Josie A short-haired redhead, Josie is the leader and co-founder of the Pussycats. She is the lead vocalist and songwriter and plays guitar. Portrayed as a sweet, attractive, and level-headed teenage girl, Josie is usually the stable center in the middle of the chaos surrounding her band and her friends. Josie's surname has been inconsistent. It was alternately "Jones" or "James" for much of the comic's run. McCoy was her surname for the 2001 movie. Archie Comics later sometimes acknowledged the surnames from the movie as canonical, though not consistently. In a few stories reprinted in the 2000s decade, Archie Comics changed her surname to McCoy. However, the manga version used "Jones", which was her first surname to actually appear in the comics. During the early years of her comic (1963–1969), Josie dated a guitarist named Albert. During and after the
Josie and the Pussycats revamp, she dated Alan M. Mayberry. Alexander Cabot is regularly attracted to her in the comics. Though she is known to date him, she really loves Alan M. In the cartoon series, Josie's speaking voice was performed by
Janet Waldo (the voice of
Judy Jetson and
Penelope Pitstop) and her singing voice was performed by Cathy Dougher. She was played by
Rachael Leigh Cook in the 2001 live-action
Josie and the Pussycats movie (singing voice performed by
Kay Hanley). She appeared in
The CW series
Riverdale with
Ashleigh Murray portraying her as an African American and lead singer of the band. Murray eventually left the show and joined the spinoff
Katy Keene. She returns as a special guest star in the musical episode "Chapter Ninety-One: The Return of the Pussycats", which is centered on her, Pussycats Valerie and Melody, and Alexandra Cabot. Josie was ranked 77th in ''
Comics Buyer's Guide's'' "100 Sexiest Women in Comics" list.
Melody Valentine The co-founder and drummer for the Pussycats (she also sang occasional lead vocals for the TV series), Melody is a cute, vivacious blonde and usually speaks in a sing-song voice, denoted by the musical notes in her cartoon
word balloons. She is a slightly ditzy, bubbly sort of character, often taken to using silly nonsense language and provides much of the comic relief of the series. Melody is almost never given a surname in a comic story. Occasionally, she is called "Melody Jones". At these times, the name "James" is used for Josie to avoid confusion. However, the manga, having settled on the name "Josie Jones", essentially nullifies this. The 2001 movie establishes her surname as Valentine, a name that Archie Comics has accepted. Many comic stories use Melody's beauty as a plot device. When male characters see her, they uncontrollably fall for her and lose all sense of anything else, frequently leading to chaos; although, she is usually oblivious to this. Despite any trouble that occurs for her or her friends, Melody maintains a cheerful, optimistic attitude. In the cartoon series, whenever the group is in a dangerous or potentially dangerous situation, Melody's ears would wiggle. She is frequently brainwashed by villains, but is already rather scatterbrained. Later, in the
Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space series, she adopts a cute little alien named "Bleep". Melody's speaking voice is performed by
Jackie Joseph, and her singing voice is performed by
Cheryl Ladd (credited as Cherie Moor). She was played by
Tara Reid in the
live-action film. Bleep's voice was done by
Don Messick (also the voice of
Scooby-Doo,
Astro,
Dr. Benton Quest,
Boo Boo Bear, and more). Ashanti Bromfield portrayed her in the CW series
Riverdale.
