Adventures of the Big Boy

Issues, up to #155, had two versions with different-looking Big Boy characters. The "West Coast" version of Big Boy is the version that was previously created for the original franchise--black hair, red and white checkered overalls, and no hat. The "East Coast" version had red hair, a little thinner usually, red and white striped overalls, and a cook's hat.

Starting with issue #156, the "East Coast" version no longer existed in the comics, and the "West Coast" version remained, with one subtle change, his hair was now brown instead of black.

Known and possible franchise co-branded variations (printed with franchise logo [or not] and region sold), that existed during the run of this series:
-Abdow’s (Known printed - Western and Central Massachusetts, Connecticut, dates of operation from 1963 to 1994).
-Adler's (Printed? - Lynchburg, Virginia, dates of operation from 1958 to 1960, became Lendy's Big Boy).
-Arnold's (Printed? - Folsom, Pennsylvania, dates of operation from 1955 to an unknown date. A sub-franchisee of Shoney's).
-Azar's (Known printed - Colorado and Northern Indiana, dates of operation from 1953 to 2020).
-Becker's (Printed? - Rochester and Buffalo, New York, dates of operation from 1956 to 1965. A sub-franchisee of Shoney's).
-Big Boy Drive-Inn (Printed? - North Dakota, dates of operation from 1954 to 1960. Would become known as McDowell's in 1960).
-Bob's (Known printed - Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Hawaii, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, and Vermont. Also in Florida, Indiana, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania toll roads and airport locations. The Southeastern United States locations came into being after Shoney's left the national chain to start their own in the 1970s. Dates of operation from 1936 to present).
-Bud's (Printed? - Montana and Wyoming, dates of operation from 1966 to sometime in the 1970s. Acquired by JB's sometime during the 1970s).
-Chez Chap (Printed? - Westmount, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec, dates of operation from 1978 to unknown date).
-Don's (Printed? - Burlington, Vermont, in operation during 1984 only).
-Eat 'n Park (Printed? - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-area, dates of operation from 1949 to 1975. Pittsburgh-area rights were transferred to Elby's in 1977).
-Elby's (Known printed - Eastern Ohio, Maryland, Northern West Virginia, and Pennsylvania, dates of operation from 1956 to 1984 and from 1988 to 2000. A one-time sub-franchisee of Shoney's).
-Elias Brothers (Known printed - Michigan, Northwestern Ohio, and Ontario (Canada), dates of operation from 1952 to 2000).
-Franklin’s (Hand stamped, printed as well? - Northeastern Pennsylvania, dates of operation from 1966 to 1976. Printed as "Your Favorite Family Restaurants" issue #260 onward?).
-Frejlach's (Printed? - Illinois, dates of operation from 1954 to sometime during the 1960s).
-Frisch’s (Known printed - Florida (until the 1990s), Kentucky, Northern Tennessee, Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio, dates of operation from 1947 to present).
-JB's (Known printed - Arizona (where it operated as Bob's), California, Connecticut, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, dates of operation from 1961 to 1988. Bud's, Kebo's, Leo's, and Vip's were all purchased by JBs during the 1970s).
-JB's (Printed? - Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec (Canada), dates of operation from 1969 to 1979).
-Kebo's (Printed? - Seattle and Tacoma, Washington areas, dates of operation from an unknown start date to 1974. Acquired by JB's sometime during the 1970s).
-Ken's (Printed? - Maryland and Washington DC, dates of operation from 1963 to sometime in the early 1970s when they became Bob's. Took over Mark's location by 1964).
-Kip's (Known printed - Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, dates of operation from 1958 to 1991. The franchise was purchased by Frisch’s but ran as Kip's until 1991).
-Lendy's and later Lendy’s Yoda's (Hand stamped? Also, printed? - Western Virginia, dates of operation from 1955 to 1964. A sub-franchisee of Shoney's. Merged with Yoda's at some point before 1964).
-Leo's (Printed? - Spokane, Washington area and Montana, dates of operation from 1966 to 1971. Acquired by JB's in 1971).
-Manner’s (Known printed - Northeastern Ohio, Cleveland area television market, dates of operation from 1954 to 1979).
-Marc’s (Known printed - Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, dates of operation from 1958 to 1995. By 1974 had acquired the Chicago-area suburbs locations of Top's and renamed to Marc's).
-Mark's (Printed? - Hyattsville, Maryland, dates of operation from 1960 to about 1962 or 1963. This location became Ken's in 1964).
-McDowell's (Printed? - South Dakota, dates of operation from 1960 to present. At some point, changed its name to Bismarck Big Boy. Printed as "Your Favorite Family Restaurants" issue #260 onward?).
-Mr. B's (Printed? - Printed? - Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont, dates of operation from 1963 to 1969).
-Shap's (Printed? - Chattanooga, Tennessee, dates of operation from 1959 to 1964? A Shoney's sub-franchisee, it would change its name to Shoney's in 1964).
-Shoneys (Known printed - Southeastern United States; North Carolina, South Carolina, Southern Tennessee, and Virginia, dates of operation from 1952 to 1984. Shoney's eventually left the Big Boy chain in order to overcome franchisee limitations and branch out to other territories in the position of other Big Boy franchises).
-Ted's (Printed? - Rhode Island, dates of operation from 1964 to an unknown date).
-TJ's (Known printed - Rochester, Batavia, and Syracuse areas, New York, dates of operation from 1972 to sometime in the late 1990s).
-Top's (Known printed - Illinois, perhaps Southern Wisconsin, dates of operation from 1956 to 1993. Chicago area stores became Marc's by 1974, and Top's continued in Central Illinois until its end).
-Tote's (Printed? - Missouri, dates of operation from 1964 to about the early 1970s. Shoney's was assigned the Missouri area in 1972).
-Tune's (Printed? - Philadelphia and Levittown, Pennsylvania, dates of operation from 1956 to 1963. A sub-franchisee of Shoney's. After 1963 remaining locations became Shoney's).
-Vip’s (Printed? - New Mexico, Texas, and Wyoming, dates of operation from 1962 to 1982. Acquired by JB's in 1972 but kept the name until 1982 when it became JB's. There were Vip's Restaurants of Salem, Oregon that was not Big Boy's but was later sold to JB's. Printed as "Your Favorite Family Restaurants" issue #260 onward?).
-Yoda's (Hand stamped, also printed? - Western Virginia, dates of operation unknown. Later would be merged with Lendy's to become Lendy's Yoda's. A sub-franchisee of Shoney's).

Known west: Abdow's; Bob's; Azar's; Eat 'n Park; Elias Brothers; JB's; Kips; Lendy's; Shoney's; and Tops. Others?

Known East: Azar's (as of 1962); Frisch's; and Manners. Others?

A Yoda's hand-stamped version exists with the Lakeside Yoda's location stamp. This indicates that there are blank back cover variations where co-branding is not printed, thus allowing for the use of store stamps. Later in this series, these blank spaces might have been replaced by a generic printing "Your Favorite Family Restaurants."

There is a known version in which the co-branding is replaced by ads, one known for the Bozo the Clown TV show on "Channel 8" in issue #183 (area unknown).

Elias Brothers' variation is known to have stopped between issues #374 and 379--any others?

Towards the end, the back page becomes a menu, possible different franchises may have had different menus. The "EL-US" code on the back of the menu might refer to the Elias Brothers menu variant.