[MarkWarner]

Last week's book showed a difference in opinion. Most the reading group enjoyed Strong Man and I certainly did not.

This week once again we travel to the extreme edge of our comic book date line with one from 1966 and Tippy's Friends Go-Go and Animal #1. I think this is going to be light fluff reading, so should be OK .. PLEASE be better than last week's one!

The book can be found here https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=12343 and the story we are concentrating on is the first one "Come As You Aren't!"

[SuperScrounge]

Come As You Aren't! - Looks and feels like a lesser Archie comics story. One or two good gags, but that's about it.

Dance Clown Dance - 'bout the same as the first story. Heck, I think I read some of those lines in an actual Archie story.

Violin Violation! (and all the rest of the stories) - Ditto.

I'm guessing the artists previously worked for Archie what with that Decarlo-lookalike art style, but why hew so close to it when working on another company's books? Just hoping the customers won't notice the different publisher logo???

[narfstar]

I thought the first story was as good as a typical Archie story, with more gags than most. Every teen strip is considered an Archie imitator, but teens are teens. Of course when you look at the copy cat characters you can see they are there. I thought the story was fun and I liked it.

[jimmm kelly]

Both Dan DeCarlo and Samm Schwartz worked for Tower--being Archie artists (and writers?). I like their art on Tippy and her friends more than on Archie. Not sure why. The linework seems slicker.

Obviously, these guys were being hired for their ability as Archie artists. If they had done something in a completely different style, they would have been out of work.

Did Bob Montana invent this style--or was it a style that had already been developed? I guess if Bob Montana has exclusive rights to the style, then it's reasonable to say that other artists can't use it. But I see it more like the funny animal style at Disney--Carl Barks didn't invent it, he's just one of the best who did it.

[Mazzucchelli]

As the other reviewers mentioned, this is obviously an Archie emulation in style, mood and even layout of the stories. It was clearly an attempt to mimic the look and feel of Archie, and as SuperScrounge suggested, probably the editors were hoping that the potential buyers wouldn

[jimmm kelly]

It

[Mazzucchelli]

Don't feel jimmm kelly!  ... I really like it too! We share this love for these really shallow (but entertaining) comics...They are my favourite most of the time, believe me! And the ones I chose often to read.

'Guilty-pleasure' I suppose 

[crashryan]

Teen books aren't my usual cup of tea, but this was a pleasant change of pace from recent readings. No one is murdered or abducted by a crazed gorilla (although a gorilla is mentioned in one story).

The stories are pleasant. I got a few laughs here and there. I like Go Go better than Animal because dumb characters get old quickly. I do notice that Animal's intelligence changes depending on the needs of the story. Since I never read these when I was part of the target audience, I find myself wondering whether kids reading the book were put off when the writers took swipes at rock music and modern dancing. That sort of thing popped up in Archie stories I've read, especially those from the sixties. The comics were sympathetic to young people but you never forgot they were written by adults (wasn't the mambo craze in the late 1940s and early 1950s?).

The artwork is hard to critique fairly because it's so obviously Archie-inspired. Apparently this is because Archie artists were responsible for it. I notice that in a couple of stories Go Go is a bit off-model. Animal also changes appearance. Nothing dramatic. Oh, and there are some nice cars, too.

Odd bits: several stories are lettered by a guy with a very distinctive style whose name I've never discovered. He lettered many of the THUNDER Agents and Undersea Agent stories. His exclamation marks are always a giveaway. He also has the habit of italicizing character names: "Hello, Animal, come on in!" Which makes me think of how DC always used to put a hero's name in boldface. ("Where do you suppose Superman disappeared to?") That really annoyed me when I was a kid. I read hearing the words in my head, and assumed boldface words were emphasized. It tripped me up when the context didn't call for emphasis: "I'm going to look for Superman next door." Another "Who cares" moment from yours truly.

About the Archie style. Many years ago I happened to talk to the Archie editor (don't recall his name) and he asked if I'd like to submit sample pages. I admitted to a very narrow stylistic range and politely declined. I wonder what would have happened if I'd tried and (highly unlikely) got work. Anyway, I was more familiar with the Archie newspaper strip than the comic books and mentioned using Bob Montana as a model. He said that while Montana designed the original characters, the modern "Archie Style" was developed by Dan DeCarlo, and it was DeCarlo to whom he pointed prospective Archie artists. Isn't it interesting how influential that style was? Say "teen mag" and that's the style that pops into your head.

[SuperScrounge]

I thought the first story was as good as a typical Archie story, with more gags than most.

Yeah, but the only one to get me to laugh out loud was, "We're not invited to our own daughters wedding!"
"There, there! I'm sure she'll have others!"

Every teen strip is considered an Archie imitator, but teens are teens.

Yeah, but some try to be different. Here it just felt like the publishers wanted people to think it was an Archie title.

Both Dan DeCarlo and Samm Schwartz worked for Tower

I'd say Schwartz definitely drew the "Let's have a Slumber Party" illustrations, but not the stories, unless he had a heavy-handed inker to obscure his gawky, minimalist style. (No, I'm not a Schwartz fan, why do ask?  )

I don't think DeCarlo had a hand in this issue, I think it was one of his drawalikes.

[narfstar]

I am firmly in the enjoy fluff story camp. I think it comes a lot from being a pre-teen silver age baby. I started with fluff and graduated to Marvel, Warren, Mad and then National Lampoon. The love for fluff has never gone away.

[Morgus]

You know, for out and out larceny, I liked this. Minor changes in the hair styles, a few changed names to protect the innocent, and you have a viable product. Of course the premise is weak and two seconds of explanation would end the whole thing..but then, where is a story?? And WHO would want to go to a costume party as a bride?
Who cares? Somehow it all comes off...best gag reminded me of AIRPLANE when he ran over the pedestrian. Best line for me was the reference to Reno when she said she would only use the dress once.

