Josie

(Archie, 1963-1982)
™ and ©1967 Radio Comics, Inc.
Series continued from She’s Josie #16

Legendary artist Dan DeCarlo was tinkering with a new comic strip in the 1950s when his wife Josette came home sporting a new bouffant hairdo complete with black velvet ribbon. “That’s it!” he exclaimed, and immediately began to model the heroine of his strip after his wife’s new look. He also decided to name the character after her, thus “Josie” was born.

The initial strip, “Here’s Josie” was eventually reworked and brough to Archie Comics in 1963. It caught on well enough to earn Josie a part in TV’s Archie cartoon show. Josie would later form a rock band and get a show of her own-Josie & the Pussycats, the concept of which would overtake the title with issue #45 in 1969, as well as becoming a popular Saturday morning cartoon show—and much later a live-action motion picture. The trademark cat costume for the Pussycats was inspired by a the real Josie’s cat outfit, which she wore to a costume party while on a Caribbean cruise.

Sadly, DeCarlo was forced to spend part of the later part of his life embroiled in legal tussles with Archie over the rights and royalties to his creation. He lost the fight, and on December 18th, 2001—eight days after the Supreme Court refused his appeal—DeCarlo suffered a fatal heart attack. He is much missed in the world of comics.

This series was formerly known as She’s Josie, changing to simply “Josie” with issue #17

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