Even comic book aficionados might confuse this cover of Marvel Comics' Millie the Model for an Archie Comic. Did Marvel create a quickie copycat version of Archie?
The cover of this Millie comic book was drawn by Dan DeCarlo, who is best known for his work on the Archie series. In this case, Mr. DeCarlo actually worked for Marvel before he did his legendary stint at Archie.
Neither of these comics, however, were copycats of the other one. Both Archie and Millie debuted around the same time separately and weren't intended to be knock-offs of the other title. Millie was originally intended to be a comic book for ladies, who were increasingly pushing for their independence after World War II. Archie, on the other hand, was a knock-off of MGM's Andy Hardy films, which starred the self-proclaimed number one star in the world, Mickey Rooney.
Marvel ended the Millie series in the 1970's as interest in it waned. The series remains Marvel's longest running comedy book and actually does tie into Marvel's superhero universe. While the title mainly followed the comedic mishaps of Millie and her friends, she is depicted as attending the wedding of Sue Storm and Reed Richards, putting her in the same world as the Fantastic Four, X-Men and the Avengers. While Marvel is not likely to bring her to the big screen, who knows? People said a film about a brash loudmouth, a walking tree and a talking raccoon would surely fail and we know how that turned out.
