Nifty Presents - Archie's Madhouse!


Archie's Madhouse had morphed into Madhouse Glads when I was first bopping into comics, and alas looked too goofy for a serious superhero fan like me. I found I always liked to read Archie comics, but felt since they were girl books, I was compelled to do it in secret, but since no one was paying much attention to me in that regard, I must've been hiding from myself. The series took a brief spin into legit horror when Gray Morrow stepped in along with Frank Thorne and a few others and was called just Madhouse, before becoming just Madhouse Comics until its cancellation in the early years of the Reagan administration. When I started to get access to the vintage covers from the earliest days of the comic, I realized it had been a most vigorous offering in areas I cared much about -- classic monsters and outer space with superhero spoofs thrown in for good measure. This tome from Yoe Books documents that time and gives more than a good glimpse of just how entertaining a good Archie comic could be. I gave both my adult daughters some Archie comics for Christmas (among other things of course...I'm not that cheap...well?) and they returned the favor with this outstanding book.









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Comments

  1. Archie honcho Goldwater was a driving force in the creation of the Comics code, which prohibited monsters, vampires and ghouls. Even though most mainstream publishers shied away from the big monster craze of the late 50's and 60's, Archie comics jumped in with both feet, especially on Madhouse and in Tales Calculated to Drive You BATS. I wonder if the Comics Code gave them a pass because it was just humor or because of Goldwater. They were otherwise pretty strict during this period.

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    1. I'd say the humor was the biggest reason. Monsters showed up at Gold Key and DC, if they were played for laughs most of time such as Bob Hope and The Munsters and such.

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