Archie Comics Fan Forum

Everything Archie => All About Archie => Through the Decades => Topic started by: DeCarlo Rules on April 21, 2022, 01:09:10 PM

Title: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 21, 2022, 01:09:10 PM
I was just browsing through the list of Jughead titles ACP has published over the years. I won't bore you with listing the short-run/miniseries titles, but just look at this list (in chronological order of first publication)...

Jughead (1949 1st Series) #1-352           [1949-1987]
Jughead with Archie Digest #1-200   [1974-2005]
Jughead Jones Comics Digest #1-101   [1977-1996]
Jughead (1987 2nd Series) #1-214   [1987-2012]
Jughead's Double Digest #1-200           [1989-2014]
Jughead and Friends Digest   #1-38   [2005-2010]
Jughead and Archie Double Digest #1-27   [2014-2017]

That's about 1,100 or so individual issues featuring Jughead as the main character (impressive if your name isn't Superman, Batman, or Spider-Man), and certainly more comics than ACP has published about any other character (except Archie himself, and Betty & Veronica as a duo).

Somehow, though... Jughead's relative popularity (and sales) seemed to begin waning some 20-ish years ago, and just fell off a cliff. To the point where there's NO comic published now featuring Jughead at all. And yeah, that's to be expected where floppy comics are concerned, since there's no ongoing Archie or B&V series any longer, either. But not even ONE digest comic for Juggy, when A, B&V both have two ongoing digests?

WHY?? Why, I ask you? What changed? After decades as one of ACP's "Top 3" (again, counting B&V as a team entity), how did he just become one more face in the crowd, no more important than Kevin, Reggie, or Moose?

Is he just "less relevant" now, somehow? Seriously, I want to know what people think. Any theories on this?
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: Hanna Barbera Montana on April 21, 2022, 10:09:23 PM
Ruiz comment in the "Nobody here anymore?" thread got me thinking about that too. I wonder if Jug's quirkiness potentially alienates some readers (Betty and Ronnie are the usual "polar opposites who are somehow BFFs" and Arch is the classic everyman; while Jug is the "weird best friend"). It's hard to process a character as popular as he losing readers regularly.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2022, 01:18:05 PM
Clearly, from sometime in the '70s to the early '90s, they were tinkering with Jughead, trying to update him. At first they seemed determined to ditch the traditional beanie or crown as old-fashioned... Jughead wore a variety of different kind of hats, sometimes commonplace like a baseball cap, and sometimes eccentric, like a Civil War cap.

Then came the phase where he's dating girls lot in order to send the message "He's NOT gay!"... And then the addition of baby Jellybean, making Jughead the only one of the gang who was a big brother, leading to more variety of comedic situations.

Still, from 1989-1996, Jughead was popular enough to appear in four ongoing comics (1 floppy comic, 3 digests) named after him (plus a number of admittedly short-lived spinoffs around the same time). Even if the digests are mainly reprints. Not even B&V could outdo that.

A lot of people think that the best of Jughead didn't even happen until 1997-2012, when Craig Boldman and Rex Lindsey became the main (if not exclusive) creative team on JUGHEAD, resulting in dozens of now-classic stories. Boldman redefined Jughead as not just lazy and a voracious eater, but a quirky oddball given to various temporary obsessions that came and went. He was sometimes impulsive, sometimes set in his ways; he tended to think outside the box, didn't care what people thought about him, but invariably had his own blind spots.

I guess it was inevitable that as the list of floppy comics published by ACP began seriously shrinking, he was going to lose his own book before B&V and ARCHIE, but I was frankly shocked when his last digest title was cancelled in 2017 (even if he required Archie's name in the title to boost sales). I figured give it a year, two at most, and there would be some other iteration of a Jughead digest back on the shelves -- maybe "Archie and Jughead Jumbo Comics", but it hasn't happened and it doesn't look like it's going to.

Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: steveinthecity on April 22, 2022, 07:49:23 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 22, 2022, 01:18:05 PMStill, from 1989-1996, Jughead was popular enough to appear in four ongoing comics (1 floppy comic, 3 digests) named after him (plus a number of admittedly short-lived spinoffs around the same time). Even if the digests are mainly reprints. Not even B&V could outdo that.

