(February 1963)

Archie, 1963 Series
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Price
0.12 USD
Pages
36
Indicia Frequency
?
On-sale Date
1962-12-10
Publisher's Age Guidelines
Approved by the Comics Code Authority
Indicia / Colophon Publisher
Radio Comics Inc.
Brand
Archie Series
Editing
Richard Goldwater

Issue Notes

The on-sale date is the publication date reported in the U. S. Copyright Office filing.

The issue is the first published appearance of Josie James and Melody Jones, later of "Josie and the Pussycats" fame. Some sources claim the first appearance was a story in Archie's Pals and Gals #23 (Winter 1962-1963). However, the copyright records do not bear this out. She's Josie #1 was published on December 10, 1962; Archie's Pals and Gals #23 was published on December 17.

Josie, Melody and Pepper had been created by Dan DeCarlo for a proposed newspaper strip called "Here's Josie." when it didn't sell as a strip, he took the characters to Archie Comics and got the go-ahead to do it as a comic book.

Using the three girls as the foundation for the new comic, DeCarlo developed the characters and their supporting cast in conjunction with writer Frank Doyle. DeCarlo told TheTrades.com in 2001 that "I designed all the characters, and Frank Doyle was doing all the writing."
This issue has variants:

[no title indexed] (Table of Contents)

Josie / cover / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
Dan DeCarlo
Inks
Rudy Lapick
Colors
?
Letters
Vincent DeCarlo
First Line of Dialogue or Text
How's Melody making out with the dumbbells?
Genre
teen; humor
Characters
Josie; Melody; Pepper; Albert; Alexander Cabot III; Sock
Cover Thumbnail for She's Josie (Archie, 1963 series) #1 Cover Thumbnail for She's Josie (1963 series) #1 [15 cent]
Edit cover
Cover gallery

A Gym Dandy (Table of Contents: 1)

Josie / comic story / 8 pages (report information)

Script
Frank Doyle
Pencils
Dan DeCarlo
Inks
Rudy Lapick
Colors
?
Letters
Vincent DeCarlo
Genre
teen; humor
Characters
Josie; Melody; Pepper; Alexander Cabot III
Synopsis
Melody has been banned from physical fitness class because her physique drives the boys crazy, but the wealthy Alex Cabot III takes Josie and Pepper to work out at the private gymnasium in his mansion.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

The four stories in this issue form an issue-length story arc. Most of the early issues of this comic tried to distinguish themselves from the regular Archie brand by telling book-length stories or giving some larger theme to the linked stories in the issue.

Neat Workers (Table of Contents: 2)

Josie / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Frank Doyle
Pencils
Dan DeCarlo
Inks
Rudy Lapick
Colors
?
Letters
Vincent DeCarlo
Genre
teen; humor
Characters
Josie; Pepper; Mr. Jones; Albert; Sock
Synopsis
Josie and Pepper try to get the boys to participate in the nationwide physical fitness program, starting by getting Albert and Sock to clean out Josie's dad's garage.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

The introduction of Sock, the big brawny guy with a crush on Pepper. He started out as very similar to Moose, but later became more intelligent and sensitive.

One of many 1962-3 Archie stories that refer to President Kennedy's call for the youth of America to get more physically fit.

Muscle Hustle (Table of Contents: 3)

Josie / comic story / 5 pages (report information)

Script
Frank Doyle
Pencils
Dan DeCarlo
Inks
Rudy Lapick
Colors
?
Letters
Vincent DeCarlo
Genre
teen; humor
Characters
Josie; Pepper; Albert; Sock; Alexander Cabot III
Synopsis
The boys may not want to exercise, but they sure go in for a lot of physical exertion, including wild dancing and fighting.
Reprints

Hands Off! (Table of Contents: 4)

Li'l Jinx / comic story / 1 page (report information)

Script
?
Pencils
?
Inks
?
Colors
?
Letters
?
Genre
children

Track Down (Table of Contents: 5)

Josie / comic story / 6 pages (report information)

Script
Frank Doyle
Pencils
Dan DeCarlo
Inks
Rudy Lapick
Colors
?
Letters
Vincent DeCarlo
Genre
teen; humor
Characters
Josie; Melody; Pepper; Mr. Tuttle; Albert
Synopsis
Josie and Pepper still can't get the boys interested in exercise, but when Melody starts running along the track in her shorts, they all get plenty of exercise by running after her.
Reprints

Indexer Notes

In the final panel, the shortest of the boys running after Melody is a caricature of Dan DeCarlo. Self-caricatures of DeCarlo would become a running gag in many of the pre-Pussycats "Josie" issues.

Editing
Issue at my.comics.org
Related Scans
Series Information
Table of Contents
  1. 0. ["How's Melody making out with the dumbbells?"]
    Josie
  2. 1. A Gym Dandy
    Josie
  3. 2. Neat Workers
    Josie
  4. 3. Muscle Hustle
    Josie
  5. 4. Hands Off!
    Li'l Jinx
  6. 5. Track Down
    Josie
This issue was modified by, among others
  • Katy Hayhurst
  • R. S. Martin
  • Keith Alan Morgan
  • Mike Nielsen
  • Jaime Weinman
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