When I was a kid, I got a lot of joy out of reading snippets of Archie and Betty & Veronica comics while waiting in line at the grocery store with my parents. There was something about these short stories, all seemingly pulled from a vast and cyclical pool of common cultural knowledge about the going-ons in Riverdale, that captivated me from a young age. In a lot of ways, I credit Archie for instilling in me a lifelong love of serial stories and graphic narratives, and Your Pal Archie has the potential to do this with a new generation of readers.
Like the original Archie comics from the 1940s and 1950s, Your Pal Archie consists of ten standalone stories that focus on the life of high schooler Archie Andrews, his best friend Jughead Jones, socialite Veronica Lodge, and girl-next-door Betty Cooper. The four teenagers, along with other friends and rivals, get into silly situations together in their small American town of Riverdale.
Your Pal Archie comes on the heels of the explosively popular CW television series Riverdale, which places Archie and his friends within a modern murder mystery. Riverdale sparked a renewed interest in Archie, and with that interest has come several new projects. These include modern comic series about Archie, Jughead, and Betty & Veronica, as well as the imaginative Archie Horror imprint, which publishes Afterlife with Archie, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and other spooky re-imaginings of the classic characters. Though Riverdale’s dark reinvention of the Archie universe has been massively successful, Your Pal Archie is something else entirely. Intended as a family-friendly homage to the classic layout and storytelling of the original strips, Your Pal Archie is unique from the other titles coming out today.
The style and storylines of this title closely mirror the original strips, unlike the other current offerings within the Archie universe, which generally sport a new artistic style and follow one consistent storyline from issue to issue. Aside from Archie’s updated haircut and a subtle redesign of everyone’s outfits, Your Pal Archie sticks to the conventions of the classic stories from the grocery aisles of yore. Artist Dan Parent, notable for his introduction of Kevin Keller, the first openly gay member of in 2002, is a longtime member of the staff and manages to channel the classic artistic style with delightful accuracy. Writer Ty Templeton, known for his work on superhero titles such as Batman & Robin Adventures, sticks to the time-tested formula for an Archie story and does not stray far from the slapstick physical comedy and wacky situations that made the original comic strip popular.
While Your Pal Archie does not contain any surprises or deviations from the classic series, it will not disappoint longtime fans. The book is aimed at children 9-12 years old, and while the stories will be appealing to this age group, it is more likely that older kids and adults who recognize the Archie brand will be most likely to pick it up. It would be an excellent purchase for libraries where classic comic strips like Peanuts and Garfield circulate heavily. It would also be a great place to start for those without a current Archie collection, and may be a more universally appealing purchase than most other current offerings from Archie Comics. Your Pal Archie promises to be the first in a series of volumes, though the stories within are self-contained and can stand alone.
Your Pal Archie, vol. 1 by Ty Templeton Art by Dan Parent ISBN: 9781682559215 Archie Comics, 2018 Publisher Age Rating: 9-12
Personally, when I hear the name Archie I think of a comic that got stuck in time, where it’s still 1950, the gang hangs out in the soda shop, pulls hijinks in school, and well….basically doesn’t ever change. And frankly it was boring! But a few years ago someone decided that Archie and the gang needed to reflect more modern times, that the real world needed to enter the picture. They introduced Kevin, a young man that came out as gay, and his partner as well. Then they decided that they needed to answer the question of which one will Archie choose—Betty or Veronica? And that’s where this spinoff comes in.
In the series Archie: the Married Life the gang has grown up. Kevin went into the military and holds political aspirations. And the rest of the gang? Well…they take different routes depending upon who Archie marries. I know, I know, one marriage shouldn’t change everyone’s path, but it does. And it works for this series. And yes, yes it is a bit of a cop out for the writers on who Archie would marry, but in this final volume they weave the two different paths together and the Archie universe is shattered. Yes, the title of the book gives away what happens. Archie dies. The hero of a story, the character that has been around since before most of us were born, is dead! But that’s not what matters. What matters is why. Why did Archie die and what does his death reveal?
When it was announced that Archie was going to be killed a lot of people, myself included, just went “Really? REALLY???!? Isn’t this just a stupid way to end the series?” And yes it is a way to end the series, but stupid it is not. Of all the ways to kill a character, this one is well done and done in a fashion that shows off Archie’s true character. I won’t reveal why he died, but I will say a bit about what happens after he dies. A year later the gang gathers to remember him and I learned more about the true nature of Archie in that one chapter than any other story. He wasn’t just a good guy, he was one to be admired. Sure he made mistakes, but he did little things throughout his life that changed the world around him for the better, even if they never garnered praise in the papers. Whether it was helping save a park, helping a neighbor get his water back on, or showing the gang that he was going to be friends with who he chose and wasn’t going to get sucked into petty fights. All of these little things add up to make Archie a hero that deserved to be remembered. And that’s where the writing in this series really shines.
I can’t say that the artwork is my cup of tea, but that’s mostly because it sticks to the traditional Archie style. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but it just doesn’t do justice to this amazing story in places, such as the scene where Archie is shot. And this isn’t the fault of the artists at all, it’s part of the problem of doing a story like this in Archie’s traditional style. Which is why I am glad that new stories are being told with more flair and more range of emotions.
The Death of Archie: A Life Celebrated is the last chapter of the last book of Archie: The Married Life. If you’re a fan of Archie, the entire The Married Life series will shatter your perception of who and what Archie Andrews and the gang are. If nothing else, The Death of Archie lets readers discover the hero that Archie was and deserves to be remembered as. Appropriate for middle school and up.
Archie: The Married Life, vol. 6: Death of Archie [Collects Life with Archie: The Married Life #31-37] by Paul Kupperberg Art by Fernando Ruiz, Pat & Tim Kennedy ISBN: 9781619889453 The Death of Archie: A Life Celebrated [Collects Life with Archie: The Married Life #36-37] by Paul Kupperberg Art by Fernando Ruiz, Pat & Tim Kennedy ISBN: 9781627389822 Archie Comics, 2014 Publisher Age Rating: 13+
Zombies in Riverdale? Now I’ve seen everything. I thought the idea of setting a zombie story within the wholesome world of Archie was little more than a cash grab. It wasn’t enough that Archie is to be killed off this year but to put the loveable, happy-go-lucky cast in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? Give me a break. But you know what? I came away from Afterlife With Archie: Book One feeling genuinely and pleasantly surprised.
Afterlife With Archie began as a joke, a variant cover for the Life With Archie series drawn by illustrator Francseco Francavilla (Captain America, Black Panther and Hawkeye, to name a few). The idea resulted in a drastic turn from tradition, a story filled with so much violence and gore that you won’t find it in the grocery store checkout lanes next to People Magazine and the Weekly World News.
The comic requires some knowledge of the Archie property in order to get the most of the experience. My exposure to the character was from those silly little digests and a few episodes of the old cartoon show, giving me just enough to work with to develop an emotional attachment to Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica as they experience the worst night of the lives. Without that familiarity, Afterlife With Archie does very little to separate itself from every other zombie story on the market.
The nightmare begins when Jughead’s dog, Hot Dog, is accidentally struck and killed by Reggie Mantle’s car. Despondent over the injuries his pet has sustained, he seeks help from Sabrina (of Teenage Witch fame) to bring the animal back to life. The combined powers of Sabrina and her aunts Hilda and Zelda Spellman are not enough to revive Hot Dog, leading Sabrina to secretly recite an incantation from what can assumed to be the Spellman Family Necronomicon. She pulls a Pet Sematary and brings the dog back to life as a monstrous hell beast that bites and infects Jughead with a zombie contagion.
