Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 10, 2018, 01:15:08 AM

Quote from: tvminded on April 10, 2018, 12:59:45 AM
According to the website, I'm on the fence on whether Cosmo was supposed to be limited or not.  On the issue 4 blurb for the pre-order, it calls it a 5 issue limited series, but the first issue listed as a new on-going series, so I'm thinking it was rethought after poor sales.  The B&V books maybe will still run concurrently, but I've seen a big decrease in the number of grocery stores and retail outlets carrying them like they used to, so I can see them limiting titles.


I didn't realize until I looked at the last page in the story that Crusaders had ended. Not surprising since the title never lasts long.  It's just never been popular.  They would have done better bringing back That Wilkins Boy.


Also - what happened to the tease of Little Sabrina and Little Josie at the end of Little Archie One-Shot?  That was last summer and they said "Coming Soon"?


I just can't see a vision in place for the "New Archie", sometimes because I just can't get past the artwork - and yes, the stories are not great...


Did anyone else think that the auction for the complete run of Archie comics full-page ad sometime last year might be the company selling off the vault copies to raise capital?

Nope. Not them. They haven't scanned all those stories digitally yet, and they can't do that until they complete that task, unless they really ARE planning to sell off ALL the assets and bail out of the publishing business even sooner than many people think -- which means they would be giving up on digital as well.



Most companies keep multiple vault copies, so I thought maybe they were thinning down by one to keep things going until they hit a "sweet spot." 

According to the website, I'm on the fence on whether Cosmo was supposed to be limited or not.  On the issue 4 blurb for the pre-order, it calls it a 5 issue limited series, but the first issue listed as a new on-going series, so I'm thinking it was rethought after poor sales.  The B&V books maybe will still run concurrently, but I've seen a big decrease in the number of grocery stores and retail outlets carrying them like they used to, so I can see them limiting titles.


I didn't realize until I looked at the last page in the story that Crusaders had ended. Not surprising since the title never lasts long.  It's just never been popular.  They would have done better bringing back That Wilkins Boy.


Also - what happened to the tease of Little Sabrina and Little Josie at the end of Little Archie One-Shot?  That was last summer and they said "Coming Soon"?


I just can't see a vision in place for the "New Archie", sometimes because I just can't get past the artwork - and yes, the stories are not great...


Did anyone else think that the auction for the complete run of Archie comics full-page ad sometime last year might be the company selling off the vault copies to raise capital?

What titles actually WILL still be running by the end of the year?  Unless my list is wrong, titles that have been cancelled in the last few years are: Jughead and Archie Comic Digest (as well as more digests I'm sure, I kind of lost track), both Sonic series, Betty & Veronica (laughing that they still had "published monthly" in the publishing info even when #3 came out over a year later), Josie & the Pussycats, Black Hood, Hangman, Shield, and Jughead, presumably replaced with Jughead the Hunger.  My predictions of next-to-go: one of the Betty & Veronica digests, Afterlife with Archie (since they haven't published an issue in almost 2 years, but there's still a monthly subscription available! (What a joke), and Betty & Veronica Vixens will probably be done by the end of the year.  I just can't get my head around B&V as bad-ass biker chicks...sorry.


Plus, I think Archie Comics is in real trouble financially, even more so since the fund-raising fiasco.  They simply can't afford to keep cranking out new titles with small sales and even though the TV series may be getting them some money, that won't last forever either - Riverdale is a teen show and what happens when they graduate and then go to college and then I guess Archie has to marry someone, huh?   We are looking at probably 6 seasons tops (anyone remember Dawson's Creek, Saved by the Bell?)


Except for Riverdale and Archie, I can't see any of the other titles lasting that long.  You just run out of story in a horror comic like Vampironica, Afterlife with Archie (obviously since it's been nearly 2 years), and Jughead the Hunger.  They seem to have put Sabrina on hold - and with the new Netflix show coming out, it makes sense, I suppose.   That series should have legs if they could ever get the issues out.  What more horror titles can they do?  Moose as a morose and soulful Frankenstein?  Chuck as a demon?  Josie and the Pussycats as a "Charmed"-like trio of singing witches who cross over with Sabrina?  Reggie as an immortal?  But Betty - Betty has to stay the hero, right?


So...coming out with Betty & Veronica at the Movies makes sense.  Going back to what has worked for the last 75+ years.  It doesn't have to go completely back to that, but look at the sales of "Your Pal Archie" and I think the company is seeing that having a little bit of both will work best.  The art is also, sadly, much to be desired in most of the titles. 


Unfortunately, the "relaunch" of Archie Comics, as a whole, has been a huge disappointment - I think to fans and definitely to the company.  There is no consistency of art and characters among titles, stories veer off and our characters are kind of different, but not enough to go "wow" - what a great, original idea!  Just kind of, "oh, ok, well, I guess it's better than not having any new Archie stories...".  The consistency of releasing of titles is the worst of any major comic brand (which never used to be the case that I can recall) and the policy of "don't confirm or deny" is wearing thin.  If you can't commit to an answer (even if it becomes wrong later), that's a sign of poor leadership - and fear. 


I came back to actively read and support Archie Comics to see what the hype was all about and other than the TV series, and a few small wins (Sabrina is OK, but not consistent and I have hopes for Vampironica - short-term at least), it's been like watching a friend who used to be really funny get up on stage and you want them to do really well and you cheer for them - and their set is different and you laugh loudly to support them - but your old friend unfortunately just isn't funny anymore...