‘Archie’ artist honoured with life-sized statue
A life-size bronze statue of a redhaired, freckled Archie will soon greet visitors at a New Hampshire town in honour of the local man who drew the comic book character and his group of wholesome teenage friends.
Bob Montana illustrated Archie, Betty, Veronica and Jughead from 1942 until his death in 1975 at age 54. He lived in Meredith, New Hampshire, for 35 years until he died from a heart attack while cross-country skiing.
“It is a privilege to be able to draw attention to one of our community members who did so much and did it so quietly and so well,” said Monica Philbin, executive director of the Greater Meredith Program.
The Greater Meredith Program, a community development non-profit, raised nearly $57,000 for the project in less than six months mostly from residents. Architect Chris Williams originally suggested the idea to honour the former Meredith resident with an Archie statue.
Williams said no other sculpture of the character exists anywhere.
The one-of-a-kind statue will be commemorated Aug. 9 in Meredith’s Community Park to coincide with the town’s 250th anniversary.
Montana brought the Archie Andrews character to life when he drew the first
“Archie” comic strip while renting a cottage on Lake Waukewan in 1942. He was joined by other illustrators over the years, including Tom Moore, who also chronicled Archie’s escapades from 1953 until he retired in the 1980s.
The comic strip was distributed in newspapers nationwide a few years later. Its popularity led the company that originally published the comic books, MLJ Comics, to change their name to Archie Comic Publications in 1946. Over the years, the comic sold billions of copies worldwide and inspired several television shows including “Sabrina the Teenage Witch” and “Riverdale.”