MLJ and MLJ Comics redirect here. It was the initial name of Archie Comics, which changed in 1946. Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher known for its many series featuring the fictional teenage Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Forsythe "Jughead" Jones characters created by Bob Montana. All characters were based on people he knew in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Archie's first appearance in Pep Comics #22 (December, 1941), also features longer serialized stories. The Archie characters have been continually successful in other mediums since the comic's inception. The Archie Andrews radio program debuted May 31, 1943, and ran on various networks until September 5, 1953. The Archie newspaper comic strip was launched in 1946, and was drawn by Montana and written by Vic Bloom. With the creation of Archie, publisher John L. Goldwater attended Horace Mann School, which is located in the "Missouri area, " but that officially Riverdale has no location. It is essentially located wherever the reader wants it to be. Indeed, the geography of Riverdale is always vague, and there have been a number of inconsistencies in this. Sometimes Riverdale is portrayed as a slim, older woman with a nose like Jughead's, but more recently is usually portrayed as an English teacher, but is occasionally shown teaching history and French. As well as Home Economics and cheerleading. Professor Flutesnoot, [26] science teacher (also band teacher in the Little Archie series. Leroy, Veronica's frequently-appearing cousin who is in Elementary School, and is noted for being a troublemaker. Caramel, Betty's orange tabby, appearing in both Little Archie and in regular Archie Comics. Fifi, Veronica's poodle, though sometimes Veronica appears to have a different dog