A lot of people think that the best of Jughead didn't even happen until 1997-2012, when Craig Boldman and Rex Lindsey became the main (if not exclusive) creative team on JUGHEAD, resulting in dozens of now-classic stories. Boldman redefined Jughead as not just lazy and a voracious eater, but a quirky oddball given to various temporary obsessions that came and went. He was sometimes impulsive, sometimes set in his ways; he tended to think outside the box, didn't care what people thought about him, but invariably had his own blind spots.
I'd say from 1989-1996 Jughead's popularity was coasting on 40+ years of past glory. My thinking is this period was the unraveling of Jughead as so many of us knew the character. The attempts to modernize an otherwise timeless character(to that point) with the aforementioned hats, haircuts, odd friends, skateboarding, etc. The Joani/Debbie love triangle also struck me as something "original" Jughead would have never been part of, and these sorts of storylines continued to both dilute and alter the characterization/personality of the Jughead we knew for decades.  No more Doyle or Gladir, either. The changes in writing and editorial direction seemed abrupt following the renumbering imo.

For the 1997-2012 era I'm wondering just who these people are that consider this timeframe the best?  I suspect the majority of those folks would fall into a much younger demo than fans of 40's to 80's Jughead. Maybe those stories are just as fun for some readers, but to me we saw a dilution of Jug's inherent quirkiness, cunning, and "street smarts", not a reinforcement.  I'd say Jughead fell victim(along with the core five) to ACP's efforts of inclusiveness and fairness which led to his being bested by Kevin or Toni(who?) in eating contests for example.

Without rambling on, I'd say Juggie's fall from grace occurred concurrently with the entire line.  Revamps or updates to all the Riverdale residents we knew and loved just went a mite too far.  Language, fashion, interests, and activities for the gang always updated somewhat through the years, but there was too much change.  Changes to Jughead might have affected his character more than others as he was possibly the most iconic of the Archie gang, at least for me.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 23, 2022, 06:02:56 PM
I think the problem with Jughead's "past glory" was that it was limited to too few tropes (also true of Archie) to keep repeating over and over with only the most minor variations.

1) stories dealing with Jughead's gluttony and/or obsession with food.
2) stories dealing with Jughead's laziness, or convoluted efforts to avoid work.
3) stories dealing with Jughead avoiding Big Ethel, or dating in general.
4) stories dealing with Jughead trying to mooch money (for food).
5) stories dealing with Jughead outsmarting Reggie (or occasionally, Archie or Veronica).

... and that's about it, really. Maybe a lesser number of stories proving Jughead's loyalty to his friends. But those tropes were already honed to their peak as early as the late 50s/early 60s.

That's not a long list, to stretch over the next 7 decades. So yeah, Jellybean stories added a new trope. And Craig Boldman added lots more variations just by the simple extension of logic that food isn't the only thing Jughead tends to obsess over -- you never knew what the next thing might be. New tropes added, they didn't subtract, since the old stories were still continually being reprinted. Jughead needed to stretch his boundaries at least a little.

The late 80s/early 90s in retrospect is interesting if only to see the weird transformations Jughead goes through (a bit like DC's Jimmy Olsen) by way of experimentation in testing his limits. Guilty pleasure, but glad it didn't stick.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on May 28, 2022, 01:56:44 PM
In 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.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on June 02, 2022, 10:33:05 AM
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...?
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: PTF on June 06, 2022, 02:39:58 PM
Let's just say I look back on the Boldman-Lindsey run with respect and awe.

Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on June 12, 2022, 09:17:18 PM
Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on June 02, 2022, 10:33:05 AM
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: DeCarlo Rules on June 02, 2022, 10:33:05 AM
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...?
To be honest, I don't know the reason. So, I can only make some guesses.  Maybe younger fans of Archie feel Jughead and his characteristics are from a bygone era and they want stories with more recent characters like Kevin Keller. Or, they want to see more of secondary character stories (i.e Big Ethel Energy). And don't forget all the darker stories that came out over the past decade. Many of the older Archie fans  who followed Jughead as kids may have given up comics when they became adults, or unfortunately, they are no longer with us. But again, these are only guesses.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: steveinthecity on June 16, 2022, 03:39:31 PM

Jughead's quirks and characteristics work best when contrasted with the other characters circling him in the Archie universe imo. His long recognized gluttony can be bested by both Kevin and Toni Topaz.  His cleverness and keen observation of others now fails in his battles of wit with Trula outsmarting him are two examples. 

Common themes like his dread and avoidance of an encounter with Ethel(& other teenage girls) has disappeared as has his rivalry with Veronica for both Archie's attention and mistrust of Veronica's intentions have fallen by the wayside.  His occasional snark or indifference towards the general population is long gone, replaced by a perpetual pleasant disposition.  When was the last time others were annoyed or angry with his sloth or laissez faire approach to life?  I think the character has simply changed, evolving into a kinder, gentler Jughead which I don't believe he was ever meant to be, at least on the surface.

Also a thought on the anachronism of his hat/beanie, but I don't think it matters. I imagine anyone of any age discovering Jughead for the first time looks past that after seeing just a few panels on a page. The manner in which he's been variously portrayed in the last decade in LWA, in Time Police, Sharknado, or horror-type titles have helped distance him from his early and more identifiable persona for most I'd believe.  
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on June 19, 2022, 10:16:36 AM
Jughead was always about untapped and unlimited potential. He could be the star athlete or the Riverdale Romeo if he wanted to be. Him losing eating contests to new characters, Kevin and Toni, wasn't a necessary storyline. I like Trula Twyst and I see she's making a comeback. She doesn't always win in the battle of wits with Jughead. He throws her a curveball now and then when she goes to far with her schemes. But, it's pretty obvious to me that she was created to be a potential love interest for Jughead since she only tries her schemes on him.
As far as last decade's LWA Married Life stories I felt all of the characters had matured (especially in the Betty-verse) since the stories take place 6 years in the future, So, I can see where Jughead "outgrew" his fear of girls here.
I haven't checked out much of the rebooted stories. But, what I have seen of them, to me anyway, Jughead just seems weird and not as likable.
The old Jughead may have been snarky and indifferent, but you liked and rooted for him.

Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on June 20, 2022, 03:14:14 PM
Hey, I didn't know about this!

Apparently BarnesandNoble.com (https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/%22Archie+Comics+80th+Anniversary+Presents%22?Ntk=P_Series_Title&Ns=P_Series_Number&Ntx=mode+matchall) released a series of 23 different Archie Comics 80th Anniversary digital exclusive one-shots.

(https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B550%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/9781645762874_p0_v1%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D)(https://prodimage.images-bn.com/lf?set=key%5Bresolve.pixelRatio%5D,value%5B1%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.width%5D,value%5B550%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.height%5D,value%5B10000%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.imageFit%5D,value%5Bcontainerwidth%5D&set=key%5Bresolve.allowImageUpscaling%5D,value%5B0%5D&product=path%5B/pimages/9781645763314_p0_v2%5D&call=url%5Bfile:common/decodeProduct.chain%5D)
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on June 28, 2022, 09:35:22 PM
(https://www.tfaw.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1626744db03ed6f05af295b1a820c9c8/A/P/APR221262.jpg)

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.  :)

Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on July 05, 2022, 08:04:32 PM
I have also noticed some of the promotionals for the new Archie releases I see on Facebook and other sites have excluded Reggie. It's even referred to as the "Core Four" with Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica. Is Reggie getting cancelled also?
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: PTF on July 05, 2022, 08:30:44 PM
Oh, Reggie's been getting the short end of the stick for a long time now. He wasn't a main character in Riverdale when it first started and...yeah. Best he got was a very good five issue Reggie & Me mini series. Also in the Archie comic, it looked like he was getting to be the one to look into the mystery involving going ons in Riverdale...then Covid happen and the book, I guess is canceled?

