Good news for you. You STILL haven't missed a new issue of AFTERLIFE WITH ARCHIE!!! 

So, I happened to be in Walmart this morning, and sauntered by the racks which hold their small selection of paperbacks/hardcovers. kids' books, and magazines, and spied the latest issues of ARCHIE AND ME DIGEST (#6), and ARCHIE JUMBO COMICS DIGEST (#340somthing, I think..) and couldn't resist stopping to flip through them.

The last issues of these that I read were back around the end of December/first half of January, I think. I stopped getting them mostly because seven bucks (okay, cheaper than that when I still subscribed, and still cheap when I get a retailers' cost discount at my LCS, if I bother to order them -- but still, be that as it may...) just seemed like too high a price when about 75% of the stories reprinted (mostly 1990s/early 2000s; between ARCHIE #501-599 or so) I'd rate as "ho-hum". I was just growing bored with the reprint selections - there's too little variety lately in the Archie-centric digests, to my way of thinking. They still have those Dan Parent-written lead stories, of course, but that's asking a lot to pay for a single 5-page story.

So, skinflint that I am, I paused to flip through them to see if there was anything of interest there that I was missing, and spend 5 minutes or so reading the two new 5-page lead stories in both. I was surprised to see A&M digest had a new story with Wendy Weatherbee in it (whom I don't believe DP has used in any stories before, apart from being a mob-scene guest-star in the "Battle of the BFFs" multiparter, some years back). And then AJC digest had a new story with Cricket O'Dell in it (going on a date with Archie, yet)!

That reminded me that Dan has been bringing back a lot of seldom-seen supporting characters in stories lately, like Harper Lodge, Veronica's "wacky cousin" (Dan's description, from a fashion page) Marcy McDermott, Bridgett Furferfuhrer (can't recall her last name... never really cared for her) and didn't I see a story recently with Maria Rodriguez (or maybe I'm just imagining that, or thinking of a reprint I recently read)? And while I might reasonably expect to see such DP-created supporting characters like Harper, Marcy, or Bridgett, I wouldn't expect to see Wendy or Cricket. Who's next, Eyeda? (In the story where Cricket dates Archie, they go to an art gallery show, and there was a painting of floating eyeball - the centerpiece of some other elements - that strongly reminded me of Eyeda, whom Dan had previously used as a supporting character in his Sabrina stories in the early 1990s in the back of ARCHIE & FRIENDS). Makes me wonder if I didn't miss some other seldom-seen character reappearances, like maybe Trula Twyst (another character whom Dan has never really used) in some of the new DP-written lead stories from the three Archie-centric digests in the last few months.

The Cricket O'Dell dating Archie story struck me as kind of an oddity, in that I can't recall Archie ever showing any interest in dating Cricket (although I think the plot of the story had Cricket asking Archie, instead of the other way around). I almost wondered if that weren't a leftover from "The Many Loves of Archie Andrews", as it seemed like it would have fit in perfectly with that series from a couple of years back.  The Wendy Weatherbee story has her and her father back in Riverdale visiting, and immediately all the boys at RHS are lining up to date her, with extreme anticipation and high competitiveness. The Bee won't tolerate any nonsense, of course, so he takes it upon himself to review/interview Wendy's potential daters, and sets himself up as the final arbiter of who will get to date her. Archie gets "DISMISSED!" by the Bee at first sight. (It never fails to flabbergast me that no matter how many pretty girls Archie is dating or has dated, he's never satisfied -- he's just GOT to sample them all.) To no one's real surprise, Uncle Waldo declares the winner of the coveted date with Wendy to be none other than Jughead Jones (who tries to protest that he's not even interested in dating, only to confirm Weatherbee's precise reason for choosing him -- to make darn sure that there will be no chance of any potential romantic hanky-panky going on with his overprotected niece). Doesn't Wendy have anything to say about it?? Although, one gets the distinct impression that she's not exactly disappointed in the prospect of a date with Mr. Jones...

