Archie Comics Fan Forum

Everything Archie => All About Archie => Topic started by: Vegan Jughead on February 08, 2018, 06:32:29 PM

Title: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Vegan Jughead on February 08, 2018, 06:32:29 PM
Dan Parent! Bill Gollher! 


It says it's an ongoing.  Let's support this thing so it doesn't get Your Pal Archied. 


This ROCKS!!!


https://www.cbr.com/betty-veronica-friends-forever-classic-archie-returns/
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on February 08, 2018, 07:01:15 PM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 08, 2018, 06:32:29 PM
This ROCKS!!!

Indeed. I'm so down for this!
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 09, 2018, 12:15:57 AM
Y'know, I was just going through my digest collection the other day, and I noticed that (completely unannounced anywhere) B&V FRIENDS digest had gone from being published six times a year, to ten times a year -- and this happened a year and a half ago! I can't help but think that the lack of any new classic B&V title in that same year and half was an example of "absence makes the heart grow fonder", and led to increased demand on the part of readers for more classic B&V stories, leading to B&V FRIENDS' increase in publishing frequency. And the recent phenomenon where all the ongoing digest titles (except the brand-new ARCHIE AND ME) now seem to be regularly publishing all of their issues in the Jumbo Comics format seems to bear that out as well.

I don't want to nix it, or throw cold water on anyone, but you know that ACP always seems to announce any new title as "ongoing"... but very few of them have turned out to be. Mostly they last just long enough to generate a trade paperback collection (5 issues), like the previously announced COSMO "ongoing" -- now downgraded to a 5-issue miniseries. That happened before with REGGIE & ME as well, and somehow it doesn't look like MIGHTY CRUSADERS and VIXENS are going to be continuing past their initial story arcs, either. So here's hoping that BETTY AND VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER breaks the curse. Maybe the demand for more classic stories in the digest format is an indicator of the turning tide -- let's hope so.

(https://static0.cbrimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/BVFriendsforevr.jpg)
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on February 09, 2018, 09:37:42 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 09, 2018, 12:15:57 AM
somehow it doesn't look like MIGHTY CRUSADERS and VIXENS are going to be continuing past their initial story arcs, either.

That's a bit of a shame, because I enjoy Vixens, but, yeah, the premise is pretty limiting. Maybe they could retool it into a standard New Riverdale B&V title after the arc is done and run it alongside B&V: FF.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Vegan Jughead on February 09, 2018, 12:30:24 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 09, 2018, 12:15:57 AM
I don't want to nix it, or throw cold water on anyone, but you know that ACP always seems to announce any new title as "ongoing"... but very few of them have turned out to be. Mostly they last just long enough to generate a trade paperback collection (5 issues), like the previously announced COSMO "ongoing" -- now downgraded to a 5-issue miniseries. That happened before with REGGIE & ME as well, and somehow it doesn't look like MIGHTY CRUSADERS and VIXENS are going to be continuing past their initial story arcs, either. So here's hoping that BETTY AND VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER breaks the curse. Maybe the demand for more classic stories in the digest format is an indicator of the turning tide -- let's hope so.

(https://static0.cbrimages.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/BVFriendsforevr.jpg)


Dan Parent already said on Facebook that it would be "at least 5", so you aren't really throwing cold water.  It's just reality.  If it sells they'll keep it.  If it doesn't they won't.  At least they're trying it!  I thought Your Pal Archie was awesome, but it didn't sell.  Maybe B&V can do better! 
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: terrence12 on February 09, 2018, 12:32:28 PM
Well,I heard from the news that classic betty and veronica are back with new stories in a new ongoing title called Betty & Veronica Friends Forever which is great except that it has the pre-your pal archie Dan parent designs which I loathe before the reboot came .But I am not sure how long the series will be ongoing because  it would last for few issues before the series is quietly cancelled like the other new series in Archie comics,Well Let's hope this series is a success and will be considered ongoing otherwise things will get really worse if this series sales is low.


Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 09, 2018, 12:30:24 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 09, 2018, 12:15:57 AM
I don't want to nix it, or throw cold water on anyone, but you know that ACP always seems to announce any new title as "ongoing"... but very few of them have turned out to be. Mostly they last just long enough to generate a trade paperback collection (5 issues), like the previously announced COSMO "ongoing" -- now downgraded to a 5-issue miniseries. That happened before with REGGIE & ME as well, and somehow it doesn't look like MIGHTY CRUSADERS and VIXENS are going to be continuing past their initial story arcs, either. So here's hoping that BETTY AND VERONICA FRIENDS FOREVER breaks the curse. Maybe the demand for more classic stories in the digest format is an indicator of the turning tide -- let's hope so.




Dan Parent already said on Facebook that it would be "at least 5", so you aren't really throwing cold water.  It's just reality.  If it sells they'll keep it.  If it doesn't they won't.  At least they're trying it!  I thought Your Pal Archie was awesome, but it didn't sell.  Maybe B&V can do better!

Lets hope so
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 09, 2018, 01:22:18 PM
I really have no way of knowing for sure, but the main audience for a new Betty and Veronica comic book may still be the younger audience of pre-teen girls. At any rate, all I can say for a fact is that since the old B&V floppy comic series ended, digest sales on the B&V FRIENDS title went up to the point where ACP decided it was worth publishing four extra issues a year -- and that they also decided that what that same audience really wants is MORE pages of classic Archie comics stories, so now the four remaining digest titles are ALL Jumbo Comics issues.

