Hello, gang.  Don't know if I have told the story here or not, but I feel like telling it, anyway.

I've been a comic book fan for ages, since around 1959 for funny comics and 1963 for super-heroes.  For the vast majority of that time, you couldn't much get me near an Archie comic.  They seemed formula-fed, kid-based, and not half as exciting or entertaining as a Steranko SHIELD or an Adams Deadman.  I kinda liked their superheroes, especially the Fly.  But for the most part, I gave Archie, Betty, Jughead and the rest a pass.

But things changed.

From at least the mid-80's onward, superhero comics became a lot less friendly place to be.  Heroes got killed, or rebooted.  Histories were nuked.  The grim-'n'-gritty became the workplace norm.  The places we visited to get away from our troubles and strife became only another strifeplace, and the characters who were our ideals and friends often changed to something a whole lot less satisfying.  Of course, a lot of that was the change in the generational audience.  But I'm betting more of it was due to creators who just wouldn't let themselves believe in heroes.

Then I chanced upon an old Archie Christian comic.  Lots of people have dissed such books, feeling they dforce religious viewpoints into the Archie universe that haven't been addressed in the regular comics.  But, let's face it...in the regular comics, such topics couldn't have been addressed, and it was encouraging for a Christian like me to see some books sympathetic to the faith.  I liked them.


That led me to reconsider the regular Archie comics.  And y'know what?  I found they were entertaining,tasteful, and fairly well-written and nicely drawn.  And the best part?  I LIKED THE CHARACTERS.  And they weren't distorted or ruined just to beef up circulation or because a creator wanted to impress his peers with how far he could go down Bad Taste Road.

The books were worth reading.

They still are.

That's why I'm glad I learned to like Archie, and why I'm glad he's still around.  So much for that.

Seconded, Darkmark.  Today's superheroes have become unrelatable, uninspiring, and incoherent.  Thank you, Dark Knight and Watchmen from the 80's.  (I hope the new Battlestar Galactica does not set off a similar trend in sci fi TV and movies.)  The Archie characters have had a remarkable continuity of personality and theme over the decades.  They are likable and easily identifiable for the readers.   

Nice, darkmark. I have to agree with you on how superhero stories have changed over the years. Even though I am a teen, I still don't consider recent DC and Marvel comics desirable as the originals (My Dad has bought some). Too intense for me right now.