News:

We're back! Unfortunately all data was lost. Please re-register to continue posting!

Main Menu
Welcome to Archie Comics Fan Forum. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 05:53:11 PM

Login with username, password and session length

Recent Topics

Shoutbox

Mar 10 2024 11:04pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Catnapped!" from Betty and Veronica: Friends Forever: Sleepover: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/03/10/comics-catnapped/

Mar 03 2024 2:17pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Winners and Losers" from Betty and Veronica #103: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/03/03/comics-winners-losers/

Mar 03 2024 2:17pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Winners

Feb 25 2024 6:02pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Girl of His Dreams" from Betty and Veronica #101: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/25/comics-girl-of-his-dreams/

Feb 22 2024 5:46pm
Tuxedo Mark: Huh, and apparently World of Betty and Veronica Digest isn't canceled; it just went on a long hiatus: https://archiecomics.com/new-archie-comics-coming-in-may-2024/

Feb 22 2024 5:35pm
Tuxedo Mark: Archie Comics is starting to do $4.99 floppies: https://archiecomics.com/archie-horror-unleashes-apocalyptic-thrills-in-judgment-day/

Feb 17 2024 3:19pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "The Big Victory" from Betty and Veronica #99: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/17/comics-the-big-victory/

Feb 04 2024 4:25pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Makeover for a Moose" from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #321: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/02/04/comics-makeover-for-a-moose/

Jan 27 2024 5:44pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "Love is a Football Field!" from Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #347: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/27/comics-love-is-a-football-field/

Jan 25 2024 4:30pm
Tuxedo Mark: My review of "One Shot Worth a Million" from World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #136: https://riverdalereviewed.wordpress.com/2024/01/25/comics-one-shot-worth-a-million/

What comics have you been reading?

Started by irishmoxie, March 30, 2016, 10:49:35 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

BettyReggie

#1335
I'm reading books that I got for Christmas
I read these books for 12 minutes
Deadly Class -Book # 1- Noise Noise Noise
Reggie & Me - Volume #1
The Archies & Other Stories
But I also got these for Christmas, I didn't read these books yet.
Betty & Veronica - Volume #1-Adam Hughes
Jughead - Volume #3- Dereck Charm

DeCarlo Rules

#1336
12-13-17 to 12-27-17:
KINGSMAN: RED DIAMOND #4 (of 6)
BUG: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER #6 (of 6)
ACTION COMICS #993
DETECTIVE COMICS #970
X-MEN BLUE #16 & 17
THE DAMNDED #6
ROCKY & BULLWINKLE SHOW #2
HACK/SLASH VS VAMPIRELLA #3 (of 5)
SHEENA #4 (of ?)
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT: TERROR FROM THE FROM EARTH'S CORE #2 (of 3)
FIGHTING AMERICAN #3 (of ?)
ALIENS: DEAD ORBIT #4 (of 4)
GALAKTIKON #3 (of 6)
CAPTAIN CANUCK YEAR ONE #1 (of 3)
TRUE BELIEVERS: PHOENIX PRESENTS CYCLOPS & MARVEL GIRL #1
TRUE BELIEVERS: ENTER THE PHOENIX #1
TRUE BELIEVERS: PHOENIX BIZARRE ADVENTURES #1
TRUE BELIEVERS: PHOENIX RETURNS #1
TRUE BELIEVERS: PHOENIX CLASSIC #1
ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR #1
DIE KITTY DIE! CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2017
WORLD OF ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #74
YOUR PAL ARCHIE #5 (of 5)
ARCHIE'S GIRLS BETTY AND VERONICA #340 [Feb 1986]
BETTY & VERONICA: VIXENS #2 (of ?)
DONALD & MICKEY #2
The Little Book of CAPTAIN AMERICA
MARVEL 2-IN-ONE: THE THING & HUMAN TORCH #1
X-MEN: GRAND DESIGN #1 (of 2)
The Little Book of THE AVENGERS
BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II #2 (of 6)
WONDER WOMAN #36
FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS: BIRDMAN #5
POPEYE Classic Newspaper Comics VOL 2 [1989-1992] by Bobby London
HELLBOY: KRAMPUSNACHT #1 (one-shot)
SHERLOCK FRANKENSTEIN & THE LEGION OF EVIL #3 (of 4)
EMPOWERED & SISTAH SPOOKY'S HIGH SCHOOL HELL #1 (of ?)
ASSASSINISTAS #1 (of ?)
The Little Book of THE FANTASTIC FOUR
ROM & THE MICRONAUTS #1 (of 5)
PELLUCIDAR: AT THE EARTH'S CORE TP
TARZAN THE WARRIOR [1992] #1-5 (of 5)
TARZAN: LOVE, LIES & THE LOST CITY [1992] #1-3 (of 3)
LIFE WITH KEVIN TP VOL 01
ARCHIE AND ME COMICS DIGEST #3
MICKEY & DONALD CHRISTMAS PARADE #3
THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT: TERROR FROM THE EARTH'S CORE #3 (of 3)
KONG ON THE PLANET OF APES #2 (of 6)
KAMANDI CHALLENGE #12 (of 12)
DOOMSDAY CLOCK #2 (of 12)
ACTION COMICS #994
DETECTIVE COMICS #971
HAWKMAN FOUND #1 (of 6)
WONDER WOMAN #37
TARZAN/JOHN CARTER: WARLORDS OF MARS [1996] #1-4 (of 4)
PUNISHER: PLATOON #4 (of 6)
THANOS #14
MOON KNIGHT #190
X-MEN BLUE #18
PHOENIX RESURRECTION #1 (of 5)
SAVAGE DRAGON #230
MARK TWAIN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY 1910-2010 (by Michael Kupperman)
TARZAN: THE BECKONING TP

