Editing Archie Comics (section)

=====1946–1990s=====
The [[Andy Hardy]] movies were an inspiration for Goldwater to have a comic book about a relatable normal person. Teenaged [[Archie Andrews (comics)|Archibald "Chick" Andrews]] debuted with [[Betty Cooper]] and [[Jughead Jones]] in ''Pep Comics'' #22 (Dec. 1941), in a story by writer Vic Bloom and artist [[Bob Montana]].<ref name=bl/> Archie soon became M.L.J. Magazines' headliner, which led to the company changing its name to '''Archie Comic Publications''' in 1946. Siberkleit and Coyne discontinued Columbia Publications.<ref name=bl/> In the late 1950s, Archie Publishing launched its "[[Dark Circle Comics#Archie Adventure Series|Archie Adventure Series]]" line with a new version of the Shield and two new characters.<ref name=top/>

The February 1962 issue of [[Harvey Kurtzman]]'s ''[[Help! (magazine)|Help!]]'' magazine featured his parody of the Archie characters in its ''[[Goodman Beaver]]'' story, "Goodman Goes Playboy", which was illustrated by frequent collaborator [[Will Elder]].<ref>[http://www.toonopedia.com/goodman.htm Goodman Beaver] at [[Don Markstein's Toonopedia]].</ref> ''Help!'' publisher [[James Warren (publisher)|Jim Warren]] received a letter on December 6, 1961, accusing ''Help!'' of [[copyright infringement]] and demanding removal of the offending issue from newsstands. Warren was unable to [[Product recall|recall]] the magazine,{{sfn|Harvey|2011|p=4}} but he agreed to settle out of court rather than risk an expensive lawsuit. Warren paid Archie Comics $1,000, and ran a note of apology in a subsequent issue of ''Help!''{{sfn|Kitchen|Buhle|2009|p=204}}  The story was reprinted in the book collection ''Executive Comic Book'' in 1962, with the artwork modified by Elder to obscure the appearance of the Archie characters. Archie Comics found their appearance still too close to its copyrighted properties, and threatened another lawsuit. Kurtzman and Elder settled out of court by handing over the copyright to the story. Archie Comics held onto the copyright and refused to allow the story to be republished. A request from [[Denis Kitchen]] in 1983 to include the story in his ''Goodman Beaver'' reprint collection was turned down.{{sfn|Harvey|2011|p=4}}  After ''The Comics Journal'' co-owner [[Gary Groth]] discovered that Archie Comics had allowed the copyright on "Goodman Goes Playboy" to expire, he had the story reprinted in ''The Comics Journal'' #262 (September 2004),{{sfnm|1a1=Markstein|1y=2010|2a1=Petersen|2y=2010|2p=249}} and made it available as a [[PDF]] on the magazine's website.{{sfn|Frauenfelder|2008}}<ref>[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Goodman_Goes_Playboy "Goodman Goes ''Playboy''"] [[public domain]] parody at [[Wikimedia Commons]]</ref>

In the mid-1960s, during the period fans and historians call the [[Silver Age of Comic Books]], Archie switched its superheroes to a new imprint, "[[Red Circle Comics|Mighty Comics]] Group," with the MLJ heroes done in the campy humor of [[Batman (TV series)|the Batman TV show]]. This imprint ended in 1967.<ref name=top/>

In the early 1970s, Archie Enterprises Inc. went [[Public company|public]]. Just over 10 years later, Louis Silberkleit's son Michael and John Goldwater's son Richard returned Archie Comic Publications to private ownership.<ref name=bl/> Michael Silberkleit served as chairman and co-publisher, while Richard Goldwater served as president and co-publisher.<ref name=wsj2012/>  Coyne retired in the 1970s as CFO.<ref name=bl/>

In the 1970s and 1980s, [[Spire Christian Comics]], a line of comic books by Fleming H. Revell, obtained license to feature the Archie characters in several of its titles, including ''Archie's Sonshine,'' ''Archie's Roller Coaster,'' ''Archie's Family Album,'' and ''Archie's Parables.'' These comics used Archie and his friends to tell stories with strong Christian themes and morals, sometimes incorporating Bible scripture. In at least one instance, the regular characters meet a [[Jesus Christ|Christ-like]] figure on the beach, and listen as he gently preaches Christian values.<ref>{{cite comic|publisher=Fleming H. Revell Company|title=Archie's Sonshine |date=1974|pages=12–17}}</ref>

Archie launched a short-lived fantasy and horror imprint, [[Red Circle Comics]], in the 1970s. The company revived that imprint in the 1980s for its brief line of superhero comics.<ref name=top/> Later in the 1980s, Archie planned to publish superheroes again with the [[Mighty Comics#Spectrum Comics|Spectrum Comics]] imprint, featuring a number of high-profile talents, but it cancelled this attempt before publishing a single issue.<ref name=tcj>{{cite journal|title=Archie Comics Scraps Spectrum Comics Imprint|journal=[[The Comics Journal]]|date=September 1989|issue=131|pages=5–7}}</ref>

Having licensed Archie's MLJ Superheroes in 1991, [[DC Comics]] launched its imprint [[Impact Comics]] with these heroes.<ref name=cbc>{{cite news|last=Renaud|first=Jeffrey|title=JMS Gets Brave & Bold with Archie Gang|url=https://www.cbr.com/jms-gets-brave-bold-with-archie-gang/|access-date=June 9, 2020|website=[[Comic Book Resources]]|date=October 30, 2008}}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{cite news|last=Gustines|first=George Gene|title=For Archie Comics, a Return to Superheroes|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/10/business/media/for-archie-comics-a-return-to-superheroes.html|access-date=October 10, 2011|newspaper=New York Times|date=October 10, 2011|page=B5}}</ref>

In 1992, Archie partnered with [[Sega]] to create a four-part [[Sonic the Hedgehog (Archie Comics)|''Sonic the Hedgehog'']] comic book miniseries based on the video game series [[Sonic the Hedgehog|of the same name]].<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/20043/ ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (Archie, 1992 Series)] at the [[Grand Comics Database]].</ref> This was continued with a full series launch in 1993, which incorporated elements from the 1993 [[Sonic the Hedgehog (TV series)|animated series]] by [[DiC Entertainment]].<ref>[http://www.comics.org/series/12006/ ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' (Archie, 1993 Series)] at the Grand Comics Database.</ref> The series ran for over 20 years, becoming the longest-running [[List of comics based on video games|comic series based on a video game]] by 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://archie-blogs.archiecomics.com/sonic/2008/07/from_the_cuinness_book_of_worl.html |title=Sonic the Hedgehog enter Book of World Records |access-date=September 13, 2008 |date=July 7, 2008 |publisher=Archie Comic |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912135723/http://archie-blogs.archiecomics.com/sonic/2008/07/from_the_cuinness_book_of_worl.html |archive-date=September 12, 2008 }}</ref>