Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
- April 3, 1996, in
New Port Richey, Florida
New Port Richey is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburban city included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was counted at 16,728 in the 2020 census.
History
By ...
) was the head writer for
Archie Comics
Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Archie characters. Artist
Dan DeCarlo
Daniel S. DeCarlo (December 12, 1919 – December 18, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for having developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and ...
referred to Doyle as "the best".
Doyle, one of several ''Archie'' contributors who studied art at the
Pratt Institute
Pratt Institute is a private university with its main campus in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York. It has a satellite campus in Manhattan and an extension campus in Utica, New York at the Munson-Williams-Proctor Arts Institute. The school was ...
, was originally a penciller for
Fiction House
Fiction House was an American publisher of pulp magazines and comic books that existed from the 1920s to the 1950s. It was founded by John B. "Jack" Kelly and John W. Glenister.Saunders, David"JACK BYRNE (1902-1972),"Field Guide to Wild American P ...
comics, working on such titles as ''
Planet Stories
''Planet Stories'' was an American pulp science fiction magazine, published by Fiction House between 1939 and 1955. It featured interplanetary adventures, both in space and on some other planets, and was initially focused on a young readership. ...
''.Duin, Steve and Richardson, Mike. ''Comics: Between the Panels''. Dark Horse Comics, 1998. , p. 137 After he was let go from Fiction House, he decided that he was better suited to writing stories: "It was easier," he said. "My mind worked better that way." In 1951 he joined Archie Comics as a writer. Though he no longer drew stories himself, he continued to write in storyboard form, using a desk that used to belong to Fiction House artist
Fran Hopper
Fran Hopper (July 13, 1922 – November 29, 2017), née Frances R. Deitrick, was an American comic-book artist active during the 1930s–1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. One of the earliest women in the field, she drew primari ...
.
By the end of the '50s, Doyle was writing the majority of stories for such important Archie titles as ''Archie'' and ''
Betty and Veronica
''Betty and Veronica'' (also known as ''Archie's Girls Betty and Veronica'') was an ongoing comic book series published by Archie Comics focusing on "best friends and worst enemies" Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge. Betty first appeared in ''Pep Co ...
Grand Comics Database
The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...
DeCarlo said that when he joined Archie Comics, most of the scripts he was given were written by Doyle. In the mid-'60s, he also began writing many of the stories for adventure-themed titles like ''
Life With Archie
''Life with Archie'' is a comic book published by Archie comics from 1958 to 1991. It featured Archie Andrews in adventure stories that were more dramatic than the standard Archie tales. In 2010, it was revived as a magazine-sized comic devoted t ...
''; he wrote all the stories featuring the Archie characters' superhero alter-egoes such as Pureheart the Powerful.
According to DeCarlo, Doyle did "all the writing" for the early issues of '' She's Josie''. Though he did not write the issue where the title was retooled into ''
Josie and the Pussycats
Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group
A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...
'', he returned to the title soon after, writing many of the Pussycats-era stories. Doyle wrote the first issue of the Archie title ''
That Wilkin Boy
''That Wilkin Boy'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about a teenage boy, Bingo Wilkin, who lives in Midville, next door to his girlfriend, Samantha Smythe. ''That Wilkin Boy'' debuted with issue 1 dated January 1969 (so it was o ...
'', and wrote the debut stories for several Archie supporting characters, including the first appearance of
Cheryl Blossom
Cheryl Marjorie Blossom is a fictional character of the Archie Comics universe. She is a wealthy teenage girl, the privileged daughter of a businessman. The live action version of Cheryl is portrayed by Madelaine Petsch in '' Riverdale''.
Histor ...
.
Starting in the late '80s, Doyle became less prolific, but continued to write Archie stories every month until his death. His last story, "Cry Me a River," appeared in ''Betty and Veronica'' #104 (October 1996) after his death, with art by DeCarlo. Archie editor
Victor Gorelick
Victor Gorelick (April 5, 1941 – February 8, 2020) was an American comic book editor and executive. Working in a variety of roles for Archie Comics for over 60 years, he rose to the position of editor-in-chief.
Career
After studying at the Sch ...
called him "just a tremendous writer" who was "responsible for so many things that people don't know about," while
Kurt Busiek
Kurt Busiek ( ) (born September 16, 1960) is an American comic book writer. His work includes the ''Marvels'' limited series, his own series titled ''Astro City'', a four-year run on ''The Avengers (comic book), The Avengers, Thunderbolts (comics ...
said that Doyle was "one of the best writers comics ever had."
Doyle was the 2012 recipient of the Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing.