Wilbur Comics


Wilbur Comics was a comic book published from 1944 to 1965. The comic featured the fictional character Wilbur Wilkin, a contemporary of Archie. Wilbur Wilkin actually made his first appearance in Zip Comics #18, three months before Archie's first appearance. Wilbur also made appearances in several other Archie comics, such as Pep Comics, as a backup feature. Of particular note, popular Archie character Katy Keene made her first appearance in Wilbur Comics #5. This title was published originally under the imprint of MLJ Magazines, which then became Archie comics starting with issue #8. After issue #87, the book went on until August 1963's #88. After 1 more issue in 1964 and 1 in 1965, the series was canceled with issue #90.
In the late 1960s, Archie Comics reused the last name "Wilkin" in a new title, That Wilkin Boy. It is unknown if this was an attempt at relaunching Wilbur Comics, or if the editors just believed that "Wilkin" is a good comedy name.
Archie Comics has reprinted stories from the series in its Archie Comics Digests.