Archie 300 (Jan. 1981)

This issue of Archie is somewhat unusual in that it contains a single, 22-page story (albeit broken up into four parts) rather than a bunch of unrelated six-page stories (the standard length of an Archie story). But the reason this issue is of special note to me is that it was the comic book that tried to prove to me that the comics I got ahold of weren't ever going to be worth much money.

You'll note the cover has a "Special Collector's Edition" balloon on it. The balloon is all jagged and exciting, seeming to indicate that this issue will be of some worth. So the next time my dad took me to Caveat Emptor (the used-bookstore, previously mentioned here) I brought this issue with me and, with some excitement, asked the guy behind the counter how much I could get for it. He was very nice to my 9-year-old self and let me down gently. It was, practically speaking, worthless.

A year or two later, in sixth grade, I'd receive this same lesson secondhand, from a friend who'd received a few '70s-era issues of Batman and The Phantom from an uncle and, since he had no interest in comics, had taken them over to 25th Century (one of Bloomington's comic book shops, also previously mentioned here) to see if he could get some money for them. Again, the answer was not really. In that case, my friend just handed them over to the guy behind the counter anyway, since he didn't want them.

I, of course, still really liked Archie, so I kept this issue. Even though, I have to say, the story itself is kind of terrible. It's one of those that breaks the fourth wall so as to celebrate Archie's 300th issue within the book. Basically, everyone's running around trying to get away from Archie, and Archie starts to take it personally, until the end when it's revealed that they've all be trying to plan a surprise party for him. Great artwork by Dan DeCarlo, though.

And what could I get for this issue now? According to Mile High Comics, probably about $3 (considering the condition it's in). That's a 600-percent increase from the cover price! And it only took 32 years....