BettyReggie

I have to start reading again. I'll read in a while.

BettyReggie

#1338
I read these books for 12 minutes each
The Archies & Other Stories
Reggie & Me Volume #1
Deadly Class Volume #1- Noise Noise Noise

DeCarlo Rules

#1339
1-03-18 to 1-09-18:
DONT MEDDLE WITH MY DAUGHTER VOL 02 (of 3)
DRAGONS RIOTING VOL 09 (of 9)
RASPUTIN: VOICE OF DRAGON #3 (of 5)
RICK & MORTY #33
3D ADVENTURE #1
3D DESTROY!! #1
ROCK CANDY MOUNTAIN #7
CAPTAIN AMERICA #697
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #150
PHOENIX RESURRECTION #2 (of 5)
X-MEN: GRAND DESIGN #2 (of 2)
UNDERDOG 1975
NURSE HITOMI'S MONSTER INFIRMARY VOL 07
ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #285

COSMO #1
(of 5)  (Not bad, but seems to be aimed at a younger age reader than even the former Archie Action line. My primary complaint would be that very little actually happens in the issue-length story for $3... ironically, the same complaint I have for New Riverdale titles. The artwork is attractive though, and the story seems vaguely inspired by Cosmo-creator Bob White's original plotline for the series, while taking quite a few liberties.)

MYSTERYMEN COLLECTED ANTHOLOGY No. 1 TP
MYSTERYMEN STORIES No. 1 (1996)

TAKE THAT, ADOLF! The Fighting Comic Books of the Second World War TP
by Mark Fertig (Great images and insightful textual examination into the historical influences that shaped the comic book industry in its earliest years.)

ACTION! MYSTERY! THRILLS! Comic Book Covers of the Golden Age 1933-1945 TP by Greg Sadowski (Also has some excellent notes about the earliest developments, particularly the pre-War comic books.)

SUPERMEN! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936-1941 TP (Just the actual stories this time.)

THE GOLDEN AGE OF DC COMICS: 365 DAYS HC by Les Daniels, Chip Kidd & Geoff Spears (Good supplement to the above books -- showing the developments at DC during the pre-Comics Code era, the first 20 years of DC Comics from 1935-1955. 365 images with accompanying commentary.)