Plus all the classic Archie stories are now four pages in the digests now.

I'm kind of hoping the Classic Archie style comics will get back to the main front after Riverdale is finally gone, but, honestly, I don't that's ever going to be the direction of the Archie Comics as it is right now.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on July 11, 2022, 12:55:26 PM
These are most likely all corporate decisions to shelve some characters in favor of others. But I wonder how much influence do fans have in either the company doing away with a particular character/storyline, or, even bringing them back. For instance, as I said earlier, Trula Twyst is making a comeback. For the longest time, there were no Trula stories. But she's been brought back and the explanation was she was in school overseas. Of course, the first person she wants to see when she gets back is Jughead!! I'll take Jughead/Trula over Jughead/Ethel every time. She's much more interesting. But I wonder if the was solely a corporate decision to bring her back, or did the readers have also something to do with her return?
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: PTF on July 11, 2022, 10:48:56 PM
Well, 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! :)

And yeah,  I like Trula better than Ethel. But I do like the old time Ethel stories and I like the character. I mean, she has the misfortune of not being pretty and living in a town where everyone is at least a nine or ten. Plus she decided to fall in love with the only guy in town who doesn't care about romance and is pretty much the Bugs Bunny of the Archieverse. And I really like how she always took everything in stride. It's pretty admirable to keep going when the entire universe seems out to get you. :)

And that's one thing I don't like about today's world. It's kind of hard to do those Ethel stories now, given the social climate. And I understand why. But for Ethel you really are losing alot of what made the character fun and memorable. The most I can think of now is "Well, maybe later on she's successful and gets revenge." And I don't like that that's my idea because I watched a Netflix show like that and I did not like it. Had the actress who played Disney's Jessie as the star.

And corporate, yeah. Like we have Jake Chang in a few digest stories and he's going to be getting his own show on the CW. I'm kind of surprised that he doesn't get his own ongoing. It just looks like Archie Comics is banking on their tv shows, which does make sense. And it's always been like that. Cartoon doesn't sell toys or merch, it's gone; comic doesn't get some sort of tv or movie deal...unless it's selling well, goodbye.

The only thing I can question is why, in a world where super hero movies rule, that we haven't seen any of the Archie heroes like The Shield get some sort of movie or tv. That seems like an lay up shot to me.

And I guess characters getting new stories could be AC way of seeing "maybe this character can be used more or be in a show" Just to see if anything sticks. I don't know if that's the case with Trula. Honestly, I thought, given Riverdale, she would make a great villain but instead--she was a pussycat and a totally different character.

But again that's the world we live in. You have old properties being brought back or you have companies just making new shows or toons where only the likeness is the same and everything is--it's making new characters, but giving them old character skins. Still so upset about Jellystone. :(

:)
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on July 21, 2022, 09:32:24 AM
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.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: beatman10 on August 07, 2022, 03:08:32 PM
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! :)

And yeah,  I like Trula better than Ethel. But I do like the old time Ethel stories and I like the character. I mean, she has the misfortune of not being pretty and living in a town where everyone is at least a nine or ten. Plus she decided to fall in love with the only guy in town who doesn't care about romance and is pretty much the Bugs Bunny of the Archieverse. And I really like how she always took everything in stride. It's pretty admirable to keep going when the entire universe seems out to get you. :)

And that's one thing I don't like about today's world. It's kind of hard to do those Ethel stories now, given the social climate. And I understand why. But for Ethel you really are losing alot of what made the character fun and memorable. The most I can think of now is "Well, maybe later on she's successful and gets revenge." And I don't like that that's my idea because I watched a Netflix show like that and I did not like it. Had the actress who played Disney's Jessie as the star.

And corporate, yeah. Like we have Jake Chang in a few digest stories and he's going to be getting his own show on the CW. I'm kind of surprised that he doesn't get his own ongoing. It just looks like Archie Comics is banking on their tv shows, which does make sense. And it's always been like that. Cartoon doesn't sell toys or merch, it's gone; comic doesn't get some sort of tv or movie deal...unless it's selling well, goodbye.