Apparently not enough of the people who buy the New Riverdale ARCHIE also bought YOUR PAL ARCHIE. The same logic doesn't necessarily apply to a B&V classic floppy comic book, if there's no other New Riverdale B&V (or B&V VIXENS) competing with it for the same audience. Then again, it may sell poorly in comic shops, but make up the balance in sales digitally or in trade collections -- AND if they want to continue to publish B&V digests, they have to be producing SOME new stories that will eventually be reprinted in those... so there are a number of different factors to weigh into the mix.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: rusty on February 10, 2018, 10:26:50 PM
I'll definitely be buying the series.  Then again, I supported Your Pal, Archie as well.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Archiecomicxfan215 on February 11, 2018, 12:01:13 PM
I have to find this :o
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 12, 2018, 02:26:49 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 10, 2018, 07:59:13 PM
Quote from: Vegan Jughead on February 08, 2018, 06:32:29 PM


Let's support this thing so it doesn't get Your Pal Archied. 



OMG "You Pal Archied" I hope this one lasts!

Functionally speaking, he could just as well have said "Reggie and Me'ed" or "Cosmo'ed". Both of those were "miniseriesized" based on consumer acceptance - on whether they generated profit for the investment in the effort of creating them. So if it's "Your Pal Archied", it's because it's coming from a perspective of "...but we like Dan Parent more..."

FORMAT is important when marketing a comic to consumers, because the format itself helps dictate the size and demographics of the consumer base for that comic. The format dictates where a comic will be most likely to be sold, and which retailers are doing the ordering, and also how long the comic will remain on display and how it will be displayed -- all crucial gateways in the pipeline for a comic book to make its way into the hands of a potential consumer. Standing stock in the floppy comic format in a comic shop has to turn over rapidly, or usually not at all. Because profit margins for most comic shop owners are so thin, they often hang on in this business by doing a lot of day-to-day hand-selling (store employees' recommendations to customers) of comics that they personally like. Then there is the question of whether the largest potential target audience for the content of any particular floppy comic book could get to a comic shop, would be likely to make the effort, or would even know that particular comic book existed. These are all aspects that most digital readers aren't likely to consider, because they don't affect them. But they're absolutely vital to the economics of the publishers' bottom line.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on February 12, 2018, 07:49:41 AM
I'll definitely be buying this digitally. Comic book stores are too much of a hassle for most people. Also I don't think Betty and Veronica's main audience is young girls. I think it's mostly men 40+, those who have nostalgia for them as sex symbols and commission Dan and Fernando to draw pin ups.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 13, 2018, 01:47:06 PM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 12, 2018, 07:49:41 AM
I'll definitely be buying this digitally. Comic book stores are too much of a hassle for most people. Also I don't think Betty and Veronica's main audience is young girls. I think it's mostly men 40+, those who have nostalgia for them as sex symbols and commission Dan and Fernando to draw pin ups.

Probably true enough if the format is that of a printed floppy comic book, because those 40+ males still overwhelmingly make up the backbone of the average comic book shop's consumer demographic.

On the other hand, digest sales are so negligible through comic shops that they aren't even large enough to be included at the bottom of the lists of reported sales numbers in comic book stores. Yet someone is buying those digests (and the B&V digests' sales actually improved in recent years, as proven by the B&V FRIENDS digest's increased publication frequency since the end of the previous ongoing B&V floppy comic book). So that means there are a lot of "invisible" Betty & Veronica readers who are getting their B&V fix outside the comic book shop market. I would bet that that larger audience isn't mainly composed of 40+ males buying the digest titles in bookstores and supermarkets -- and what little merchandising of the characters over the past ten or twenty years exists, seems to bear out the existence of a largely female audience. https://www.bettyandveronica.com/ (https://www.bettyandveronica.com/)

It should also go without saying that the pre-teen girl B&V readers won't be among those commissioning original artwork from Dan & Fernando. Artist commissions really can't be taken as representative of anything, apart from their having a devoted core fan following. Clearly there's a huge gap between that group and the number of readers needed to support a printed comic book's continued publication. If that weren't true, then there would be no need to Kickstarter a Die Kitty Die comic -- they could simply have published it through one of the established comic book publishers from the outset.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on February 13, 2018, 07:07:15 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 13, 2018, 01:47:06 PM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 12, 2018, 07:49:41 AM
I'll definitely be buying this digitally. Comic book stores are too much of a hassle for most people. Also I don't think Betty and Veronica's main audience is young girls. I think it's mostly men 40+, those who have nostalgia for them as sex symbols and commission Dan and Fernando to draw pin ups.

Probably true enough if the format is that of a printed floppy comic book, because those 40+ males still overwhelmingly make up the backbone of the average comic book shop's consumer demographic.

On the other hand, digest sales are so negligible through comic shops that they aren't even large enough to be included at the bottom of the lists of reported sales numbers in comic book stores. Yet someone is buying those digests (and the B&V digests' sales actually improved in recent years, as proven by the B&V FRIENDS digest's increased publication frequency since the end of the previous ongoing B&V floppy comic book). So that means there are a lot of "invisible" Betty & Veronica readers who are getting their B&V fix outside the comic book shop market. I would bet that that larger audience isn't mainly composed of 40+ males buying the digest titles in bookstores and supermarkets -- and what little merchandising of the characters over the past ten or twenty years exists, seems to bear out the existence of a largely female audience. https://www.bettyandveronica.com/ (https://www.bettyandveronica.com/)

It should also go without saying that the pre-teen girl B&V readers won't be among those commissioning original artwork from Dan & Fernando. Artist commissions really can't be taken as representative of anything, apart from their having a devoted core fan following. Clearly there's a huge gap between that group and the number of readers needed to support a printed comic book's continued publication. If that weren't true, then there would be no need to Kickstarter a Die Kitty Die comic -- they could simply have published it through one of the established comic book publishers from the outset.


Ok there may also be some grandmothers buying digests from Walmart and grocery stores who like the classic stories they read in the 60s/70s.


I'm not sure who is buying that Betty and Veronica merch. It's way too expensive for the average digest reader. I suspect it's young women (20s) who are also fans of Riverdale and have deep pockets/Daddy's money and like to dress up as pin ups on a daily basis.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2018, 03:30:40 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 13, 2018, 07:07:15 PM

Ok there may also be some grandmothers buying digests from Walmart and grocery stores who like the classic stories they read in the 60s/70s. .

