Quote from: Queen Cheryl on April 29, 2016, 03:58:29 AM
Anyway, the data deletion itself was sort of a punch in the gut. Now those old threads I liked lurking are gone and it's hard to stay interested in "what did you buy today?" sort of clunky topics and clunky gigantic signatures. I feel like there's a large gap between what ultra-fans and casual-fans want to talk about, if that makes any sense. I agree forums are old news: pretty much every forum I go to is dead except for the imdb.com main forums. However I think a forum like this dedicated only to Archie is unique and I wish this forum could become active again. I wasn't and haven't been here long but I feel like I missed the glory days of this place.

I think you'll find that it's true for most forums that the activity there reflects what there is currently to talk about, about (in this case) what's happening in the world of Archie Comics. Since ACP isn't publishing a lot of titles right now, that means most of the conversation is going to be about the New Riverdale comics. When new Archie Horror issues come out, there will be some discussion on those, as well. It seems that there aren't a lot of heavy digest readers, or much to discuss about them that generates a lot of common interest apart from the new lead 5 page story. Some of those are notable, and some less so. Just in general, the lack of new stories coming out at the rate of a trickle tends not to generate much excitement. Apart from that there's Riverdale, the much-anticipated (by some) and much-dreaded (by others) TV pilot. Right now though, every time they dot an i or cross a t, it seems to generate some posting.


I wish I'd been around when they were still publishing most of the classic Archie titles including Archie, Archie & Friends, Betty, Betty and Veronica, Betty & Veronica Spectacular, Jughead, Life With Archie, Veronica, etc. As it was I showed up after Kevin Keller and Life With Archie had ended, and the end for Archie and Betty and Veronica was only a year away or less. I still get all the digests, and probably will at least until they stop running new stories in them (after which I might cut back to just the two B&V digests).

Quote from: GingerGal on April 26, 2016, 07:04:08 PM

Quote from: nuageo on April 26, 2016, 06:56:46 PM

Quote from: GingerGal on April 25, 2016, 11:39:15 PM
What? Archie sleeping with Miss Grundy. That is just sick.

I think many men would like to sleep with Miss. Grundy (Sarah Habel). 

She sure is a far cry from the Miss Grundy in the comic books. That is even more than a 360 degrees away. That is more like a 720 degrees away from the comic book Miss Grundy.

Well, there's nothing wrong with your multiplication skills, but you might need to brush up on your geometry. (360 degrees would be a complete circle, bringing you back to the same point where you started, and 720 degrees just does the same thing twice. Half of a circle - 180 degrees - would point you in the exact opposite direction.) Come to think of it, if Miss Grundy is teaching geometry this semester, I may sign up for the course myself. No, wait -- that would probably result in my forgetting the geometry I've already learned. I can pretty much guarantee I wouldn't wind up spending too much time thinking about geometry in that class.


No one over thirty on THIS show, no ma'am! Who plays the part of Mr. Weatherbee -- Justin Bieber?

Quote from: GingerGal on April 21, 2016, 03:42:56 PM
I for one am really looking forward to this. I lived in South Africa until July of 2015 and Archie Comics were not widely available especially in the area where I was from. I never read a "Classic" Archie comic in my life. Of course while in South Africa I heard of Archie comics, but like I said they were just not available. The one webcomic I did read while in South Africa was Cottonstar. So when I came to America last July I saw the Archie #1 at a local comic shop and picked it up. I enjoyed it a lot and kept reading it. Then I noticed the Jughead character had his own comic coming out and got that and liked it and kept reading it. Now I am really looking forward to this Betty and Veronica comic. Maybe I am missing out not ever reading a "Classic" Archie comic or maybe not ever getting into it other than seeing images on the internet might be a good thing because it is not turning me off to this new style. Who knows.

Just curious, GingerGal. How is it that when you moved here last July, one of the first places you visited after getting here was a comic shop? I could understand if you had been a comic fan before leaving South Africa, then of course you'd want to check out a local one as soon after you'd moved as possible. Does there just happen to be one within walking distance of where you're living now? Or did reading webcomics make you want to check out what was available in print? Or do your parents read comics and they just took you along with them to the comic shop?

