Somehow Archie Comics' policy of messing around with history has always escaped the wrath of the Time Variance Authority. And the Time Police, too... isn't that supposed to be their job?

The two writers who seem to be on the same wavelength to the extent that you might not guess who wrote which story are Bill Golliher and Dan Parent. Those two started out together 35 years ago, and worked so closely with each other so often, that it's not too surprising that they think alike.

Ah, ok I get it now... the complaint is she should have called him Juggers.

But even so, it seems to me that most secondary characters that amount to anything at all, only do so in the hands of their original creator. Like... I wouldn't expect Craig Boldman to suddenly turn in a story featuring Veronica's cousin Marcy and have it feel authentic, either.

I get the feeling with the recent re-appearances of a lot of lesser-seen characters that it's just the editor deciding on which characters will be featured, then handing out the assignments to whoever's available. Rather than it's an idea the writer came up with on his own -- which you have to admit, would be a lot easier to believe if Dan Parent was writing a new cousin Marcy story, or Craig Boldman was writing a new Trula story.

Quote from: PTF on August 30, 2022, 02:41:39 AMMy only complaint is that she never called him Juggers

But she DID call him Juggers... that nickname was entirely the invention of Craig Boldman. Many people call him "Jug" or "Juggie" for short, but ONLY Trula calls him "Juggers". I'd have to check, but that might even go all the way back to Trula's first appearance in JUGHEAD (1987 series) #89.

For the record, I consider any Trula Twyst story NOT written by Craig Boldman to be at best of negligible importance, if not an entirely alternate-universe (as in the case of Big Ethel Energy) version of the character. Fortunately, Boldman has recently written a couple of new stories for Archie Comics, but it's actually kind of hard to write a new Trula Twyst story that reveals any new aspects of her character (and Jughead) in a mere 5 pages.

That's true of many of the less-seen characters, too. You can't get into any complex plots (never mind complex character development) with a strict limit of 5 pages per story, so that limits the kinds of stories you can tell now in "traditional style" Archie stories. I miss the days when they could expand, at their discretion, a story for up to 22 pages.

Quote from: beatman10 on August 21, 2022, 08:56:13 AMI think Jughead has some power over Trula if he really wanted to use it. That is, simply by ignoring her. Maybe Archie Comics could do a story on that and how Trula's reaction would be.

The way Jughead's mind works though, is that he'd be immediately worried if his attempt to ignore Trula resulted in zero response from her (which is just how she'd play it).... and the more he continued to ignore her and she continued to not respond in any way, the more it would vex and frustrate Jughead, because he would certainly conclude that her non-response to his ignoring her meant that she was biding her time secretly calculating (and maybe even carrying out, without him being aware of it) even more sinister mind games with him in mind. And unfortunately, that is how Jughead thinks. Trula can well afford not to obsess over him if she doesn't want to, but Jughead isn't capable of that -- the only thing he's really capable of is pretending to ignore her, because in reality when she seemingly does nothing, that's when he's most worried about what she might do next.

But of course you'll have to sort out the source of each story title yourself. Looks like a fairly representative line-up with a small selection of stories spanning each of the various eras. Looking forward to this one!

Sure... Ophelia became Big Ethel, and Lottie Little became Midge Klump.

In Archie Comics, there are a lot of characters that are used as prototypes, with minor tweaks, for later characters. In WILBUR you had Alec, who with a minor tweak becomes the later Alexander Cabot III; just as Alexandra and Alex from JOSIE are prototypes (with minor tweaks) for Cheryl and Jason Blossom.

Quote from: PTF on July 11, 2022, 10:48:56 PMWell, maybe Archie listens to at least one reader. I like Trula Twyst and I like Bingo Wilkin. So, um...let's try bringing back Regina Mantle!

Hey, they're doing a return visit to Mirrordale, so can Reversedale be that far behind? That one (ARCHIE 636) was written by Tania Del Rio, and they've gotten her to write a couple of new ones recently... it would be neat if they could get Giselle Lagace to draw a new story.

