January 13, 2019

"The Line" - An Archie Tale

A week ago, I said that every story featured in the Sundays with Archie section in January would feature artwork by one of my favourite Archie artists ever, Harry Lucey.  And I have a special treat for all of you today because the story that I am about to post is one of my favourite stories ever written and drawn!



It was a tag team effort between writer Frank Doyle and artist Harry Lucey, and it originally appeared in "Archie #182".  It's a story that has a weird storyline to it in that it consistently breaks the fourth wall, and the star of the story isn't really Archie, but an inanimate object that makes its way through the entire tale.

May I present to you..."The Line".


Betty, Archie, and Veronica are standing in the middle of a park and they notice that a black line is stretched across the entire first panel and they are wondering where it came from.  It's very distracting, it's quite noticeable, and as poor Reggie finds out, it's very much a hazard.  Reggie gets clotheslined by the line, giving Archie a bit of a chuckle.  Then again, Reggie's got such a personality that anytime he gets bad luck given to him, it's quite hilarious to see him yanked back down to earth.


Reggie is wondering who put the line there, and why nobody decided to erase it.  I find it hilarious that the characters all break the fourth wall and know that they are in a world that is created for them.  Now does that mean that artists like Lucey and DeCarlo, and Goldberg, and Parent could be classified as God?  Hmm...food for thought on this Sunday morning, huh?  As for the line, Betty notices that the line runs right through the story and into a patch of trees in the middle of the park.  So Archie and the gang decide that the best thing to do is follow the line to see where it ends. 


Well, it appears as though poor Dilton Doiley back in the days in which he spelled his last name without an "E" has gotten caught up in the line.  It appears as though someone is hunting bookworms and caught a nice big one!  But where does the line go after that?

Archie notices that the line is moving further ahead and he thinks that it's alive.  I'd like to know how he comes to the conclusion that the line is a living thing, but they keep following the path of the line.


Reggie seems to think that the source of the movement of the line are a couple of kids who think that the line is a skipping rope.  It's a clever idea for taking care of a wayward line, but Archie and Betty notice that the line goes past them, and they run ahead of Reggie and Veronica.

Reggie and Veronica try to follow them, but both of them get tangled up in the gigantic line.  They have a hard time untangling their way out of the knotted mess, but surprisingly they do a great job getting out of it.  They wonder if Archie and Betty got tangled up in the line as well, and sure enough they do.  But unlike Reggie and Veronica, Betty doesn't seem to mind at all.


Yeah, given that Betty would do just about anything to get close to Archie, I wouldn't be surprised if Betty arranged for her and Archie to get stuck together on purpose.  That crafty blonde!  It's just a shame that Veronica happens to grab a pair of scissors and slash the line to shreds.  Where Veronica got a pair of scissors in the middle of the park, I don't know.  Then again, having a gigantic line spanning the length of a whole story is unusual as well.


Reggie's had enough of this story, and he is determined to find out where the source of the line is coming from, and he decides that the best way to do this is to grab on the line and pull it until the source comes to him.  So, with all of his might, Reggie pulls on the line and finds something is heavy on the other end.  He uses all of his strength to pull on the line, and when Archie notices what is on the other end, he is suddenly fearful for Reggie's life...


...because Reggie has lassoed himself a Moose.  Big Moose to be exact.  And the only thing that angers Moose more than when you try to steal Midge away from him is when someone tries to kidnap him against his will.  And poor Reggie gets the brunt of his abuse.  Reggie thinks that this is finally the end of the story...but here's where the source of the line really is.


You know, I was wondering where Jughead was hiding himself in this tale.  Turns out that Jughead was using the line to perfectly write "The End" with it.  Mind you, he caused a lot of confusion throughout the whole story, but at least we know that the artists aren't at fault.  Truth be told, I miss stories like this.  It was a really creative idea for a tale, and it was fun to read.  And it also tells us all that the Archie comics characters know that they live in a fictional world for our entertainment.

Self-awareness is a beautiful thing.

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