Some, maybe. You're reading them (even if buying them digitally)... are you a grandmother? If that's really the main demographic, then why aren't the digests primarily filled with B&V stories from the 1960s and 1970s, for the gratification of grandmothers and ?

Instead, most of the reprinted stories are from the 1990s through 2010 or so. My guess would be that the girls who read those stories when they were new are now the young women and mothers purchasing the merchandise for themselves, or the digests for their daughters (and maybe some of those 40+ male parents too).
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on February 15, 2018, 04:23:35 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2018, 03:30:40 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 13, 2018, 07:07:15 PM

Ok there may also be some grandmothers buying digests from Walmart and grocery stores who like the classic stories they read in the 60s/70s. .

Some, maybe. You're reading them (even if buying them digitally)... are you a grandmother? If that's really the main demographic, then why aren't the digests primarily filled with B&V stories from the 1960s and 1970s, for the gratification of grandmothers and ?

Instead, most of the reprinted stories are from the 1990s through 2010 or so. My guess would be that the girls who read those stories when they were new are now the young women and mothers purchasing the merchandise for themselves, or the digests for their daughters (and maybe some of those 40+ male parents too).


I'm more of an occasional digest reader these days though I have read a lot in the past. I think the only reason they use the 90s and 00s stories is because they're already digitized and easy to reprint. A lot of the older 60s-80s stories which the grandmothers really want aren't digitized and would have to be re-colored. A lot more work for ACP who would rather make a cheap easy profit. I think the grandmothers buy the digests hoping for 1-2 of those older stories.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Shuester on February 15, 2018, 09:27:29 PM
While this may not be an accurate indication of the comic demographic, I can confirm that at least some young girls are reading new "Archie" comics, including "Betty and Veronica." I know many families and kids who go to summer camp, and girls around 9-15 are well known in camp as Digest readers. Whether they buy their own new comics or simply share them around I don't know. My guess is a mix of both.
Basically, when you're encouraged to use non-electronics [the camps I know of do not allow campers to use anything with Internet access while on the grounds], kids will pick up books again. For many of them, that includes comic books... and for many girls, that means Archies.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 16, 2018, 05:30:59 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 15, 2018, 04:23:35 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 14, 2018, 03:30:40 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 13, 2018, 07:07:15 PM

Ok there may also be some grandmothers buying digests from Walmart and grocery stores who like the classic stories they read in the 60s/70s. .

Some, maybe. You're reading them (even if buying them digitally)... are you a grandmother? If that's really the main demographic, then why aren't the digests primarily filled with B&V stories from the 1960s and 1970s, for the gratification of grandmothers and ?

Instead, most of the reprinted stories are from the 1990s through 2010 or so. My guess would be that the girls who read those stories when they were new are now the young women and mothers purchasing the merchandise for themselves, or the digests for their daughters (and maybe some of those 40+ male parents too).


I'm more of an occasional digest reader these days though I have read a lot in the past. I think the only reason they use the 90s and 00s stories is because they're already digitized and easy to reprint. A lot of the older 60s-80s stories which the grandmothers really want aren't digitized and would have to be re-colored. A lot more work for ACP who would rather make a cheap easy profit. I think the grandmothers buy the digests hoping for 1-2 of those older stories.

I'll allow that the content may be influenced by the amount of digitizing work necessary -- yet at the same time, in order for the company to derive the maximum value out of its library of older content, it seems inevitable that all of that work MUST be slated for digital conversion at some time in the near future, if for no other reason than to provide the greatest potential to exploit ALL possible consumers in the demographic spectrum, regardless of the format in which those reprints will eventually appear. I think (and recent trade collections lead me to believe this is already happening) that those older stories will eventually appear in more expensive reprint formats, aimed at older readers with more disposable income.

I'd strongly suspect that the selection of content for the digests is specifically slanted towards younger readers, so as to not include so many older stories where various topical aspects of the story may alienate those younger readers or puzzle them by its unfamiliar references, fads or fashions. That's also why I think it's an ongoing concern to maintain a stream of newly-produced stories which will eventually feed into future digests, because even the currently-reprinted digest stories from recent decades continue to age, and will eventually be less palatable to younger readers.

There are a couple more observations I can make in support of my contention that the main audience of digest readers is composed of children. Now, the counter-argument here would be that at $7 a copy, kids aren't going to be wandering into stores by themselves with enough loose pocket money to purchase a Jumbo Comics digest for themselves -- adults remain the holders of the purse-strings, the enablers/approvers of their kids' reading of Archie digests, probably based on their own past experience having read them as kids. But I don't think those same parents are (for the most part) reading the digests themselves. For one thing, I notice in reading the new lead stories that they are written slightly differently, aimed slightly lower than was the case in reading the stories printed in new issues of the classic floppy comics prior to 2015 when they were discontinued in favor of the New Riverdale reboots. Second, for a while the larger digests issues were, for a couple of years there, including on a semi-regular basis the older 1950s stories (for the benefit of the grandmothers and other adult readers) labeled as "From the Vault" sections, in an obvious attempt to try to appeal to older readers, but for the last few years now those sections have disappeared -- which I can only interpret as because they didn't result in selling more copies of digests to adults, and the kids really didn't care that much for them. Thirdly, the policy of editorial tampering/alteration of the original stories when reprinted in the digests remains in effect, now as ever before. Adults can easily spot these obvious alterations, whether they're done for purposes of political correctness or for reasons of updating some archaic reference to technology, etc. and if those adults were the main readers of the digests, I don't think the editors would bother. It's just extra work for the production department, and the adult readers really don't like to see it. While I think most adults are generally in support of the idea of a racially diverse Riverdale, seeing token incidental characters randomly chosen to be re-colored in older stories as representing different races and ethnicity really isn't something most adult readers want to see, regardless of their own family genealogy. And adult readers don't need references to VCR tapes or other outdated technology clumsily re-lettered in dialogue balloons and captions, either. We accept it only with the understanding that it's being done for the younger readers, to make the stories seem a little more ethnically inclusive or less distracting by archaic topical references, for their benefit. -- but otherwise find the policy abhorrent to our sensibilities of wanting to read the stories just as they originally appeared in their first appearances in various comics. And they're still wasting valuable page space in all those digests printing those "puzzle pages" -- does ANY adult actually DO those puzzles? I have to assume they're still in there only because the kids seem to like them, and that means most of the reading audience.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: BettyReggie on February 16, 2018, 10:13:32 AM
I can't wait for this. I miss Dan Parent. I'm not crazy about the artwork in Betty & Veronica Vixens. I thought it would be better.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 16, 2018, 11:07:37 AM
Quote from: BettyReggie on February 16, 2018, 10:13:32 AM
I can't wait for this. I miss Dan Parent. I'm not crazy about the artwork in Betty & Veronica Vixens. I thought it would be better.

