Sep 1947
by Al Feldstein
1. Junior: Down in the Dumps
Junior and Goofy have to overcome a few obstacles in order to get the latest issue of The Clarion, the school newspaper, published. (9 pages)
2. Junior: A Junk Drive
Junior and Goofy are collecting junk to raise money for charity at the same time that Junior's mother is trying to impress the local women’s club. (7 pages)
3. Junior: Picnic Yarn
Deena and Gwen compete to win a date with Junior. Deena gets angry when she winds up with Goofy and Gwen winds up with Junior. (8 pages)
4. Deena & Gwenny: The Run Around
Deena and Gwen both want Junior to take them to the dance and come up with a convoluted way to decide which one of them gets to go with him. (6 pages)
This is the first issue of Junior. The numbering picked up from a different series. The first five issues were of a series called Rocket Kelly. The next three were titled L’il Pan. Junior ran for eight issues after which the title and focus of the comic book changed once again.
This is basically an Archie knockoff with sexier looking versions of Betty and Veronica. It was published by Fox Feature Syndicate. Bill Brown, the credited creator in the comic, was a pseudonym used by Al Feldstein.
Junior = Archie
Deena = Veronica
Gwen = Betty
Goofy = Jughead
Tuffy = Reggie
Deena and Gwen didn’t play significant roles in the first two stories. Tuffy only showed up in the first two stories. I found those stories to be a bit bland. I love the sense of mischief in the third and fourth stories. There are splash panels at the beginning of each story. I love the one at the beginning of the third story.
I wonder about the change in the tone of the stories starting with the third one. What moved Al Feldstein to change the tone of the stories?
This comic book can be read for free at Comic Book Plus. A collected edition was published about 10 years ago. It included the complete run of Junior. It was called The Complete Junior and Sunny.
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