Archie made a huge deal about getting a new distribution deal with Walmart.  Remember it was suspected that absurd Kickstarter was more about acquiring funds to allow the Walmart deal and new title relaunches to happen simultaneously.  So if that's gone, I think that's pretty striking honestly.  Although, one Walmart not having them on one day isn't enough to say that Archie was axed from Walmart.

In my 11 years of loving Archie Comics, one thing has become apparent to me.  They are not so family friendly anymore.  Sure, the digests might be, but how often do we see new content in those that have quite a few sexual innuendos?  Also, they are even reprinting some of the Reboot stuff in the digests (though that's not so obvious to a casual).  Hell, they are even releasing a digest (finally a single) that will (most likely) contain nothing but rebooted content.  I feel like the show (like the reboot) is a last ditch attempt to the company.  And with Sonic not going to be published here real soon (sonic makes up quite a bit of revenue), I'm not sure where the company will go from here.  Sure, we have what, 8 digests now (including the Riverdale one), but how long do you see some of those lasting?  Sure, one could argue that while sales on some are steady, most of the sales are declining.  I mean, the 75th anniversary digest is supposed to end its run at Issue #12 (no big surprise).  The Riverdale one, I'm not so sure about.  It could get 1 issue, or 10 or 20 or it could last a decade.  I don't know!


Lets talk about the other Digests now. 


Archie Double Digest: Issue #277
Betty & Veronica Double Digest: Issue #252
World of Archie Double Digest: Issue #67
Jughead & Archie Double Digest: Issue #25
B&V & Friends Double Digest Issue #253
Archie Funhouse Double Digest Issue #25
75th Anniversary Jumbo Digest Issue #7
Riverdale Digest: Issue #Upcoming


Those are what we have so far for the digests.  How far they are going to go, I do NOT know.  As for the Floppies?


Riverdale: Issue #Upcoming
Archie: Issue #18
Betty & Veronica: Issue #3
Jughead: Issue #13
Josie and the Pussycats: Issue #5
Little Archie: Issue #Upcoming
Afterlife with Archie: Issue #12
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: Issue #8
Reggie and Me: Issue #3


There are also a lot of One shots coming out too.  ACP just signed a deal with WB for more comics and shows (but who knows if that'll follow through).  I'm still holding out for a Dilton and Me floppy!












One more thing before I go.  I have created a Discord for this server.  Not sure how many of you would want to join, but I will leave the link here for whomever wants it:


https://discord.gg/7sCjDa3

QuoteIn my 11 years of loving Archie Comics, one thing has become apparent to me.  They are not so family friendly anymore.

I'm not heteronormative so I don't really care about Archie Comics being family friendly (a lot of people read it for innuendo anyways), but it's transformed into something it wasn't before and something completely alienating to it's original core audience which is pretty bad imo.  There's a way to expand your market without destroying everything.  Marvel Comics made similar mistakes recently too, and now they're back tracking like crazy to keep their old fans because the comics side of their business was tanking hardcore.

Quote from: Alexandra Cabot on February 14, 2017, 07:41:56 PM

QuoteIn my 11 years of loving Archie Comics, one thing has become apparent to me.  They are not so family friendly anymore.

I'm not heteronormative so I don't really care about Archie Comics being family friendly (a lot of people read it for innuendo anyways), but it's transformed into something it wasn't before and something completely alienating to it's original core audience which is pretty bad imo.  There's a way to expand your market without destroying everything.  Marvel Comics made similar mistakes recently too, and now they're back tracking like crazy to keep their old fans because the comics side of their business was tanking hardcore.

In my opinion, I don't really see Marvel backtracking as you say.  I see them wandering into uncharted territory, and loosing a LOT of subscribers!

Quote from: The Downloader on February 14, 2017, 07:56:54 PM

Quote from: Alexandra Cabot on February 14, 2017, 07:41:56 PM

QuoteIn my 11 years of loving Archie Comics, one thing has become apparent to me.  They are not so family friendly anymore.