AMAZING 3-D COMICS! HC (reprints 3D TOR, THREE STOOGES, SHEENA, FELIX, WHACK!, TRUE 3-D, JIGGS & MAGGIE and others, mostly from St. John and Harvey Comics, all from 1953-54. The success of the 3D effect really varies according to the comics reprinted. Some are really good, with a lot of planes of depth, while others are a bit blurry or hard to focus on the effect. In general, the best 3D comics here were original, created specifically to take advantage of the effect. Pre-existing stories which were merely converted to the 3D process aren't nearly so effective, although certain individual story panels can stand out as being impressive. It's unfortunate that a wider representation of 3D stories from 1953-54 probably couldn't appear in this collection due to still-copyrighted stories and characters, of which some examples -- KATY KEENE was ACP's only 3D comic book -- which would have made the assembly of such a collection prohibitively expensive.)

CHILLING ADVENTURES IN SORCERY TP (In black & white, alas. All of the original comics reprinted from the 1970s -- issues #1-7 -- were in color. Reproduction of line art on issues #1 and 2 is terrible, although the following issues look fine. For completists only.)

X-MEN BLUE #19
KINGSMAN: RED DIAMOND #5 (of 6)
THE GREATEST ADVENTURE #8 (of 9)
DEJAH THORIS #0
MIGHTY CRUSADERS #2
ACTION COMICS #995
DETECTIVE COMICS #972
WONDER WOMAN #38
TITANS #19
DEADMAN #3 (of 6)
SAUCER STATE #6
UNCLE $CROOGE #437
WORLD OF ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS #75


BettyReggie

I have to start reading again. I'll read in a while.

DeCarlo Rules

I think I'm going to quit reading the Archie digests (not the B&V digests, just the Archie ones). There's this real feeling of blandness about them right now, like they're just in a holding pattern, waiting for their time to inevitably run out. That's probably true, to a lesser extent, of the B&V digests as well, but it's less apparent to me because those digest stories seem to have a greater aggregation of my favorite artists in each issue.

They seem to be done with any pretense of growth or evolution (while maintaining faithfulness to the core style), even in the new stories -- there's a real feeling of "just keep it average and homogenized, according to what sold in the past", so there's no real "trying" on the part of the digest editors -- they've basically given up, and aren't going to bother making ANY effort. There's a real contrast there to the period between the late '90s Archie Comics (both floppies and digests) up to 2015, when they were introducing new characters, trying new things, new kinds of stories (out of that came cousin Marcy, New Kids, Kevin Keller, Harper Lodge, and a lot of fun 'what if' variant stories, and even LIFE WITH ARCHIE). All that seems to be over now, and 'classic Archie style' just seems to be in a short period of maintenance until the final shutdown.

:'(

BettyReggie

I read
Your Pal Archie #1
Betty #99 & #100
Harley & Ivy Meet Betty & Veronica #1- Sandy Jarrel issue

BettyReggie

I read each of these books for 12 minutes each
Reggie & Me - Volume #1
The Archies & Other Stories
Deadly Class - Volume #1- Noise Noise Noise

irishmoxie

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 10, 2018, 03:36:35 PM
I think I'm going to quit reading the Archie digests (not the B&V digests, just the Archie ones). There's this real feeling of blandness about them right now, like they're just in a holding pattern, waiting for their time to inevitably run out. That's probably true, to a lesser extent, of the B&V digests as well, but it's less apparent to me because those digest stories seem to have a greater aggregation of my favorite artists in each issue.

They seem to be done with any pretense of growth or evolution (while maintaining faithfulness to the core style), even in the new stories -- there's a real feeling of "just keep it average and homogenized, according to what sold in the past", so there's no real "trying" on the part of the digest editors -- they've basically given up, and aren't going to bother making ANY effort. There's a real contrast there to the period between the late '90s Archie Comics (both floppies and digests) up to 2015, when they were introducing new characters, trying new things, new kinds of stories (out of that came cousin Marcy, New Kids, Kevin Keller, Harper Lodge, and a lot of fun 'what if' variant stories, and even LIFE WITH ARCHIE). All that seems to be over now, and 'classic Archie style' just seems to be in a short period of maintenance until the final shutdown.

