The 40 Years of Comics Project Friday Magazine 23: Life With Archie #4, December 2010

When the Archie comics that chronicled the possible future marriages of Archie and Betty and Archie and Veronica came out, I picked them up immediately. It had been many years since I'd read Archie, but these comics seemed to in some way be speaking to those of us (and there are many) who read these comics as kids and wanted to know how it would all end up. I was quite pleased to see references to Robert Frost in those first six comics, one of my favourite poets, references that were proof that the writers on Archie were paying attention to the stories, not simply churning them out to entertain kids.

It would be a few years more until I started really enjoying Archie comics again, actively seeking them out in dollar bins and garage sales. But on my way across the country to Calgary, I picked up an issue of this series in my effort to get a comic in each of the towns we stopped in. It wasn't this specific issue, but that was the one that tuned me in to the fact that they'd continued the married life stories. I was intrigued.

Today's issue hit a bit close to home for me, unfortunately. These are well-wrought parallel stories that take the same personalities and project them beyond high school. It's fantastic to see the ways that the writers see the characters growing. Moose runs for mayor. In a fit of uncharacteristic insight, Reggie worries that he peaked in high school. Jughead, surprising no one, takes over the Chok'lit Shop. What's really great about these maturations is that none of them seem contrived. They seem, in fact, quite natural. That said, Archie, in both of the stories, is dealing with financial and employment woes, two stressors with which many of us can identify. While these might be somewhat uncomfortable subjects to tackle, it makes sense that this is what Archie comes to. He was always said to be "everyman" (though that's a problematic assertion if there ever was one), and even into his adult years he continues to be.

I have a few more issues of this in the collection that I'll get to eventually. You really can always rely on Archie comics.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 886: Life With Archie #172, August 1976

Okay. This is a weird one. In 1976, most of the United States were caught up in Bicentennial Celebrations. Archie Comics was no exception, and here' their comic.

It's amazing. And so problematic I don't even know where to begin. How about with the title?

"The Birth of a Nation." As in, the same title as a 1915 silent film that celebrates the founding and the actions of the KKK.

Um.

(Oh, and the only Person of Colour in the entire comic is a picture of Joe Morgan in an ad for free baseball cards in Hostess Snack Cakes. Native Americans are entirely absent.)

Or how about the strange strange depiction of historical figure Paul Revere? All of the other historical figures Archie meets in this story look like the traditional depictions of themselves, albeit Archie-fied. Except Mr. Revere. Instead, Jughead is cast in this role. Because...reasons.

Our red-headed everyman bounces around through the years 1773 - 1776, experiencing the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a visit to which prompts Archie's journey through time. He is overcome with swells of patriotic pride with each event he witnesses, waxing positively poetic in the caption boxes that move the tale along. Some of these boxes sound much like the writer was trying to sound like a piece of writing from the 18th century.

And then there's the end, where Archie is told by a security guard that, once or twice a year, someone has a similar experience while reading the Declaration. People "get caught up in the story behind [the] piece of paper." And he asks to shake Archie's hand because he's "the same kinda nut" that the Founding Fathers were, that he is America.

And then there's the Li'l Jinx strip midway through the comic, which I'll scan as soon as I get my new printer up and running and post here, a strip that proves that there were still subversive voices in Archie Comics in this thoroughly patriotic time.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 845: Life With Archie #80, December 1968

"Our women?" Oh, Sixties Archie, you're so...wrong.

I really like the Life With Archie series. I enjoy the long-form stories, and the slightly more serious tone. Don't get me wrong - I love the slapstick comedic Archie stories, but it's cool to see some different kinds of stories being told using the characters. It gives one a sense that there is more to the Archie gang than simply pratfalls and chasing women. Life is also one of the two Archie series that I actively go out of my way to accumulate, though often it's picking up less-than-mint copies of the series in quarter bins. The other one is the Giant Series Magazine, which I enjoy for its holiday issues, and for the variety of themes that are dealt with in the series.

There's another kind of interesting thing about this story. We are introduced to Angel, the son of the Lodge's new gardener, who is a complete jerk, manages to best Moose in a fight, and "steals" Betty and Veronica from Archie and Reggie.

(*sigh*)

However, a few years later, we get a reworking of this story in one of the Giant Series issues, and it's much more comedic. Rather than being played as a bully, Angel is played as more of a joke in the reworking. Apparently this was a thing that happened fairly frequently in older Archies, and it makes sense, given the remarkable amount of output that the company maintained for such a long time.

