Spy Vibe Comics Week: ARCHIE. Spend the week in our secret lair as we share images and stories from the Spy Vibe collection and research. Today we present a 1967 spy issue of Life With Archie! Details below. Related posts: Cold War Archie. Spy Vibe's archive of vintage photos of people reading comics here.
Spy Vibe is extending Comics Week! During the excitement of Comic-Con over the weekend, I was on a mission to hunt for pop-culture artifacts at my local comic shops. One of the most surprising finds was an original Smash Comics issue with Bozo the Robot from the 1940s (see our post about Robot comics here). I also uncovered a 1967 Archie story inspired by the Spy Boom of the mid-1960s. Made during the single season of The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Life With Archie #57 featured a story called Flight of the Fiend starring B.E.T.T.Y. as "The Girl From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.". The plot revolved around The Birdman, enemy agent for C.R.U.S.H., who took control of Betty via a transistorized thought-control device (hidden inside a tiny bird!). The comic included many fun spy conventions, like a charm bracelet that shot sleeping gas and white Go Go boots that could open electronic locks. Despite the dynamic cover showing Archie as a secret agent wielding a gadget-pen, he was only an ancillary character. What was the story about? Under hypnotic control of The Birdman, Betty is sent to infiltrate "Lodge Enterprises" to steal secret plans for the Model-3X jet plane. Adventure ensues as she betrays all of her friends one by one to get the plans. Oh, that Betty! But things are not what they seem and The Birdman faces dire consequences when he delivers the specs for a jet-powered malted milk machine to C.R.U.S.H.. His chief brandishes a gun on the last page, saying, "You big beaked bird-brain, you've had it!" What, no piranha tank? C.R.U.S.H. isn't too inventive when it comes to dealing with failure in their organization. Below are some of my photos of favorite panels from the issue, including a popular ad for a signed David McCallum pin-up. In related news, the current Life With Archie series has just culminated in Archie's death (by handgun!) and his funeral. You can find issues at your local comic store. There is also a popular Afterlife With Archie comic with zombie versions of the characters. And though The Birdman was unique to issue #57, readers may also enjoy our post about Hanna Barbera's Birdman cartoon here. Enjoy!
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Spy Vibe goes back to the days of Saturday morning cartoons, when a winged avenger was called from his secret volcano lair by an intelligence operator with an eye patch to thwart crimes by the evil organization, F.E.A.R. Does that scenario sound familiar to Spy Vibers? Hanna-Barbera produced a number of hero/adventure cartoons in the 1960s, Space Ghost perhaps being the most well-known of the lot. They also aired a program called Birdman between 1967-1969. Like Space Ghost, the format for each episode was two short stories packaged with a B-series that ran in the middle of the program. Space Ghost was paired with The Herculoids and Birdman with The Galaxy Trio.
Birdman follows the typical Hanna-Barbera conventions of a costumed hero who flies into conflict with baddies and quickly dispatches them with energy beams that shoot out from his hands. Except for brief moments of capture, the only suspense is created in ubiquitous scenes where the good and evil energy beams compete for dominance. Pretty simple fair to accompany those spoonfuls of Cheerios and Cap'n Crunch.
What makes Birdman especially fun for Spy Vibers, however, is its use of conventions that were at their height during the 1960s spy boom. Birdman indeed has a lair hidden inside a volcano (ala You Only Live Twice/1967). The opening sequence shows an aerial view, but we get an even cooler perspective when our hero flies up through a thick glass hatch to exit the secret base. Birdman receives his orders from Falcon 7, the eye-patch wearing leader of Inter-Nation Security -who bears a striking resemblance to Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. (spy debut in Strange Tales #135/1965). Falcon 7 was voiced by Don Messick, the man behind such famous characters as Scooby-Doo, Astro (Jetsons), Muttley (Whacky Races/Dick Dastardly), Papa Smurf, and Dr. Quest (Jonny Quest). Production model sheet below.
Birdman fights a host of villains, but Spy Vibers will especially enjoy his battles with enemy agents. In the sample clip below from Murro the Murader, a mysterious baddie named Murko (not Murro) harnesses the shadow world to steal a briefcase containing vital secrets and then positions himself to become head of F.E.A.R. There are wonderful moments, including the dispatch of an evil underling who learns the bitter cost of failure (ala Spectre). Like Space Ghost, Birdman always sings out his name when he goes into action. Did Hanna-Barbera think there were young opera fans out there in TV land? Funny! Enjoy! DVD set on Amazon here.
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