:'(


Do you mean the new stories at the beginning or that they just keep reprinting the same stories over and over?

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: irishmoxie on January 12, 2018, 06:54:55 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 10, 2018, 03:36:35 PM
I think I'm going to quit reading the Archie digests (not the B&V digests, just the Archie ones). There's this real feeling of blandness about them right now, like they're just in a holding pattern, waiting for their time to inevitably run out. That's probably true, to a lesser extent, of the B&V digests as well, but it's less apparent to me because those digest stories seem to have a greater aggregation of my favorite artists in each issue.

They seem to be done with any pretense of growth or evolution (while maintaining faithfulness to the core style), even in the new stories -- there's a real feeling of "just keep it average and homogenized, according to what sold in the past", so there's no real "trying" on the part of the digest editors -- they've basically given up, and aren't going to bother making ANY effort. There's a real contrast there to the period between the late '90s Archie Comics (both floppies and digests) up to 2015, when they were introducing new characters, trying new things, new kinds of stories (out of that came cousin Marcy, New Kids, Kevin Keller, Harper Lodge, and a lot of fun 'what if' variant stories, and even LIFE WITH ARCHIE). All that seems to be over now, and 'classic Archie style' just seems to be in a short period of maintenance until the final shutdown.

:'(


Do you mean the new stories at the beginning or that they just keep reprinting the same stories over and over?

The new stories are fine, but 5 pages per issue just isn't compelling enough for me to want to buy them solely for that. Maybe if there were some annual compilation of all the new 5-page lead stories from a year or two earlier, it would make it worth the price of a typical digest. Even having said that, the 5-page shorts feel lacking compared to some of the longer stories by Dan Parent (or some of the recently-returned classic artists) from just 5 or 10 years ago. You can only develop a plot and characters so much in the space of a mere 5 pages.

My main complaint with the 3 Archie digests is the lack of variety of the reprints -- both in terms of spanning six or seven decades of available stories, and in terms of the lack of non-Archie stories. Yes, clearly most of the stories reprinted in those titles HAVE to be Archie stories, but not ALL of them.

irishmoxie

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 12, 2018, 10:23:57 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on January 12, 2018, 06:54:55 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 10, 2018, 03:36:35 PM
I think I'm going to quit reading the Archie digests (not the B&V digests, just the Archie ones). There's this real feeling of blandness about them right now, like they're just in a holding pattern, waiting for their time to inevitably run out. That's probably true, to a lesser extent, of the B&V digests as well, but it's less apparent to me because those digest stories seem to have a greater aggregation of my favorite artists in each issue.

They seem to be done with any pretense of growth or evolution (while maintaining faithfulness to the core style), even in the new stories -- there's a real feeling of "just keep it average and homogenized, according to what sold in the past", so there's no real "trying" on the part of the digest editors -- they've basically given up, and aren't going to bother making ANY effort. There's a real contrast there to the period between the late '90s Archie Comics (both floppies and digests) up to 2015, when they were introducing new characters, trying new things, new kinds of stories (out of that came cousin Marcy, New Kids, Kevin Keller, Harper Lodge, and a lot of fun 'what if' variant stories, and even LIFE WITH ARCHIE). All that seems to be over now, and 'classic Archie style' just seems to be in a short period of maintenance until the final shutdown.

:'(


Do you mean the new stories at the beginning or that they just keep reprinting the same stories over and over?

The new stories are fine, but 5 pages per issue just isn't compelling enough for me to want to buy them solely for that. Maybe if there were some annual compilation of all the new 5-page lead stories from a year or two earlier, it would make it worth the price of a typical digest. Even having said that, the 5-page shorts feel lacking compared to some of the longer stories by Dan Parent (or some of the recently-returned classic artists) from just 5 or 10 years ago. You can only develop a plot and characters so much in the space of a mere 5 pages.

