Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 17, 2018, 04:21:47 PMI think my basic problem with most of the new Archie Comics is that I really don't understand the mindset of the approach to the characters at all. I would make the single exception of JUGHEAD to that statement, because it seems like someone rightly acknowledged that you just CAN'T approach Jughead as a realistic character or try to interpret him seriously, because his basic defining characteristics absolutely defy that. So what you got instead was a re-interpretion using a different type of approach to humor (as opposed to the classic, slapstick/situation comedy approach).When I look at the other new Archie Comics (not talking about the superheroes or Cosmo here), I just have... no response. No emotional reaction or connection with it in any way. To me they just seem like oddities that I don't know what to make of. I mean, they attempt to present some sort of functional continuity that can be followed in the usual way of sequential storytelling, but I constantly feel like I just walked into a party where I was told all my old friends would be there -- but looking all around me, all I see is a room full of strangers wearing these stickers that say "HELLO My Name Is ARCHIE" or "HELLO My Name Is Betty", "HELLO My Name Is Veronica", etc. and I'm just staring at them and thinking "Who the heck ARE these people, really?" It's this weird unsettling place where there are bits and parts where they seem to confirm who they claim to be, yet there are just as many strange, unfamiliar things about them making every moment I spend in this room an analytical guessing game. So there's no emotional reaction to what's going on here, it's just me watching stuff happen from the distant POV of a very detached observer.And what pops into my head is the thought "Is this what non-comics reading people see when you show them a comic book?" Sure, they can read the text and understand it, and know that those lines on the page represent people going about, doing things and moving through space over time. But in the end, they hand it back to you with this blank expression of "Yeah, I understood it I suppose... but so what?"The other thing that pops into my head is the impression that if I hadn't read comics in years and years, and didn't know stuff about how they're created, who the creators are, and how the industry works and so forth, but was familiar with the older icons of comic books, and you handed me a copy of ARCHIE, my first reaction would probably be something like "Marvel Comics publishes ARCHIE now??" That's what they look like upon seeing them for the first time, as if somehow Marvel (or DC) had licensed Archie -- how they'd approach it and reinterpret it from their perspective. And to be sure, a lot of Marvel and DC's iconic characters now strike me almost the same way, as far as how they're being interpreted currently, and I have the same strange feeling of detachment towards characters which once excited me. Hello, do I know you? But at least the Marvel and DC characters have evolved away from from their familiar selves over years and years of change, and not literally overnight.In the end, the things I would be expecting and looking to get out of reading an Archie comic book are just nowhere to be found in the new ones.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 25, 2018, 02:11:07 AM

And I agree with you, an Archie Action (or "Archie Adventure Series") imprint could be utilized as a way of reviving concepts that would have fit within the framework of the old LIFE WITH ARCHIE series, like the Superteens, Explorers of the Unknown, Jughead's Time Police, The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E., Agents B&V, or Archie the Barbarian -- primarily adventure stories using the Archie characters, leavened with a dash of comedy as a secondary consideration.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on February 25, 2018, 02:11:07 AM

Quote from: terrence12 on February 25, 2018, 12:12:48 AM
When I heard that that the upcoming miniseries called Archie Superteens vs Crusaders,I was amazed because it would be about the superhero version of the Archie gang teaming up with the golden/silver age version of the crusaders in an alternate Archie universe.

However I think that this miniseries should have belonged to the Archie Action brand because you see the Archie action brand focuses on Action and Adventure so without Sonic and the now ended Cosmo ,I think maybe  Archie Superteens vs Crusaders should have been used for the Archie Action brand instead,So that this brand will involve the action/adventure version of the Archie characters like Explorers of the unknown,Archei the barbarian and the superteens opposite to Archie horror where it focuses on the horror genre of the archie characters like Afterlife with Archie for example.

I need a LINK, terrence!  Best news in forever if true... but so much so, that it has the air of "too good to be true" -- it seems counter to pretty much all the existing sales trends of the current marketplace.  In my mind's eye, an idealized version of this project would have Dan Parent drawing the pages on which the Superteens primarily appear, and Fernando Ruiz drawing the pages on which the classic Mighty Crusaders primarily appear, but this is probably TOO much of a fantasy, too much wishful thinking for anything close to that. I just hope that when I discover the actual creative team it doesn't ruin things for me, because when someone says there's going to be a Harley & Ivy meet Betty & Veronica series, it just sounds too good to be true, but when it actually happened, the reality of it fell far short of very good at all, in truth.

EDIT: Okay, I just googled it.  The creative team is: Ian Flynn, Kelsey Shannon, Gary Martin, David Williams, Gary Martin, and Jack Morelli. No specific credits mentioned, but I know Flynn is the writer (so far, so good), Gary Martin is an inker (and a good one), and of course Jack Morelli is ACP's grand old master of lettering (all sounds great so far)...

So that leaves Kelsey Shannon and David Williams as pencillers. Kelsey Shannon did a good job pencilling the most recent incarnation of the Mighty Crusaders, so no problem there... Which leaves David Williams, I guess, as the primary penciller for the Superteens pages. And... posted images already show that we're dealing with the New Riverdale Archie and friends, so my flights of idealized fantasy about the version I'd really LIKE to see are dashed.

I can't not buy it, but the fact that it's not the classic Archie Superteens has already downgraded whatever enthusiasm I might have had at just hearing the book's title. That means that the closest I'll be able to get to my fantasy version of this project is if there's a Dan Parent cover variant on an issue somewhere along the way, and/or a blank sketch variant which I'd be able to use to commission a drawing from Dan and/or Fernando Ruiz.

