Archie's Ham Radio Adventure

Archie's Ham Radio Adventure - RF Cafe

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Stan Goldberg is a familiar name to comic book aficionados for his artistry in Spider Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Archie series. QST magazine had him listed in the "Silent Keys" column in the November 2014 issue because he passed away in August. A Silent Key, in Hamdom, is usually a title reserved for a deceased licensed operator (the 'key' reference being a Morse code key), but a search of the Internet and the FCC license database web page did not turn up a call sign for him. Unless his record has been dropped from the database, Mr. Goldberg* might never have actually been a Ham, but earned the Silent Key acknowledgement because of his involvement in a 1986 special edition comic book titled "Archie's Ham Radio Adventure." It was quite an extensive story that involved all the familiar Archie characters, and even had a section addressed to parents encouraging them to promote both their kids' and their own interest in amateur radio as an educational and character building tool. The edition was distributed free of charge as part of a joint effort including the ARRL and Ham radio equipment companies.

Archie's Ham Radio Adventure, Ham Shack - RF CafeArchie's Ham Radio Adventure, Red Cross - RF CafeArchie's Ham Radio Adventure's plot begins with techo-nerd Dilton using his personal Ham shack equipment to check with a radio buddy in South America regarding a volcanic eruption situation and assisting in passing on the information to others in the area. Impressed by his take-charge actions, Moose, Reggie, Archie, and others query Dilton about Ham radio, whereupon he discusses the OSCAR satellites, QSL cards, DXpeditions, and other related topics. A few call signs are mentioned in the dialogs, but most have no listing in the FCC database.

Then, bringing the story closer to home, a local emergency situation occurs where a mock Viking ship being used in a school play by YLs* Veronica and Betty getting thrust into a watery torrent after a nearby dam breaks. Using air support provided by Veronica's millionaire father, Mr. Lodge, Dilton works with the Red Cross to rescues the teen actors. Meanwhile Mr. Lodge, a licensed Ham himself with a to-die-for shack of equipment employs the autopatch to contact police in pursuit of an imposter film director during his getaway attempt.

A lot of information is crammed into the comic book's 36 pages. You can pick up a copy of Archie's Ham Radio Adventure on eBay for under $20 if you're interested. Thanks to KK4DSD for scanning and posting his full copy of Archie's Ham Radio Adventures.

 

  * Mike Esposito is co-artist on the effort.

** YL in Hamese stands for Young Lady.

 

 

Posted February 25, 2020                       (original 11/17/2014)