Quote from: GingerGal on April 22, 2016, 02:38:44 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2016, 01:27:33 PM

Quote from: GingerGal on April 22, 2016, 12:17:31 PM
From the pictures of her in the article she doesn't seemed too upset about failing at life. As a matter of fact she looks pretty happy at her current life.

I don't even think professional psychologists and psychiatrists could definitely rule out clinical depression based on a few photographs where the person appears happy. I think that's what they mean when you hear the expression "appearances can be deceiving". They would probably pay more attention to what the person had to say about herself and how she answered a series of questions. Since most people don't have paparazzi following them around, it would be pretty easy to avoid having your picture taken when you were feeling down and depressed. Easier still to avoid putting the odd picture taken of you when you weren't feeling good about yourself on the internet. You just never know, some people can be really good at faking it and keeping up appearances even while they're struggling with themselves on the inside. Hopefully you'll never know about that.

She could be pulling the wool over everyone eyes but she could also be actually be happy. We don't know. I am just going by what I got to see at quick glance and that was smiling photos. I'm not a Psychologist and will never have the opportunity to ask her questions either, but I also think a person can also hide emotions very well by avoiding answers and giving other false answers. Just saying.

True enough. I guess she might be, or should we pay more attention to the fact that she titled her blog "I fail at life"? She could have titled her page almost anything, but for some reason she chose that. It might just be her idea of humor, but I sort of wonder why she would choose to present herself in a self-depreciating manner to people from the get-go. I hope she's as happy as she appears in photos, but I guess we'll never know, like you say.

Quote from: GingerGal on April 21, 2016, 03:20:37 PM
I have Red Hair and I am a Gal. Simple enuff.

South Africa's Typical Teenage Girl, eh?

Quote from: spazaru on April 14, 2016, 05:02:00 PM
If the fans supported them so well for so many years, why would a reboot be necessary?  They didn't cancel the old series because they were selling too well.  I prefer the classic style as well, by far.  But I'm not going to pretend it was selling a ton for Archie because it wasn't.

All comic fans are comic book readers, but not all comic book readers are fans. When the majority of floppy comic sales shifted from general retail outlets to comic book shops, the fans began to dominate readership of comics in the floppy format. That format of comics just isn't available in enough places other than comic shops. While Marvel and DC Comics can still do a reasonable amount of business by relying on their hardcore fans, Archie Comics cannot. There aren't enough hardcore fans of Archie to really depend on to publish a comic book. The backbone of Archie Comics' readership has always been composed of younger and casual readers, and only the digest format is reaching those readers. Right now with the reboot floppies, Archie Comics is trying to create a fanbase of comic shop customers who have never really existed before. There are certain Pavlovian-response sales techniques that are proven to work with this audience in the short term (the prime and most important one is to win the confidence of the retailers in ordering the first issues of new titles), but creating an audience where none exists is a tough trick to pull off, because if the sales don't follow on subsequent issues, retailers aren't going to continue to speculate. It's a tough market with too many publishers and too many titles.

I think sometimes they throw those kind of teasers out at the end of a story to see whether it generates any letters from the readers. Sales of the current storyline and letter responses would then dictate whether a followup would be considered.

Quote from: GingerGal on April 27, 2016, 04:52:30 PM
Perfect way to greet each other when your constantly fighting with each other. 

Dan Parent handles the Veronica-Jughead feud better than anybody. With him it's entirely verbal, but there are some great zingers he manages to work in there on both sides. Besides that, he gets to show how well each of them understand the other's psychology, with information implied or withheld leading to the predicted effect on either side. Jughead really got the better of Veronica by preventing anyone from cluing her in about Kevin being gay.

Quote from: 60sBettyandReggie on April 28, 2016, 08:31:15 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 28, 2016, 04:11:57 PM

Quote from: 60sBettyandReggie on April 28, 2016, 01:08:33 PM
Didn't Veronica calm down once Dan Parent took over? Or did it happen before. By the way, I prefer the old Veronica.

