Date: November 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli Notable Notes: Veronica makes her debut at Riverdale High School
Another long-running gag in Archie comics has been the lunch lady, Ms. Beazley, and the terrible food she produces. I was delighted to see her make an appearance in this issue – and she even looks like the classical character… in a new sort of way. Here she serves up Veronica’s first lunch at Riverdale, and that sets the stage for a great, pivotal scene to follow! I wasn’t disappointed – and I doubt you will be either! Read the rest of this entry »
Date: October 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli. Notable Notes: The New Riverdale universe’s new Veronica!
One of the many classic running gags that this new series preserves is Archie’s beat up clunker of a car! I think it has been a nearly timeless way for teenage boys to identify with Archie – he has car problems just like they probably do in real life. Except… is that really true anymore? I may be way off base here, but I don’t know of any boys who have really terrible cars – well… except my oldest son! It seems that many kids nowadays have nicer cars than I do, and keep them looking pristine. Also, how is it that Betty is still so mechanically good? I don’t know any teenagers who can fix a car’s engine these days. It would be nice though, wouldn’t it, to have a cute girl next door to take care of your car problems? Ah, we can all dream I guess. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: September 2015 Publisher: Archie Comics Cover Price: $3.99 Stats: 22 color pages Writer: Mark Waid Artists: Fiona Staples, Andre Szymanowicz, Jen Vaughn and Jack Morelli. Notable Notes: The first comic book in the New Riverdale universe!
It has been a few years since the All New Archie series re-launched the Riverdale Universe. Even then I was late to the game, and only picked up a few issues after it had been going for a while. Knowing that Mark Waid was the writer helped, because I like most of his stuff. Anyway, I had been wanting to get some more issues of this series, but they were turning out to be expensive and hard to find. So I was excited when Humble Bundle offered a bunch of the electronic TPBs recently, and I jumped on that bandwagon while I could! Anyway, here are my thoughts on the first issue of this re-launched series. Read the rest of this entry »
Date: August 1977 Publisher: Archie Enterprises, Inc. Cover Price: 35¢ 2013 Price Range: $1.00 – $10.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads Writer: ? Artists: ? Notable Notes: A smorgasbord of gags!
After reading this issue I looked up the series on Wikipedia and was surprised to find that it had a long and varied history! Yes, it seems like it was trying to capitalize on Mad Magazine’s success, but it also produced some famous characters and searched relentlessly for its own unique personality. I’m not so sure this issue succeeded, but maybe the series as a whole did. Here’s what I thought of it…
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Date: January 1984 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads, Krazy Knits and Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Dan DeCarlo Jr., Jimmy DeCarlo, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie meets the Ga-Ga’s!
I know this is a comic book, and that Archie is perennially lucky when it comes to girls, but I still want to visit his laundromat! How come the laundromats in this issue (and TV series and commercials everywhere) are always full of nothing but beautiful women? Sure, I’ve seen a few pretty girls when visiting laundromats myself, but nothing like this. Sigh, oh well.
Date: July 1983 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2013 Price Range: $1 – $8 Stats: 23 color pages plus ads and Archie Club News Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Stan G, Rudy Lapick, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: Archie and friends stay at a haunted cabin!
After reading about this series in Comics Buyer’s Guide #1696 , and learning that this was the adventurous and mysterious Archie series, I dug through my back issues to see if I had any copies. Lo and behold I did – so I figured I’d give it a go and see how it rated now that I understood a little bit more about the series. Here’s what I thought about it…
Date: July 1986 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 75¢ 2013 NM Price: $5.00 Stats: 23 color pages plus “Dear Betty” letters column, word search, hairstyles and ads Writers: George Gladir Artists: Stan G, Rudy Lapick, Bill Yoshida Notable Notes: Betty tries her darnedest to snag Archie!
Ah, Archie – the envy of men everywhere! Is there any guy luckier than the man who has not 1 but 2 beautiful women chasing after him? I was jealous as a teenager reading these issues, and now as a middle aged man – well, I’m still a little bit jealous! Oh well, joining in on all the fun, hi-jinks and plain good luck of Archie is half the fun of reading these issues… right?
Date: September 1983 Publisher: Archie Comics Group Cover Price: 60¢ 2012 NM Price: $6.00 Stats: 22 color pages plus ads. Writer: Frank Doyle Artists: Dan DeCarlo Jr., Jimmy DeCarlo, Bill Yoshida, Barry Grossman Notable Notes: The return of Jinx Malloy!
Good old Archie comics – they were another staple of my childhood. This series is aimed at teens, which probably explains why it holds up better on a re-read than my childhood favorite: Richie Rich . Is there any comic book fan who hasn’t read an Archie comic? Maybe people who starting reading comics when adults – if so they are missing out on a great, classic story!