Meanwhile, Archie is accosted by Betty and Veronica about what costumes to wear for the Halloween Dance but manages to sneak away to hang out with his best pal. Shocked to see Jughead’s horrible, sickly pallor, he offers to stay at his bedside but Jughead begs him to go and enjoy himself. At the dance that evening, the joy and merriment of good, wholesome teenage fun is disrupted by the arrival of a zombie Jughead who crashes the party, killing and infecting the school administrators and students of Riverdale.
Afterlife With Archie discards Riverdale’s normally sunny disposition, replacing it with scenes of grotesque violence including, but not limited to, mutilations, explosions, baseball bat-related killings, and dead parents. The Archie angle is what gives the comic its reason for being. Without it, Afterlife is a standard, boilerplate teen zombie story with the usual tragic trimmings. What is fascinating about the work is how sinister Archie’s life is in the face of an undead nightmare. The love triangle between himself, Betty, and Veronica develops a hard, uncomfortable edge. Their shared infatuation combined with the fear of knowing they could die any moment could bring their long standing rivalry to a predictable and violent end. The heated relationship between Veronica’s father and Archie shares that same dark twist. Mr. Lodge, who has nothing but contempt for the boy who keeps sneaking in the house to see his daughter, is put into the awkward position of keeping him safe under the roof of his surprisingly fortified mansion. In this book, the anger he feels towards the boy is palpable and there were moments where I feared he’d solve the problem once and for all.
A zombie story with Archie characters could have been completely ridiculous were not for the talent involved. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa has serious writing chops, having served as a staff writer for the show Glee and Big Love and written various Marvel comics, as well as the screenplay for the remake of Carrie. He knows how to write drama and really convey that pain, terror and emotional torment people feel when forced into surviving against zombies.
I just wish the story had a bit more originality. Several situations the kids find themselves in are standard elements of zombie fiction. Early on in the story, a conversation between two teachers invokes the famous “we’re coming to get you Barbara!” scene from Night of the Living Dead. That said, the dread isn’t diminished. In fact, seeing Archie suffer makes the experience all the more depressing. Aguirre-Sacasa’s script is brought to life by the beautiful and harrowing illustrations by Francavilla who does a fantastic job of establishing mood through great lighting work, color schemes and some really creative panel designs. He is able to put together some pretty frightening imagery that are not reliant entirely on blood and guts.
Afterlife With Archie is far removed from the wholesome image the character has cultivated since the the 1940s. In other hands, the project could have easily been derailed. Aguirre-Sacasa lends the work the right amount of drama and unease that makes for a riveting experience. Though great fun to read, as a zombie story it really doesn’t do anything that The Walking Dead hasn’t done already.
Afterlife With Archie: Book One by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Art by Francesco Francavilla ISBN: 9781619889088 Archie Comics, 2014 Publisher Age Rating: 16+
Ready to solve a mystery? Well, join 8-year-old Nancy Drew and her best friends, George & Bess, in their all new adventures as Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew. In the first book in this brand new series published by Papercutz, written by Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha and illustrated by Stan Goldberg, readers are treated to a new Nancy Drew story that has mystery, intrigue, and plenty of laughs.
When all the science project volcanoes go missing from their school’s cupboard, Nancy and the rest of the Clue Crew decide to solve the mystery of where they went and who took them. As the only team who didn’t build a volcano for their science class, let’s just say that suspicious eyes are on them. If they don’t solve this mystery before it erupts, they might be facing down a lot of angry classmates!
When I read this comic, I realized that these drawings really reminded me of how Archie Comics are drawn, and when I looked up the artist who worked on this book, Stan Goldberg, I discovered that he had worked on Archie Comics! The illustrations are fun and playful as well as vibrantly colored. The panels are extremely easy to follow and experienced and new comics readers will find them easy to navigate. Word bubbles are appropriately placed and they match up well with the characters who are actually speaking. At times, people or things in the distance seem unfocused and lacking in precision, but I think that’s more an indication of style as opposed to an oversight. Emotion and physical traits are well drawn and faces are extremely expressive and realistically illustrated. The drawings were well done, indicative of the style, and will definitely appeal to those who already enjoy this type of illustration. For fans of Goldberg’s work, this is another great example of his illustrating style.
