The "Archie" newspaper strip from September 1960 to April 1963, this collection of Bob Montana's work exemplifies many of the qualities of the strip that hooked me as a kid, and shows a few of the blemishes that marked the times. We see here the essential charm and innocence of the strip's early years, Montana's "good girl" art (especially of Betty, who may have been my first media crush as a child), and some inventive humor, occasionally with multi-layered wit that built gag upon gag until the final panel's payoff. There were also a few unpleasant strips that showed a streak of Archie's cruel humor toward trusting Betty. But thankfully these disappeared over the years and can perhaps be chalked up to the tenor of the times. ( )