This issue is indeed packed with Jughead reprints, or at least Archie stories in which Jughead plays a major role -- but most of them are genuine Jughead stories. First we have an all-new Jughead story by Craig Boldman and Rex Lindsey, which feels just like a reprint of one of their old stories, but isn't. Then there's a new THAT WILKIN BOY story by Craig Boldman and Jeff Schultz (in which Jughead puts in an appearance in 3 panels). Essentially what we have here is a JUGHEAD JUMBO COMICS DIGEST in which his name doesn't appear in the cover logo. 

Hey, I didn't know about this!

Apparently BarnesandNoble.com released a series of 23 different Archie Comics 80th Anniversary digital exclusive one-shots.

Quote from: beatman10 on June 15, 2022, 09:37:09 PMI had interpreted what Uslan meant in the interview is he had written an actual ending showing only one of the "Archie Marries" timelines will be "canon" and the other one is a "fantasy".  And like a lot of other fans of these stories, I tried to find any clues that Mr. Uslan may have left. Like, why did Archie look so distraught near the end of the Veronica timeline when he went for his Christmas Eve walk? He had money, family and his marriage to Veronica seemed pretty solid. We'll probably never know the answer and maybe we're not supposed to.

Yeah, I don't know how anything in the future can be deemed "canon"; all future stories are possible futures. It would only be canon if it got an ongoing series. And maybe not even then... Is January McAndrews "canon"? Or just a descendant of Archie in some possible future?

And I don't know how either one (Archie marries Betty or Archie marries Veronica) can ever become canon, because it's automatically divisive and alienates half the readers... and they sure don't want that. Even when the premise of "Archie Marries" became the ongoing title LIFE WITH ARCHIE, each universe is equally true and valid... and so are the ones they didn't show (or even think of) until later, like "Archie Marries Valerie".

Quote from: beatman10 on May 28, 2022, 01:56:44 PMIn my opinion, Jughead is the most versatile character in the Archie universe. You can put him in any storyline and he will fit in. Here are some of the qualities I most admire about him.
1. Although he'd perceived as being lazy, he is very helpful when a friend or someone is in need.
2. Food makes him nearly superhuman. There are stories where Jughead becomes Riverdale's star athlete when food is used as motivation. In one story , he pitches a perfect game for the Riverdale baseball team but then quits when he finds out Coach Kleats only has his players eat "health food". Food is to Jughead what spinach is to Popeye.
3. He likes animals (dogs especially)
4. In the rare stories where Jughead DOES show feelings for a girl, it means more to me than Archie unable to decide between Betty and Veronica, or, Reggie trying to steal someone else's girlfriend to satisfy his ego. The whole Jughead/ Debbie/ Joanni love triangle story failed because  Jughead became too much like his best friend.
5 He's Team Betty. Jughead gives Archie an earful when he takes Betty for granted. And it was obvious that Jughead was happier when Archie came to his senses  and married her.

So what happened to him to make his popularity slip to the point where he lost his own digest title?
 
I mean, not even one where he shares the billing with Archie?

Not even a bi-monthly...?

Quote from: beatman10 on May 28, 2022, 01:27:36 PMI did read a 2009 NYT interview with Michael Uslan where he said he wrote "Archie's Fate in one of the two storylines". He said this after being asked about "which girl will Archie be destined to spend his life with". Of course, that will end the love triangle, but I'm curious to see which girl ends up being Archie's true wife.  I think I know who it is......

I'm afraid I don't understand what you're saying. The question is decided in both girls' favor at the very beginning of ARCHIE MARRIES... and thus, the two divergent timelines. And of course, a third is added much later with Valerie becoming his "true wife". It's simply a matter of what is true in one alternate timeline is different than what is true in another.

So... the triangle remains unresolved. Or it's been resolved both ways, take your choice.