Bob Bolling
Encyclopedia
Bob Bolling is an American
comic artist
and writer
best known for his work in Archie Comics
. He created the company's popular spinoff title Little Archie
.
Bolling was born in Brockton, Massachusetts
. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he graduated from Vesper George Art School
in Boston. His first job in comics was assisting cartoonist George Shedd on the adventure comic strip Marlin Keel. In 1954 he began freelancing for Archie Comics, writing and drawing joke pages. Deciding that Bolling was better at drawing children than adults or teenagers, Archie editor Harry Shorten assigned him to work on Pat the Brat, a comic about a child with an obvious resemblance to Dennis the Menace.
In 1956, Archie publisher John Goldwater decided to do a comic about the adventures of Archie as a little boy. Shorten asked Bolling to create designs for Archie and his friends as small children. When the designs were approved by Goldwater and Shorten, Bolling was assigned to write and draw the first issue of Little Archie. After the debut issue was a success, Bolling was assigned full-time to Little Archie, and was permitted to sign his stories starting with the second issue.
From 1957 to 1965, Bolling worked exclusively on Little Archie, writing, drawing, inking and lettering approximately half the stories in each giant-sized quarterly issue. (Most of the other stories were written and drawn by Dexter Taylor, Bolling's former roommate.) Bolling also drew the covers for most issues. Bolling created a number of characters who had no counterparts in the "big" Archie universe at the time, including Little Archie's dog Spotty, Betty's cat Caramel, Little Archie's "picked-on pal" Ambrose Pipps, Betty's siblings Chick and Polly Cooper, and the South Side Serpents, a gang of tough kids who frequently went to war against Little Archie's "Good Ol' Gang." In issue # 24, he created his most popular recurring villain, Mad Doctor Doom, a green-skinned mad scientist trying to take over the world with the help of his dimwitted assistant Chester. The character made his debut at "approximately the same time" as Marvel Comics' Victor Von Doom.
Bolling also did several Little Archie spinoffs, including Little Archie in Animal Land, a four-issue series that mixed humor with educational stories about animals and the natural world, a one-shot comic starring Ambrose, and two issues of Little Archie Mystery Comics.
Bolling's Little Archie stories were usually longer than the typical Archie story, and incorporated a much wider range of material and approaches, ranging from light comedy to adventure to science fiction (Little Archie is taken to Mars in issue # 18) to tearjerking sentimentality. He would also change the designs of the characters depending on the nature of the story: in his adventure stories, the adults are usually drawn in a realistic style to contrast with the cartoony style of Little Archie and his friends. His stories are also notable for their lush backgrounds and specific references to the geography of Riverdale. His own favorite story is "The Long Walk" from Little Archie # 20, where Betty's attempt to walk home with Little Archie is told with a mix of comedy and sentiment; one entire page is devoted to a giant map charting everything that happens on their walk home, and the story uses a fantasy framing device where Betty's toys come to life and discuss her situation.
In 1965, Bolling was relieved of his duties on Little Archie (Dexter Taylor took over the title full-time) and moved to the regular Archie comics. After getting tips from both Dan DeCarlo
and Harry Lucey
on how to draw the teenaged Archie characters, he spent the next decade and a half drawing stories for such titles as Archie's Pals and Gals
, sometimes from his own scripts, but more often from scripts by Frank Doyle
.
In 1979, Archie Comics began to give Bolling more work as a writer-artist, starting by returning him to Little Archie on a part-time basis. From 1983 to 1985 he both wrote and drew Archie and Me
, injecting the title with drama and adventure as well as comedy, and bringing some Little Archie characters, including Spotty, into the "big" Archie universe. In between Archie assignments, Bolling wrote and drew the first two issues of Marvel Comics
' Wally the Wizard
. Today, he continues to work for Archie Comics, drawing new stories for digests.