Yeah, I did too, based on the cover artwork by Eva Cabrera. Her cover art seems a lot better than her interior artwork -- or is it just me?
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on February 16, 2018, 02:24:16 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 16, 2018, 11:07:37 AM
Quote from: BettyReggie on February 16, 2018, 10:13:32 AM
I can't wait for this. I miss Dan Parent. I'm not crazy about the artwork in Betty & Veronica Vixens. I thought it would be better.

Yeah, I did too, based on the cover artwork by Eva Cabrera. Her cover art seems a lot better than her interior artwork -- or is it just me?

Starting with issue #3, she seems to have switched from that weird...whatever it was from the first two issues to a more anime-inspired style. The girls' clothes and hairstyles are no longer retro either. I think it's an improvement.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 16, 2018, 03:04:12 PM
Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on February 16, 2018, 02:24:16 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 16, 2018, 11:07:37 AM
Quote from: BettyReggie on February 16, 2018, 10:13:32 AM
I can't wait for this. I miss Dan Parent. I'm not crazy about the artwork in Betty & Veronica Vixens. I thought it would be better.

Yeah, I did too, based on the cover artwork by Eva Cabrera. Her cover art seems a lot better than her interior artwork -- or is it just me?

Starting with issue #3, she seems to have switched from that weird...whatever it was from the first two issues to a more anime-inspired style. The girls' clothes and hairstyles are no longer retro either. I think it's an improvement.

Given the way it's being written, I can't quite figure out how it can NOT be retro. It's sort of like some 1950s-style movie about "girls gone wild", but then they have computers, smartphones and social media. Women still have the same basic social status and are treated like they would have been in the 1950s (or maybe that's just how Jaime Rotante actually sees things). A pretty weird parallel universe that doesn't resemble our 21st century at all, except that they share some of the same technology.  I didn't actually notice any change in the art between #2 and #3, but I guess I'd have to pull them both out and compare them side-by-side.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on February 17, 2018, 01:31:48 AM
Harvey and Ivy meet Betty and Veronica actually kept my attention more than the Vixens series but both are series I only read if I'm bored.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 17, 2018, 01:52:49 AM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 17, 2018, 01:31:48 AM
Harvey and Ivy meet Betty and Veronica actually kept my attention more than the Vixens series but both are series I only read if I'm bored.

Hmm... it worked exactly the opposite for me, and by the time I had gotten to the end of H&I/B&V #1, I had completely lost interest in the idea of reading #2. Maybe that's because I DO like Harley & Ivy, and it seems like they just tossed the idea out there and handed it off to whoever was free to write and draw it, like it wasn't worth bothering to get a 'name' writer and artist. I think if that if someone like Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Conner had been given the assignment it could have been great, or if they'd given that series to Adam Hughes to draw and gotten a script with a sense of humor it could have worked, too. They didn't even need to involve creators who'd have put a big dent in the budget -- Chip Zdarksy (or Dan Slott) and Audrey Mok (or Guillem March) probably would have done a good job of it without breaking their bankbook. Even better if they'd gone with the animated Bruce Timm versions of Harley and Ivy and gotten someone like Ty Templeton and Rick Burchett to do it. Talk about wasted potential! It just feels like they figured they could paste the logos for H&I and B&V on the cover and sell it just on the basis of the names alone and having a few variant cover versions, and like the actual writing and artwork was more or less an afterthought. Normally I like Paul Dini as a writer, but the whole plot idea was just plain dumb.

Then, just to rub a little more salt in the wound, they had to give you just a glimpse of what the whole thing could have looked like had they chosen to travel down "the road not taken"....  >:(

(https://assets.comic-odyssey.com/products/covers/000/016/592/original/open-uri20171026-4-g4v2v8?1509037039)

I'm still waffling on VIXENS and probably won't settle on an opinion until it's over.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 19, 2018, 01:07:32 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 18, 2018, 08:13:15 PM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 13, 2018, 07:07:15 PM
I'm not sure who is buying that Betty and Veronica merch. It's way too expensive for the average digest reader. I suspect it's young women (20s) who are also fans of Riverdale and have deep pockets/Daddy's money and like to dress up as pin ups on a daily basis.


I'm a junior in high school, I get the digests every month, I usually cannot stand Riverdale, and do in fact have a job. If you are referring to the Betty and Veronica fashion line, I have bought from them before, and I do agree that some of it is expensive. I received a jacket as a Christmas present, but the other times I have paid for it MYSELF. I don't think I dress up as a "pin up" on a daily basis, but do agree that some of the clothes are a little much. I don't think I'm apart of the main crowd who buys these clothes, and when you go to their tagged section on instagram you can see that you're pretty much right on the money with your guess.


