This week, I review the 2007 comic story, "Betty and Veronica's Scrapbook".

A bit late, but this week I review "The New Archies" segment, "The Awful Truth".

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2017, 12:05:08 AM
It probably wouldn't hurt to be thinking of branching off into prose stories, game/puzzle/activity, coloring and sticker books for the same market, either.

I'd been thinking of an Archie novelverse idea recently: prose novels written by the old regular writers, containing original cover artwork as well as occasional interior artwork to visualize key moments (doesn't even need to take up a full page). Different characters could star in different novels. Maybe create a fact sheet / series bible beforehand, so details in one novel don't contradict another. Each novel could take place in a particular month, so twelve of them would cover an entire year (nine school novels and three summer novels). Maybe do that for four years to cover the entire high school experience - and then more in college if there's still demand. That should be around 45 novels (I'm thinking roughly 130 pages each).

The problem is finding enough subjects that warrant a novel-length story. There might have to be subplots with other characters to boost the page count. I had recently attempted a "Betty and Cheryl" fanfic series, the goal being 45 "issues" that covered all of high school, but I gave up after 4 issues - one because no one was reviewing or favoriting, but two because I started introducing plot points early than scheduled to make the stories a bit longer, which rendered some conflicts in future issues obsolete. I went for a stripped-down, grounded approach to the characters - with only a minimum of drama and conflict. Without "wacky situations" (and more characters to focus on) or drama, high school life is pretty boring for characters that don't aspire to temporary stardom.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2017, 12:05:08 AM
An animated series would help a lot to advertise the characters. If they can't get one on a regular cable channel, what about a Flash-animated webtoon on its own YouTube channel? They need to partner up with some merchandisers to do this, probably.

Yeah. They could always throw "Archie's Weird Mysteries" on Netflix. That's the most non-embarrassing animated adaptation of the characters. Adding the Josie movie wouldn't hurt either.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2017, 12:05:08 AM
Then I guess the other question would be: If print comics should cease to exist, what causes someone to initially seek out a digital comic, and what makes that seem worth 3 or 4 dollars to them?

I've noticed, while adding comics to my digital wish list on Amazon recently, a lot of the back issues from other publishers have gone down drastically in price (some to as little as 99 cents). The one publisher still at full price for back issues of current series? Archie.

I'm not sure that there really is a long-term solution. When the direct distribution system was set up, comics became a niche product (nerds that are growing older). Back when there was a "local" comic shop around here (in the next county), I don't recall once seeing a kid in there.

In my 10+ years as a cashier, I recall selling only ONE digest. It was to a mom that was with her daughter. I asked who the Archie fan was, and the mom pointed at her daughter. So that's...something. Still, one digest in ten years. WTF?

And I doubt bringing the floppies back into the stores would help. Stores likely wouldn't want to carry them, and parents almost certainly wouldn't want to drop $4 on a 20-page story.

One possibility is printing collections in the size of typical children's/teens' paperback novels and stocking them in that area of the store. But even that's problematic because of the layout. At my Walmart, the children's, teens', and adults' books are pretty much all in the same area, and it isn't even next to toys (which would make sense). It's between the photo center and electronics. Sure, some gamers might walk over and browse...maybe, but I honestly don't even recall selling many children's or teens' books. It's all adults buying adult novels. And don't even consider a magazine format. Dead, dead, dead. Other than old people sometimes buying those pro-Trump tabloids, I never sell any magazines either. Each week, the magazine people come in, take back the unsold magazines, and put up new ones that won't sell.

In the end, I think digital-only is the way to go for new stories. Older material can be collected and printed for those that don't want digital.

This week, I review "The New Archies" segment, "Sir Jughead Jones".

Huh. That's an interesting approach. I'll definitely buy it.

Quote from: 60sBettyandReggie on April 14, 2017, 08:14:11 PM
This makes me happy. And I know I am not the only one.

If you don't like the show, just stick to reading the old comics. Hoping for the show to fail contributes nothing positive to the world.

So Cheryl and Chuck's big revenge with (to paraphrase Jughead) "horrible repercussions" was...to crash Jughead's birthday party and get everyone to dish on each other. Ooh, evil! Yeah, no, it sounds like they actually did everyone a favor by getting everything out in the open.

During Veronica and Cheryl's competition, right after Cheryl starts her routine, it looks like Betty is checking them out.

LOL at:

Betty: "Dilton Doiley plays with guns."
Cheryl: "Well, Doiley's a psychopath. We all know that."
Betty just kind of nods like "Okay, point."

This week, I'm reviewing "The New Archies" segment, "I Gotta Be Me or Is It You?".

It'll probably be some minor character that no one cares about - maybe even a no-name background character.

But, yeah, comic book deaths don't mean anything - not even in TV and film adaptations. That's why I roll my eyes whenever a reactor cries out a main character's name when s/he's in trouble on screen - as if they're in any real danger.

Here are my thoughts:

Tree-tapping ceremony. WTF?

Maple syrup empire. WTF?

Why does the board fear Cheryl being in charge? She seems capable of leading the company.

LOL at Cheryl's "Also, 4.0."

So Polly supposedly thinks the Blossoms had "something to do" with Jason's death, but they actually were responsible for sending Hiram to jail, so maybe Hiram put a hit out on Jason?

Veronica's apparent go-to solution after feeling she's wronged someone: flowers.

I'm surprised that Mrs. Muggs kept Veronica's flowers.

What will Cheryl do? Will it be as imminent as the repercussions from the sacked football players, which hasn't happened yet?

I enjoy "Riverdale". Yeah, it gets dark (more so than the comics), but there's also plenty of humor. I especially laugh at a lot of Cheryl's lines.

Also, the Blossoms made their fortune by building a maple syrup empire. A Maple. Syrup. Empire. And they have an annual tree-tapping ceremony (as YouTuber Andre calls it, "white-people $#|t"). The creators are clearly having fun with the concept and don't take it too seriously.

Also, anyone notice episode 11 is called "To Riverdale and Back Again"? Sounds like the perfect opportunity for some cameos!

This week, I'm reviewing Archie, Vol. 2, No. 14.

I've been wondering what might have changed for Cheryl to go from telling Polly to avoid the Blossoms to inviting her to live with them. Did Cheryl and her parents have a little chat?

Then again, maybe nothing's changed, and Cheryl simply wants a big sister, so she won't be alone with her parents in that house. And maybe Cheryl's hoping Polly will divert some of her parents' attention away from her.

Quote from: gillibean on April 02, 2017, 01:15:43 PM

Quote from: Tuxedo Mark on April 02, 2017, 09:32:58 AM

So Hal got Alice to have her first child aborted. Is this a joking reference to Chic, who's barely acknowledged in the comics?

I was thinking the same exact thing, because he doesn't exist in the show at all!

Honestly, I'm beginning to think he no longer exists in the comics. What's the most recent reference to him?

I was also starting to think the same thing about Jason (in the Classic Archieverse), but he appeared for all of one panel in "Cheryl and Cheryl Alike!" early last year.