I wasn’t as thrilled with the story as I was the drawings, but it was easy to follow this story. It has a definite mystery structure and the resolution had a bit of a twist. However, the story wasn’t very well developed and felt incomplete at times. I have never read a Nancy Drew story and the lack of back story on the characters wasn’t a total hindrance, but I would have liked some context to the story. Since this is the first in the series, there should have been some kind of brief introduction to the characters and their world. All in all, this was a quick read that will probably appeal to readers who are already fans of the Nancy Drew series.
Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, vol. 1: Small Volcanoes by Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha Art by Stan Goldberg ISBN: 9781597073547 Papercutz, 2012 Publisher Age Rating:
Betty Cooper has passed up the chance for a date with Archie Andrews in order to baby-sit and earn some money. While babysitting, the kids beg her for a story, so Betty starts to tell them fairy tales with a twist. The Wizard of Oz, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella all get the Archie Comics treatment.
While Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, and The Wizard of Oz all cast Veronica as the villain, when it comes to Cinderella, Veronica puts her foot down and Betty ends up telling the story of two sisters, Cinderonica and Cinderbetty, who drive to the ball in their magic eco-cars and both find a prince. The stories are full of fun cameos by the whole Archie gang. Jughead and Reggie are Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, Jughead’s dog Hotdog gets to be the Cheshire Cat. Veronica’s parents appear to keep Veronica in line when she gets out of hand.
Since this is a long running series, consistency in the art is important. These are all characters you recognize and identify, regardless of the artist. Fans of the Archie Comics series will enjoy this humorous edition to the Archie world and first-timers to the series will appreciate the silliness of this version of these fairy tales, although may miss some of he inside jokes that comes from long familiarity with the characters.
Betty and Veronica Storybook by Dan Parent ISBN: 978-187979460 Archie Comics, 2010 Publisher Age Rating: Age 11 and up
Editor’s Note: This review was published on Aug. 3 and covered only vol. 2 of The Married Life. After the reviewer was able to read vol. 1 of The Married Life and Archie: In Will You Marry Me?, the decision was made to update the review to encompass the entire storyline of Archie getting married. The review is being reposted to allow readers who may have missed it the first time to enjoy the updated version.
Archie: In Will You Marry Me?
In the early 70s, my sister and I found a box of old Archie comics that were being thrown away. This was a treasure trove to us and we quickly read them all. Because I started reading Archie so long ago, because the comics I read were quite old in and of themselves, and because of Archie Comics’s habit of re-running stories, I feel I can safely say that I have been reading Archie from its beginnings. And for all that time, I wondered, would Archie end up with Betty or Veronica?
In Archie: In Will You Marry Me? writer Michael Uslan has finally answered that question. And since there was no way to give one answer to that question, he has given us two. This graphic novel compiles the four issues Uslan wrote to address Archie’s wedding(s).
Uslan uses the convention of two roads converging in a wood to act as our time machine, each time conveying Archie along a different future path following him about ten years into the future. The art in this felt a little rushed. While I appreciate that styles change over the years and that characters evolve, especially with different artists drawing them, there were moments where the characters’s looks deviated so much from the original that it would have been hard to tell who they were if they were not addressed by name.
I like Uslan’s little inside jokes in each version. When Archie is marrying Veronica Reggies toasts “It seems like its taken 70 years for this day to arrive,” and when Archie is marrying Betty, Reggie jokes “You even own a tie? And a 1941 bow tie does not count!” Of course, the first Archie comic appeared in 1941, 70 years ago, and he was wearing a bow tie.
Archie: The Married Life, vol. 1-2
This series was started based on the success of Archie: In Will You Marry Me? There are a few plot inconsistencies from that volume and the beginning of this one. Archie: The Married Life backs the reader up and begins right after the wedding and honeymoon have taken place as Archie settles down and begins to figure out married life.
