Wow!  I'm only 50 pages in and I'm already declaring this the best Archie book I've ever read.  Bob Montana's art is a knockout and the stories are hysterical.  These aren't individual gag strips.  They are mostly stories running for a few weeks.  If you're an Archie fan, this will be the best $40 you've ever spent. 

The only drawback to this book is that it's going to make all the current Archie books look and read like crap by comparison.  The opening story in the book features Archie asking out both Betty and Veronica to the prom.  The premise was probably hackneyed long before the strip came out and yet it reads as fresh and funny today as the day it came out.  The guys look goofy.  The girls are impossibly gorgeous and glamorous.  Ironically, their original design is certainly deemed too sexy by current Archie editors.  (Not to mention a few big, wet kisses the girls lay on Archie.) 

If Archie was still producing funny and good-looking comic books like this, I don't think they'd have to keep resorting to cheesy marketing gimmicks.       

I love this book!  It's certainly a "must-have".

However, I disagree that it makes current books look bad by comparison - or that Archie is doing marketing "gimmicks".  Change will often be met with resistance and what we are seeing in current Archie books is a change towards more connectivity with what is happening in the real world.  Just like old Archie comics had Beatles, Elvis, Soupy Sales, etc, etc.

In fact, I think seeing books like this being published demonstrates that Archie is aware of, and moving towards a new Golden Age of material.

This is a great volume; I have to admit I hadn't appreciated just how good an artist Montana was until I saw this.

Does anyone know whether they're planning a separate Sundays series?

I like a lot of the new art too, but at times it's an acquired taste.  My ideal new Archie artist would have Fernando Ruiz's dynamic animation, Rex Lindsey's eye for detail, and Dan Parent's design style.  The Montana stuff just has an instant appeal to me, because he does all of that.  There's no point in arguing about artistic tastes though.  To each his own.

Alot of the Archie events lately have been calculated to garner media attention.  Bravo for the marketing, but if there isn't a solid product there during and after the event, I wouldn't count on any lasting increase in popularity.

http://comicsworthreading.com/2011/09/27/archie-the-complete-daily-newspaper-comics-1946-1948/

Johanna has recently posted a review of this book.  Of course, she likes it.  It's great.