Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on September 20, 2016, 05:52:37 PM
The story, "Color Coded", was my first Cheryl story, but I read it as a reprint in my first Archie digest in 1990. The story was also reprinted in one of the later "Cheryl Blossom Special" issues (albeit in slightly censored form) as a flashback. But where did the story first appear?

Possibly this issue of ARCHIE, from November 1983.

Comicbookdb.com says that this issue contains a story titled "Color Coded", and that both Cheryl and Jason Blossom appear in that story. Not having the comic myself, I can't confirm.

Quote from: BettyReggie on September 19, 2016, 08:25:09 PM
Now because there's going be a Reggie comicbook 💋 💘 💞 💖 💕

REGGIE had his own title in the early 1950s (briefly), and then again for another 20 years, from the early 1960s through the early 1980s.

Quote from: Bluto on September 20, 2016, 10:27:23 AM
Veronica: B. I also like it when she is portrayed as basically the fun-loving, attractive sex object as she was sometimes in the '50s through the '70s. During this era, she often was no more of a jerk than Betty or Midge was.

That's an interesting POV, one which took me by surprise. In what way (or what story situations) do you perceive Betty or Midge as being a jerk?

Quote from: steveinthecity on September 20, 2016, 12:29:37 AM
Edit:  Just wanted to add - I don't have a list of all Kevin's appearances, but I checked the Cheryl list and she appeared in 32 stories in 33 months(Oct '82- Jun '85) before she disappeared into the ether.  She was a central part of all those stories, and I'm guessing that's probably double what Kevin had between Veronica and his solo title.  I'm in agreement with your post.

It could be argued that ALL of Kevin's significant appearances were book-length stories, either in VERONICA or his own title (which essentially replaced VERONICA). 21 issues in total. The remainder of his appearances were brief cameos (most of them in shorts), unless you're counting "alternate Kevins" appearing in LIFE WITH ARCHIE/AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE. Cheryl has easily topped that number by appearing in (at minimum) 5 or 6 times as many pages.

Quote from: steveinthecity on September 18, 2016, 04:37:41 PM
The kindler, gentler ACP pushed so many established characters towards homogenization since the 90's while at the same time introducing dozens of new supporting cast members who were never really developed but only given one or two token reasons to make them interesting.  Kevin is probably the best developed of any new character since Cheryl, and he still has a ways to go imo.

I think if you take the trouble to do a page-and-panel count, the reasons become self-explanatory. You more or less hint at them by juxtaposing the examples of Cheryl and Kevin. The perception of relative character development is a result of dividing the number of appearances (and panels in which the character appears, along with instances of significant dialogue exchanges) of Kevin into the same for Cheryl. To put it simply, more panels and dialogue were devoted to Cheryl than Kevin. But then, it shouldn't be surprising, because by the time Kevin made his debut, there were relatively fewer potential story panels in total  for Kevin to appear in being published by ACP. Therefore, when you cram a dozen or more new characters into a 4-part story like "New Kids Off the Wall" (a.k.a. Clash of the New Kids), and follow up that introduction of a bevy of new characters by cancelling titles left and right, there's no way to possibly develop them properly. Simple division should prove mathematically that more characters divided into fewer panels equals diminished character development.

Speaking strictly for Archie himself as a character and the core group, it's got to be the decade from 1955-1965. That's when the team of Frank Doyle and Harry Lucey were really cooking on all burners for the core Archie stories, you had Samm Schwartz on Jughead (his prime period), plus others like Bill Vigoda, and after 1958 DeCarlo really started to come on strong with B&V.

For the company as a whole though, I'd go with 1965-1975. In that decade you had some of the best Betty & Veronica stories, plus Josie, Sabrina, That Wilkin Boy, and the Madhouse Glads in their own comics.

Quote from: steveinthecity on September 18, 2016, 12:51:53 AM
Over the past few years I'm finding I enjoy the Veronica character more and more and she's moved past Archie at this point.  As I've read more and more of Dan Parent's take on the character I've begun to view her differently.  She's still spoiled and self-indulgent, but Dan's given her a softer and more sensitive side and I find her more relatable.  I also find the Veronica of the last decade or so to be funnier .  I recently re-read two stories where she tries to start a new fashion fad, one where she's wearing cardboard boxes as a skirt or head covering, and the other where she's wearing a giant cowbell and the other Riverdale girls follow her lead.  I guess I appreciate Dan's sense of humor.