I just wanted to point out that I am different than the usual customers  ;)

You're still in high school so I wouldn't expect that's the sort of customers they're aiming for. It's really for the fashionistas, otherwise they'd be selling that stuff at the Gap or Hot Topic or something. You've got to expect that, if they're marketing it through a fashion designer like Rachel Antonoff, so compare it to the consumer demographics for similar designers. It's not for your average people because we have all kinds of department and clothing stores for them.

You usually can't stand Riverdale the comic book, or just the show in general?
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 19, 2018, 05:07:48 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 19, 2018, 02:13:18 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 19, 2018, 01:07:32 AM
You're still in high school so I wouldn't expect that's the sort of customers they're aiming for. It's really for the fashionistas, otherwise they'd be selling that stuff at the Gap or Hot Topic or something. You've got to expect that, if they're marketing it through a fashion designer like Rachel Antonoff, so compare it to the consumer demographics for similar designers. It's not for your average people because we have all kinds of department and clothing stores for them.

You usually can't stand Riverdale the comic book, or just the show in general?


Yeah, didn't think I was the target audience.


I meant the show, I'll pretty much read anything Archie comics publishes. The comics aren't amazing, but i'll take it any day over the show.


I can appreciate certain aspects of Riverdale (the show) but overall its really bad.

It's interesting to hear you say that, because my assumption was that you really are in that show's target demographic. That could be a misperception on my part, and maybe the show really is skewed to an older audience in their 20s and 30s. Not that I didn't think the show was hoping to appeal to the 20s and 30s-somethings out there, but I certainly guessed that they hoped to appeal to a lot of teenagers as well. It's not the type of show that interests me, so I haven't watched it myself -- and I can certainly see where there'd be a lot of people out there who'd fall into the "just no interest" group, but the people that have been at least interested enough to give it a trial run generally seem to like it, and yours is the first opinion I've seen along the lines of "tried it, didn't care for it". I sort of appreciate your even-handedness in saying that you can appreciate "certain aspects", which tends to make me think your opinion isn't something reactionary, but a little more considered, which tends to lend it more weight to my mind.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: BettyReggie on February 19, 2018, 11:12:58 AM
I don't really care for it. The covers are better the art inside.I may give to the thrift store.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 03:47:26 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 19, 2018, 09:47:44 PMI can feel that it was not made for an Archie comics fan. I'm not saying it has to be perfect for the fans, but I wish it could be like marvel, where ANYONE can enjoy the movies/shows they put out.

You might think so, about the Marvel movies and TV shows. But I've read thousands of Marvel comics, and for me, in general, most of those movies and shows just hold "no interest".  I've liked certain aspects of some. Overall the X-Men movies seem the best, along with Deadpool. I have to assume it's because I've never followed the X-Men comic book franchise with as much passion as I have for some of the others, like Captain America or the Avengers (but then by the time they got around to making those movies, I didn't care much for the current comic books either). When they throw the X-Men into a movie and make changes, I can see what they changed, but it's not that big of a deal to me, because it's been a long while since I felt a lot of reverence for the X-Men comic books. I tend to like the oddball choices for movie adaptations, like Kick-Ass (which I actually thought was better than the comic book it was based on). But there's usually a general rule in effect there that dictates an inverse relationship between how much I like the character or series as a comic book, and how much I like it as a movie or TV show. Having figured that out, I now can just watch the preview trailer for a comic book movie, and usually tell immediately whether it looks interesting or not (mostly not).

It seems to me that if you REALLY really like a specific comic book series or characters, it makes you pretty fussy about certain details, very specific things that you enjoy from the comic book version. When you don't see those things included in the movie or show based on comics, or they are distorted or twisted in the process of transferring them to another media, then instead of getting some kind of hoped-for satisfaction along the lines of "it's like the comic book come to life", you get exactly the opposite, a huge letdown -- just a big list of disappointments of all the ways in which the movie or show didn't get it right. I used to wonder why, as comic books gained more credibility and respect from the mainstream, that the movies and TV shows adapted from them didn't become more "faithful to the source material" -- but in actual fact, it seems like the adaptations have gone in the opposite direction. So while the average person watching can just go along with whatever they throw on the screen without any problems, the less-than one-percenters who are hardcore fans of the comic book version of the characters might feel otherwise, because they've already spent far too much time thinking about those characters, and while watching the movie or television version, they tend to sit there and analyze every detail, comparing it with the comic book version, and find that the movie or show is missing or changed important elements that are essential to them. That goes for the various modern DC movies and TV shows as well. Strangely enough, in the 90s, the animated DC shows like Batman, Superman, and Justice League were often better than the comic books they were publishing (their main universe, not the comics adapted from the animation).

Where RIVERDALE differs from the various Marvel and DC film and television adaptations, I think, is that its main selling point of interest is not as an adaptation of the classic Archie characters (or even the New Riverdale ARCHIE) -- it's the radical re-interpretation of the classic Archie characters that is its cachet. The awareness of that among the viewers, that this will not be a straight adaptation, but a Twilight Zone-ish parallel universe remix of the characters, is what draws its audience and holds it. That was also the case for AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, which is a better analog (minus the horror elements) for the television series than regular Archie comics. Not surprisingly, since Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was the mastermind behind both of them. Clearly this won't be a faithful adaptation, but how exactly will they re-interpret those characters? That's the main drawing point to pique the curiosity of viewers, it seems to me.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: SAGG on February 20, 2018, 09:48:57 AM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 03:47:26 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 19, 2018, 09:47:44 PMI can feel that it was not made for an Archie comics fan. I'm not saying it has to be perfect for the fans, but I wish it could be like marvel, where ANYONE can enjoy the movies/shows they put out.