I'm not heteronormative so I don't really care about Archie Comics being family friendly (a lot of people read it for innuendo anyways), but it's transformed into something it wasn't before and something completely alienating to it's original core audience which is pretty bad imo.  There's a way to expand your market without destroying everything.  Marvel Comics made similar mistakes recently too, and now they're back tracking like crazy to keep their old fans because the comics side of their business was tanking hardcore.

In my opinion, I don't really see Marvel backtracking as you say.  I see them wandering into uncharted territory, and loosing a LOT of subscribers!

Marvel is doing a plan to reboot their comics back to like they were before everythong go so messed up recently.  They saw how much money DC Comics started making after they did the same thing.

Marvel made the screw up of thinking SJWs and people from Tumblr actually buy comic books.  They don't, at least not in any meaningful numbers that can positively benefit market share.  I don't know what Archie's deal is, but they went from a huge publishing operation with a firm grip on an 11 year old female demographic to publishing niche titles in comic book stores and now pushing a trashy edgelord TV show that undermines what was formerly their core market.  I don't think they have any clue what the hell they are doing or trying to accomplish in regards to long term planning.  I mean I kind of hate how protective Disney is of their IP with kids, but there's firm business rationale behind that. 

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2017, 01:29:40 PM

Quote from: VintageJon on February 14, 2017, 12:26:24 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2017, 10:37:59 AM
In the 30 months or so since I became interested in Archie Comics, I don't think I've seen any digests in any grocery story I've been in. I've seen them at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and just recently, Target, but those are the only places. No local drugstore franchises or convenience stories.

I saw them at Wegman's (western NY) when I crossed the border last week;  Up here in Canada Shopper's drug mart has them, as does a grocery store called Sobey's.   Sometimes 7-11 and Walmart always has them.  I think that there will always be a call for Archie comics as they are the only all ages, family friendly comic that people (parents) have come to trust.

Funny you should mention that... Archie's formerly unassailable reputation as a purveyor of all-ages titles (eh... "Million Moms" aside)...  I wonder how things like the Archie Horror titles (which may well fly under most parents radar as imperceptible, with little chance most parents whose children are consumers of ACP's all-ages titles will ever become aware of them), and RIVERDALE might affect those parents' perception of ACP as a publisher.

The TV series is much more likely to impact public perception of ACP's comics, since television reaches a much wider audience than the direct-market floppy comics do, and if there isn't an immediate connection in parents minds between the name Riverdale and the names Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, then plastering ads for the show all over the covers (and interiors) of the digests will certainly rectify that lack of recognition. Furthermore, placing those ads in the digests seems to imply that the TV show would be appropriate viewing for the same audiences reading those digests, so I wonder what some parents of say, an 8-12 year-old reader might think about that after viewing the show.

    It has occurred to me that perhaps Archie Comics is using the Riverdale TV show to destroy the comics (with help from the producers/writers of the program). I certainly hope I am wrong about that.  I've been a fan of Archie Comics since I was about 5 (I'm 34 now).  Parents shouldn't be allowing their 12 year old children to be watching Riverdale.  I know if I had seen it when I was 12, I probably would have stopped reading the comics at that point.

Quote from: Upsiditus on February 14, 2017, 09:13:33 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2017, 01:29:40 PM

Quote from: VintageJon on February 14, 2017, 12:26:24 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2017, 10:37:59 AM
In the 30 months or so since I became interested in Archie Comics, I don't think I've seen any digests in any grocery story I've been in. I've seen them at Barnes & Noble, Walmart, and just recently, Target, but those are the only places. No local drugstore franchises or convenience stories.

I saw them at Wegman's (western NY) when I crossed the border last week;  Up here in Canada Shopper's drug mart has them, as does a grocery store called Sobey's.   Sometimes 7-11 and Walmart always has them.  I think that there will always be a call for Archie comics as they are the only all ages, family friendly comic that people (parents) have come to trust.

