COMICS WEEK: R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.

Spy Vibe Comics Week: R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. Spend the week in our secret lair as we share images and stories from the Spy Vibe collection and research. Today we present a sample of spy-related covers Life With Archie! Details below. Related posts: Cold War Archie, Comics Week: Archie. Spy Vibe's archive of vintage photos of people reading comics here.

Spy Vibe's Comics Week continues today with a brief look at the impact of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. on Archie Comics. I enjoyed photographing my copy of Life With Archie # 57 so much yesterday! Having never been an Archie reader, it was fun to discover the graphic quality of the panels and to see the overt influence of the Spy Boom. In fact, spy satire was an integral part of Life With Archie between 1966-1967. Most of the issues published during that period contained short stories based on spy conventions around Archie as "The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E." In this alternate universe, Archie and his pals were cast as agents of P.O.P. (an acronym for Protect Our Planet), who fought against the costumed baddies from C.R.U.S.H. (sure sounds like Thrush!). In addition to various spy gadgetry and adventure, all of the P.O.P. agents were referred to as secret acronyms (A.R.C.H.I.E., B.E.T.T.Y., etc). The stories were predictably innocent, but thoroughly charming. Who doesn't love a lipstick gun? The secret agent impact even continued into the modern era with new R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. stories in Archie Comics. I do not have copies of early issues to photograph (yet!), but here are a few low-res scans of vintage Life With Archie spy covers. Look for panel images in the future. Enjoy! 

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