Valerie Brown In addition to being the group's main songwriter and a multi-instrumentalist, dark-haired Valerie also performs back-up vocals (in the comics, cartoons, and the movie) and occasionally sings lead (nearly always in the TV series) for the Pussycats. In the comics and the movie, she is the group's dedicated bassist; in the cartoons, she plays tambourine. In the comic book, she replaced Pepper, a sharp-minded spectacled brunette. Valerie's surname may be the most definite of the three. Archie Comics have occasionally used the name "Brown" from the movie on their website and in promotional material, but in the comics, she is always called Valerie Smith. But recently, the "Brown" surname has been used again in comics and the
Riverdale TV series. The return of the Brown surname happens due to the return of the Pepper Smith character in the New Riverdale and Archie Horror universe. In the comics, Valerie is more tomboyish than her two bandmates. Besides being good at science and a skilled auto mechanic, she occasionally shows a quick temper as well as being physically stronger than she might appear. She is also less concerned about her appearance or her love life than Josie, Melody or Alexandra, and had rarely been seen in a romantic relationship, though in the cartoons she seems attracted to Alexander. In 2010, she began an on-again, off-again romantic relationship with Archie Andrews, although her band's touring schedule often keeps her out of Riverdale and away from Archie (much to the relief of
Veronica Lodge and
Betty Cooper, Archie's other girlfriends). In the animated series, she is somewhat similar to
Velma Dinkley from
Scooby-Doo and they met in a 1973 episode of
The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "The Haunted Showboat". She is the character who saves the day the most often, thanks to her street smarts and her mechanical and scientific genius. In the comics, this is downplayed, although she is still the most intelligent of the group. Valerie is the first African-American (non-white) female cartoon character on a regular animated television series. Valerie's speaking voice is performed by Barbara Pariot, and her singing voice is performed by
Patrice Holloway, sister of
Motown recording artist
Brenda Holloway. She was played by
Rosario Dawson in the
live-action film.
Hayley Law portrayed her in the CW series
Riverdale.
Alexander Cabot III Rich, temperamental, and cowardly, Alexander is the Pussycats' shifty and not-too-dependable manager. He often gets the group in hot water because of his crazy promotional schemes. Alexander wears sunglasses often and likes to flaunt his wealth, typically dressing in flamboyant and expensive clothing. In the comics, Alexander is reminiscent of
Reggie Mantle. He has a crush on Josie and often tries to divert her attention from her boyfriend, Alan M. He is blunt and critical towards Alan M., regarding him as all brawn and no brains. Occasionally, Alexander will take an interest in Melody, particularly when Josie is unavailable. The interest seems genuine, since, unlike other boys, who fall helplessly in love with Melody at first sight, Alexander tends to remain composed around her. Alexander's personality is markedly different in the animated series; he is much friendlier, though no more dependable and far more cowardly than his comic strip alter ego. In this context, he most often serves as a comedic foil for Alexandra's constant scheming. The animated version of Alexander also exhibits no romantic feelings towards Josie, tends to gravitate towards Melody or Valerie, depending on interpretation, and is very similar to
Shaggy Rogers from
Scooby-Doo. The animated depiction of Alexander was voiced by
Casey Kasem, who also voiced Shaggy. In a 1973
Josie-guested episode of
The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Alexander and Shaggy both appear on-screen together for quite some time. Alexander was played by
Paulo Costanzo in the 2001 live-action motion picture. He appears as a supporting regular character on
The CW's live-action series
Katy Keene, portrayed by
Lucien Laviscount.
Alexandra Cabot and Sebastian Alexandra is technically a supporting character, but often overshadows the rest of the cast in both the comics and the cartoons. She is Alexander's
fraternal twin sister in the comics; the 1970 cartoon series does not establish the siblings as twins, but that Alexandra is the younger sibling. Alexandra is usually depicted as having black hair with a white lightning-bolt shaped stripe running through the middle of it, giving her ponytail a slight impression of a skunk's tail. In some early comics, however, she sports a short bob minus the streak. In contrast to the good-natured girls in the Pussycats, Alexandra is cynical, hateful, cantankerous, mean, offensive, rude, envious, scheming and self-centered. She is insanely jealous of the Pussycats, especially Josie, who she never has a kind word about. Despite having no vocal or musical talent at all, Alexandra desperately wants to be a star; her conditions for joining the Pussycats were that she be made the lead and that the band be renamed Alexandra's Cool Time Cats. Alexandra has an enormous crush on Alan M., and often tries to steal him away from Josie. In the comics, although she is not particularly fond of her brother, Alexandra often joins forces with him to separate Alan M. and Josie, which would benefit both siblings, since Alexander is interested in Josie. Alexandra's personality in the cartoon is largely unchanged. Sebastian is a