You might think so, about the Marvel movies and TV shows. But I've read thousands of Marvel comics, and for me, in general, most of those movies and shows just hold "no interest".  I've liked certain aspects of some. Overall the X-Men movies seem the best, along with Deadpool. I have to assume it's because I've never followed the X-Men comic book franchise with as much passion as I have for some of the others, like Captain America or the Avengers (but then by the time they got around to making those movies, I didn't care much for the current comic books either). When they throw the X-Men into a movie and make changes, I can see what they changed, but it's not that big of a deal to me, because it's been a long while since I felt a lot of reverence for the X-Men comic books. I tend to like the oddball choices for movie adaptations, like Kick-Ass (which I actually thought was better than the comic book it was based on). But there's usually a general rule in effect there that dictates an inverse relationship between how much I like the character or series as a comic book, and how much I like it as a movie or TV show. Having figured that out, I now can just watch the preview trailer for a comic book movie, and usually tell immediately whether it looks interesting or not (mostly not).

It seems to me that if you REALLY really like a specific comic book series or characters, it makes you pretty fussy about certain details, very specific things that you enjoy from the comic book version. When you don't see those things included in the movie or show based on comics, or they are distorted or twisted in the process of transferring them to another media, then instead of getting some kind of hoped-for satisfaction along the lines of "it's like the comic book come to life", you get exactly the opposite, a huge letdown -- just a big list of disappointments of all the ways in which the movie or show didn't get it right. I used to wonder why, as comic books gained more credibility and respect from the mainstream, that the movies and TV shows adapted from them didn't become more "faithful to the source material" -- but in actual fact, it seems like the adaptations have gone in the opposite direction. So while the average person watching can just go along with whatever they throw on the screen without any problems, the less-than one-percenters who are hardcore fans of the comic book version of the characters might feel otherwise, because they've already spent far too much time thinking about those characters, and while watching the movie or television version, they tend to sit there and analyze every detail, comparing it with the comic book version, and find that the movie or show is missing or changed important elements that are essential to them. That goes for the various modern DC movies and TV shows as well. Strangely enough, in the 90s, the animated DC shows like Batman, Superman, and Justice League were often better than the comic books they were publishing (their main universe, not the comics adapted from the animation).

Where RIVERDALE differs from the various Marvel and DC film and television adaptations, I think, is that its main selling point of interest is not as an adaptation of the classic Archie characters (or even the New Riverdale ARCHIE) -- it's the radical re-interpretation of the classic Archie characters that is its cachet. The awareness of that among the viewers, that this will not be a straight adaptation, but a Twilight Zone-ish parallel universe remix of the characters, is what draws its audience and holds it. That was also the case for AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, which is a better analog (minus the horror elements) for the television series than regular Archie comics. Not surprisingly, since Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa was the mastermind behind both of them. Clearly this won't be a faithful adaptation, but how exactly will they re-interpret those characters? That's the main drawing point to pique the curiosity of viewers, it seems to me.
I think you'd like Black Panther, DR. It's VERY good. I saw it Monday....
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on February 20, 2018, 11:07:26 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 19, 2018, 09:47:44 PM
Sometimes its really funny how they try to force the most random things from the comics into the script. For example "Jingle Jangle" (The song by the Archies) is now the term for a pixie-stick type drug. Pretty hilarious how they forced that one in.


I don't watch every week and I tend to marathon the episodes. My favorite part of the show probably is the Easter Eggs and there's plenty of them. They usually elicit a chuckle from me.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 02:22:36 PM
Quote from: irishmoxie on February 20, 2018, 11:07:26 AM
Quote from: gillibean on February 19, 2018, 09:47:44 PM
Sometimes its really funny how they try to force the most random things from the comics into the script. For example "Jingle Jangle" (The song by the Archies) is now the term for a pixie-stick type drug. Pretty hilarious how they forced that one in.


I don't watch every week and I tend to marathon the episodes. My favorite part of the show probably is the Easter Eggs and there's plenty of them. They usually elicit a chuckle from me.

That's pretty much what I'm talking about. The novelty factor is in looking for the characters and other bits referencing the comics, and seeing when they'll appear and how they'll be remixed and reinterpreted into the Riverdale storyline. That would be the hook for some viewers, at least the ones that have more than the most basic knowledge about the comics -- and even for the rest, the vast majority whose knowledge of Archie is very basic, it's in how they change up the standard tropes of Archie, B&V, Jughead, and Reggie.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 02:32:47 PM
Quote from: SAGG on February 20, 2018, 09:48:57 AMI think you'd like Black Panther, DR. It's VERY good. I saw it Monday...

I've seen next-to-nothing in terms of information about the film, except for a few ad banners here and there (not even the trailer), but I'll check into it some more. The comics have been doing some revamping of the Black Panther's mythos that I haven't closely followed in recent years, and I'm not sure how much those recent comics figure into the film interpretation. The first thing that strikes me as different is the costume, which is more of a techno-suit armor than just some ceremonial garb. I guess it fits with the fact that T'Challa is supposed to be a high-tech wiz, but then again, he's not just an African Iron Man.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 04:02:51 PM
I'm glad that I gave up superhero comics years ago. I wasn't even a hardcore collector. But I spent an awful lot of money on them. Those $2 or $3 per issue added up, not to mention the cost of gas to get to a place that even had comics. Even when I got into the newer Archie and Tomb Raider comics, ordering them online, the shipping costs were horrible. I haven't bought a physical comic since late 2016.

With the movies and shows, that's often how I learn about these characters.

Even with Supergirl, I like to think I know a fair bit about her history, and I can safely say the current TV series is the best adaptation of her, followed by the "Smallville" incarnation. They're not perfect, but they're good.

As for "Riverdale", I enjoy it. I'm in on the joke, and I think the writers and actors are, too. It's not how I would have done an adaptation, but I look forward to watching each episode.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 05:50:55 PM
Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 04:02:51 PM
Even with Supergirl, I like to think I know a fair bit about her history, and I can safely say the current TV series is the best adaptation of her, followed by the "Smallville" incarnation. They're not perfect, but they're good.

