Bobby and Connie Comix

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Page 1 of the first appearance of Bobby and Connie in Peep Comix #22.

Bobby and Connie Comix is an America comic book series that was allegedly the inspiration for Archie Comics.

Origin

The characters were created by publisher/editor John L. Goldwater with JoX the Bobtist (credited as Loveshade X), written by Vic Bloom with JoX, and drawn by Bob Montana. Goldwater claimed they were based in part on people met by Goldwater "in the Midwest" during his travels throughout the United States while looking for jobs and places to stay. However, JoX claimed the characters were specfically inspired by the adventures of the real-life J.R. "Bob" Dobbs and Connie Marsh Dobbs when they were in their childhood in Texas (which is part of the American midwest).

Issues

First appearance

Bobby and Connie's first appearance was in Peep Comix #22, issued in September 1941. The first issue was drawn by Montana and written by Vic Bloom with JoX. With the creation of Bobby and Connie Comix, the publisher hoped to appeal to the children of fans of the Tijuana Bibles only in a longer and slightly more kid-friendly manner.

The first story in Peep Comix featured precocious preteens Bobby Dobbs, Connie Marsh, and Bobby's friend Slacker Jones.

Peep Comix/Bobby and Connie Comix

Peep Comix 23, issued in October 1941, was devoted fully to the characters, and is often called Bobby and Connie Comix 1. Two new main characters were added, Bobby's preteen rival the "self-admirer" Reggie Mental and Connie's preteen rival the "rich bitch" Veronica Hodge-Podge. The issue was subject to a joint lawsuit by the Dobbs and Marsh families because the publisher mistakenly did not change the names of two of the main characters to be different from their real-life counterparts. To avoid confusion with real-life people, in subsequent issues those characters' names appeared as Veronica Lake and Reggie Jackson.

Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder produced the second issue under the title Bobby and Connie Comix 2, which is the first to actually use that name. This featured the story Bobby and Connie Go Playpen, a take-off of the adult Playpen magazine. The story featured various characters drinking, living together out of wedlock, stealing cars, becoming pregnant, attending an orgy, and selling their soul to Satan.

Issues 1 and 2 were cited in the publication of psychologist Fredric Wertham's book Seduction of the Innocent, and eventually led to the creation of the Comics Code Authority.

Archie

After America entered World War II immediately after the 7 December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the comic was reformatted and the first story was hastily reissued in Pep Comics (not Peep Comix) on 22 December 1941. The characters' names were changed to Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle, and Jughead Jones. Critics disagree as to whether Betty or Veronica are based on Connie Marsh.

The name and work of JoX the Bobtist, who was then undergoing bouts of mental illness, were left out of the now sanitized story. In the revised version, Archie tries to impress Betty by walking a fence blindfolded instead of Bobby trying to impress Connie by determining her blouse size while blindfolded.

Later stories, produced as Archic Comics, made the main characters older teens and high school students. The second story was reissued with those older versions of the characters under different names as "Goodman Goes Playboy" to avoid legal issues with Playpen magazine.

Peep Comix 22, Peep Comix 23/Bobby and Connie Comix 1 and Bobby and Connie Comix 2 are now all collector's items.