Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 20, 2022, 02:54:21 PM

Yep! I remember reading this one. I  also remember a storyline where Archie has a dream where he meets up with a rich, middle aged, hamburger chain mogul (sound familiar?) Jughead. And, Jughead tells Archie that he married Betty Cooper!!

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on November 07, 2019, 12:21:29 AMSeems like it's ignoring everything after LIFE WITH ARCHIE #1 (i.e., all of "The Married Life" stories written by Paul Kupperberg). I like the art (well, except for Dan's decision that an older Archie should have a huge jaw in order to distinguish him from teenage Archie), but it's still too soon for me to pass final judgment on it as a story. I plan to re-read the whole thing in one sitting sometime after the last issue is released (or I might just wait for the TP), and maybe I'll have a clearer feeling about it by then. Clearly it's not a sequel to the run of LIFE WITH ARCHIE as written by Kupperberg, though. Having re-read the whole prior Married Life story fairly recently, both the strengths and flaws inherent in that series became a lot more obvious to me. After reading the whole thing again, I revised my initial opinion downward in terms of plot and story continuity, but felt like where it stood out was in terms of character interaction scenes and dialogue (only possible where you have a lot of pages for that kind of stuff).

That said, the story doesn't have anywhere near the same room to breath as the original LIFE WITH ARCHIE magazine, and the plot is necessarily compacted to fit into six standard-sized floppy comic issues -- which amounts to the same as only THREE magazine-sized issues of The Married Life, so it's hardly fair to compare one to the other as a complete series, either. Then again, I can recall the same sort of complaints about the final B&V story arc by Uslan and Parent. Either one is still miles better than what we're getting in the current ongoing ARCHIE title and miniseries like SABRINA.

I'm curious what you think the flaws were. Apologies if the re-read is now too long ago for you to remember XD.

I found that it had definitely gone off the rails at some point (I believe during a writer switch) and sometimes the two universes weren't different enough to really justify having both stories. It was neat seeing Little Ambrose and others return, though . 

Quote from: Jabroniville on November 26, 2022, 01:40:43 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on November 07, 2019, 12:21:29 AMSeems like it's ignoring everything after LIFE WITH ARCHIE #1 (i.e., all of "The Married Life" stories written by Paul Kupperberg). I like the art (well, except for Dan's decision that an older Archie should have a huge jaw in order to distinguish him from teenage Archie), but it's still too soon for me to pass final judgment on it as a story. I plan to re-read the whole thing in one sitting sometime after the last issue is released (or I might just wait for the TP), and maybe I'll have a clearer feeling about it by then. Clearly it's not a sequel to the run of LIFE WITH ARCHIE as written by Kupperberg, though. Having re-read the whole prior Married Life story fairly recently, both the strengths and flaws inherent in that series became a lot more obvious to me. After reading the whole thing again, I revised my initial opinion downward in terms of plot and story continuity, but felt like where it stood out was in terms of character interaction scenes and dialogue (only possible where you have a lot of pages for that kind of stuff).

That said, the story doesn't have anywhere near the same room to breath as the original LIFE WITH ARCHIE magazine, and the plot is necessarily compacted to fit into six standard-sized floppy comic issues -- which amounts to the same as only THREE magazine-sized issues of The Married Life, so it's hardly fair to compare one to the other as a complete series, either. Then again, I can recall the same sort of complaints about the final B&V story arc by Uslan and Parent. Either one is still miles better than what we're getting in the current ongoing ARCHIE title and miniseries like SABRINA.

I'm curious what you think the flaws were. Apologies if the re-read is now too long ago for you to remember XD.

I found that it had definitely gone off the rails at some point (I believe during a writer switch) and sometimes the two universes weren't different enough to really justify having both stories. It was neat seeing Little Ambrose and others return, though .

The only writer switch in THE MARRIED LIFE (or LIFE WITH ARCHIE magazine, if you prefer) was at the very beginning, where issue #1 is the setup written by Mike Uslan -- and immediately after that, it's Paul Kupperberg for the follow-up through the rest of the series.

The major flaw is a lack of any general plan or direction (until looming cancellation forces one upon Kupperberg; i.e. "The Death of Archie"). The pendulum swings wide with Mr. Lodge initially as the seeming villain, and then (as things take a distinct turn towards more of a harder SF theme) seemingly Dilton Doiley... but then Kupperberg backs away on the SF angle (perhaps due to reader reaction?) shortly after launching a meandering plotline featuring Veronica's lost plane crossing into the Bettyverse. Sure the various twists kept readers on tenterhooks from issue to issue of the magazine, but read as a whole there's no real plot structure overall. Various characters' threads get lost in the miasma in the latter half.

ARCHIE: THE MARRIED LIFE 10th ANNIVERSARY has Mike Uslan back in the driver's seat again, but this time it's "10 Years Later" after the original "ARCHIE MARRIES..." (ARCHIE #600-606), and while incorporating some of Uslan's ideas from LIFE WITH ARCHIE Magazine #1, goes off on completely different tangents than Kupperberg's story did.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on November 26, 2022, 03:59:02 PMThe major flaw is a lack of any general plan or direction (until looming cancellation forces one upon Kupperberg; i.e. "The Death of Archie"). The pendulum swings wide with Mr. Lodge initially as the seeming villain, and then (as things take a distinct turn towards more of a harder SF theme) seemingly Dilton Doiley... but then Kupperberg backs away on the SF angle (perhaps due to reader reaction?) shortly after launching a meandering plotline featuring Veronica's lost plane crossing into the Bettyverse. Sure the various twists kept readers on tenterhooks from issue to issue of the magazine, but read as a whole there's no real plot structure overall. Various characters' threads get lost in the miasma in the latter half.

ARCHIE: THE MARRIED LIFE 10th ANNIVERSARY has Mike Uslan back in the driver's seat again, but this time it's "10 Years Later" after the original "ARCHIE MARRIES..." (ARCHIE #600-606), and while incorporating some of Uslan's ideas from LIFE WITH ARCHIE Magazine #1, goes off on completely different tangents than Kupperberg's story did.

Ah, OK- I can't remember the specifics this long after the fact, but I recall the huge first issue for sure- all that wild stuff being added in. I felt a very sudden narrative shift at some point in the first year (what you describe as the "pendulum swing") and that's probably what I'm thinking of. Dilton doing the science-fiction stuff comes in heavy and then feels like it's dropped completely. 

I'm forgetting "Hiram the Villain" but I definitely recall him being antagonistic at some point. Was it to Archie/Veronica or to Reggie? Boy I don't remember a plane crossing universes either, lol- so much of the comic really left my memory ages ago. 

In retrospect the one thing that still bothers me is that Jughead MARRIES MIDGE and Archie only learns about it after the fact. As if at any point someone would get married and not tell their best friend XD. 

I barely recall the "10th Anniversary" book coming out and I never checked it out. Reviews weren't great but now I'm curious, lol. The benefit of hindsight can help out a LOT of stories.