From Archie Comics
Sept. 1, 2011
NO REBOOT NEEDED
Continuity done the right way in LIFE WITH ARCHIE
If it ain't broke don't fix it, right? That's the approach Archie Comics has taken in the midst of competitors overhauling their entire line in a bid to garner new fans. Feeling no compulsion for a drastic reboot, Archie and his friends have managed to adapt to the times with each passing decade, their personalities and relationships remaining intact.
Reboots are a tricky gamble in that while you may be offering new readers an accessible jumping-on point, you might be simultaneously alienating your current audience. The beauty of Archie Comics is that from generation to generation, Archie has prevailed due to a strong initial concept that never ceases to be relatable. Today's Archie IS your grandpa's Archie and every single issue is a great jumping-on point!
While the Riverdale gang can always be counted on for consistency, that doesn't mean they're opposed to growth. Life With Archie is the perfect model for how to do things right. It serves to develop the characters' futures yet at the same time stays true to the core of who they are and does not betray where they came from for the sake of outlandish storytelling. The Life With Archie magazine explores two distinct paths for our red haired protagonist; one where he's married to Veronica and another in which he wed Betty. A truly unique entry in the Archie universe, it manages to pay tribute to Archie's 70 year history while carving a new path of its own.
For example, Pop's number one customer Jughead is now the new owner of the Choklit Shop and Archie's experience of fronting his own band The Archies has led him to becoming Riverdale High's music teacher. Longtime Archie fans will may also recognize Archie's childhood friend Ambrose from the Little Archie comics from years gone by who has re-emerged grown up for the first time.
The Archie-verse has proven to be ever-expanding in both directions with the recent addition of Archie Babies, opening the door to yet another facet of Archie's history.
So while other iconic heroes may end up unrecognizable after being re-envisioned, you can rest assure that Archie and the rest are still kicking around Riverdale, Jughead still possesses an insatiable appetite for hamburgers, and the ultimate question still remains: Betty or Veronica?
Replies
I agree that The Married Life is a really interesting series, although from what I've seen, it's pretty dark and depressing, at least at the beginning. I've ordered the first TPB collecting the stories, and a second one is already prepared (if not yet solicited, because it won't be out until April). I think that's the way to read it, as it will collect the stories to be read in big batches and it culls out all the extraneous Bieber-licious material that I don't want to read or especially pay for.
Even so, that release is a little odd. It draws attention to another publisher's event without bringing out anything really new as a counterpoint. Granted, I imagine anyone getting an Archie press release and publishing it has readers who are aware of DC's changes, so it's not alerting Archie's readers to new entry-point comics they can spend their money on that they aren't already aware of. And I suppose this MIGHT work as a sidebar to that bigger event. But it's a real stretch.
It's also a real hoot. No reboot needed to read Archie Comics? My theory is that Archie reboots after EVERY story! How many times can he ask two girls to the prom? How many devious, destructive, illegal and harmful pranks can Reggie pull before you don't let him hang out with you? How many different rich, snobbish guys can Veronica date during her high school years before she's called a slut?
Does Archie remember his jalopy? Does he remember those characters he met down Memory Lane who are actually him on the same world in the same universe but 70 years later? Is there ANY explanation for the Super-Teens or Archie the Man from R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.?
-- MSA
...like Springfield on The Simpsons, Riverdale seems to have everything...
Well, Skipper, they are right down the road from one another...
I have thoroughly enjoyed Life With Archie from day one. It really is a reimagining done right. I like how the Norm Breyfogle art has become the "house style" for this series -- Breyfogle hasn't drawn every issue, but it looks like it -- a mix of the recognizable Archie house style and more modern, more dramatic (I won't say "realistic") styles.
And I like how the characters are grappling with adult issues -- unemployment, underemployment, the bad economy, political corruption, illness, death and more -- but still hold true to the personalities and values we know them to have.
Except for Mr. Lodge. In traditional Archie comics, he's just a grouch who doesn't like Archie very much, but in these books, he's an out-and-out villain! In the "Archie Marries Betty" series, he uses his money, connections and clout to make Archie and Betty miserable after Archie refuses Lodge's offer to divorce Betty and woo Veronica: Betty is a junior executive at Sacks Fifth Avenue in New York, and finds herself with a cut in pay but having to work longer hours, before she's canned entirely; Archie is a struggling musician who can't find a gig. And after that, they're frozen out of every other opportunity that comes their way.
But in the "Archie Marries Veronica" series, Mr. Lodge is worse: He bribed the mayor to grease the way for all kinds of development projects in the town, and when the mayor blabbed about it backstage before a re-election campaign rally, and was promptly arrested, he framed Reggie!
Actually, they've scaled way, way back on that stuff.
I thought it was odd, to have that kind of material -- Taylor Swift! Imagine Taylor Lautner as Reggie! See what the cast of Glee is really like! -- in between comics stories about paying the bills and breakups and watching your dreams get crushed. The comics stories are perfect for old farts longtime readers like us, but I didn't care about the teenybopper material. On the other hand, I would have thought, if they're aiming for the teen audience, the stories would be less grim and more, well, teen-oriented. Different than the stuff in the main Archie comics, but, aimed just a little older ... say, writing as if these guys were their older brothers and sisters.
I thought they hit the mark with the added Jinx feature, doing an "all growed up" version of Li'l Jinx as a freshly minted high school freshman trying to fit in at a new school while hanging on to her old friends, even though she and they have changed. But they dropped the strip from the book after only two issues, without explanation.
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