The only thing I can question is why, in a world where super hero movies rule, that we haven't seen any of the Archie heroes like The Shield get some sort of movie or tv. That seems like an lay up shot to me.

And I guess characters getting new stories could be AC way of seeing "maybe this character can be used more or be in a show" Just to see if anything sticks. I don't know if that's the case with Trula. Honestly, I thought, given Riverdale, she would make a great villain but instead--she was a pussycat and a totally different character.

But again that's the world we live in. You have old properties being brought back or you have companies just making new shows or toons where only the likeness is the same and everything is--it's making new characters, but giving them old character skins. Still so upset about Jellystone. :(

:)
You can't have a character like the old Ethel anymore in this political climate. There would be some group trying to get her banned as a sex offender because of her unwanted advances on Jughead. Remember they tried cancelling Pepe Le Pew. Yeah, she acted like an kindergartener trying to kiss a boy which I thought was made for laughs. And Jughead usually got away from her in most stories. And I do feel that the characters have to grow. Ethel, over the years, became more attractive, hair is longer, she is given curves and is less obsessed with Jughead. But, I hope that her progression was simply made to help grow the character who, before, was mostly a one trick pony. 
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: PTF on August 09, 2022, 01:11:35 PM
So are the Three Stooges, but I still laugh my head off on MEtv reruns. :)

But yeah, can't do things like the good old day. Heck, we can't even get the good old style comics. :)


I remember Pepe, he couldn't be in Space Jam 2 but the gang from Clockwork Orange and Pennywise...they're okay to be in a PG movie. :)

And Pepe is super easy to fix. Just have him as a guy looking for love, only he doesn't realize he's a skunk and thus...stinks. Have the cat... Penelope I think is her name, to actually like him--because he is super charming, but can't stand the smell.

Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: Jabroniville on November 27, 2022, 03:13:57 AM
I think Jughead's lack of appeal to modern readers is more linked to Archie's current fanbase, of which a huge portion is female. They typically went over that audience above all others... this means that Betty & Veronica typically does the best, and then Archie (the flagship) does the rest. Jughead kind of loses out among the Big Four, as he ends up with the most male-centric book (since Archie's book also involves Betty & Veronica inherently).

Add to that things others have mentioned, like Jughead losing a lot of his "edge". As much as I liked a lot of the Boldman-Lindsey era, things tended to be a lot less antagonistic or snarky. You'd still see bits of it, like the arc where Jughead kept moving in to various people's houses and then being kicked out, but it wasn't as prominent.

The "Jughead outsmarts everyone" stories had kinda stopped happening, too. Instead of being as laid-back, he was more manic- DeCarlo Rules mentions him suddenly jumping onto various obsessions and fads. 
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 10, 2023, 02:12:32 PM
Quote from: Jabroniville on November 27, 2022, 03:13:57 AMI think Jughead's lack of appeal to modern readers is more linked to Archie's current fanbase, of which a huge portion is female. They typically went over that audience above all others... this means that Betty & Veronica typically does the best, and then Archie (the flagship) does the rest. Jughead kind of loses out among the Big Four, as he ends up with the most male-centric book (since Archie's book also involves Betty & Veronica inherently).

But there hasn't been a regular B&V title (unless you count those quarterly one-shots that are 75% reprint) since 2015 when their classic ongoing title ended. Only two miniseries, VIXENS and the Adam Hughes one, while ARCHIE had an ongoing title that ran for 47 issues, plus a number of miniseries. JUGHEAD's ongoing title at least managed 16 issues -- while what would presumably have been the start of an ongoing "New Riverdale" series (Adam Hughes') for B&V managed a mere 3 issues (released over a span of one-and-a-half years!)

Have you not kept track of what titles ACP has released as trade paperbacks? True enough that JUGHEAD comes in dead last of the Big Three with a bare few, but B&V trail, far, far, far behind the numerous trade collections released for ARCHIE.

