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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'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)
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