05-02-18
STAR TREK TNG: THROUGH THE MIRROR #1 (of 5)
ACTION COMICS SPECIAL #1
INFINITY COUNTDOWN #3 (of 5)
CAPTAIN AMERICA #701
AVENGERS #1 (actually #691)
HARLEY LOVES JOKER #1 (of 2)
DC NATION #0
HILLBILLY #9
DOCTOR STAR & THE KINGDOM OF LOST TOMORROWS #3
RED SONJA/TARZAN #1
XERXES: THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF DARIUS #2 (of 5)
ALIENS: DUST TO DUST #1 (of 4)
Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era: VENUS HC VOL 01 (reprints issue #1-9)
Marvel Masterworks: SUB-MARINER HC VOL 07 (reprints issue #50-60)
GOOD NEWS BIBLE: The Complete Deadline Strips of Shaky Kane 1988-1995 TP

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.

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.

Quote from: irishmoxie on April 26, 2018, 07:40:56 PM
Yay digital. I think I will order it then.

Didn't you mention another magazine that had Archie creator or Dan Parent interviews in it? Back Issue?

That would be COMIC BOOK CREATOR Magazine #16, published last year.



From the very same publisher (TwoMorrows), and available as a digital download right NOW!

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_132&products_id=1272

One nice thing about the TwoMorrows magazines for digital readers is that they're only $4.95, as opposed to the usual printed magazine which costs $8.95 (but if you buy the print magazine direct from TwoMorrows they throw in a free copy of the digital download, gratis!)  And since BACK ISSUE #107 is still a pre-order (for a September 2018 release), TwoMorrows is offering it at the pre-order price of 15% off the regular $8.95 cover price ($7.61) -- and you still get the FREE digital copy as well, so if you buy the print magazine you get the magazine for only $2.66 more than you'd pay for the digital download by itself.

See? Betty knows how to play the guitar. And Reggie knows how to shake those maracas while doing his best impersonation of Alexander Cabot III.

I'm not sure Veronica would be seen at any public performance wearing no shoes, though. 

QuoteSeptember 2018 - 84 FULL-COLOR pages

BACK ISSUE #107 (84 FULL-COLOR pages, $8.95) jingle-jangles with Archie Comics in the Bronze Age! Archie's '70s and '80s adventures, STAN GOLDBERG and GEORGE GLADIR interviews, Archie knock-offs, Archie on TV, and histories of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, That Wilkin Boy, Cheryl Blossom, and Red Circle Comics. Featuring the work of JACK ABEL, JON D'AGOSTINO, DAN DeCARLO, FRANK DOYLE, GRAY MORROW, DAN PARENT, HENRY SCARPELLI, LOU SCHEIMER, ALEX SEGURA, ALEX TOTH, and more. Featuring an Archies cover by Dan DeCarlo, one of the celebrated artist's final illustrations before his 2001 death. Edited by MICHAEL EURY.

Available to order through your local comic shop (request Diamond Order Code MAY182064) or order direct from the publisher, TwoMorrows, as a print magazine or a digital download:

http://twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=133&products_id=1357&zenid=20f06fe1e40bd45408dbaf77fd7fecf8

04-25-18:
UNCLE SCROOGE #439
TITANS ANNUAL #2
DETECTIVE COMICS #979
WONDER WOMAN #45
THE TERRIFICS #3
THE DEMON: HELL IS EARTH #6 (of 6)
SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP [with SUPERGIRL] #37
KILL OR BE KILLED #18
SAVAGE DRAGON #233
THE BEEF #3 (of 5)
SHEENA #8
LOCKJAW #3 (of 4)
THANOS ANNUAL #1
RICK & MORTY #37
G.I. JOE VS. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN #3 (of 4)
ICE CREAM MAN #4
HIT-GIRL IN COLUMBIA #3 (of 4)
MEGA MAN: MASTERMIX #2
APAMA: THE UNDISCOVERED ANIMAL #1