That should debunk the theory that B&V is still ACP's biggest cash cow. It hasn't been for at least 10-15 years now.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on April 15, 2023, 02:58:26 PM
I've never liked Jughead. I found him rather one-note and annoying.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 10, 2023, 02:12:32 PMBut there hasn't been a regular B&V title (unless you count those quarterly one-shots that are 75% reprint) since 2015 when their classic ongoing title ended. Only two miniseries, VIXENS and the Adam Hughes one, while ARCHIE had an ongoing title that ran for 47 issues, plus a number of miniseries. JUGHEAD's ongoing title at least managed 16 issues -- while what would presumably have been the start of an ongoing "New Riverdale" series (Adam Hughes') for B&V managed a mere 3 issues (released over a span of one-and-a-half years!)

You forgot the five-issue Senior Year that came after Vixens.

Quote from: DeCarlo Rules on April 10, 2023, 02:12:32 PMHave you not kept track of what titles ACP has released as trade paperbacks? True enough that JUGHEAD comes in dead last of the Big Three with a bare few, but B&V trail, far, far, far behind the numerous trade collections released for ARCHIE.

That should debunk the theory that B&V is still ACP's biggest cash cow. It hasn't been for at least 10-15 years now.

You're making an assumption based on very little evidence (considering we have absolutely no sales data regarding digests).

According to Brian Hibbs' Bookscan column about comic sales in the bookstore market (including Amazon) in 2022, the biggest-selling Archie book in 2022 was 80 Years of Christmas, which sold a whopping 1,500 copies in the entire year. Obviously, this doesn't include digital comics, orders directly from Archie Comics, comic shop sales, etc. Still, that's pathetic.

Back in 2012 (the last year that we have circulation figures for the digests), the average sales for each title were:

Betty and Veronica Double Digest: 47600
Archie Double Digest: 45641
World of Archie Double Digest: 39936
Archie and Friends Double Digest: 38855
B&V Friends Double Digest: 38278
Jughead Double Digest: 37812
Archie: 15292
Betty and Veronica: 9095
Kevin Keller: 7274

Fast forward to 2023. All of the floppies are gone. Not only has Jughead lost his only digest title, but Archie has lost one as well. We have no idea whose digests are selling more nor, more importantly, at what level. No one is releasing sales figures. Not publishers, not distributors, not stores. Even the direct market has lacked all sales figures since the last ones were released for April of 2022. The general public is in the dark about the sales of the entire comics industry - except for what's revealed in Hibbs' Bookscan article (in which Archie Comics doesn't even garner a mention; I had to ask him for info).

What it reveals:

1) Manga rules.

2) Among Western comics, Dav Pilkey and his Dogman franchse rules.

3) You have to go far down the chart before you come to a Western title that's aimed at adults (and it's not from DC or Marvel).

4) DC sells better than Marvel.

5) Nearly every publisher that licenses and adapts Marvel characters sells better than Marvel.

6) Marvel managed to place only one book in the Top 750.

7) The comics business is hit-driven. 10% of all sales come from around two-dozen books.

So, in the comics market as a whole, kids' stuff rules. That's very different than the direct market, which caters to aging, superhero-gobbling fanboys.

And yet Archie Comics' trades sell horribly. Let's be super, super generous and say each trade copy of 80 Years of Christmas sold for $20 (yeah, an obvious overestimation, but it'll balance out a bit under the assumption that Archie Comics sold other trade collections last year, however few). That's $30,000 gross income for the year from the North American bookstore market. They couldn't afford to keep the lights on with that money. So the digests must be selling well enough for Archie Comics to survive, right?

Well, these days, with the price of digests being so high (and with the new stories being available to read for free), I find it hard to believe they would be selling anywhere near 2012 levels.

But let's say they are. Let's say the four remaining digests haven't dipped below 2012 sales levels in the ten years since. Again, it's an overestimation, but there are also two additional, more sporadic digest titles that I'm not accounting for. If each of these four digests published ten issues per year and sold at full retail price, Archie Comics is looking at, at best, $17,128,354.50 in gross annual income from the digests. There's no way that they're pulling in that much money. If they were, they could afford to publish much more than the sporadic reprint floppies and occasional horror one-shots. There hasn't been a new licensed novel since 2020, and there hasn't been an OGN since 2021. There has been zero expansion of the brand.