Bolling's work on Little Archie has earned him comparisons to Carl Barks
for the wide emotional and stylistic range of his work. Scott Shaw!
has written that "Bolling's clever, sometimes surprisingly emotional writing, his imaginative storytelling and staging and his dramatic, Will Eisner-ish inking" make Little Archie "add up to a comic book series unlike any other ever published by Archie Comics." Jaime Hernandez
has said that Bolling's influence "is the reason I write the way I write," adding that he is influenced by Bolling's controlled sentimentality -- "he knows when to back off; he knows exactly what to put in and what to take out, and when" -- and by his ability to convey moods and times of day in his stories: "As a kid, I could just feel myself outside when I was reading them -- being by myself when the stillness of the afternoon is spookier than the dark of the night, you know? He would draw lone silhouettes off in the distance, and they seemed so lonely it made me want to cry. We've been trying to write stories like that ever since, trying to convey those feelings that he put into those stories."
Bolling received the Inkpot Award
in 2005 in recognition of his work on Little Archie.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
comic artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
and writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
best known for his work in Archie Comics
Archie Comics
Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher headquartered in the Village of Mamaroneck, Town of Mamaroneck, New York, known for its many series featuring the fictional teenagers Archie Andrews, Betty Cooper, Veronica Lodge, Reggie Mantle and Jughead Jones. The characters were created by...
. He created the company's popular spinoff title Little Archie
Little Archie
Little Archie was a comic book published by Archie comics from 1956 until the mid 1990s, lasting 140 issues. Little Archie #1 is considered to be "scarce" by the Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide .-Overview:...
.
Bolling was born in Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton, Massachusetts
Brockton is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States; the population was 93,810 in the 2010 Census. Brockton, along with Plymouth, are the county seats of Plymouth County...
. After serving in the U.S. Navy, he graduated from Vesper George Art School
Vesper George Art School
The Vesper George School of Art in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, closed in 1983.For many years the school contributed to the Boston art community, training many talented artists, many of whom are still active in both commercial art and fine arts...
in Boston. His first job in comics was assisting cartoonist George Shedd on the adventure comic strip Marlin Keel. In 1954 he began freelancing for Archie Comics, writing and drawing joke pages. Deciding that Bolling was better at drawing children than adults or teenagers, Archie editor Harry Shorten assigned him to work on Pat the Brat, a comic about a child with an obvious resemblance to Dennis the Menace.
In 1956, Archie publisher John Goldwater decided to do a comic about the adventures of Archie as a little boy. Shorten asked Bolling to create designs for Archie and his friends as small children. When the designs were approved by Goldwater and Shorten, Bolling was assigned to write and draw the first issue of Little Archie. After the debut issue was a success, Bolling was assigned full-time to Little Archie, and was permitted to sign his stories starting with the second issue.
From 1957 to 1965, Bolling worked exclusively on Little Archie, writing, drawing, inking and lettering approximately half the stories in each giant-sized quarterly issue. (Most of the other stories were written and drawn by Dexter Taylor, Bolling's former roommate.) Bolling also drew the covers for most issues. Bolling created a number of characters who had no counterparts in the "big" Archie universe at the time, including Little Archie's dog Spotty, Betty's cat Caramel, Little Archie's "picked-on pal" Ambrose Pipps, Betty's siblings Chick and Polly Cooper, and the South Side Serpents, a gang of tough kids who frequently went to war against Little Archie's "Good Ol' Gang." In issue # 24, he created his most popular recurring villain, Mad Doctor Doom, a green-skinned mad scientist trying to take over the world with the help of his dimwitted assistant Chester. The character made his debut at "approximately the same time" as Marvel Comics' Victor Von Doom.
Bolling also did several Little Archie spinoffs, including Little Archie in Animal Land, a four-issue series that mixed humor with educational stories about animals and the natural world, a one-shot comic starring Ambrose, and two issues of Little Archie Mystery Comics.
Bolling's Little Archie stories were usually longer than the typical Archie story, and incorporated a much wider range of material and approaches, ranging from light comedy to adventure to science fiction (Little Archie is taken to Mars in issue # 18) to tearjerking sentimentality. He would also change the designs of the characters depending on the nature of the story: in his adventure stories, the adults are usually drawn in a realistic style to contrast with the cartoony style of Little Archie and his friends. His stories are also notable for their lush backgrounds and specific references to the geography of Riverdale. His own favorite story is "The Long Walk" from Little Archie # 20, where Betty's attempt to walk home with Little Archie is told with a mix of comedy and sentiment; one entire page is devoted to a giant map charting everything that happens on their walk home, and the story uses a fantasy framing device where Betty's toys come to life and discuss her situation.
