In 1939 MLJ Comics, the company later rebranded as Archie Comics, published Blue Ribbon Comics and entered the world of superheroes with Bob Phantom! They would go on to create a pantheon of superheroes including the first patriotic superhero the Shield, and fan favorites like the Comet, Hangman, the Fly, Lancelot Strong and many more. These heroes have appeared in both Archie Comics and DC Comics. They have been reprinted in England, France, Germany, and Brazil. They have crossed over to radio, film and the pulps. Presented here is the 80 year history of the greatest superheroes of the Archie Universe from the people who brought you the MLJ Companion, Rik Offenberger (Archie Comics), Paul Castiglia (Archie Comics), Jon B. Cook (Tomorrows Publishing) and John Morrow (Tomorrows Publishing) as well as writer and movie producer Michael Uslan (Batman), and Golden Age comic experts J.C. Vaughn (Gemstone Publishing).
Saturday, 7/20/19, 4:00p.m. – 5:00p.m.
Room 9
GIVEAWAY
MLJ Comics had their own in house fan club in the 1940s, The Shield G-Man Club, for a 2¢ stamp you got a 1¼” pinback button and a business card size membership card.
For the 80th Anniversary of Archie Comics Superheroes we have reproduces those items and want to give them to the fans attending the panel as a commemoration of the history, our people will hand them out as fans enter the room, we are bringing 200.
We will also be ginging away a Shield 2’ x 3’ canvas print with art by Jay Piscopo, we plan on awarding it to a member of the audience during the panel. The audience member will be selected by panelist for best cosplay.
After The 80th Anniversary of Archie Comics Superheroes Panel (Saturday, 7/20/19, 4:00p.m. – 5:00p.m., Room 9) come to TwoMorrows Publishing Booth #1301 and get a copy of the MLJ Companion! Rik Offenberger, Paul Castiglia, Jon B. Cooke and John Jason Morrow will be signing copies of the book from 5:30 to 6:30
Rik Offenberger has worked in the comic field as a retailer, distributor, reporter, public relations coordinator, writer and publisher since 1990. He owns and operates the e-mail bases Super Hero News service, and his published works in print can be seen in The Comics Buyers Guide, Comic Retailer, Borderline Magazine, and Comics International. On the internet he has worked as a writer and/or editor for Silver Bullet Comicbooks, Comic Book Resources, Newsarama and First Comics News. He was the Public Relations Coordinator at Archie Comics for a decade. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief at G-Man Comics. For TwoMorrows Publications, Rik co-wrote The MLJ Companion with Paul Castiglia and Jon B. Cooke, charting the history of Archie’s superheroes, and for Gemstone Publishing wrote chapters of The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide to Lost Universes.