Funny you should mention that... Archie's formerly unassailable reputation as a purveyor of all-ages titles (eh... "Million Moms" aside)...  I wonder how things like the Archie Horror titles (which may well fly under most parents radar as imperceptible, with little chance most parents whose children are consumers of ACP's all-ages titles will ever become aware of them), and RIVERDALE might affect those parents' perception of ACP as a publisher.

The TV series is much more likely to impact public perception of ACP's comics, since television reaches a much wider audience than the direct-market floppy comics do, and if there isn't an immediate connection in parents minds between the name Riverdale and the names Archie, Jughead, Betty & Veronica, then plastering ads for the show all over the covers (and interiors) of the digests will certainly rectify that lack of recognition. Furthermore, placing those ads in the digests seems to imply that the TV show would be appropriate viewing for the same audiences reading those digests, so I wonder what some parents of say, an 8-12 year-old reader might think about that after viewing the show.

    It has occurred to me that perhaps Archie Comics is using the Riverdale TV show to destroy the comics (with help from the producers/writers of the program). I certainly hope I am wrong about that.  I've been a fan of Archie Comics since I was about 5 (I'm 34 now).  Parents shouldn't be allowing their 12 year old children to be watching Riverdale.  I know if I had seen it when I was 12, I probably would have stopped reading the comics at that point.

What's the benefit financially or creatively "destroying ACP"?  Wondering where your thoughts are on this point. 

Quote from: steveinthecity on February 15, 2017, 12:13:26 AM
What's the benefit financially or creatively "destroying ACP"?  Wondering where your thoughts are on this point.

Does it matter what the rationale is if the outcome is the same?  But I think this is the result of a current trend of creative people who get in control of media franchises with a leftist political mindset.  They see an old timey set-up like Archie Comics where the biggest problem is who is going to prom with Archie in a town like Riverdale where nothing bad happens, bascially Americana if we want to put it simply, and their first knee jerk reaction is, "Oh boy, I better deconstruct this to show how evil and bad everything really is," and we end up with a show like this taking a big crap on the original spirt of Archie Comics as a whole and the entire ideal of Americana to prove something to said hack creative person's political sensibilities.  Deconstruction is about destroying things, so yeah the intent is to destroy Archie Comics even if subconsciously.  They can't let Archie be Archie, because of that cultural Marxist nagging in the back of their head where things like simple Americana are no longer allowed.  No we need a show that exposes how BAD Riverdale really is.  A lot of people read Archie Comics for escapism, not that other crap.

Of course you'll just say, "it's just a TV show, you still have the comics."  It's called damaging your brand.  They had specific branding before this.  They went to absurd lengths to protect that branding before Jon Goldwater.  I didn't always agree with what they did, but it was something they cared about seemingly and now there's a huge shift.  Also most of the comics as we knew them are going away in favor of what they're doing now.  Frankly, I don't see the point of Archie Comics without Montana/DeCarlo/etc. art style.

I used to read tons of Marvel and DC comics. Now I'm down to 3 or 4 comics from each of their respective universes. That's part of the reason I got interested in Archie Comics late in 2014 - because I finally had the time, and a void to fill in my comics reading. But just about 8 months later, ACP decided to reboot everything too. DC's Rebirth didn't really help their universe overall, because it's still the same "New 52" universe (only now with the pre-52 DCU Superman in it, which just makes things unnecessarily convoluted). Yeah, they renumbered everything again from #1, but it's not like they really changed anything about how they're writing or drawing the characters, per se. Aside from the numbering, and cancelling some series and replacing them with others, it's pretty much the same deal at DC as it's been since September 2011. They may have shifted some creative teams around, and some titles may be better post-Rebirth, and others worse. Fortunately, DC publishes other lines of comics (DC Kids, Vertigo, and some other titles) that aren't part of their main universe, so that gives me a few more to read than just 3 or 4 titles. I'm not averse to trying a new series they put out either (that goes for Marvel too) if it looks interesting and I like the characters or artwork, but I am rarely finding anything worth sticking with when I sample them.