In 1965, Bolling was relieved of his duties on Little Archie (Dexter Taylor took over the title full-time) and moved to the regular Archie comics. After getting tips from both Dan DeCarlo
Dan DeCarlo
Daniel S. DeCarlo was an American cartoonist best known as the artist who developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and establishing the publisher's house style...
and Harry Lucey
Harry Lucey
Harry Lucey was an American comic artist best known for his work in MLJ and Archie Comics. He was the primary artist on Archie, the company's flagship title, from the late '50s through the mid-'70s....
on how to draw the teenaged Archie characters, he spent the next decade and a half drawing stories for such titles as Archie's Pals and Gals
Archie's Pals and Gals
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals was a comic book published by Archie Comics from 1952 to 1991. The title showcased other members of the Archie gang, such as Betty and Veronica, Jughead and Reggie. The most notable issue was 1962's #23, which featured the first appearance of Josie, Melody and Pepper...
, sometimes from his own scripts, but more often from scripts by Frank Doyle
Frank Doyle (writer)
Frank Doyle was the head writer for Archie Comics for over thirty years. He wrote over 10,000 stories featuring the Archie characters...
.
In 1979, Archie Comics began to give Bolling more work as a writer-artist, starting by returning him to Little Archie on a part-time basis. From 1983 to 1985 he both wrote and drew Archie and Me
Archie and Me
Archie and Me was a comic book title published by Archie comics from 1964 to 1987. Most issues and covers focused on the interaction of Archie Andrews and the school principal, Mr. Weatherbee. This suggests that Mr. Weatherbee is the "Me" mentioned in the title.-See also:* List of Archie Comics...
, injecting the title with drama and adventure as well as comedy, and bringing some Little Archie characters, including Spotty, into the "big" Archie universe. In between Archie assignments, Bolling wrote and drew the first two issues of Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
' Wally the Wizard
Star Comics
Star Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics that began in 1984 and continued to publish comic books until early 1988. Titles published by the imprint were aimed at child readers and were often adaptations of children's television series, animated series or toys...
. Today, he continues to work for Archie Comics, drawing new stories for digests.
Bolling's work on Little Archie has earned him comparisons to Carl Barks
Carl Barks
Carl Barks was an American Disney Studio illustrator and comic book creator, who invented Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, such as Scrooge McDuck , Gladstone Gander , the Beagle Boys , The Junior Woodchucks , Gyro Gearloose , Cornelius Coot , Flintheart Glomgold , John D...
for the wide emotional and stylistic range of his work. Scott Shaw!
Scott Shaw (artist)
Scott Shaw is a United States cartoonist and animator, and is also an esteemed conductor of the concert band at Mary Institute and Country Day School...
has written that "Bolling's clever, sometimes surprisingly emotional writing, his imaginative storytelling and staging and his dramatic, Will Eisner-ish inking" make Little Archie "add up to a comic book series unlike any other ever published by Archie Comics." Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez
Jaime Hernandez is the co-creator of the black & white independent comic book Love and Rockets .-Early life:...
has said that Bolling's influence "is the reason I write the way I write," adding that he is influenced by Bolling's controlled sentimentality -- "he knows when to back off; he knows exactly what to put in and what to take out, and when" -- and by his ability to convey moods and times of day in his stories: "As a kid, I could just feel myself outside when I was reading them -- being by myself when the stillness of the afternoon is spookier than the dark of the night, you know? He would draw lone silhouettes off in the distance, and they seemed so lonely it made me want to cry. We've been trying to write stories like that ever since, trying to convey those feelings that he put into those stories."
Bolling received the Inkpot Award
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award, bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International, is given to some of the professionals in comic book, comic strip, animation, science fiction, and related pop-culture fields, who are guests of that organization's yearly multigenre fan convention, commonly known as...
in 2005 in recognition of his work on Little Archie.