NOT AN EXAMPLE: Josie and the Pussycats

Not An Example is a new, sporadic feature where I showcase characters and concepts that are commonly thought to be canon immigrants but really aren't. I've seen people mention canon immigrants that are flat-out wrong, and so far I've simply ignored them. But after so many years, I've decided I can no longer do that.

This week: we complete our Archie trifecta with Josie and the Pussycats!

Josie, as many people don't know has been around for a long time. She first appeared in Archie's Pals n Gals #23 (Fall 1962) and quickly moved into her own series, She's Josie (December 1962). Although she interacted with Archie and the gang every now and then, but mostly she was separate with her own cast of characters. So, the story goes, when Hanna-Barbera was looking to copy the success of The Archie Show, why not go to the source and adapt Archie's other group of teens? And since The Archie Show was all about The Archies, Josie and her friends would be a band too: the Pussycats. Then the comics followed suit and it's been that way ever since.

But just like with The Archies and Alan M, Josie and the Pussycats appeared in comics almost a year before they appeared on tv. She's Josie became Josie with issue 17 and then changed to Josie and the Pussycats with issue 45 (October 1969). The Josie and the Pussycats cartoon didn't premiere until September 1970.

Here's what makes sense to me. I think 1969 was a rebuilding year for the Josie brand. I think they were trying to find a hook that made Josie more than just a female Archie, so they made a lot of changes throughout the year to try things out. In June they introduced Alan M. In July they revealed Alexandra's cat has magic powers. In October they introduce Valerie and create the Pussycats. They also phased out characters throughout the year (the main one - Pepper - last appeared in April, and others disappeared here and there). Then when H-B's "Mysteries Five" project dropped the band aspect and became Scooby-Doo, they decided to use the already existing band concept that Archie recently rolled out.

If anyone has evidence to the contrary, let me know!

NOT AN EXAMPLE: Alan M

Not An Example is a new, sporadic feature where I showcase characters and concepts that are commonly thought to be canon immigrants but really aren't. I've seen people mention canon immigrants that are flat-out wrong, and so far I've simply ignored them. But after so many years, I've decided I can no longer do that.

This week: Alan M!

Last week I covered The Archies, and this week I'll be covering a related topic, namely Josie and the Pussycats. Interestingly, the story is very similar. Here's the way you'll read it on the internet:

Josie & The Pussycats was created by Hanna-Barbera to follow the success of The Archie Show. Originally they planned a show called Mysteries Five about a band that solves crimes, but the details of that series changed during pre-production, the band angle was dropped, and it became Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? But H-B still wanted a show like The Archie Show, so they went to Archie itself, took Josie, created Josie & The Pussycats, and added characters like Valerie and Alan M.

Again, that's the commonly accepted knowledge. But just like with The Archies, the dates just don't line up. Alan M (aka Alan M. Mayberry) first appeared in Josie #42, cover date August 1969 (actual date June 1969).

But Josie & the Pussycats wouldn't debut until September 1970. So again, just like The Archies, we have Alan M appearing in comics almost a year and a half before appearing on tv.

You might be thinking, "But Chad, maybe cartoons have a lot of lead time!" I considered that too. Thankfully, we have an idea of exactly how much lead time cartoons have. See, Scooby-Doo has been written about much more extensively than Archie or Josie have. So we know that the Mysteries Five concept didn't come about until "Sugar, Sugar" topped the charts. That song was released May 1969, Scooby-Doo premiered September 1969, so even with all the changes they made, it only took them four or five months to turn it around. Even if, for argument's sake, we say they started working on it when The Archie Show debuted, that would only give them a year. Still less than the gap between Alan M's appearances in comics and tv. It just doesn't make any sense.

If anyone has evidence to the contrary, let me know!

NOT AN EXAMPLE: The Archies

Not An Example is a new, sporadic feature where I showcase characters and concepts that are commonly thought to be canon immigrants but really aren't.

I originally created this blog to fill a niche. There was no definitive list of canon immigrants on the internet. But to be the definitive list, I wanted my information to be as specific as possible. There was a lot of vague and wrong information out there, so it wasn't enough for me to say "Harley Quinn was created for Batman: The Animated Series and then showed up in comics"; I wanted dates, titles, and pictures of those appearances to show my work and for other people to be able to correct me if my information was wrong.

I've seen people mention canon immigrants that are flat-out wrong, and so far I've simply ignored them. But after so many years, I've decided I can no longer do that. I will never be able to include every example, so not being featured doesn't necessarily mean it's not a canon immigrant, it could just mean I haven't come across it yet. So starting with this entry, I'll also be debunking ones that are cited as canon immigrants but aren't.

I can't think of a better example to start with than The Archies.

The Archies were a band made up of Archie Andrews and his friends, which performed each episode on The Archie Show (1968). The Archies are famous for having a real #1 hit that people still know today: "Sugar, Sugar".

There isn't much information about The Archie Show online, but most of it will tell you that the producers wanted to recreate the success of The Monkees, so Filmation turned the Archie characters into a band.

Here's the thing about that, though: The Archie Show debuted in 1968. Most sites say September, Wikipedia says June. No one ever cites their source. But for sake of argument, let's go with June.

When did The Archies first appear in comics? Life With Archie #60, cover date April 1967. And that's the cover date! So the actual date was really January or February 1967. Which means it was written in 1966.

The Archies debuted a year and a half before The Archie Show first aired on television. We've seen things immigrate to comics before their actual first appearance, but usually the window is a few months. Renee Montoya and White Tiger were six months. Aqualad and Nova were five. Others were shorter and maybe others still were a little longer (although I can't think of any). But a year and a half? That's just not believable to me. Even taking into account production lead time - writing, casting, animation, etc - this would mean The Archie Show was in pre-production for two years before it aired. There are blockbuster movies that aren't in pre-production for that long.

Here's another thing that's important to note: as I mentioned earlier, conventional wisdom states that they wanted a band on The Archie Show to replicate the success of The Monkees. They even hired the person behind The Monkees, Don Kirshner, to find the talent. But The Monkees didn't premiere until September 1966. Their first single, "Last Train to Clarksville", didn't hit the airwaves until October 1966. It debuted at #18 and hit #1 almost exactly a month later. Their next single, "I'm a Believer", was released a week after that but didn't hit the Billboard charts until December, and didn't reach #1 until the last week of 1966. I can't find Nielsen ratings for The Monkees, but since they would mostly go by November Sweeps, I would say December 1966 is the earliest they could've realized they had a bona fide cross-media hit on their hands. And again, the first appearance of The Archies was only a month or two after that.

In short, the time frame just doesn't make sense and The Archies are original to the comics.

If anyone has evidence to the contrary, let me know!