In one world, Archie has married Veronica and is working for Mr. Lodge and living in Riverdale. Mr. Lodge seems fairly evil, working only to make Riverdale a metropolis, with Veronica and Archie trying to keep Riverdale quaint. In the other world, Archie has married Betty and the two of them have recently moved back to Riverdale after failing to make it in the big city and have accepted jobs teaching at Riverdale high..
I like the subplots almost more than the main plot. I like the ways Uslan makes small but significant changes to the plot. So in one version, Midge and Moose break up and she marries Jughead. In the other version, Midge and Moose break up, Midge starts dating Jughead, and he has trouble committing. In one version Chuck and Nancy are becoming successful cartoonists. In the other version, only Nancy is getting the success and Chuck is struggling to deal with his jealousy and be supportive. And Uslan has hinted at something mysterious with the geeky Dilton Doiley, who seems to have disappeared, running through both timelines.
As a long time reader, I appreciate that these books have the same artistic feel as other Archie comics. As a known brand, this is not a place where I am looking for creative or novel art work. These are the characters I know and love, updated a little but still completely recognizable.
My personal preference would have been to lay out the book with all the Archie Marries Betty issues together and all the Archie Marries Veronica issues together, rather than switching back and forth as the two volumes of Archie: The Married Life do. I found it a little jarring to have to jump back and forth between story lines and remember the slight differences in sub-plots each time. And in fact, I didn’t. I ended up reading one storyline straight through, skipping the other, and then started over again from the beginning with the other plot line.
But that is a small stylistic quibble. In general, these are a strong edition to the Archie world, satisfying readers who have been waiting a long time to see what would happen when these characters finally grew up.
Recommended for 13 and up (mature situations but no sex or violence)
Archie: In Will You Marry Me? by Michael Uslan ISBN: 978187979451 Archie Comics, 2010
Archie: The Married Life, vol. 1-2 by Paul Kupperberg Vol. 1 ISBN: 9781936975013 Vol. 2 ISBN: 9781879794993 Archie Comics, 2011-2012
Archie has started writing a “Weird Mysteries” newspaper column and suddenly really weird things start happening to him! Archie and the gang, with the help of the mysterious Dr. Beaumont, are solving mysteries involving vampires, werewolves, Bigfoot, and more. This collection of comics, which continues from a short-lived television show, starts with “Shriek”, in which Betty is suddenly haunted by a ghost from one of her favorite scary movies. Then, Archie and his friends channel the Scooby-Doo gang and goes to Paranormal Investigation Camp in “A Familiar Old Haunt”. Things get hairy (pun intended) during “Bigfoot on Campus” and the gang make some new strange friends in “U.F.O. Uh-oh!”. This volume continues the story of “The Scarlet Chronicles”, which was originally one of the TV show’s story lines.
I have been an Archie fan for as long as I can remember, forcing my mom to buy me volumes of “Betty and Veronica” in the check out line at the grocery store. This may be partly due to nostalgia, but I loved reading Archie’s Weird Mysteries. This volume is silly, campy, and fun, in keeping with the Archie tradition. There are puns and goofy jokes, as well as the usual over-the-top characters. Archie can’t keep his tongue from lolling out when he sees a pretty girl and Jughead will eat anything, including “Gooby Snax”. I particularly liked “A Familiar Old Haunt”, which poked fun at “Scooby-Doo”, and “The Scarlet Chronicles”. I have never seen the TV show, but that story did an excellent job of catching me up on what I had missed before jumping into the new story. My favorite part of this graphic novel was the ending. Scarlet gives the readers a “guide to Fighting Vampires”, that is hilariously silly.
