STARCHIE AND GOODMAN BEAVER

One of the most notorious parodies of Archie was a 1954 Mad Magazine piece called 'STARCHIE'. This short piece was a sharp stab at all things wholesome Americana Archie-style as it portrayed the lead characters as juvenile delinquents with twisted names like Starchie, Bottelneck and Wegie. Even back then, Archie Comics founder John Goldwater was highly sensitive about how people treated their characters, especially if it was done for parody. The MAD strip was particularly sensitive to them and it was surprising that it didn't result in a legal case, considering the hostile relationship between Archie and MAD. (see The Story Of Josie for further details) The story's relentless sharp quality (both material and satirical) was provided by writer and MAD creator Harvey Kurtzman and artist Will Elder. When interviewed about the lack of legal response to the Starchie piece and his relationship with Goldwater, MAD publisher William Gaines remarked, "We hated each other's guts. As I recall, [John] Goodman was pretty angry about our parody but he didn't do anything about it. I think it was because I did it once and that was it. I hit and run. [The object of the parody] might get mad, but by the time the incident is over and it's not repeated."

ABOVE: the first page of STARCHIE. Copyright William Gains. RIGHT Elder on top of Kurtzman.

Even though MAD was safe from Archie's retaliation, the artists behind the piece would not be so lucky. Kurtzman broke off from MAD many years later and, in 1960, formed his third humor magazine called 'HELP!' and (temporarily) took some of the MAD artists with him including Elder. Reaching back into his 1959 paperback 'Jungle Book' for this new title, Kurtzman pulled out a Canidide-inspired character named Goodman Beaver and gave him to Will Elder to illustrate the character's odyssey.

One of the more celebrated Goodman Beaver's stories was 'Goodman Goes Playboy', published in Help! #13, Feb. 1962. This comedic moral tale finds Goodman returning to his hometown after five years away and ends up meeting his "old gang", who resembled another "old gang" from Archie Comics with the usual tweaked names. Apparently, the gang are now all swept up in the Playboy "lifestyle" that verges on the Greek days of Rome. After fighting with now-ex-playmate Veromica and witnessing a shotgun wedding of Joghead and very pregnant Bette, Archer drives Goodman to his lavish mansion to show him around. Goodman is totally shocked at the sights of an orgy and a pleasure dungeon and mentions that the whole scene resembles the "decline of Rome". When he asks Archer where he got all of this from, Archer becomes unhinged and reveals that he sold his soul to the devil for it all and payment was due that very night. During this rage/rant, Archer accidentally sets fire to his pad and is last seen playing a violin admits the tremendous blaze. The next day, the gang meet at the malt shop and disbelieves Goodman's story of the night before. However, a very suspicious shadowy figure interrupts their discussion and shows them a small little jar that contains Archer's soul. They are all horrified to find out that Goodman was right all along and becomes fully aware of Archer's circumstances. In the next and final panel, the gang suddenly forms a line to sign up with the figure for a similar deal, while Goodman is left confused and conflicted.

LEFT: another sample from STARCHIE (copyright William Gaines)  BELOW LEFT: one of the opening sences from GOODMAN GOES PLAYBOY. (copyright Archie)

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