Data courtesy of the Grand Comics Database under Creative Commons license.

Issue Details

Issue #40
Published January 1959
Cover Price 0.10 USD
Pages 36
Editing Richard Goldwater

Cover Details - "Does a mousetrap chase a mouse?"

Characters Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge
Genre teen; humor
Pencils Harry Lucey

5 page Betty and Veronica story "Joyful Journey"

Characters Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge; Archie Andrews; Mr. Lodge; Fred Andrews; Waldo Weatherbee; Geraldine Grundy
Synopsis After hearing Mr. Weatherbee's lecture on the importance of spreading happiness, Betty decides to spread joy to everyone in her life, but her "joyful" pronouncements set off a class war between the Andrews and Lodge families.
Genre teen; humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Dan DeCarlo
Inks Rudy Lapick

Half page Archie activity "A Crack Skater"

Characters Archie Andrews; Veronica Lodge
Synopsis The reader has to draw a line to let Archie skate to Veronica without falling through cracks in the ice.
Script Tom Moore
Pencils Tom Moore
Inks Tom Moore
Letters Tom Moore

Half page Leroy filler "Season's Beatings"

Characters Leroy; Veronica Lodge
Synopsis Leroy gets a drum for Christmas.
Script Tom Moore
Pencils Tom Moore
Inks Tom Moore
Letters Tom Moore

1 page text article "World of the Past"

Genre fact; history
Pencils Ken Hultgren
Inks Ken Hultgren
Letters Typeset

1 page Li'l Jinx filler "The Warning!"

Characters Li'l Jinx; Greg
Genre children; humor
Script Joe Edwards
Pencils Joe Edwards
Inks Joe Edwards
Letters Joe Edwards

7 page Veronica story "Fish Fried"

Characters Veronica Lodge; Archie Andrews; Mr. Lodge
Synopsis Archie comes up with an elaborate scheme that will allow him and Veronica to get more dating money out of Mr. Lodge. The first step is for Veronica to feign an interest in collecting extremely expensive tropical fish.
Genre teen; humor
Pencils Dan DeCarlo
Inks Rudy Lapick

4 page Archie story "Tree To Get Ready"

Characters Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge; Archie Andrews; Jughead Jones; Reggie Mantle; Midge Klump
Synopsis Archie breaks the Christmas tree decorations, so the gang makes decorations out of food, but Jughead promptly eats them.
Genre teen; humor
Pencils Bill Vigoda

1 page Nature's Notebook text article "Man's Best Friend"

Genre fact; nature
Pencils Ken Hultgren
Inks Ken Hultgren
Letters Typeset

1 page Li'l Jinx filler "Nope!"

Characters Li'l Jinx
Genre children; humor
Script Joe Edwards
Pencils Joe Edwards
Inks Joe Edwards
Letters Joe Edwards

6 page Betty and Veronica story "Those Are the Breaks!"

Characters Betty Cooper; Veronica Lodge; Archie Andrews; Mrs. Cooper; Chuck Thomas
Synopsis Trying to get a date with a handsome boy that Archie is setting up with Betty, Veronica pretends to be Betty and bad-mouths Veronica, eventually convincing both Chuck and Archie that Veronica is no good.
Genre teen; humor
Script Frank Doyle
Pencils Dan DeCarlo
Inks Rudy Lapick