Archie’s Weird Mysteries is just plain fun. The art is similar to all the Archie comics, with Archie’s cross-hatched hair and the bright colors. The use of action lines is great and make the different panels come to life. There is a lot of action on every page, making them look very busy, but not in such a way that I got confused as to what was going on. Each story is, like I said, campy fun. This collection is guaranteed to make you giggle.
Archie’s Weird Mysteries by Paul Castiglia Art by Fernando Ruiz ISBN: 978187979474 Archie Comics, 2011 Publisher Age Rating: 11+
This is an update of an Archie special from the 1960s. At the time, two TV shows were very popular: “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible.” There are numerous references to both shows throughout the comic.
Archie Andrews opens our story with an explanation as to how her became a teen undercover agent. His cousin, a dashing international reporter, is visiting and Archie, in his usual bungling manner, stumbles across his cousin’s true job: he is a secret agent for P.O.P. (protect our planet)!. The evil agents of C.R.U.S.H. (Criminal Recruits United to Spread Havok – they love their acronyms) have developed a secret formula to turn everyone into the Walking Dazed! (It’s Archie. No dead zombies here). With the help of Sharry the Spy Girl, a master of disguise, C.R.U.S.H. slips the formula into the school lunch. With everyone in a daze, it’s up to Archie and his friends to save the day.
This is a fun Archie story, with the usual Archie bungling, Reggie preening, Veronica vamping, and Jughead just wanting to eat, but all set into a more action packed adventure. The writing is simple and the art work is predictable. Which is as it should be. Archie comics have a distinctive feel to them from the newsprint they are printed on to the same characters showing up in each issue. Reading Archie is like curling up in bed in your most comfortable sweats and this story is no exception.
I can see an eight-year-old liking this but it will appeal to ages up to eighth grade. No nudity, no blood, no death, comic violence.
Archie: The Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. by Tom Defalco Art by Rich Koslowski, Fernando Ruiz ISBN: 978-187979468 Archie Comics, 2011 Publisher Age Rating: Ages 12 and up
When I was a kid, I got a lot of joy out of reading snippets of Archie and Betty & Veronica comics while waiting in line at the grocery store with my parents. There was something about these short stories, all seemingly pulled from a vast and cyclical pool of common cultural knowledge about the going-ons in Riverdale, that captivated me from a young age. In a lot of ways, I credit Archie for instilling in me a lifelong love of serial stories and graphic narratives, and Your Pal Archie has the potential to do this with a new generation of readers.
Personally, when I hear the name Archie I think of a comic that got stuck in time, where it’s still 1950, the gang hangs out in the soda shop, pulls hijinks in school, and well….basically doesn’t ever change. And frankly it was boring! But a few years ago someone decided that Archie and the gang needed to reflect more modern times, that the real world needed to enter the picture. They introduced Kevin, a young man that came out as gay, and his partner as well. Then they decided that they needed to answer the question of which one will Archie choose
Zombies in Riverdale? Now I’ve seen everything. I thought the idea of setting a zombie story within the wholesome world of Archie was little more than a cash grab. It wasn’t enough that Archie is to be killed off this year but to put the loveable, happy-go-lucky cast in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? Give me a break. But you know what? I came away from Afterlife With Archie: Book One feeling genuinely and pleasantly surprised.
Ready to solve a mystery? Well, join 8-year-old Nancy Drew and her best friends, George & Bess, in their all new adventures as Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew. In the first book in this brand new series published by Papercutz, written by Sarah Kinney and Stefan Petrucha and illustrated by Stan Goldberg, readers are treated to a new Nancy Drew story that has mystery, intrigue, and plenty of laughs.
Betty Cooper has passed up the chance for a date with Archie Andrews in order to baby-sit and earn some money. While babysitting, the kids beg her for a story, so Betty starts to tell them fairy tales with a twist. The Wizard of Oz, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella all get the Archie Comics treatment.
This is an update of an Archie special from the 1960s. At the time, two TV shows were very popular: “The Man From U.N.C.L.E.” and “Mission Impossible.” There are numerous references to both shows throughout the comic.
