cast · 16 characters
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Reprints
Reprinted in Archie Annual Digest #28 (1976), Laugh Comics Digest / Laugh Comics Digest Magazine / Laugh Digest Magazine #5 (1976), Laugh Comics Digest / Laugh Comics Digest Magazine / Laugh Digest Magazine #6 (1976), Little Archie Comics Digest Annual #1 (1977), Archie... Archie Andrews, Where Are You? Comics Digest Magazine #4 (1977), Jokebook Comics Digest Annual #3 (1978), Little Archie Comics Digest Annual #4 (1979), Archie's Double Digest Quarterly Magazine #3 (1982), Archie's Double Digest Quarterly Magazine #8 (1983), Archie Classics - The Adventures of Little Archie #1 (2004), Archie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest Magazine #92 (2005), B&V Friends Double Digest Magazine #213 (2011), The Best of Archie Comics #[1] (2011), Best of Archie Comics #1 (2016)
Key issues in The Adventures of Little Archie
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