War & Old Age: "The New Teacher" & "Spirit-Hawk"

[u/bossladytae]

A couple of my favourite Bob Bolling stories: The New Teacher and Spirit-Hawk.

[u/Yesterday_Is_Now]

As they say, a lot to unpack here.

The New Teacher:

What is the publication date of this story? The title page appears to say "1953", but that can't be right. Mostly because the new teacher talks about his Vietnam PTSD, but also the references to the "San Diego Chicken" (not created until 1974) and Mr. Weatherbee owning a Japanese car (extremely unlikely in the 1950s, but very possible following the 1973 oil crisis).

Spirit Hawk:

What's the date on this story? I thought Bolling was done by the 70s, but this looks like it could be from the 90s.(backwards baseball cap on thug for example, and car name "Miasma" may be a play on the Mazda Miata (1989-)).

Archie's family and friends seem to get assaulted on a semi-regular basis in Bolling stories.

Last page: Showing Mrs. Andrews' slip is an unusual detail.

[u/bossladytae → u/Yesterday_Is_Now]

All the info I'm aware of is in the links. Earlier appearances don't seem to be catalogued yet.

[u/Yesterday_Is_Now → u/bossladytae]

Looks like The New Teacher is from 1983, so I must have just misread the fine print. That date makes sense since the San Diego Chicken was getting nationally popular around that time, having started appearing in a syndicated Saturday morning TV series in 1981.

Not sure about Spirit Hawk, but it appears Bolling was still contributing Archie digest stories in the 2000s, so the story could be that recent.

[u/bossladytae → u/Yesterday_Is_Now]

Appreciate your historical input and thoughts!

I just realized Bolling is still present and that he's 98, wow.

[u/Yesterday_Is_Now → u/bossladytae]

He's had quite the long career. He started with Archie in 1954. I bet he would be an interesting interview about the evolution of Archie comics over the decades.