Except for issue number two, the centerpiece of all the old Jozines was the detailed unofficial history of Dan DeCarlo and Josie and outside of the fan art, it was the most read and talked about part of the zines, thanks largely to the fact that the internet wasn’t big yet and Archie didn’t really reveal much into its past, as unlike superhero titles of DC and Marvel, their output never had much depth in terms of character, continuity and quality as their general
audience were usually too young to notice such details. It’s only when the audience grew up do they graduate to the superhero stuff and, more or less, become opinionated and obsessed over such technical details.

I’ll admit my fair share of this fanboy ranting and raving (only without the superhero stuff), but even a good decade before the controversy surrounding the 2001 ‘Josie’ movie, I had this strong sense of preservation of Josie and Dan in the face of what little information available at the time. It was only when after THAT movie did I found out about the politics and ego clashes that were going on underneath these wonderful characters. Now I know how fans felt when they find out what Marvel did to Jack Kirby and Steve Gerber.

Now that the drama and its noise had settled and everybody else had gone on with their lives, I am now left with this mountain of a amateurish and unofficial history rant to drag through various updates, versions and the ever changing formats.

Finally, at the end of this tunnel, to bum and twist a phrase from Neil Innes, I suffered for this fandom, and now it’s your turn.

Thanks for putting up with this,
Don-O
What’s let of Jozine
February/March 2017