WEEK OF 04-18 to 4-24:
COSMO #4 (of 5)
UNCLE SCROOGE #438
WALT DISNEY SHOWCASE #2: MICKEY MOUSE IN THE SECRET OF GOLD CITY
INFINITY COUNTDOWN #2 (of 5)
CABLE #156
IRON FIST #80
BATMAN/TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES II #6 (of 6)
BATMAN: SINS OF THE FATHER #3 (of 6)
DEADMAN #6 (of 6)
ACTION COMICS #1000
FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS: HERCULOIDS #9
KICK-ASS #3
MOONSHINE #9
STELLAR #1
SUPERMANSION #1 (of 2)
KONG ON PLANET OF APES #6 (of 6)
BLACK HAMMER: AGE OF DOOM #1
EMPOWERED & SISTAH SPOOKY'S HIGH SCHOOL HELL #4 (of 6)
ASSASSINISTAS #4
AGONIZING LOVE: The Golden Era of Romance Comics TP [May 2011] Edited by Michael Barson
LOVE ON THE RACKS: A History of American Romance Comics HC [Apr. 2008] by Michelle Nolan
ROMANCE WITHOUT TEARS: '50s Love Comics - With A Twist! TP [Nov. 2003] Edited by John Benson
MARVEL ROMANCE [Feb. 2006]
MARVEL ROMANCE REDUX: A Different Kind of Love [Feb. 2007]
Little Book of Vintage LOVE TP [2012] by Tim Pilcher
Little Book of Vintage ROMANCE TP [2012] by Tim Pilcher
Little Book of Vintage SAUCINESS TP [2012] by Tim Pilcher
Little Book of Vintage SPACE TP [2012] by Tim Pilcher
Little Book of Vintage SCI-FI TP [2012] by Tim Pilcher
HAUNTED LOVE #1-3 (of 3) [Feb/Mar/Apr 2016]
WORLD'S END HAREM VOL 01 TP
CUTIE HONEY a Go Go! TP
BATTLE ANGEL ALITA Deluxe Edition HC VOL 03

Sometimes the things you see when flipping through the pages of an old pre-Code comic book are just too bizarre for words...



[Found in UNITED COMICS No. 8 (featuring FRITZI RITZ, Ernie Bushmiller's strip that actually morphed into NANCY in 1938... but somehow the Sunday strip version of Fritzi Ritz kept going under its own title, while a separate Sunday page was created for Nancy). The above strip is actually a half-page advertisment for another United Features comic book, COMICS ON PARADE No. 69. If I hadn't found this myself, I'd think it was doctored and someone's idea of a surreal gag. It does seem pretty strange, even for 1950.]

And speaking of MY FRIEND IRMA, as I was a couple of posts back, I found an incredibly rare example of Dan DeCarlo's first comic strip work (together with Stan Lee as writer) - a single month's worth of daily newspaper strips that were syndicated way back in July of 1952. At this point in time, DDC had only been working professionally in the comics industry for about four years, but his work is amazingly polished and he has the artistic confidence of a seasoned veteran cartoonist many years his senior.

And who was Irma? Irma Peterson was one of the first multimedia superstars, from 1948 to 1954, as portrayed (on radio, film, and TV) by Marie Wilson. And here's Marie, the world's smartest dumb blonde...


Beginning as a radio series in 1948, MY FRIEND IRMA spun off into two feature films (which gave the comedy team of Dean Martin & Jerry Lewis their first big break to movie stardom), and then a television series in 1953 and 1954. By then, it had already been translated into an Atlas (Marvel) comic book written by Stan Lee and drawn (mostly) by Dan DeCarlo (which eventually ran for 46 issues from 1950-55), and finally in 1951 it was turned into newspaper comic strip... with absolutely terrible artwork. Too late, once the strip was really struggling for subscriber newspapers, the creators of Irma took a look at the comic book stories, and said "Why don't we get THOSE guys to do the newspaper strip??" Alas, it was probably too late by then, as the syndicated comic had just lurched along for a year or so, losing papers left and right, despite high initial interest by subscribing papers, and the ongoing popularity of the radio series, movies, and comic book. Stan and Dan did a great job for the last year, but... it was just not to be. They couldn't reverse the damage done by the initial artist on the strip. If only the creators of the show had been smart enough to hire them in the first place!

But oh, what digital delights are out there on the interwebs, just waiting to be found for FREE!
Takes a little work, but OH so worth it!!!

Quote from: SAGG on April 15, 2018, 03:13:40 PM
Got something for you:
https://www.comixology.com/search?search=Millie+the+Model
Couldn't find the other two, but at least it has one....

Interesting, but this is perhaps some proof of my point. The first thing that strikes you there is "Why those particular issues, and ONLY those?"'

It's because Millie the Model #100 was reprinted as a floppy comic (together with a Patsy Walker story), in  Marvel Milestones: Millie the Model & Patsy Walker, in 2006 (which I own).