tuxedo cat, and Alexandra's sidekick. In the comics, Sebastian is the reincarnation of Sebastian Cabot, a witchcraft-practicing ancestor of the Cabot family. Alexandra finds that, by holding Sebastian in her arms, she can cast powerful magic spells (Alexandra and Sebastian's bond is represented in that they both have a matching white stripe in the middle of their hair/fur). This plot device was sporadically employed by various writers at Archie over the years; Alexandra was later shown to be able to cast spells on her own. In the cartoon, Alexandra and Sebastian do not have magic powers but they still have their white stripes. Sebastian usually follows Alexandra's schemes when it comes to getting in between Josie and Alan, but unlike Alexandra, he has no real grudge or dislike towards Josie and is usually shown to be friendly to her. Alexandra's voice in the cartoons is provided by former
Mouseketeer Sherry Alberoni, while
Don Messick supplies the meows, screams, and
Muttley-esque snickers for Sebastian. Alexandra was played by
Missi Pyle in the live-action
Josie and the Pussycats movie, while Sebastian does not appear in the live-action film. Alexandra appears as a supporting regular character who dislikes Josie McCoy on
The CW's live-action series
Katy Keene, portrayed by Camille Hyde. Hyde also reprised her role in the musical episode "Chapter Ninety-One: The Return of the Pussycats" from the fifth season of
Riverdale. • Albert: Sometimes seen as a mischievous goofball, but at other times quite sensitive, he was Josie's boyfriend in the original comics and one of the original male leads. He was also Alex's rival. However, while the Pussycats-era Alex was similar to
Reggie Mantle, Albert and Alex were more like a male
Betty and Veronica: good friends until it came to the girl they competed for. Alexandra tried unsuccessfully to get him to date her. Albert was fond of playing the guitar and singing, and also liked to ride his motor scooter. Often portrayed as member of the 1960s counterculture, he went from being a beatnik to a folk singer to a mod and finally to a hippie (depending on the year of the issue) before he was finally dropped from the comics. Alan M. would fill his old role. Since then, he, Pepper and a few other characters would only appear in stories reprinted in digests. • Sock: His real name was Socrates, and he was a jock who dated Pepper and was a good friend of Albert's. Like a stereotypical jock, he was not very intelligent, but this was not exaggerated as it is with
Moose Mason. Despite lasting up to and including Alan M.'s first story, he, like Alexandra, remained a supporting character. Unlike Albert and Pepper, he was removed from the comics with no actual replacement character. • Alexander Cabot II: Alex and Alexandra's very rich father. He is slightly heavyset, his hair is turning white, and he is often frustrated with the ideas of his children. He insists that the band his son manages earn their own fame without the help of his millions. He appears as a guest character in
The CW's live-action series
Katy Keene, portrayed by
Peter Francis James. • Josie's father: He is a slim, middle-aged man who has dark hair with a wisp of gray. His name, depending on the source, is Mr. McCoy, Mr. Jones or Mr. James. He is totally supportive of his daughter's music career. In
Riverdale, he is named Myles McCoy and he appears as a guest character, portrayed by Reese Alexander. •
Cricket O'Dell: The familiar
Archie character made a few appearances in the original
Josie comics. A pert, friendly girl with an amazing talent: she is able to smell money or monetary values. In
Katy Keene, she appears as a recurring character and was portrayed by Azriel Crews. • Sheldon: A short, fat glutton from a few stories in the late 1960s who occasionally dated Melody. Despite his lack of importance, his final appearance was after the Pussycats' makeover. • Clyde Didit: Best known as the star of ''
Archie's Mad House, Clyde appeared for a few issues in Josie'' in the late 1960s. • Mr. Tuttle: The principal of Midvale High School where Josie and her friends attend. He made a number appearances in the pre-Pussycats comics. •
Archie's Gang: The main characters often crossover with Josie and the Pussycats (and vice versa), sometimes in stories involving the Archies. • The Vixens: A rival rock trio that Alexandra manages. Although they are glamorous, they have no musical talent (a fact that Alexandra somehow overlooked). Exclusive to the manga version. ==In other media==