And I'm surprised that Archie isn't forced to be on Veronica's side of the battle. She would never let Archie near Betty. He is also at her bec & call.   I wish that Harper was in the storyline.

Quote from: PTF on December 03, 2016, 04:58:16 PM
Maybe I'm talking crazy...but instead of creating new characters...why not try and make Chuck and Nancy interesting? I mean, back in the day, Chuck was pretty great as this guy who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder. Problem became the art angle took over and it became "Chuck is drawing something" and that was it for him. I think in one of the old Archie titles he was Archie's sidekick because I have digests with the two and they were actually pretty fun.

And as for Nancy...Nancy...

...

Fine. Toni Topaz might be better because of the hat.

And yeah, I don't get why you ditch the entire classic line. Why not bring back Pep Comics and have them star the classic characters and either bring in the classic artists or just do what a lot of companies are doing...just go on deviant art and find talent for cheap.

Totally disagree about Chuck. He's way more interesting as "aspiring young comic artist Chuck" than he ever was a "sports guy (whose father is also the coach) Chuck". And before that, nobody at Archie Comics knew WHO the heck Chuck was, apart from "oh yeah, isn't he the black guy?" So some stories he's "hypochondriac Chuck", or "superstitious Chuck", or "nervous around girls Chuck", or any number of character traits that come and go. For a few stories there, he's almost treated as "the black Archie" (a.k.a "Klutz Chuck"). Then slowly he becomes "the ARCHIE AT RIVERDALE HIGH Chuck" (a.k.a. "No Way Are We Going to Put the Black Guy's Name in the Title of the Comic"), which is sort of like the G.I. Joe Adventure Team version of the Hardy Boys, starring Archie & Chuck. Then for a while, it's all stories about "Chuck just can't seem to do anything right when it comes to pleasing his girlfriend Nancy". Yeeesh. Talk about sloppy characterization. Nobody had a clue.

YES.  What about Nancy?  Today I read a reprint in ARCHIE JUMBO DIGEST that had a Christmas party story where Archie kisses Valerie underneath the mistletoe. Thing is, this story was written by Mike Pellowski, and he stopped writing Archie stories before the whole Dan Parent Archie/Valerie romance thing came into play. And the way the story was drawn, "Valerie" sure looked like Nancy. And Josie and Melody weren't at this party, either. So I suspect the word balloons had been re-lettered (nothing that looked obvious, though) to replace "Nancy" with "Valerie". Why, I couldn't say.

But the whole point is, most of the time you wouldn't be able to tell Nancy and Valerie apart, unless Nancy is hanging around with Chuck, or Valerie is hanging around with the Pussycats. They both have the same upturned "inverted-U" nose, and neither one of them ever had any consistent hairstyle to identify them. Nor did either of them have any personality traits distinctive enough to tell them apart (before Val became part of the whole Betty/Veronica/Cheryl five-way love-fest with Archie).

There already is a Pep comics. PEP DIGITAL, the digital-exclusive reprint collections. I'm surprised they didn't just retire the word "Pep", though, because let's face it, that's about as 21st century as "Boola-Boola Comics" or "Woo-Woo!" or "23 Skidoo". No kid today is going to buy a floppy comic book called "Pep Comics". But forget about the kids already, because you need to sell floppy comics to 20-to-40 year-olds that make up the mainstream comic shop consumer demographic.

Is this still being published or has it gone quietly into that long goodnight? 

Quote from: Mr.Lodge on February 05, 2017, 02:49:17 PM
Is this still being published or has it gone quietly into that long goodnight? 

That's the charm of Archie Comics these days.  You don't know what's canceled because everything is delayed when it's not canceled.  It's fun if you like mysteries.   

Well, it's Hughes and Archie Comics schedule. So it's going to be awhile before the next issue comes out. Still think it will come out before the next Afterlife though.

Quote from: Fernando Ruiz on November 28, 2016, 01:08:59 AM

Quote from: SAGG on November 25, 2016, 08:12:00 PMI've got two: What if ACP wanted to change the direction of Archie like they have now, but wanted to keep you Classic artists? Would you have any trouble doing what they wanted, or would you have felt uncomfortable with the change? What if they wanted you to change your artwork as well to match the change in the story retro-wise, something more "serious-looking"? 

  If Archie had opted to have the classic artists draw the reboot books, I would draw it just as I would any other job. I'd already modified my approach to the characters somewhat while I was drawing the Life With Archie magazine series. If ACP had wanted the looks of the characters modernized, I certainly, as a professional, would have no problem doing that. As a fan, of course, my preference would be for the characters to remain in their classic style! I have always worked very hard to remain a diverse artists capable of working in many styles, genres, and tones. Drawing a more serious or mature Archie simply would have been just another job for me.


At New York Comic con this year, I had my very first conversation with Archie president Mike Pellerito since my "departure" from Archie Comics. To his credit, the conversation came about at his suggestion and as an attempt to repair the relationship between Archie Comics and myself. (Rest assured nothing came of this.) In the course of this exchange, I'd suggestion that one of the reasons why my "dismissal" had been unnecessary was because I easily could've drawn any one of the reboot titles. He responded very quickly with, "It wouldn't have sold."


I have no illusions that a reboot title drawn by myself would've sold in the same numbers as the Fiona Staples drawn issues, but we would have seen a boost in sales simply from the reboot alone. We also would have seen that boost be far more sustainable since I would have stayed with the title far longer than Staples' three issues. (The book has been bleeding readers since she left!) Plus, with a more moderate modification, they would've had material that could more seamlessly be used in the digests further on down the line.


Unfortunately, Pellerito was fixated on using (however temporarily) "big names" and trying to use the "news" of a total stylistic overhaul both in terms of story and art to further bolster the "splash" they were looking to make. Admittedly, they did make a bit of a splash, but the ripples of that splash are very evidently waning now.


I may have to tell the wonderful, heart-warming story about how us "classic guys" first learned of the reboot. It's a beautiful story that is very pertinent to the Holiday season, but its a story for another time...

I'd love to hear this story about the "classic guys" learning that... well, the comics were rebranding without them. Especially now that the reboot has entirely fizzled out.