Riverdale, long since a punching bag, still in the beginning of its highly divisive final season, managed to pull in 220,000 live viewers for its latest episode, not much less than the entirety of the digest line did in monthly sales back in 2012 (and almost certainly more than the digests are selling monthly now).

Didn't Fernando say in another thread that Jughead's titles were selling the worst back when he was at the company, despite claims that he was people's favorite character?

Well, here's some trivia for you that bears this out a little. In the direct market only, with a handful of exceptions between the floppy and digest, Cheryl Blossom routinely outsold Jughead's titles during the entirety of its run. No idea if this was true for all sales across all channels, but there ya go.

I do see Archie Comics chart in some specific sales categories on Amazon. Mostly romance comics and licensed teen TV and movie comics. Mostly it's the digests, but sometimes a floppy will chart. It doesn't take much sales to chart in a specific sales category on Amazon, though, since those charts are updated hourly, I think.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 16, 2023, 01:49:31 PM
None of the above explains what is obvious on the face of things... that the title logo ARCHIE (not BETTY & VERONICA) by far dominates the number of trade collections (in GIANT or 1000-PAGE, or any other formats) that ACP releases. Which makes absolutely no sense if ACP's major seller is B&V, as opposed to ARCHIE. If B&V are the top attraction for consumers, shouldn't the number of trade collections with BETTY AND VERONICA in the title far outnumber those with ARCHIE in the title? Yet it's exactly the opposite. What other conclusion is there to draw?

And why are there four Archie digests (Archie Jumbo Comics, World of Archie Jumbo Comics, Archie Milestones, Archie Showcase) to B&V's two (B&V Jumbo Comics, World of B&V Jumbo Comics)?

I mean, they could easily repackage/recycle the same stories from B&V Jumbo Comics and World of B&V Jumbo Comics in 1000-PAGE and GIANT formats, yet there's never been a single one yet. I'll leave you to count all those ARCHIE 1000-PAGE and GIANT COMICS releases on your own.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: Tuxedo Mark on April 17, 2023, 09:09:18 PM
Archie's name is on more of the titles, because the company is named after him. And two of those digests that you mentioned are reprint-only and published less often than the main digests. They exist to spotlight a particular character or past storyline.

I just combed through a bunch of Top 100 charts on Amazon. I could find only five charts on which Archie Comics appears at all. Of those five, Archie-titled books dominated on only one of them: School Life Manga. Betty and Veronica dominated on Humorous Graphic Novels, Contemporary Women Graphic Novels (Kindle), Contemporary Women Graphic Novels (all), and Romance Graphic Novels. In some cases, the girls are charting eleven times as many titles as Archie is (and at a higher overall placement).
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on April 18, 2023, 03:43:29 PM
You can arrange to categorize comics (or manga) by sub-genres however you like -- it tells you nothing about the relative popularity of the sub-genre described, so it really tells you absolutely nothing about actual sales.

What I'm suggesting here is that IF, theoretically, Betty & Veronica ARE in actuality, ACP's most popular and best-selling characters, ACP is shooting themselves in the foot by choosing to market trade collections under the ARCHIE logo, rather than the BETTY & VERONICA logo. If it is indeed true, then their own marketing practices are hampering the sales potential of trade collections that feature reprints of BETTY & VERONICA stories by labeling those collections as "ARCHIE". I don't see what you fail to understand about this -- if B&V are the main attractions, then products marketed under the name B&V should sell better than those that aren't. So if it's true, then ACP is failing to take advantage by selling more trade collections marketed with the B&V logo.

And I don't believe that for a minute. If the ARCHIE logo appears on the cover far more often, it's not because it's the company's name, it's because books marketed with the ARCHIE logo sell better than those that aren't.
Title: Re: Alas, poor Jughead...
Post by: DeCarlo Rules on August 19, 2023, 09:08:49 AM
Is ARCHIE MILESTONES DIGEST turning into the newest incarnation of JUGHEAD DIGEST?
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