Welcome to Archie Sundays! Every week, I share a preview of the newest Archie Comics releases that week, plus occasional spotlights on the latest Archie news and whatever else I feel like discussing, Archie-wise. I’ve been doing this at CBR, but I’ll admit, it’s a bit of a niche thing, so I’m just going to do it here, instead.
This time around, we look at a preview of next week’s World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #136, with two brand-new stories, including one story re-introducing Fran Frazier, a character from the Golden Age who predates Archie Andrews himself.
WORLD OF ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #136
TWO BRAND NEW STORIES! First, Fran Frazer and romantic rival Hal Davis help Archie and Veronica unmask corruption during an investigation! Then, an opportunity to model alongside Young Doctor Masters sends Betty and Veronica into a toxic “health” competition until they discover that his “perfect specimen” is someone unexpected.
Script: Ian Flynn, Daniel Kibblesmith
Pencils: Holly G!, Steven Butler
Inks: Jim Amash, Lily Butler
Colors: Glenn Whitmore
Letters: Jack Morelli
Cover: Bill Golliher, Dan Parent, Rosario “Tito” Peña
On Sale Date: 1/10
192-page, full color digest
$9.99 U.S.
Fran Frazier was a bold photographer character who was introduced in Top Notch Comics #9 in 1940, which was very early in the history of Archie Comics (it was still called MLJ Comics at the time). Created by Joe Blair and comic book legend, Irv Novick, she was a photographer who got involved in some dangerous situations…
Artist Holly G! revamped Fran for the modern age, and it looks like she’s doing a bit of a classic Molly Ringwald vibe with her…
In the first preview from this week’s issue, in a story by Ian Flynn, Holly G!, inker Jim Amash, colorist Glenn Whitmore and letterer Jack Morelli, we see the new Fran in action, with the help of another famous redhead…Archie Andrews!
Of course, this being Archie Andrews, chaos ensues…
The second new story, by Daniel Kibblesmith, Steven Butler, Lily Butler, Whitmore and Morelli, stars Young Doctor Masters.
Young Dr. Masters was an attempt by Archie in the early 1960s to try out a sort of medical romance comic book (presumably a reference to the popular early 1960s medical TV drama, Dr. Kildare, which was based on a novel and a film series titled Young Dr. Kildare). The original comic book was by Robert Bernstrin and John Rosenberger…
Young Doctor Masters is on a book tour through Riverdale…
And of course, this leads to Betty and Veronica bickering…
Funny stuff.
Okay, that’s it for this Archie Sundays, I’ll see you all next week!
Love Archie comic history and I’m glad to see you bring this feature to PCR
Great to see Fran Frazier getting a modern spotlight. A Golden Age character who actually predates Archie Andrews himself is exactly the kind of deep-cut revival that makes these digests fun, and the Holly G! art on the lead story is a real highlight. Nice write-up.