With ACP's New Riverdale it seems all they did is make less funny, more boring stories with artwork that (overall) I don't much care for, and writing even less so. I guess I just have to be satisfied with the 5-pagers in the digests now.

They are destroying the comics with the tv show. It is making people hate characters. People are saying they hate Chuck now. I don't hate anyone yet but I don't like Betty after what she did to Chuck. All the years I liked her are over. I cannt forget her torturing him or the actress tweeting it was "girl power." I don't want to see Betty again on the show or in the comics now, and it's all because of Riverdale.


I don't think they can do new shows about anything except Sabrina. The other characters aren't familiar to people and they are not very good except for Josie, but I don't think a Riverdale Josie spinoff will happen.

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 12, 2017, 09:25:26 AM
Been hearing about the end of Archie Comics for years now, and they're still here.  Even though RIVERDALE's ratings aren't good it's getting mostly positive reviews and that can't hurt. 


I think Archie will be here as long as they want to.  Maybe it won't be the Archie the old school fans prefer, but Archie Comics will most likely exist for the foreseeable future.

He does  have a point.

Quote from: terrence12 on February 15, 2017, 04:40:33 AM

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 12, 2017, 09:25:26 AM
Been hearing about the end of Archie Comics for years now, and they're still here.  Even though RIVERDALE's ratings aren't good it's getting mostly positive reviews and that can't hurt. 


I think Archie will be here as long as they want to.  Maybe it won't be the Archie the old school fans prefer, but Archie Comics will most likely exist for the foreseeable future.

He does  have a point.

You mean they want to get out of the comics business, and just be in the business of licensing out their IP? Well, it's a no-overhead enterprise, I guess, which could be what they're looking for. On the other hand, the characters are nowhere near as iconic as something like Batman or Spider-Man, where you can morph them into different things and they're still somewhat recognizable, if only because of the basic premise and costumes. Archie Comics are mostly tied to the style of cartooning, and as soon as you lost that, they start to get a little blurry as far as recognizing them as the same characters. They aren't as adaptable as the better-known superheroes, because the things that define them as characters are more nebulous than costumes and superpowers.

Quote from: carrotz on February 15, 2017, 04:39:58 AM

They are destroying the comics with the tv show. It is making people hate characters. People are saying they hate Chuck now. I don't hate anyone yet but I don't like Betty after what she did to Chuck. All the years I liked her are over. I cannot forget her torturing him or the actress tweeting it was "girl power." I don't want to see Betty again on the show or in the comics now, and it's all because of Riverdale.


I don't think they can do new shows about anything except Sabrina. The other characters aren't familiar to people and they are not very good except for Josie, but I don't think a Riverdale Josie spinoff will happen.

I agree that the show is destroying the characters, but it doesn't make me hate the comics' characters, just the CW's Riverdale characters, those are the ones I don't like at all.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 15, 2017, 04:08:49 AM

...With ACP's New Riverdale it seems all they did is make less funny, more boring stories with artwork that (overall) I don't much care for, and writing even less so. I guess I just have to be satisfied with the 5-pagers in the digests now.

Yep, same here.

Quote from: carrotz on February 15, 2017, 04:39:58 AM
I don't think they can do new shows about anything except Sabrina. The other characters aren't familiar to people and they are not very good except for Josie, but I don't think a Riverdale Josie spinoff will happen.

There might be some power to taking lesser known or unknown Archie/MLJ properties that lack emotional connections with today's audiences and recreate them with modern upgrades. Stuff like Sam Hill, That Wilkins Boy, Katie Keene, Ginger, Hangman... Whether updated MLJ characters appeal to modern audiences or whether they're updated well is another matter.