Digest Covers of the Early 1980s

When I first began reading and collecting Archie comics, I was a few weeks shy of my 6th birthday.  And back in 1987 the covers of Archie comics were brightly coloured masterpieces that depicted Archie and his friends telling classic jokes (often at Archie's expense).  Though the classic Archie comics have always been (and continue to be) aimed towards children and teenagers, I can understand why Archie comics wanted to make their covers as flashy as possible.

But it wasn't until I started really seeking out older Archie comics to add to my collection that I realized that the digest covers were even more elaborate and creative than the ones I was reading when I was a kid.  In particular, those comic book covers that were released in the early 1980s.  The amount of detail that went into not just the cover gag included in the cover, but the little details that surrounded the cover gag...it was like a brilliant masterpiece of creativity.  And keep in mind that these covers were all illustrated before people even knew what Photoshop was.  The penciling, the inking, the colouring...they were all done by hand. 

So for today's post, I thought that I would share some of my favourite cover designs for digests in the early 1980s.  The reason I am doing digests instead of the standard 32-page comics was because even back in the early 1980s, the cover design for those was rather standard.  But the digests gave the artists free reign to create whatever they wanted. 

Are you ready?  Let's go ahead with this post starting with the oldest and working our way down.

Okay, so technically I'm cheating as this cover was released in late 1979.  But I couldn't resist posting the cover of Jughead Jones Digest #10.  For one, the cover gag panel is shaped just like Jughead's head, right down to the crown.  And have a look at all the miniature photos of Jughead surrounding the cover.  Believe it or not, these images are from previous Jughead stories that were printed.  It's also one of the rare instances in which more than one artist shares creative duties, as the cover gag was done by Dan DeCarlo, while the surrounding images were done by Samm Schwartz.

The cover of Archie Digest #47 depicts a common theme for early 1980s digests...taking the theme of the cover gag and expanding on it to create a themed cover.  I think the board game theme was a success for this gag, but I think what could have improved on it was if they had actually used a Monopoly game for the border instead of checkers.  But overall, it's a design that really grabs the eye.  I know my eye gravitated to this one right away when I bought it in a used book store.

The following issue of Archie Digest #48 was another example of an eye-catching cover.  The dynamite stick really makes the cover gag pop out in a huge way.  And while I can see why some people might have complained that the gags were too small for the cover, consider the fact that back in the 1980s, digests were complete reprints of classic stories.  In some cases, digests outright copied many of the cover gags of the 1950s and 1960s.  So, to make them seem newer, I can see why they made the digest covers so flashy.

The only thing the cover of Archie Annual Digest #39 made me long for was a package of Archie playing cards.  Seriously, they could have easily made Betty and Veronica the Queen of Hearts and Queen of Diamonds respectively.  Coincidentally, did you know that Archie Annual started off as a standard sized comic?  It switched to digest format in 1975 with issue #27 and lasted until 1998 with issue #69.

I don't know about anyone else here, but one thing I remember growing up in the 1980s was that geometric shapes were all the rage in design.  This cover of Little Archie Digest #10 certainly made use of those shapes in a huge way, even throwing a promo for Little Sabrina in the bottom right corner.

I don't know what exactly Archie means when he wants us to "Flick Out", but one thing that I will say about Jokebook Digests were that the 3-4 page panel gags that usually accompanied the cover (mainly because Jokebook Digests were collections of single page "Gag Bags", "Pin-Ups", and collections of "Jughead's Dipsy Doodle" gags) were brilliantly done.  Linking the side picture of Archie and the video camera with the gag being inserted into film strips was a nice touch for Jokebook Digest #10.

Betty and Veronica Digest started off as an annual only title in 1980, but quickly increased publication after issue #5 was released.  I can see why the Betty and Veronica titles sold so well.  The cover of Betty and Veronica Digest #3 was a fantastic cover conception from the very beginning.  On one hand, you have Betty and Veronica checking their make up in a vanity mirror...but the mirror itself contains our cover gag.  The additional details like the lipstick, lotions, and Katy Keene perfume were nice touches as well.

Sometimes the fads of the era contributed to the cover designs.  And when Rubik's Cubes became all the rage in 1982, Laugh Digest #40 decided to make their cover gag fit inside of a Rubik's Cube!  It would have been cooler if they had inserted cover gags inside each of the coloured squares, but that would have been too much work!

Archie...Archie Andrews...Where Are You Digest #21.  This digest title is known for having the longest title of all of the digests that have been made, but even the size of the title didn't stop artists from adding a ton of embellishments and detail to their covers.  The shades of yellow, blue, and green used here really stands out!

Archie Digest #58 is just one of the many examples of the Christmas covers that Archie were known for.  Again, with the Archie's Christmas Stocking titles following a formula for their covers, the digests could afford to take on more creative liberties.  Having the gang caroling inside of a giant wreath with music notes encircling it?  Nice idea.  Also, check out Veronica's disgusted look at Betty and Archie's smooches, as well as Jughead and Hot Dog's large mouths!  So that's how Jughead could eat all those burgers!

I really like the cover design of Archie's Double Digest #7.  If you look closely at the book, it actually shows the downstairs and upstairs of Archie's house!  Jughead and Archie enter through the front door, and then go downstairs in the rec room to do their "homework".  The details surrounding the house make this cover seem rather cozy!

Finally, we have Jughead With Archie Digest #59.  This cover came out in 1983 - the same year that Archie digests started to make their spines multicoloured (prior to 1983, all of them were white with black text).  1983 was really also one of the last years that Archie digests added extra details on the outside of their cover gags.  By the time 1984 came around, the cover gags expanded to fill the whole cover, and background details were enhanced.  But hey, at least this cover showed that they weren't afraid to have fun with their designs.

In fact, I think that Archie Comics Publications should try going retro with their cover designs once more...perhaps in 2021 for the company's 80th anniversary.  What do you think?

And are there any cover designs that I may have missed?  I'd love to see them!