Other than that, a kind of unremarkable tale, not nearly as interesting as the adventures that would come a little later in the series.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project Friday Magazine 6: Life With Archie #36 Double-Sized Commemorative Issue, 2010

I've been fairly effusive with my praise of Archie Comics over the last few years. They seem to have hit a creative peak that's been going on so long it may as well be a plateau. Except for the fact that they keep striving upward. I know that the new Riverdale Netflix series isn't for everyone, but it represents yet another iteration of these characters that's very different and very much the same. I've often thought that this is the magic of these characters. They have developed such archetypal behaviours, in that each has behaviours archetypal to the character, that a skilled writer can insert them into virtually any setting or genre. Though this has most recently been demonstrated by the amazing Afterlife with Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and, of course, the series from which today's magazine hails, I think the first time I realized it was when I read Archie meets The Punisher. Two of perhaps the most disparate characters in comics, and yet they meshed remarkably well.

So, yes, I teared up quite a bit reading this comic. It's a sad comic, and a lovely celebration of all that is Archie Andrews. I don't quite know the timing, but it also seems to me that this issue came out not too long before the company-wide reshuffling that has resulted in many of the reconceived, and by all reports amazing, line of Archie comics. Though perhaps there was more time between those than I'm thinking. The final story of this series is actually quite cleverly pulled off. The premise of the whole series is two parallel timelines, one in which Archie marries Veronica, and one in which he marries Betty. But in this final story, it's not clear which universe we're watching. There's never a clear shot of Archie's wife when he interacts with her, and no indication of his career path. It's clever because there's a lot of differences with all of the characters between the two universes, but the dialogue is vague enough that we can't draw any real conclusions. Archie jogs, and reflects on his life, wonders, ominously, what has put him in such a nostalgic mood, and is then shot later that night, protecting Kevin Keller.

It was sad. And excellent.

Onward!

A Brief Consideration of Archie Comics

 
Though they may seem kids stuff, Archie comics have been one of the most innovative publishers of the last few years. Their "Life With Archie" series, which follows parallel timelines in which Archie marries either Betty or Veronica, is finishing soon with the main character's death, and "Afterlife With Archie" tells of a full-on zombie apocalypse in Riverdale, no comedy, just dark, dark drama. Their diversity in both representation and publication stands as an example to other publishers, especially the big two.

One of America's Favorite Comics Just Took a Huge Step Forward for Diversity  

When I was travelling across the country a couple of years ago, I made it a goal to get a comic at every stop we made (which, one day, will appear as an article, I promise).  In Kenora, Ontario, I was disappointed by the lack of comic shops, and by the fact that by the time we arrived, everything was closed.  We ended up at a local WalMart for some supplies for the next day, and, lo and behold, they had comics.  I was on my way to my typical superhero fare, until my eyes fell upon an Archie comic in which the students took part in the then-ubiquitous "Occupy" movement.  How could I pass up a comic with the words "Occupy Riverdale" splashed across the cover.  This is yet another example of the publisher's willingness to remain relevant, and, really, at more of forefront culturally than the big superhero publishers.  The story within presents a simplified, yet balanced, view of the issues at stake in the Occupy movement.  To allow one's storytellers to grapple with such a complex social movement in the pages of what is ostensibly a children's comic speaks of a bravery on the publisher's part, and of a willingness to acknowledge the reasoning capabilities of their audience.
I missed the introduction of Kevin Keller a few years ago, but I've followed bits and pieces of his story.  The portrayal of his "relationship" with Reggie Mantle in Afterlife is remarkable, for the one page that has appeared.  (Actually, as an aside, I cannot recommend that series highly enough.  The fourth issue was hard to get through.)  Keller's story in the Life With Archie magazine has been interesting too.  That series, dealing as it does with more "adult" problems than the main comic, continues Archie's engagement with social issues inflected with some gentle humour.  Mr. Lodge's dementia, gay marriage, Archie and Betty's financial woes, and, in the other timeline, Archie and Veronica's marital problems are dealt with maturely, though never without the trademark Archie humour.
It shouldn't really come as a surprise that these publications are socially forward-thinking.  While perhaps not always so open to cultural engagement, examples are rife throughout the histories of the various titles.  While I can't claim to be an expert in Archie, he and Richie Rich were my gateway to North American comics, so I've been reading them for most of my 40 years.  We see examples of engagement with the youth movement of the 60s and 70s, and with worries of nuclear war in 80s.  Perhaps it is the genre that allows these stories, and their characters, to engage with these issues more realistically (poor choice of words, perhaps?) than their superheroic counterparts, though I, if the praise lavished throughout this piece hasn't given it away, would hazard a guess that it also falls a great deal upon the willingness of those in charge of the company to allow their writers not only a modicum of creative freedom, but to allow that their audience is invested in these issues, and wants to see balanced treatments in their entertainment.

This actually started off as a simple re-blogging of that link up above.  But Archie comics are pretty amazing.  If you can get past the associated stigma of them being children's fare, the stories are compelling and, often, are examples of some of the finest the medium has to offer.