That Wilkin Boy

That Wilkin Boy
Cover of That Wilkin Boy #1 (January 1969)
Publication information
Publisher	Archie Comics
Schedule	Quarterly
Format	Ongoing series
Publication date(s)	January 1969 – October 1982
No. of issues	52
Main character(s)	Bingo Wilkin

That Wilkin Boy is a comic book series about a teenage boy, Bingo Wilkin, who lives in Midville, next door to his girlfriend, Samantha Smythe. That Wilkin Boy debuted with issue 1 dated January 1969 (so it was on sale in late 1968), and ran until issue 52 dated October 1982.

The series has much in common with other Archie titles- a somewhat clumsy "everyman" character (Bingo) dates, hangs out with his friends, and causes general mayhem among antagonists, which includes his girlfriend's father (reflecting Archie's own relationship with Mr. Lodge). However, the series differs from most other Archie series in one significant way: the title character has only a single love interest, and is not at the centre of a love triangle. The series lacks an equivalent of Veronica Lodge.

Additionally, Bingo’s band the Bingoes is much like the Archies (minus Veronica) but with a style that reflects the 1960s/1970s counterculture. Bingo’s girlfriend Samantha shares some characteristics with Betty Cooper: a sweet, level headed, athletic girl-next-door who loves only Bingo. Tough Teddy is heavily inspired by Reggie Mantle, and Buddy bears at least a passing resemblance to Jughead Jones.

As the series progressed, the stories became slightly more moral with a slightly dramatic tone. It often dealt with more serious issues, such as feminism, prejudice, runaways or crime, reflecting Archie Comics’ tendencies of the 1970s.

Previously published stories from That Wilkin Boy are frequently featured in digest magazines, most notably as a regular feature in Jughead & Friends Digest. To promote the reprints, Archie Comics featured an official "reintroduction" of That Wilkin Boy in Jughead & Friends Digest #5.

The linkup of Bingo and Uncle Herman to Jughead is illustrated in the lead story "Cry Uncle" in issue 5 (2006) of Jughead & Friends Digest. In it, Jughead visits his Uncle Herman in Midville; as it turns out, Uncle Herman is related to both Bingo and Jughead. Both of their mothers are his younger sisters. Teddy and Buddy briefly appear and make remarks about Jughead's famous gray crown beanie. Bingo and Samantha tried to bake a cake for their school's cooking class, and hilarity ensues as usual.

The idea to make the two characters related was the brainchild of Archie Digest Editor Nelson Ribeiro. This would help link the characters since they would be appearing in the same book, Jughead & Friends Digest. Through researching the archives Nelson found that Jughead also had an 'Uncle Herman' who was a tinkerer, so it only seemed natural to combine Bingo's Uncle Herman with Jughead's to provide the family link between the two characters.