And Modeling With Millie #44 was reprinted in the 2006 hardcover collection, Marvel Visionaries: Roy Thomas (because the lead story in that issue, "Whom Can I Turn To?", was the very first story Roy Thomas ever wrote for Marvel Comics, back in 1965 (he eventually became editor-in-chief there, from 1972-1975, before going freelance, then eventually defecting to rival DC Comics in 1981-1990 as a writer-editor). While I don't own that particular hardcover yet, I've been keeping an eye out for remaindered discounted Marvel hardcover collections, so it's one I'm watching for. Too bad it's one of the later, soap-opera drama issues (with Stan Goldberg in his more realist style), instead of one of the earlier 'girl-humor' genre issues.



Since any reprinting in recent decades involves scanning and cleaning up pages of original line-art, and recoloring, why not add those stories as digital singles just so they can squeeze a few extra dollars out of the effort to reprint them in the first place? Ah, now we can see the method to the madness of random digital comics.

Not trying to be snide here, SAGG, and I do appreciate the thought. It's just that the big companies rarely do anything without some reason.

Quote from: SAGG on April 14, 2018, 11:18:22 PM

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 14, 2018, 06:42:42 AM

Quote from: SAGG on April 14, 2018, 04:57:46 AM
When I want to read any old comics on Comixology, I use the Unlimited subscription package. When I finish a book, I just return it. Very practical for me....

Not very practical if what you're looking to read is an issue of BINKY'S BUDDIES, DEBBI'S DATES, or ANGEL LOVE... or THAT WILKIN BOY or MADHOUSE GLADS from the late 1960s or early 1970s. Obscure older titles just don't attract enough readers to be viable candidates to be digitized, unless they're so old that the copyrights have entered public domain. There are torrents, I guess, if issues about piracy don't bother you.

Torrents? Please.  I'm aiming for more generalized comics in the mainstream, like DC or Marvel. Many old titles come out on occasion. As for Archie, it's old digests that can be borrowed as well...

The thing about a back issue is that you know that it was published, so it has to exist somewhere. Not so for digital comics, which only exist if the companies who hold the copyrights to a printed comic book consider it worthwhile digitizing... if they think there's a market for it from which the publisher can generate some extra profit. It's incredibly frustrating to me that I'll never be able to read hundreds of pages of comics that Dan DeCarlo drew for Marvel in the 1950s (MILLIE THE MODEL, SHERRY THE SHOWGIRL, MY FRIEND IRMA, and on and on), because nobody at Marvel considers those issues worth making available in digital format. You might think that anything Marvel or DC ever published that was worth reading would have been reprinted or digitized by now, but only a small fraction of what they've published over 80 years or so has been.

Ditto for Archie Comics, which still hasn't digitized hundreds of its published comics from the 1960s, like JOSIE. Only a scant few of the published stories are available in digital format, appearing in digests or collections. As back issues, many of those JOSIEs are extremely difficult to find or prohibitively expensive as collectibles for all but the most well-heeled of comic book collectors.

When it comes to public domain material, where the copyright on the original comics has expired, it only takes ONE person with a copy of that comic book and a desire to share his or her love of the stories with other readers to scan it and upload it to one of the existing public domain comic book websites, as a labor of love.

I could sit here and make lists of hundreds of comic books (or just individual stories) that I know exist and would love to read, but I will never be able to read or own, due to the relatively few copies of the printed comics still in existence, most of them locked away in private collections, or too expensive for me to ever afford as collectibles. It's incredibly frustrating, so I have to make due with what I can find in lesser conditions, catch as catch can, while rifling though longboxes of cheap old back issues. At least those comics you can see and examine, to discover what the contents of the comic book are. Unless you know that a particular comic contains stories or work by a particular artist that you want to read, you'd never even look for or at it.

My feeling is that I'm never going to prefer a digital comic if it's just something that's commonly available as a print comic. If they both cost the same and are just as available, why would I want the digital version? It's only attractive to me if it's something I can't otherwise get as a real book, or a cheap replica of an otherwise expensive or hard-to-find collectible. Public domain Golden Age comics that have been scanned and are FREE are a major attraction by comparison to expensive, uncommonly found, and physically fragile paper collectibles from the 1940s or 50s, and so are Japanese manga scanned and translated by otaku, that wouldn't otherwise be available to read in English. Other than those type of things it's hard for me to see where they have any superiority over print comics.