Even saying you know about Supergirl's history is sort of an ambiguous statement, because there have been about 5 or 6 different versions of "Supergirl" (some of which weren't even Kal-El's cousin Kara Zor-El), each of which changed basic details of her origin story, making them mutually inconsistent. Even the Kara Zor-El versions of the character are all predicated on the prior existence of Superman in her universe, so it seems a little weird to have a Supergirl television series where there had been no Superman television series beforehand to spin off of. I don't know whether Superman is actually a character in the show, or if there's just some assumption of his offscreen presence. It seems a little like making a Nightwing television series and not having any reference to Batman.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 11:33:59 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 05:50:55 PM
Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 04:02:51 PM
Even with Supergirl, I like to think I know a fair bit about her history, and I can safely say the current TV series is the best adaptation of her, followed by the "Smallville" incarnation. They're not perfect, but they're good.

Even saying you know about Supergirl's history is sort of an ambiguous statement, because there have been about 5 or 6 different versions of "Supergirl" (some of which weren't even Kal-El's cousin Kara Zor-El), each of which changed basic details of her origin story, making them mutually inconsistent. Even the Kara Zor-El versions of the character are all predicated on the prior existence of Superman in her universe, so it seems a little weird to have a Supergirl television series where there had been no Superman television series beforehand to spin off of. I don't know whether Superman is actually a character in the show, or if there's just some assumption of his offscreen presence. It seems a little like making a Nightwing television series and not having any reference to Batman.

Oh, he's there; he's just used very sparingly. They recently hinted at a sort of Smallville-esque history for him in the "Supergirl" universe (he has a hacker friend named Chloe with a Wall of Weird).

Yeah, I'm aware of the alternate versions of Supergirl. I read anything Supergirl-related that I could get my hands on in the late 1990s / early 2000s. I even read that Peter David series (which was basically Supergirl in name only and had a sucky ending). I haven't read anything past the early 2000s, so I'm unfamiliar with how the rebooted Kara Zor-El has been doing except for what I've read on Wikipedia. Still, from what I've gathered, the show is so influential that the comics have added elements from it. I'd rather not get back into reading her, though, because it might be wiped out during the next reboot.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on February 21, 2018, 03:33:28 AM
Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 11:33:59 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 20, 2018, 05:50:55 PM
Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on February 20, 2018, 04:02:51 PM
Even with Supergirl, I like to think I know a fair bit about her history, and I can safely say the current TV series is the best adaptation of her, followed by the "Smallville" incarnation. They're not perfect, but they're good.

Even saying you know about Supergirl's history is sort of an ambiguous statement, because there have been about 5 or 6 different versions of "Supergirl" (some of which weren't even Kal-El's cousin Kara Zor-El), each of which changed basic details of her origin story, making them mutually inconsistent. Even the Kara Zor-El versions of the character are all predicated on the prior existence of Superman in her universe, so it seems a little weird to have a Supergirl television series where there had been no Superman television series beforehand to spin off of. I don't know whether Superman is actually a character in the show, or if there's just some assumption of his offscreen presence. It seems a little like making a Nightwing television series and not having any reference to Batman.

Oh, he's there; he's just used very sparingly. They recently hinted at a sort of Smallville-esque history for him in the "Supergirl" universe (he has a hacker friend named Chloe with a Wall of Weird).

That's a little weird too, given that in the SMALLVILLE series there wasn't any Superboy (and the series went on far past the time when he should have become Superman). Apparently in the comic book series adapted from SMALLVILLE which spun off after the series ended, he finally DID get a Superman costume (but since I didn't actually read it, that's about all I know about it, from having seen the covers).

But yeah, SMALLVILLE kind of broke the mold as the first "NOT an adaptation, but a freeform variation" which was "based on", but not really "adapted from", the comic books. With no apologies, they just played "what if" with that show, and went off on whatever tangents they wanted, not beholden to anything established before in the Superboy/man comic books. Shows like GOTHAM and RIVERDALE are the direct descendants of that "not really trying to adapt anything here, folks" type of thinking.

Personally, I think the Japanese do a much better job of live-action superheroes on television that capture the look and "feel" of comic books. That's because rather than adapt an existing manga to television, they usually just hire a manga creator to create the original-for-TV characters, background world, and premise for a TV series, and then the manga artist goes off and does his own manga version which runs concurrent with the show (and which frequently deviates from the TV series storyline at some point). The absolute best superhero movies and TV shows I've seen are all Japanese.

I guess I just don't feel much of a sense of urgency or priority about most of the comic book shows and movies. Like I can see it now, next year when it comes on DVD, or five years from now when I see it in a Walmart $5 bin. With the TV shows it's more a question of how much time do I care to invest in something, because it's not like you really get complete stories from a single episode... it's a 20+hour telenovel each season. Probably not that much, because I'd rather spend the time reading. If I felt that committed, I'd probably just wait for a DVD box set and watch it that way.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 02:39:13 PM
THE GOOD NEWS: Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies is out this week.

THE BAD NEWS:  Well... First, let me ask you a question. How many of you happened to read the last couple of issues of B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest, and Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest?  If you didn't read them, then I guess for you there's NO bad news, so forget I mentioned anything.

For everyone who did read those digests, though... 

Here are the stories in Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies :

1.  "Riot on the Set" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #259, April 2018)
2.  "Movie Mix-Up" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #261, April 2018)
3.  "Extra Disastrous" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #260, May 2018)
4.  "An Un-Living Doll" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #262, June 2018)

So, yeah... I'm disappointed.  :-\ 

I can't say I didn't have my suspicions, and I almost mentioned it when I noticed (after B&VFF #1 had been announced with an "At the Movies" theme) that the stories in the recent digests almost seemed like they could have fit right in with the newly-solicited $2.99 floppy comic. And then, I was wondering... if they can't sell enough copies to make money off a $3.99 classic Archie floppy comic book, then how can they possibly make any money off a comic book which sells for $1 less per copy?

I don't want to put words in irishmoxie's mouth or presume to speak for her, but I feel pretty sure she'd say "Boo!" to this.

