Now That's Heavy, Man: "The Tangled Web" by Malmgren and Bolling

Hey, hey, hey, Groove-ophiles! If you know much about comics of the early 1970s, you know that comicbooks got pretty heavy into dealing with "issues of the day". We called the trend "relevance". Some of the most famous were the Spider-Man "drug issues", Captain America dealing with corrupt government, and, of course, the legendary (and that overused adjective honestly fits here) Green Lantern/Green Arrow series. We also had lots of mags with the JLA dealing with pollution, the Teen Titans battling the Generation Gap, Wonder Woman doing her thing for Women's Lib, and of course The Batman taking down dope dealers and muggers.

One publisher, though, did more than their fair share to bring relevance to their readers. They, too, dealt with things like pollution, the Generation Gap, Women's Lib, and yes, even muggers. That company, believe it or don't, was Archie Comics. All the mags in the Archie line touched on real issues of the day at one time or another, but a few, especially Betty and Me and Life with Archie, found ways to deal with the human condition (yes, even religion) in a gentle, semi-humorous, sincere way.

Dick Malmgren and Bob Bolling's "The Tangled Web" (Life With Archie #112) is a story that has stuck with me ever since I brought that mag home from the local King Kwik back in May, 1971. In one ten page story that angered, saddened, and, yes, educated Young Groove, I learned lessons about honesty, responsiblity, friendship, and citizenship that have remained part of me to this day.

Now THAT'S heavy, man!