250's for America's 250 · Day 6: Archie #250

Publishing: Tuesday, June 16, 2026 · Archie Comics · Cover date: February 1976

Cover art by Dan DeCarlo (pencils) and Rudy Lapick (inks)

See full issue details on the Grand Comics Database →

A change of pace — the only humor title in the series, and proof that "hitting #250" was never just a superhero achievement.

The issue

A standard multi-story Archie humor issue in the classic Riverdale mold. In "The Other Cheek," Betty talks Archie into responding to Reggie's relentless needling with pure kindness, no matter the provocation. Another story has Archie bracing for a visit from Aunt Agatha. Shorter features include a one-page "Archie's Gag Bag" and a "Li'l Jinx" half-pager. It's also frequently noted as the title's last 25¢ issue — a nice little price-history footnote.

Who's in it

• Archie Andrews — Riverdale High's perpetually flustered everyman, put to the test by Betty's kindness experiment.
• Betty Cooper — the girl-next-door who talks Archie into turning the other cheek.
• Veronica Lodge — Riverdale's wealthy socialite and the other point of Archie's eternal love triangle.
• Reggie Mantle — the gang's resident schemer and needler, whose taunts kick off the lead story.
• Jughead Jones — Archie's laid-back best friend, always good for a wisecrack.
• Aunt Agatha — a visiting relative whose arrival throws the Andrews household into minor chaos.
• Li'l Jinx — star of her own long-running backup strip about a mischievous younger kid.

Behind the book (creators)

• Cover: Dan DeCarlo (pencils), Rudy Lapick (inks)
• Writing: Frank Doyle, Bob Montana, Joe Edwards
• Interior art: Harry Lucey, Chic Stone, Bob Montana, Joe Edwards
• Publisher era: John Goldwater / Richard Goldwater

Meet the creators

Dan DeCarlo is arguably the single most influential visual force on Archie Comics — his clean, breezy, distinctly '60s-and-'70s house style defined how Archie, Betty, and Veronica looked for generations of readers, and he drew the majority of the line's covers through this era. Beyond Riverdale, DeCarlo co-created Josie and the Pussycats and helped shape Sabrina the Teenage Witch, both of which spun off into their own long-running franchises.

Bob Montana was there from the very beginning: he co-created Archie in 1941 and drew the character's earliest adventures, reportedly basing Riverdale High and its cast on his own New Hampshire high school experience. By the time of this 1976 issue Montana was still contributing scripts and art to the franchise he helped launch thirty-five years earlier.

What it's worth

A common Bronze Age humor book with no key status, so it stays affordable. Low-grade raw copies sell for just a few dollars; higher-grade raw NM copies might reach $20–$40. Graded copies rarely appear, so a high-grade slab could surprise on scarcity alone — but established 9.8 sale data is thin. The appeal is the DeCarlo cover and the "last 25¢ issue" milestone.

Where to read it (collected edition)

No dedicated trade or omnibus reprint of Archie #250 was identified. Archie material of this vintage is most often recycled into Archie digests rather than a numbered collection of the main title, so treat #250 as effectively uncollected on its own.

Part of "250's for America's 250" — counting 24 milestone #250 comics down to the U.S. 250th on July 4, 2026.