Me, I'm not going to NOT buy it... because that's the kind of desperation I feel reduced to as a fan of classic Archie comics in these current times.

I'm not proud of it, but ACP should be ashamed (I mean, come on! Couldn't they at least have picked some Dan Parent stories out of digests a year or two older, that may have been missed or at least forgotten by current Archie readers, instead of stories I'd only read a couple of weeks or months ago?*). I certainly don't blame Dan Parent -- HE doesn't work in the marketing or editorial departments of ACP.

*Yeah, and I'm STILL waiting for parts 8, 9 and 10 of "The Many Loves of Archie Andrews" -- and something resembling a conclusion to that series of a couple of years back. Could they have reprinted THAT? No, of course not.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: CAPalace on April 30, 2018, 02:56:44 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 02:39:13 PM
THE GOOD NEWS: Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies is out this week.

THE BAD NEWS:  Well... First, let me ask you a question. How many of you happened to read the last couple of issues of B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest, and Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest?  If you didn't read them, then I guess for you there's NO bad news, so forget I mentioned anything.

For everyone who did read those digests, though... 

Here are the stories in Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies :

1.  "Riot on the Set" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #259, April 2018)
2.  "Movie Mix-Up" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #261, April 2018)
3.  "Extra Disastrous" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #260, May 2018)
4.  "An Un-Living Doll" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #262, June 2018)

So, yeah... I'm disappointed.  :-\ 

I can't say I didn't have my suspicions, and I almost mentioned it when I noticed (after B&VFF #1 had been announced with an "At the Movies" theme) that the stories in the recent digests almost seemed like they could have fit right in with the newly-solicited $2.99 floppy comic. And then, I was wondering... if they can't sell enough copies to make money off a $3.99 classic Archie floppy comic book, then how can they possibly make any money off a comic book which sells for $1 less per copy?

I don't want to put words in irishmoxie's mouth or presume to speak for her, but I feel pretty sure she'd say "Boo!" to this.

Me, I'm not going to NOT buy it... because that's the kind of desperation I feel reduced to as a fan of classic Archie comics in these current times.

I'm not proud of it, but ACP should be ashamed (I mean, come on! Couldn't they at least have picked some Dan Parent stories out of digests a year or two older, that may have been missed or at least forgotten by current Archie readers, instead of stories I'd only read a couple of weeks or months ago?*). I certainly don't blame Dan Parent -- HE doesn't work in the marketing or editorial departments of ACP.

*Yeah, and I'm STILL waiting for parts 8, 9 and 10 of "The Many Loves of Archie Andrews" -- and something resembling a conclusion to that series of a couple of years back. Could they have reprinted THAT? No, of course not.

Ouch, this is bad news.  :( The way they're advertising it led me to believe they were brand-new stories. (Well, I guess, technically they are lol...) Thanks for the heads-up as usual.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 11:46:04 PM
The real irony here, for me personally, is if they had done the very same thing with the lead stories appearing in Archie Jumbo Comics Digest and World of Archie Jumbo Comics Digest, it would have been win/win for me all the way. I let my subscriptions to those titles expire last year, and even stopped getting them by ordering through my LCS as of January this year, because the new lead stories were the ONLY things left in those digests that I was getting them for. I doubt that'll happen now, because it would be just much too convenient for me, and I don't think the Friends Forever experiment will last more than a year, if even that long.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on May 01, 2018, 06:27:41 PM
An all-reprint floppy title? Are you kidding me?

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 02:39:13 PM
3.  "Extra Disastrous" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #260, May 2018)
4.  "An Un-Living Doll" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #262, June 2018)

I've read both of these. I even reviewed the former on my blog recently and considered reviewing the latter before deciding "Nah, way too stupid."

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 02:39:13 PM
*Yeah, and I'm STILL waiting for parts 8, 9 and 10 of "The Many Loves of Archie Andrews" -- and something resembling a conclusion to that series of a couple of years back. Could they have reprinted THAT? No, of course not.

I remember that. I even reviewed the Cheryl story on my blog. That wasn't even a series, though; it was a bunch of independent stories marketed under a banner.
Title: Re: Classic Betty & Veronica is BACK for $2.99
Post by: irishmoxie on May 02, 2018, 08:33:14 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 30, 2018, 02:39:13 PM
THE GOOD NEWS: Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies is out this week.

THE BAD NEWS:  Well... First, let me ask you a question. How many of you happened to read the last couple of issues of B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest, and Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest?  If you didn't read them, then I guess for you there's NO bad news, so forget I mentioned anything.

For everyone who did read those digests, though... 

Here are the stories in Betty and Veronica Friends Forever #1 - At the Movies :

1.  "Riot on the Set" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #259, April 2018)
2.  "Movie Mix-Up" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #261, April 2018)
3.  "Extra Disastrous" (from B&V Friends Jumbo Comics Digest #260, May 2018)
4.  "An Un-Living Doll" (from Betty and Veronica Jumbo Comics Digest #262, June 2018)

So, yeah... I'm disappointed.  :-\ 

I can't say I didn't have my suspicions, and I almost mentioned it when I noticed (after B&VFF #1 had been announced with an "At the Movies" theme) that the stories in the recent digests almost seemed like they could have fit right in with the newly-solicited $2.99 floppy comic. And then, I was wondering... if they can't sell enough copies to make money off a $3.99 classic Archie floppy comic book, then how can they possibly make any money off a comic book which sells for $1 less per copy?

I don't want to put words in irishmoxie's mouth or presume to speak for her, but I feel pretty sure she'd say "Boo!" to this.



Boo! Haha. That's exactly what I said when I read this. Unfortunately I did buy the comic first. But as I haven't been keeping up with digests lately, these new-ish stories should be new to me. So they're kinda like mini versions of those Best of 2016/2017 Digest Annual digital only releases they've been doing.


Couldn't they have included at least one totally new story?  :tickedoff: I thought Classic Archie was making a comeback.