Archie Comics: The Reboot

I have a lot going on in my world right now. We’re moving from Jersey to (most likely) Maryland, so my brain is overtaxed with lists.

So many lists.

Lists that give birth to their own lists, all of them color-coded with various highlighters, and organized in a constantly shifting order of importance.

In fact, this description from Devil’s Bride best captures my brain right now: “Within minutes, she was immersed in lists—initial lists, then derived lists and eventually lists for cross-checking.” I have so many lists and things to remember, it’s unreal.

As a result, my brain is not willing or is simply unable to do the standard world building it usually does when I’m reading. I’ve tried to read a few different books since the process of Doing Things to Check Items Off the List began, and my brain just shuts down: “No words. Words bad. Too many words. No words now.” I end up staring at the text and can’t immerse myself in anything, despite very much needing a mental break.

Enter: comics. Specifically, the reboot of the Archie series, with the story by Mark Waid and art by Fiona Staples – whose name you might recognize as the artist behind Saga, which Carrie loooooved (as has everyone else I’ve mentioned it to). I’ve been reading some recommended manga, too, and am working on reviews of those titles, but I wanted to share this because there’s SO MUCH GOOD.

I’ve re-read the issues I own a few times, partly because they’re short and partly because when I re-read I pick up things I missed the first time. Plus, I read them on the Comixology app on my phone, which I didn’t think I’d like, but because of the Guided View option, which leads you to a close up of each frame in the right order, I can zoom in and out as needed.

(NB: the above link to Comixology should include an option to get $5 off your first order of $10 or more if you’re a new account subscriber. According to the link creation text, I also get a reward, but I’m not sure what that reward is. I’m hoping it’s a list of something because at this time I can only think in bullet points and check boxes.)

I’ve also purchased digital copies of older Archie series titles on Comixology, and I read them on my phone, too. The old issues and the new reboot of familiar characters are addictive, partially because for me, the Riverdale universe is very heavily submerged in nostalgia. I read them all summer when I was younger. I could buy a book of them at the local grocery store for $3. They’re in the grocery checkout now, and I STILL think longingly of beach chairs with two Double Digests in my bag.

Were they sometimes very sexist and silly? Yup. I mean, look at this.

(And pardon the pink tinge – I took screencaps with Twilight running and forgot they’d be pinkish. Sorry about that.)

PINUPS. There were PINUPS. Because of course there were.  I didn’t remember their existence until I saw them again in the digital issue I bought.

And the fashion! Check the hair, y’all.

But do I love the reboot? OH YES. I love that the creators are starting over with the characters, and taking the established story in new directions, beginning with Veronica moving to Riverdale. But it was a letter in the back of issue three that really gave me all the joy, and left me very excited for each subsequent issue.

So here is the List of Things I Like About the Archie Reboot. (Seriously, if you need a list, just ask. I’m your girl.)

Thing the first: I love the art. 

Fiona Staples rules. I mean, look at this – this is the cover of the 2nd issue, featuring Betty Cooper, who at the start of the reboot has just broken up with Archie, her boyfriend since grade school.

And this is the cover of issue three, featuring Jughead:

I love Staples’ style, the way she renders expressions, the way sharp angles and lines form the characters’ faces. I love it.

Thing the second: the characters – all of them, including new ones! 

There’s Archie and Jughead, Reggie and Betty and Veronica, and Dilbert and rest of the familiar crew from the original series.

But there’s also new characters, like Betty’s best friend Sheila, who is so close to her that there’s a big picture of her with Betty hanging in the hallway of Betty’s house – for a moment I thought maybe she was Betty’s sister.

And later:

 

And this is Veronica, who has just humiliated herself and is trying to avoid showing it. Check out the people in the cafeteria:

 

The old Riverdale was incredibly white. The new Riverdale reflects reality.

I wish some of the main characters were characters of color. But I do I love that the high school looks like any public high school, even though those high school students are way too involved in the success of one dude, and his romantic life. IT’S WEIRD. It’s part of Archie-verse, I guess, but it’s weird.

Part the third: the letter from Mark Waid

Each issue features a new comic, and then Waid introduces a very old Archie from the original issues of the series published in 1942 – boy, do they look different.

The letter in the latest issue is what made me excited to keep reading each issue. In it, Waid explains that,

“the Betty/Veronica/Archie ‘Love Triangle’ wasn’t always as it’s commonly thought of today, with the two girls battling over Archie’s vacillating affections. In the earlier days of the series, there was no real ‘competition’; Betty pined for Archie, but Archie had eyes only for Ronnie. If Betty ever felt ‘led on’ by young Mr. Andrews, it was mostly because he treated her more like a pal and less like a girlfriend, leaving her hoping for more. Poor Betty was always the underdog in the early Archie series, content to play the long game rather than dust it up with the rich girl. It was only more recently that ‘Betty versus Veronica’ became the default, and with all love and respect to the 1960s and 1970s, we decided with this new series you’re reading that Archie’s eternal ‘I want them both’ indecisiveness was maybe not his most endearing trait, so we’ve rethought it. (I also can’t figure out, and this may be my failing, how to tell stories about two girls who flip back and forth between ‘best friends’ and ‘romantic rivals’ twelve times a day, so that also informs how we’re rebuilding everyone’s relationship.” (Emphasis mine).

SO WAIT. They’re taking the things I really disliked about the Archie universe OUT OF THE REBOOT?!

I am so here for this. A re-imagined Riverdale that looks more like an actual high school, characters drawn with a lot of subtle emotion, and a story that will remove the really bothersome parts of the Archie series? YAY!

And there’s the new Jughead, too! The first issue dropped today, but it’s been teased in the back of the Archie issues since the start:

Chip Zdarsky is half of the team behind Sex Criminals, which Carrie also loved. And Kokatu also reviewed issue 1 of Jughead and pronounced it “so damn good.” I can see why – Jughead kind of steals all the scenes he’s in, because there isn’t a verifiable reason for Archie to be so admired and supported by his classmates. Jughead is relentlessly smart, smooth, and sarcastic, and he’s being set up to be my favorite kind of supporting hero.

The new issue is terrific, too – Jughead is laconic and snarky and uninterested in expending too much energy, but when the new principal starts serving crappy food, Jughead’s stomach dictates drastic action.

 

There are, alas, a few caveats: a subscription digitally via Comixology is $3.99 per issue, which is automatically billed when the issue is released. So even with the “Save $5 off a $10 order” coupon here, you can’t pre-pay for the whole subscription and hit the $10 minimum unless you buy a bunch of other things.

Which could happen – there’s a lot of cool manga, comics, and series on Comixology. To say nothing of the freaking cool free comics I downloaded yesterday, including Priya’s Shakti, in which a mortal woman teams up with the Goddess Parvati to combat sexual violence in India.

But I know $3.99 per issue each month is a good chunk out of many book-buying budgets, especially when that $4 buys a single issue of a comic, plus a comic from 1942.

I thought I’d dislike the price, but I’m surprised by how many times I have reread the issues I own. I really like it, and I’m looking forward to more each month of both Archie and Jughead. If you have fond memories of Archie comics like I do, you might really, really like this reboot. Smart writers and talented artists are doing some terrific storytelling.

---

Archie 2015- is available from Comixology and at your local comic shop.

Jughead 2015- is also available digitally from Comixology, and from your local shop.