U.S. stamps honour for Archie, other comic heroes

An enthusiast reads an Archie comic at Oxford Book Shop in Calcutta, India, Monday, May 7, 2007. Archie Andrews, and his gang from Riverdale will join other comic heroes in a series of postal stamps to be issued by the U.S. Postal Service.

The U.S. postal department, which has announced a stamp in Mother Teresa’s honour, has brought cheers to comic book lovers too.

The “Sunday Funnies” series of the United States Postal Service (USPS) would feature eternal comic book favourites Archie, Beetle Bailey, Garfield, Dennis the Menace and Calvin and Hobbes.

These stamps will go on sale in July.

Seventeen-year-old Archie Andrews, often torn between the haughty brunette Veronica Lodge and sweet blonde Betty Cooper, will be seen with these favourite girls of his in the stamp, the USPS said.

Last year, the publishers announced that Archie will propose to Veronica but fans weren’t that happy as a majority of them wants Riverdale’s ultimate playboy to marry Betty.

Archie is yet to take a decision on his marriage.

Offering an idealised portrait of American adolescence, Archie existed only in comic-book form before debuting in newspapers in 1946. This typical small-town teenager has a knack for goofing things up.

A military strip with universal appeal, Beetle Bailey first appeared in September 1950. Possibly the laziest man in the army, Private Beetle Bailey is an expert at sleeping and avoiding work. His chronic indolence antagonises Sergeant Orville P Snorkel, who is tough on his men but calls them “my boys”. Dennis the Menace follows the antics of Dennis Mitchell, a good—hearted but mischievous little boy who is perpetually “5-ana-half”-years-old. His curiosity tests the patience of his loving parents and neighbours, guaranteeing that their lives are anything but dull. The comic debuted in March 1951 as a single-panel gag.

Garfield first waddled onto the comic pages in June 1978. Self-centred and cynical, the crabby tabby hates Mondays and loves lasagne. He lives with Jon Arbuckle, a bumbling bachelor with a fatally flawed fashion sense, and Odie, a dopey but devoted dog.

Calvin and Hobbes explores the fantasy life of 6-year-old Calvin and his tiger pal, Hobbes. The inseparable friends ponder the mysteries of the world and test the fortitude of Calvin’s parents, who never know where their son’s imagination will take him. The strip ran from November 1985 to December 1995.

USPS last week announced that it will honour Mother Teresa, actress Katharine Hepburn, the Negro Baseball Leagues, silver screen cowboys Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Tom Mix and William S. Hart, singer Kate Smith, the monarch butterfly among others on stamps to be issued in 2010.