Nice knock off.

[Drahken]

I've read an issue or two of tippy teen before. Personally, I've always preferred the lighter faire like teen comics, funny animals, etc over the more stereotypical golden age stuff.

This was decent enough for what it is, neither great nor terrible, just something to read when you're bored.
One thing that made me wonder in the first story was the dance at the end. Didn't that green paint get all over the rented wedding dress, thus ruining it? (They even made a joke about the cups getting green, made said nothing about the dress.)

Sign of the times moment: The ad for records at the end, where 45s are labelled as "long playing". Clearly this was published at a time when people were still used to 78RPM records.

For historical purposes, you should check out Jetta: https://comicbookplus.com/?cid=1431 It's sort of archie mixed with jetsons, but the key part is that the artist is Dan DeCarlo, before he created archie's "house style". The main characters look much like archie's descendant in the jughead comics where he goes to the future, and dilton doiley.

[narfstar]

Suggest Jetta to Mark

[jimmm kelly]

You guys are pushing me to think a lot about Archie--which is strange, since I hardly give Archie that much thought.

I get that Dan DeCarlo had a style which well suited Archie and his style came to dictate how a lot of other artists drew the characters. But DeCarlo's Archie is not a fundamental change to Archie from that of Bob Montana. So I'm a little perplexed.

The best way I can explain this to myself is that it's kind of like Dick Sprang in contrast to Bob Kane. Sprang was clearly drawing the Bob Kane Batman (and the Batman of many ghost artists), yet his style is identifiable enough that it stands out. I guess if other artists had tried to emulate Dick Sprang's style, then that would be more like what happend at Archie with the Dan DeCarlo style.

Or taking Mike Parobeck's Batman as another example. Parobeck clearly had his own style before he came on THE BATMAN ADVENTURES and he didn't really change his style, but his style suited the Bruce Timm animated Batman in the comics.

Anyway, in my search to try and figure all this out,  I found this blog about the Montana Archie--The Greatest Ape: Bob Montana

[crashryan]

Drahken, 78s were long gone by the time Tippy Teen appeared. I think the ad may be referring to "Extended Play" 45s. As I recall they came around during the sixties. EP's were the same size and shape as regular 45s and played on regular phonographs but somehow they played about twice as long per side as a regular 45. Microgroove recording, maybe? They didn't catch on, though. Oddly I've seen the term "EP" applied to CD's containing less music than a standard CD. Strange things, 45s. Apparently RCA hoped they'd be THE replacement for the 78 but they were up against Columbia's LP which played much longer. So they ended up pretty much exclusively for singles. Once I saw an early RCA portable phono that was designed to play only 45s.

[bowers]

Not bad for what it was. I never bought any Archie or his legion of imitators, but I had girlfriends who did. This genre wasn't really awful, and it was better than nothing when I wanted a quick read. I must admit I'm enjoying Archie's current "Afterlife" series.
The stories were short and light, cleanly drawn, and gave a chuckle or two- just what they were designed to do. All the major publishers had at least one or two Archie-clones, so why not Tower? There was and still is a good market for this stuff. Narf said it best when he described it as "fluff". Fluff can be enjoyable. Nothing wrong with stories created to make you smile. Cheers, Bowers

[Mazzucchelli]

Nothing wrong with stories created to make you smile.

Spot on bowers!
I believe this summarises my view too about this comic book and the whole plethora of Archie-type comics (old and new). They're there to give you a smile, and that's it. And that's their purpose. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

[SuperScrounge]

I guess my problem is that as a writer & artist I try to do something different from what I've seen before, not that I always succeed, but I try. So I can appreciate it when it seems like a writer or artist is trying to be different as well.

Yeah, it does fly in the face of publishers who want a slice of another publisher's pie and their proven hit, so it probably shouldn't bug me as much as it does, since the talent is just trying to earn a living in a tough field to earn a living in.

So, yeah, ignoring the art similarities the book is a nice bit of fluff.

[MarkWarner]

After my displeasure at last week's book I am certainly hoping for better this week. But it's a tall order as I guess this is aimed at "young" teens and girls at that.

Well, I enjoyed the first story Go-Go's mum was laid back funny. What is it with Animal's face?? Talk about minimalist, it is a bit creepy. So far so good! The next lot os stories carry on with the silliness and we find out Animal is a clumsy liability. The P.A.L. bulletin board features a rather tall tale from Eileen Petkofsky about pet seagulls

WOW We suddenly strike GOLD!!! "Let's Ask Go-Go" the problem page. They are always good for a read and this is top notch!

QUESTION: I like a boy very much who has just moved away, but not out of the city. His mother gets angry if I call up too much. Please give me your advice

ANSWER: Stop calling him! It is a boy's place to call a girl. It is perfectly correct to send him a greeting card for his birthday, or a personal note before a holiday like Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, or other occasions. If he is at all interested in maintaining the friendship, he will answer your note and keep in touch with you.

QUESTION: I am going steady with one boy but I also like another boy a lot. Both boys like me very much. What would you do? What should I do? ....

ANSWER: You are a very fortunate girl! Explain to the boy whom you are dating regularly that although you like him and would love to keep seeing him, you are not ready to go steady. Then you can be free to enjoy going out with both boys. As long as you have the opportunity, have fun with both!

Some more stories, slumber party games and then an interesting page about the Righteous Brothers. I wonder if people would have guessed they'd still be well known today. A page of fashion drawings and we finish.

Verdict: A hit. I really liked it. Problem pages were the best though.