When BETTY AND ME started, that was the beginning of sweet and nice Betty, and the beginning of the end of feisty, wily schemer Betty. Similarly, when Veronica got her own comic, they had to tone down some of her more outrageous aspects to make her more likable and sympathetic. Same thing happened to Cheryl Blossom when she got her own comic. I guess the takeaway here is if you like this or that character, then just pray that they don't get their own comic book.

So Betty changed in the late 60s? Many stories from Betty and Me still had a "crazy" Betty, but I guess those stories were from the first issues. Okay and then Veronica got nicer in the 80s, when, like I said, Dan Parent took over.

It was a slightly slower evolution for Betty, but you begin to see it more easily by tracking the change in "Betty's Diary" stories. The early ones (pre- and early BETTY AND ME) are short gag strips, outrageous exaggerations of small incidents that occur, magnified through the fish-eye lens of Betty's mind to imbue the slightest event as fraught with implications of Archie's burning desire for her. Frankly, they make Betty look like some kind of nutcase who lives in a world of fantasy. Some of them even seem a little cruel, like the other kids are laughing at Betty's naivete behind her back. But gradually, the later Betty's Diary stories become more grounded in realism and portray her more sympathetically, and concentrate on showing her sweet side. At a certain point in the 1970s, Al Hartley took over as the primary Betty's Diary writer, and the change is complete. Kathleen Webb solidified that in longer stories later, and in the actual BETTY'S DIARY spinoff comic book. The changes in the regular Betty stories paralleled that evolution, and perhaps even ran ahead of it in some ways, but essentially, by the late 60s that wily schemer Betty has pretty well disappeared.

Quote from: invisifan on April 28, 2016, 04:36:16 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 28, 2016, 06:25:10 AM
Okay, I admit that I'm just counting the Superteen stories printed in B&V and B&Me where she's the star of the story, so I'm not counting any appearances outside of those titles with The United Three, like in LIFE WITH ARCHIE #50. I'm missing that story, as well as "To the Rescue" from B&Me #5.

Yes, you mentioned them — they aren't there because (as mentioned on the old board) I hate Little Archie and they are separate enough I can ignore them — still, I've added a couple of notes to Re: SuperTeens just for archival accuracy ...

I think you're confusing this post I made with another in the other thread about lists, but I get what you're saying. I'm not a fan of Little Archie either, but those particular stories are so anomalous (Bolling didn't want to include Little Pureheart, but was forced to by the editor) that for those three stories I can make a small exception. Not that there's any way you can square Little Captain Pureheart with the "The PH Factor", but the Archie superhero stories are just inconsistent in and of themselves anyway, with both Pureheart and Superteen having more than one origin (dream or real?)... but maybe Little Captain Pureheart's powers extend to memory wipes as well (even including wiping his own memory), or maybe they're just a dream of Little Archie's, the way some of his more fantastical exploits turn out to be (or it's that dimensional-hopping thing with Little Ambrose going on). At any rate, the fantastical nature of the Pureheart stories gives them more in common with the Little Archie stories in general than is usually the case for standard Archie stories.

    How DOES he do it? Pure EVIL, brother... pure evil.

(Comic book tip: If you want to be a superhero, don't wear a green and purple costume. Those are the colors of PURE EVIL!)

I mean, let's face it, if you read the RIVERDALE premise on some internet message board, you'd just go "Wow, this guy's got some pretty twisted fan-fantasies".

Quote from: Original Sin on April 28, 2016, 04:04:53 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 28, 2016, 04:00:17 PM

Quote from: Original Sin on April 28, 2016, 02:54:51 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 28, 2016, 02:49:13 PM

Quote from: Original Sin on April 28, 2016, 02:39:24 PM
I appreciate all that, and loved the 50s-60s love triangle stories. But that stuff has not been funny for a long time.

I don't think Betty needs to be perfect. Back in the day, she was not this multi-talented, super-virtuous, loved-by-everybody sweet little girl. Back then she was awesome.
I am not saying I want her to become full-on crazy again, because crazy Betty was entertaining but not exactly relatable. Which is why I believe they tried to make her into a girl-next-door, and ended up creating this perfect being. That's not very relatable either.