And I agree with you, an Archie Action (or "Archie Adventure Series") imprint could be utilized as a way of reviving concepts that would have fit within the framework of the old LIFE WITH ARCHIE series, like the Superteens, The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. (or Agents B&V) or Archie the Barbarian -- primarily adventure stories using the Archie characters, leavened with a dash of comedy as a secondary consideration.

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!

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 27, 2018, 01:44:36 AM

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on January 26, 2018, 06:15:33 PM

Quote from: terrence12 on January 26, 2018, 11:31:30 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 26, 2018, 07:03:25 AM
Reviews have absolutely no bearing on whether a series continues as an ongoing title, or ends. Only sales.

Which is probably the same reason there was no solicitation for a fifth issue of MIGHTY CRUSADERS in the March 2018 ACP solicitations, as well.

Sadly I agree and if this continues Archie comics will go bankrupt unless it be saved when it is bought by IDW who publishes the classic strips or Warner bros since they broadcast the classic strips

Or unless they come out with a TV show that lasts at least 3 seasons and another one on Netflix.  That might help.

It helps make the copyright holders of intellectual property rights profit, but it doesn't help make the publishing end of things any more profitable. A television series based on comic book characters is a licensed property, and likewise there are many characters being published in the comic book medium that are also produced under license from the intellectual property owners. Ultimately it might be more profitable for the intellectual property holder to reduce its own overhead costs by becoming a business entity whose sole business is in licensing those intellectual property rights to other businesses, including comic book publishers.

It also accounts for many existing phenomena in the comic book industry which would otherwise seem puzzling and counter-intuitive... like why the Walt Disney Company, which owns Marvel Comics, the largest comics publisher in the industry, would license their company-owned properties like Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Uncle Scrooge (and STAR WARS, for that matter) to other publishers like Fantagraphics and IDW. Or why Marvel Comics goes to ACP to publish a digest reprint collection of its superhero characters. What it ultimately comes down to is recognizing and acknowledging that another publisher has the know-how when it comes to producing and marketing a particular type of product. ACP has already licensed their characters to various other publishers (DC, Dark Horse, IDW) in the past for different reasons (rebooting existing characters, or special deluxe reprint collections) -- so there's no reason to believe another comics publisher might not do as well or better at marketing ACP's company-owned characters to consumers.

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on January 26, 2018, 06:15:33 PM

Quote from: terrence12 on January 26, 2018, 11:31:30 AM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 26, 2018, 07:03:25 AM
Reviews have absolutely no bearing on whether a series continues as an ongoing title, or ends. Only sales.

Which is probably the same reason there was no solicitation for a fifth issue of MIGHTY CRUSADERS in the March 2018 ACP solicitations, as well.

Sadly I agree and if this continues Archie comics will go bankrupt unless it be saved when it is bought by IDW who publishes the classic strips or Warner bros since they broadcast the classic strips

Or unless they come out with a TV show that lasts at least 3 seasons and another one on Netflix.  That might help.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 26, 2018, 07:03:25 AM
Reviews have absolutely no bearing on whether a series continues as an ongoing title, or ends. Only sales.

Which is probably the same reason there was no solicitation for a fifth issue of MIGHTY CRUSADERS in the March 2018 ACP solicitations, as well.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on January 17, 2018, 04:13:35 AM
They'll license some property eventually.

I'm glad they aren't doing a reboot of DICK TRACY, though. I'm happy with the version that's running in newspapers (and online) now, the daily & Sunday strip written by Mike Curtis and drawn by Joe Staton. Those guys have made Dick Tracy into a better strip than it was before. They brought back Moon Maid (sort of), revealed that a certain Tracy villain was the cousin of Oswald C. Cobblepot (The Penguin), had guest appearances by Harold Teen and characters from Gasoline Alley, and even wrapped up a storyline left unfinished when Little Orphan Annie got cancelled. Mike Curtis is constantly name-dropping references to comics and other in-jokes. In a storyline a couple of years back, they even had Dick Tracy meet The Spirit. DICK TRACY doesn't need rebooting. It's absolutely perfect as it is.






Besides, why do I want to pay $4 for an inferior reboot of DICK TRACY, when I can read the ongoing strip online for free?
http://www.gocomics.com/dicktracy/

"Reboots" are for people who get taken in by gimmicks like a publishing company using the name of a famous character for its publicity value. All of a sudden, people who were never interested in the character become interested, and chances are the people doing the reboot don't know squat about the character to begin with -- to them it's just work, another paying gig. VERY few reboots wind up being any good, and they're useless to the people who are already fans of the character.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on October 19, 2017, 12:38:32 AM
If you think about it, the only titles that have been around longer than 5 issues (1 story arc) are ARCHIE, AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE, CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA, and RIVERDALE. That's only four, and all of the others are "newbies" that may or may not be around a year or two after their first issue.

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on October 18, 2017, 12:54:54 PM
Terrence, always with the bankruptcy talk.  I agree the publishing side isn't doing that well mainly because they dropped the ball on the horror titles which were by far their sellers.

Quote from: Vegan Jughead on October 18, 2017, 12:54:54 PM
However, RIVERDALE is no longer "mildly popular".  Currently, at least, it's getting really popular thanks to Netflix and a new interest being taken by teenagers.
https://www.theringer.com/tv/2017/10/18/16492324/riverdale-season-2-teen-phenomenon