My main complaint with the 3 Archie digests is the lack of variety of the reprints -- both in terms of spanning six or seven decades of available stories, and in terms of the lack of non-Archie stories. Yes, clearly most of the stories reprinted in those titles HAVE to be Archie stories, but not ALL of them.


They have annual compilations of the new stories but they are digital only.

DeCarlo Rules

Quote from: irishmoxie on January 13, 2018, 03:14:27 AM
They have annual compilations of the new stories but they are digital only.

Well, I have all the digests from 2014 through 2016, so I've already read all of those new stories already. I would buy them again as a print collection, but it seems superfluous as a digital collection, unless I haven't actually read the stories at all. Maybe when/if they get around to a digital collection of the 2018 new lead 5-pagers I'll get it, since I'm giving up on the three Archie-centric digest titles as of this month.

DeCarlo Rules

#1348
I finally got my subscription copy of BETTY AND VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #259 -- two weeks late, but then it went on sale at retailers the day after a big Xmas snowstorm, so I'll let it slide. (I imagine the mail carriers were swamped this holiday season.) It's still a good read, since you always get Betty stories, and Veronica stories, in addition to the Betty AND Veronica stories, and apart from those, this title still reprints Sabrina stories regularly, so there's enough variety to satisfy me.

I'll just note a few of the outstanding stories here. A pair of stories by Barbara Slate (with art by Jeff Shultz and Al Milgrom), "The Right Thing" and "The Right Thing Too", show different views of the V/A\B love triangle from both Veronica's POV, and Betty's POV, respectively -- paralleling each other, a clever idea -- and they both end on a twist. A Kathleen Webb BETTY'S DIARY story, "Kiss and Try to Tell", reveals the surprising (to me) fact that Betty owns not just ONE diary, but (at least) THREE, when she discovers that she's somehow lost the special diary which she reserves for chronicling her most precious moments spent with Archie. A Dan Parent 11-page two-parter, "Archie Andrews Where Are You?" has a neat unexpected ending (which includes it as one of a very small group of similar stories) -- more I can't say without spoiling it. Another Dan Parent 11-page two-part story, "Do You Believe In Magic?', was also pretty good.

I think my favorite story in this issue was the 6-page Betty story, "Scheme Theme", by George Gladir. It's one of that small subset of stories (usually written by Frank Doyle, so I was surprised to see Gladir's name on the writing credits) that explains the character dynamics of Archie Comics stories in a very direct, matter-of-fact way. Here you will see the universal truths of "Archie reality" stated outright by the omniscient narrator, like in the following caption: [ALACK AND ALAS, AT TIMES ARCHIE CAN BE AN UNGRATEFUL AND INCONSIDERATE SCOUNDREL.] SURE, we all know that already, because we've seen it dramatized innumerable times in Archie stories. It still never fails to tickle my funnybone when Doyle (or in this case, Gladir) cuts right to the point and states these facts point-blank in bald-faced text to the reader.

The new lead story by Dan Parent, "O Canada" (the first new artwork by Dan I've seen in the digests in months, BTW), is yet another story that falls into the category of a distinct group of stories (although a much larger group of stories than either of the other two I mentioned above). It's a nice example of the kind of occasional friendly wave and by-way-of-saying "thank you" to the Canadian readers who down through several decades, have been among the staunchest of Archie Comics supporters. Which is a good thing, actually, I think. I wouldn't mind seeing a whole collection of those Canadian-themed stories published one of these days. I bet the Canadian readers would buy one. So would I, even though I'm not Canadian.

SAGG

Archie Jumbo Double Digest 285 has an interesting story called "Snowbound". It's what I call an "Action Archie" story, you know, the adventure ones that have Goldberg illustrating where Archie is in danger, or fighting some really nasty bad guys who want to off him, those stories. Here, however, it's done by DeCarlo....

The Archie character names and likenesses are covered by the registered trademarks/copyrights of Archie Comic Publications, Inc. and are used with permission by this site. The Official Archie Comics website can be visited at www.archiecomics.com.