Veronica and Betty's rivalry does not have to end. They don't just fight over Archie. They have fought each other for other boys, popularity, modelling gigs, and so many other things. Way I see it, Betty and Veronica are two women fighting for the alpha female position of their little tribe. Archie does not have to be the main reason for everything. In fact, I don't even want Betty to lose ALL interest in Archie. She can still try to steal Archie once in a while to beat her rival Veronica. Or Archie maybe one of the guys in her life.

I want Betty to become her own person, an entertaining and relatable character, whose existence does not revolve around getting Archie's approval.

Hey, you don't have to sell ME on the idea. I'm totally down with it. It pretty much gives Archie nothing left to do, but I'm okay with that. I'd be fine with the company changing its name to B&V Comics. Jughead could continue on virtually unaffected by the whole change in status quo (and maybe that's the only function left for Archie, to become Jughead's clumsy and trouble-prone sidekick and sounding board).

Oh, I know. But since you said you don't understand the ship I thought I would familiarize you with the concept. More importantly, I like to talk about it. 

Well, it wouldn't bother me if what you described actually happened, but that's not the same as saying I think there's any actual chance of it happening, either. I think any of those scenarios are pretty much going to stay confined to fanfics. Maybe if we all live long enough, the characters will all be in public domain and anyone can do anything they want with them.

Dude, there's precious little chance of the things any of us want happening. They don't care about the fans' opinions. Hence the TV show.

What do you mean? Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa got to write the fanfic HE wanted to, for real! He just had to get a job as a big-time TV writer first. Too bad some Betty/Reggie fan didn't beat him out of the gig first, huh?

Quote from: 60sBettyandReggie on April 28, 2016, 01:08:33 PM
Didn't Veronica calm down once Dan Parent took over? Or did it happen before. By the way, I prefer the old Veronica.

When BETTY AND ME started, that was the beginning of sweet and nice Betty, and the beginning of the end of feisty, wily schemer Betty. Similarly, when Veronica got her own comic, they had to tone down some of her more outrageous aspects to make her more likable and sympathetic. Same thing happened to Cheryl Blossom when she got her own comic. I guess the takeaway here is if you like this or that character, then just pray that they don't get their own comic book.

Quote from: Original Sin on April 28, 2016, 02:54:51 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 28, 2016, 02:49:13 PM

Quote from: Original Sin on April 28, 2016, 02:39:24 PM
I appreciate all that, and loved the 50s-60s love triangle stories. But that stuff has not been funny for a long time.

I don't think Betty needs to be perfect. Back in the day, she was not this multi-talented, super-virtuous, loved-by-everybody sweet little girl. Back then she was awesome.
I am not saying I want her to become full-on crazy again, because crazy Betty was entertaining but not exactly relatable. Which is why I believe they tried to make her into a girl-next-door, and ended up creating this perfect being. That's not very relatable either.

Veronica and Betty's rivalry does not have to end. They don't just fight over Archie. They have fought each other for other boys, popularity, modelling gigs, and so many other things. Way I see it, Betty and Veronica are two women fighting for the alpha female position of their little tribe. Archie does not have to be the main reason for everything. In fact, I don't even want Betty to lose ALL interest in Archie. She can still try to steal Archie once in a while to beat her rival Veronica. Or Archie maybe one of the guys in her life.

I want Betty to become her own person, an entertaining and relatable character, whose existence does not revolve around getting Archie's approval.

Hey, you don't have to sell ME on the idea. I'm totally down with it. It pretty much gives Archie nothing left to do, but I'm okay with that. I'd be fine with the company changing its name to B&V Comics. Jughead could continue on virtually unaffected by the whole change in status quo (and maybe that's the only function left for Archie, to become Jughead's clumsy and trouble-prone sidekick and sounding board).

Oh, I know. But since you said you don't understand the ship I thought I would familiarize you with the concept. More importantly, I like to talk about it. 

Well, it wouldn't bother me if what you described actually happened, but that's not the same as saying I think there's any actual chance of it happening, either. I think any of those scenarios are pretty much going to stay confined to fanfics. Maybe if we all live long enough, the characters will all be in public domain and anyone can do anything they want with them.