Unquestionably. As drawn by Dan DeCarlo or Harry Lucey (to name the two most prominent among others), she always LOOKED attractive, but I think it fell to Dan Parent to give her a certain cuteness that is appealing -- if not precisely innocence, then at least a kind of vulnerability that makes her more endearing, counterpointed by the hijinks of "just Veronica being Veronica". That is as much due to Dan P's sculpting her character subtly as a writer as to the (to be honest, probably editorially-mandated) toning down of her 'Dragon Lady' sex appeal that the older generation of artists leaned heavily on (not that he isn't capable of amping that up when needed, like on certain covers). A true appreciation of Dan Parent's contributions to ACP does not hinge merely on his draftmanship alone, but that individual tone of quirky humor that he injects the stories with.

Just finished reading Osamu Tezuka's PHOENIX, which he considered his life's work. Still missing one volume (Vol. 9, Strange Beings/Life). The volumes, in the order they were first published, veer back and forth from the distant past to the far future, but I chose to read them in the chronological order of when they were taking place (although "Sun", in particular, tells a story that alternates back and forth from the past to the future). Even though each of the individual stories stands alone on its own, they're all connected thematically, and also by reoccurring characters who are either reincarnated or have descendants or ancestors in future or past time periods. The past-set volumes (Dawn, Yamato, Sun, Karma, Civil War) all deal with Japanese myth or history.

PHOENIX Vol. 12         EARLY WORKS (Egypt/Greece/Rome)
PHOENIX Vol. 01         DAWN
PHOENIX Vol. 03         YAMATO/
PHOENIX Vol. 10-11      SUN (Part 1 & 2)
PHOENIX Vol. 04         KARMA
PHOENIX Vol. 07-08      CIVIL WAR (Part 1 & 2)
PHOENIX Vol. 06         NOSTALGIA
PHOENIX Vol. 05         RESURRECTION
PHOENIX Vol. 03         /SPACE
PHOENIX Vol. 02         FUTURE

Quote from: irishmoxie on September 16, 2016, 11:52:31 PM
Not super old but here are my oldest items:

Reminds me of those old beach party movies that were popular in the early 1960s, especially that JOSIE cover -- if it were a movie it could have been titled Melody Goes Hawaiian.

Quote from: botolo on September 16, 2016, 11:06:14 AM

Quote from: BettyReggie on September 16, 2016, 05:27:31 AM
If this keeps happening no one going want the book. That God we got the first issue. Adam Hughes art is beautiful. I hope it works out.

This is unfortunately the status of comics nowadays. You need to preorder everything three months in advance, publishers release the comics whenever they want, etc.


This is why I am not buying new comics anymore.

Yes, which pretty much proves BettyReggie's point. Not that anyone can blame you for feeling that way. Comic books have been demoted (at least in North America) from the mass-media status they once enjoyed for the first few decades of their existence. They now have nothing left but a cult audience of enthusiasts, who are expected to go to extraordinary lengths for their love of the medium, tedious as that task may be.

Another Archie Comic delayed from its originally-solicited shipping date. Welcome to the world of Afterlife With Archie and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina readers, who have gotten used to it by now. Adam Hughes isn't exactly the fastest artist in the world either, so I can't actually say I'm surprised.

Diamond Comics (the most accurate source, since they are the primary distributor) is currently giving it an on-sale date of Oct. 26 (at least until ACP decides to push it back again).

Quote from: irishmoxie on September 15, 2016, 07:25:08 PM
How's Spirit of Wonder? I picked these up for cheap based on your recommendation and the fact that I loved his recent graphic novel Wandering Island despite the non ending. Haven't had time to read them yet.

Spirit of Wonder left me wondering if that's all there was to it, just the 5 issues that Dark Horse published in 1996. I mean, it's okay, and I liked the art, but it's kind of a little thing, a piece of fluff. A little steampunk thing where the eccentric genius scientist (Dr. Breckenridge) was obviously inspired by Lionel Jeffries, who played the part of Mr. Cavor, the scientist who invents the anti-gravity substance named "Cavorite" and takes trip to become one of THE FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (in the 1964 film directed by Nathan Juran, based on H.G. Wells' 1901 novel of the same title).

The first two issues tell a complete story, then the third issue is a standalone story, then the last two issues tell another complete story. So it's a bit episodic, and doesn't really go anywhere in particular. It's a nice little character piece for Miss China, the main character, and it left me wanting to read more about her, but is that all there is? I had to seach the web for answers, and now I'm even more confused. Apparently the Dark Horse translation of Spirit of Wonder is actually Volume TWO. You can read that online here:

http://www.mangareader.net/spirit-of-wonder/2

I wonder what you might think of Miss China (who is never given another name in the story). In some ways, she's stereotypical -- a young Chinese girl living in Bristol, England around the turn of the 20th Century, who speaks in pidgin English (hard to say how much of that is the translators' -Studio Proteus- fault, since in the original version she would have been speaking Japanese -- and I have no idea if there's such a thing as a stereotyped 'pidgin Japanese'), she wears traditional Chinese clothing, runs a Chinese restaurant that she inherited from her father at 18, and practices some kind of Chinese martial arts. She also has a short temper, and is hopelessly smitten with "Doctor Breckinlidge's" (as she calls him) handsome young assistant, Jim Floyd, which is why she puts up with Dr. Breckinridge's habitually late rent payments (he usually has Jim spend the money for needed parts and supplies at Lily's, a local flower shop whose proprietress also functions as a source of black market scientific parts, and is Miss China's rival for Jim's affections) and allows him and Jim to remain as boarders on the second floor of the Ten-Kai Chinese restaurant. She also has to put up with the somewhat pervy old Doctor's attempts to grope her boobs at least once in every story (but that's seinen manga of the mid-1990s for you -- typical fanservice). If you can't get past those kind of racial stereotypes and sexism, you may reject this altogether, but to me Miss China came across as a realistic character, for this particular time and place, even if the basic premise of the story here is more of a gentle science-fantasy. By way of contrast, Lily didn't come across as realistic to me, because she seemed like an anachronistic character, out of place in that time period, and far too 'modern' as a character. Doctor Breckinridge and Jim Floyd came across as only the sketchiest of character archetypes, the elder eccentric genius scientist and his equally gifted handsome young assistant. That accounts for all the characters in the series, so the whole thing stands or falls on your impression of Miss China. I wouldn't exactly call this manga a work of genius or anything, and the artwork is good, but not remarkably so. It's a pleasant enough read, just a few little vignette episodes in a hazily-conceived story setting.

But there was a Volume ONE (not translated by Dark Horse, or at least not published), and although those stories were originally published in Japan beginning in 1986, it seems to take place in the present (1986) in Japan, unlike Vol. 2 which was taking place in Victorian England. I haven't read it yet, but I browsed it a bit and there seems to be a backstory connection with the scientist characters in Vol. 2 (the Dark Horse/Studio Proteus-translated Spirit of Wonder). You can read Volume One here:

http://www.mangareader.net/spirit-of-wonder/1

Quote from: SAGG on September 15, 2016, 11:32:48 PM
Well, DR, I  assumed FQ was one of your favorite comics, so I added it. 😆

Still confused, SAGG. What do you mean you added it? Where did you add it? Was there an old thread here somewhere about "Your favorite comics" that I somehow forgot about? On THIS thread, I just list all the comics I read, whether they're my favorites or not.

Quote from: irishmoxie on September 15, 2016, 12:50:32 PM
I like comics that I would categorize as "girlie" that have female protagonists.

So basically, what you like is the equivalent of shojo manga for American young women, without actually being shojo manga translated into English. But most comics having female protagonists are not girlie -- although the mainstream ones are a lot girlier in the last couple of years than they used to be, in an attempt to grab hold of a rising demographic of readers. The problem with most of those mainstream comics is that it's hard to do a comic with a female protagonist that appeals equally to both a strong male and a strong female demographic of readers. For the most part, Japanese publishers have accepted that their comics genres need to be targeted specifically to age and gender, and although there's always some slight overlap, what appeals to younger readers generally doesn't appeal to older readers, and what appeals to male readers generally doesn't appeal to female readers. There are a few exceptions, of course.

Quote from: SAGG on September 15, 2016, 03:52:32 PM
I responded because you didn't have FQ on your favorite comics list at all.  

"Favorite comics list"? Where are we doing that? This thread is just for "What comics have you been reading?", so I normally list them as I read them, with the bulk of the non-graphic novel/trade collections occurring every Wednesday. As I mentioned, I listed Future Quest #4 among the comics I read back a couple of weeks ago, at the top of Page 39 of this thread. SteveInTheCity recently started a "Favorite Comics Genres" thread, but that's not the same as "Favorite Comics", so it wouldn't be listing individual titles.

Quote from: SAGG on September 15, 2016, 03:52:32 PMMeanwhile, I'm reading OPM on my computer, catching up on it. In case you're interested, or don't know, it comes on Saturday night/Sunday mornings on Adult Swim...

I prefer marathon-watching an entire series (or at least an entire season of a series). I find I enjoy it more and it's easier to connect bits and pieces from individual episodes, if it's a continuing story. Even if the episodes are basically self-contained, I just like immersing myself in a show for hours at a time. So like I said, I'll just wait until the entire thing comes out on DVD and buy it. There's no way I'm not going to like it, unless it's completely different from the manga. I mean yes, I expect there will be some differences in the story between the manga and the anime, that's pretty common, but as long as it's faithful in the main points, I'm good with that.