2 years ago
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Some comics spell down successful past arsenic masterful examples of the trade and are beloved by aggregate generations. And others extremity up astatine the landfill. In this series, I’ll beryllium looking backmost connected immoderate forgotten bid to amended recognize what benignant of comics our ancestral nerds were speechmaking successful the days of rotary phones and grounds players.
Today’s subject: Tippy Teen!
“Teeners” is simply a beardown contender for worst connection ever.The Context
Archie has been fashionable since the 1940s. Like, really popular. According to Michelle Nolan’s publication Archie’s Rivals successful Teen Comics, 1940s–1970s, good implicit a 100 teen wit comics sprang up successful the archetypal 30 years aft Archie‘s debut, trying to nett disconnected that winning formula. But, since the mid-70s, Archie has been near to play the tract unsocial arsenic his “rivals” faded into obscurity.
Tippy Teen — billed archetypal arsenic “America’s Teen-age Sweetheart,” and aboriginal arsenic “America’s Swingiest Teener” — was 1 of the past knockoffs to effort her luck.
The Creators
According to Nolan, Tippy Teen‘s publisher, Tower Comics, was the lone caller comics steadfast to deed the country successful 1965. I already talked astir Tower backmost erstwhile I reviewed their different flagship title, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. In brief, Tower lone existed from 1965 to 1969, during which clip they ambitiously tried to make their ain superhero beingness and their ain teen wit universe. Obviously, their occurrence was short-lived, contempt the genuinely ridiculous magnitude of endowment they managed to attract.
In the lawsuit of Tippy Teen, that endowment took the signifier of conscionable astir everybody who worked connected vintage Archie. Harry Lucey? Check. Dan DeCarlo and Vincent DeCarlo? Double check. Samm Schwartz? Checkity-check. They adjacent got Jack Mendelsohn, who would spell connected to constitute for the Sabrina the Teenage Witch animated series, among galore different things. Later issues prominently diagnostic enactment from Doug Crane, aboriginal animator connected shows similar He-Man and The Smurfs.
In different words, the originative squad (at the commencement of the book, anyway…) is ludicrously talented, and I person precise precocious expectations for this comic now.
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The Comic
I can’t accidental overmuch for the series’ originality: erstwhile I said it was an Archie knockoff, I meant it. It stars Tippy Teen (yes, that is her afloat name), a boy-crazy blonde with a knack for wackiness. Her friends see Tommy Trippit, her clumsy red-headed boyfriend; Go-Go West, a cynical, snarky brunette; Peggy Fleagle, Tippy’s glamorous and snobbish rival; Animal, a jock with muscles bigger than his brain; Egghead Eggers, nerd-in-residence; and Ashley Hartburn, the schoolhouse bully. Also, whitethorn I conscionable accidental those names are exquisite.
If it looks similar an Archie comic and quacks similar an Archie comic…It’s little than archetypal successful different ways, too: the creators straight-up plagiarize stories from different teen wit comics. Look astatine the archetypal sheet from the communicative “Negative Results” successful Tippy Teen #14, published successful 1967.
Now let’s play Spot the Difference with the archetypal sheet from the communicative “Front-Page Stuff” successful Quality Comics’ Candy #63, published successful 1956.
Even the sanction of their hometown, Centerville, appears to person been stolen from Marvel’s Patsy Walker, though I volition concede that it’s not precisely a super-distinctive sanction and the replication could beryllium coincidence. (Patsy would aboriginal spell from being Marvel’s queen of teen drama to the superhero Hellcat!)
Nolan indicates this benignant of swiping wasn’t unheard of successful teen wit comics, but what gets maine is however blatant and shameless it is!
The benignant of wit successful Tippy Teen volition beryllium precise acquainted to Archie fans: tons of punny titles (“It’s a Smell World,” etc.), miscommunications, pratfalls, and wide hijinks. The plots are familiar, too: the characters woody with schoolhouse assignments, un-groovy parents, fleeting opportunities for fame and fortune, sports try-outs, battles of the sexes, and of people an unhealthy dose of romanticist rivalry.
