Frank Doyle

Frank Doyle (November 17, 1917 – April 3, 1996) was the head writer for Archie Comics for over thirty years. He wrote over 10,000 stories featuring the Archie characters. Artist Dan DeCarlo referred to Doyle as "the best".

Career Doyle, one of several Archie contributors who studied art at the Pratt Institute, was originally a penciller for Fiction House comics, working on such titles as Planet Stories. After he was let go from Fiction House, he decided that he was better suited to writing stories: "It was easier," he said. "My mind worked better that way." DeCarlo said that when he joined Archie Comics, most of the scripts he was given were written by Doyle.

According to DeCarlo, Doyle did "all the writing" for the early issues of She's Josie. Though he did not write the issue where the title was retooled into Josie and the Pussycats, he returned to the title soon after, writing many of the Pussycats-era stories. and wrote the debut stories for several Archie supporting characters, including the first appearance of Cheryl Blossom.

Starting in the late '80s, Doyle became less prolific, but continued to write Archie stories every month until his death. His last story, "Cry Me a River," appeared in Betty and Veronica #104 (October 1996) after his death, with art by DeCarlo. Archie editor Victor Gorelick called him "just a tremendous writer" who was "responsible for so many things that people don't know about," while Kurt Busiek said that Doyle was "one of the best writers comics ever had."