Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #205
Published January 1973
Cover Price 0.25 USD
Pages 52
Editing Richard Goldwater

Cover Details - "Archie's Christmas Love-In"

Characters Archie Andrews; Santa Claus
Genre teen; humor
Pencils Stan Goldberg
Inks Jon D'Agostino
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida

8 page Archie's Christmas Love-In story "Love Is the Answer"

Characters Archie Andrews; Pop Tate; Veronica Lodge; Ethel Muggs; Santa Claus
Synopsis After seeing how greedy everyone is about presents, Archie has a dream where he convinces Santa Claus to give the gift of love and peace at Christmas time.
Genre teen; humor
Script Dick Malmgren
Pencils Dan DeCarlo
Inks Rudy Lapick
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida

6 page Archie story "Blizzard Wizard"

Characters Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones; Veronica Lodge; Betty Cooper; Reggie Mantle; Moose Mason
Synopsis Stuck on a country road during a blizzard, the gang takes refuge in a manger where three angels appear to teach them the true religious meaning of Christmas.
Genre teen; humor; religious
Script Al Hartley
Pencils Al Hartley
Inks Joe Sinnott
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida

8 page Archie and the Gang story "Soup Spooning"

Characters Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones; Veronica Lodge; Betty Cooper; Reggie Mantle; Ethel Muggs; Geraldine Grundy; Miss Beazly; Waldo Weatherbee; Miss Haggly; Professor Flutesnoot; Mr. Svensen
Synopsis A twig of mistletoe falls into Miss Beazly's soup, making it an aphrodisiac that causes anyone who tastes it to become passionate and loving. Soon everyone is trying to get the romantic thrills induced by the soup. But when it runs out, Betty explains to Ethel that God can give her a high that she can't get from any artificial stimulant.
Genre teen; humor; religious
Script Al Hartley
Pencils Al Hartley
Inks Joe Sinnott
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida

1 page Li'l Jinx filler "Ice Scream"

Characters Li'l Jinx; Greg
Genre children; humor
Script Joe Edwards
Pencils Joe Edwards
Inks Joe Edwards
Letters Joe Edwards

6 page Archie story "Trouble Shooter"

Characters Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones; Veronica Lodge; Betty Cooper; Jingles
Synopsis Jingles magically arranges for an out-of-work actor working as a street-corner Santa to meet the famous Broadway producer David Kerrick.
Genre teen; humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Bob Bolling
Inks Bob Bolling
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida
Notes David Kerrick is based on the real-life theatre impresario David Merrick. Bolling's design for Jingles is almost completely different from the usual one, much older-looking and with no beard.

5 page Archie story "Solomon's Child"

Characters Archie Andrews; Betty Cooper; Jughead Jones
Synopsis Archie, Jughead and Betty meet a young man who left home searching for meaning in his life. By quoting from the book of Ecclesiastes, Betty shows him that the only way to find meaning is to look to God. The man sees the light and decides to go back to his parents and pray with them.
Genre teen; humor; religious
Script Al Hartley
Pencils Al Hartley
Inks Joe Sinnott
Colors Barry Grossman
Letters Bill Yoshida
Notes A case of Hartley proselytizing openly in a mainstream Archie comic. He even has Betty state that the message is directed to young people (i.e. the readers).