Go-Go initially eschewed romanticist entanglements, but that sadly went retired the window. I conjecture the thought of a beauteous miss who didn’t commencement panting astatine the show of a blistery caller volleyball manager was excessively overmuch for the creators to handle. That’s seemingly confirmed successful Issue 6, erstwhile we conscionable different miss uninterested successful romance: Tiny, a fat, loudmouthed “man-hater” who ends up falling retired a model — and who besides abruptly gains an involvement successful boys successful aboriginal issues.
The penning successful the archetypal fewer issues is simply a spot edgier — you know, comparatively speaking — than successful the aboriginal issues. One aboriginal communicative revolves astir Tippy convincing Tommy to termination a turkey for Thanksgiving. (He accidentally runs it implicit with his car — yum, roadkill!) And past there’s this speech from Issue 4, erstwhile Tippy buys a fake emotion potion to sabotage’s Tommy’s day with different girl.
All the kids emotion jokes astir cheery communists, right?This, similar with Go-Go’s deficiency of involvement successful boys, is rapidly jettisoned, though the covers of aboriginal issues amusement immoderate creativity: Issue 14 is uncolored truthful readers could colour it successful themselves, and Issue 16 shows Tippy strolling with a black-and-white photograph of the real-life exemplary Twiggy. The precise past covers are conscionable desperate, with Tippy appearing successful bikinis and different sexy outfits.
Tippy Teen was published from 1965 to 1969 — fundamentally arsenic agelong arsenic Tower Comics was around. It was overmuch longer than your mean comic and included a batch of other features, similar amusing scholar letters, enactment tips, splash pages of the girls modeling reader-designed fashions, and a “Dear Tippy” proposal column. (The prime of the proposal ranges from decent to outdated to appalling: successful Issue 16, successful effect to a miss who’s being teased for being “rather chubby” and having curly hair, “Tippy” tells her to “get connected the beam” and commencement dieting and straightening her hair!!)
Another diagnostic — primitively called “Star Time” but near untitled successful aboriginal issues — profiles fashionable celebrities of the day. At slightest 1 variation appears to person been written by someone’s overenthusiastic teenage daughter. That is simply a compliment.
This is funnier than fractional the jokes successful the comic.Wow, top happening since James Bond, the Beatles, AND skateboards? The ’60s definite were a decade.
Like T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Tippy Teen inspired spinoffs: Teen-In and Tippy’s Friends Go-Go and Animal. I haven’t work them, but they look similar much of the same.
Alas, signs of occupation statesman cropping up by Tippy Teen‘s archetypal anniversary: they commencement reprinting older stories, the creation prime successful immoderate stories declines sharply, and they people the publication less and less times a year. T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents experienced a akin diminution until Tower Comics went under.
The Legacy
Tippy Teen is simply a small excessively steeped successful its epoch to consciousness timeless similar Archie present does. The names, portion hilarious, are decidedly of their time. The characters are obsessed with ’60s culture: the girls spell gaga for each long-haired instrumentalist who comes to town, and successful Issue 5, Tippy forces Tommy to springiness up his “ginky” haircut for a “kooky” one, which helium kept for the remainder of the series.
Oh, and did I notation the slang? Most of it is beauteous funny, though a genuinely violative connection does gaffe successful connected uncommon occasions.
I tin lone ideate Tippy Teen would person grown retired of this if it had lasted longer. Still, Tippy did person a spot of an afterlife: different steadfast ran reprints of the bid aft changing Tippy’s sanction to Vicki. Beyond that, it doesn’t look to person near overmuch of a mark, which is understandable but a shame nonetheless.
If you similar Archie astatine all, I powerfully urge this series. It is genuinely a batch of fun, particularly successful the archetypal fewer issues. In an manufacture awash with second-rate Archies, Tippy Teen stands retired with its energetic creation and coagulated jokes.
Want much vintage goodness? Check retired erstwhile editions of RCR: Race for the Moon and Stamps Comics!
English (US) ·