• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Archie going dark - can no one have FUN anymore?

2

23skidoo

Admiral
Admiral
What is it with today's youth? Apparently they're incapable of having fun anymore. Or at least that seems to be the opinion of some comic book creators.

Why else take Archie - a comic series that for 70 years has for the most part delivered one-liners, light-hearted adventure and Josie and the Pussycats, and do this to it:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/books/6518824/story.html

Basically, upcoming issues are going to feature Occupy Riverdale, "something quite violent happens for a fan-favorite character" and, oh yeah, Cheryl Blossom is going to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

WTF?

I'm reminded of what happened to the Brady Bunch. It was a fun sitcom, brain candy, everyone loved it (OK they hated it when it became a variety show, but there's only so much a human brain can withstand). Fast-forward to the 1990s and a revival of the Brady Bunch with the original cast was launched. But they decided to make it a family drama, sort of a modern-day Waltons.

Gee, I wonder why most people reading this probably have no memory of "The Bradys".

I mean, yeah, the storytelling cliche "A very special episode" works in comics too. And Archie has had a few in the past. (Though it's hard to reconcile that planned violence storyline with the fact they once did an Archie-Punisher crossover). But this doesn't appear to be a one-off thing. Next thing you know Jughead is going to start treatment for bipolar disorder, Kevin will become a drug addict, and Moose will be diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.

Hopefully they'll at least confine it to the "new-look" strips which are apparently separate continuity from everything else. Otherwise it's going to be the biggest miscalculation since the time they tried to turn Sabrina the Teenage Witch into a manga.

I can see why so many readers and TV viewers - including adults - are starting to latch onto things like "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic".

I'll now step away from the table as I realize with utter shock and horror and I know FAR too much about the current comings and goings of Archie comics (never mind My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic) as may be healthy for a guy my age! :wtf:

Alex

PS. No, I am NOT a brony! I only know people who are bronies. Honest. Though I admit I was eying that Fluttershy action figure the other day...
 
I'm all for Archie becoming more relevant to modern times but I can't help but feel that they're following in the short sighted footsteps of DC and Marvel and abandoning their potential core audiences for a short term sales spike.
 
^It was more like DC and Marvel were forced out of the news stands and grocery stores and general public due to diminishing profits from comics.

And conscientious of social issues =/= "going dark"
 
Doesn't Archie go trhough failed reboots every few years? Wasn't there an attempt to draw teh characters so that they would look realistic as opposed to cartoony a few years back?

Nothing will come of this.
 
Trekker4747 said:
Cheryl Blossom is going to be diagnosed with breast cancer.
Click to expand...

What?! This cannot stand!

Eh, I suspect this won't be in the "main continuity."
Click to expand...

I've read about this on ComicsAlliance, and of course, the mainstream media are reporting it inaccurately. What the article fails to mention is that there are two (or three) different Archie continuities being published simultaneously: there's the normal "present-day" stuff which is the same teen-oriented, upbeat comedy material that Archie has always been about, and there's Life With Archie, which tells stories about the characters as adults in two possible futures, one where Archie marries Betty and one where he marries Veronica (I believe there's one story in each continuity per issue, so it's kind of like Awake, except I don't think Archie is aware of both "timelines"). Kevin Keller's marriage and Cherry Blossom's breast cancer are plotlines in Life With Archie. I believe the Occupy storyline is in the main comic, though. I don't know which one the "violent" storyline is in.

And I wouldn't say a storyline about Occupy Wall Street is dark. A grassroots movement made up of people trying to make a better future for their families? That's a pretty positive thing. And there's always plenty of comedy potential in arguments and clashes of opinion and worldview. Indeed, isn't there an element of the clash of social classes already inherent in Archie, with the Lodge family being the wealthy elite and other characters being more middle-class?
 
Incidentally Alex, an Archie Comics writer/illo and the voice of Twilight Sparkle the unicorn will be in cow-town this weekend for the Calgary Expo. You can vent upon them yourself. ;)

Mark (Husband, father, improvisor, Brony!)
 
Have they decanonized some of the events of the early 1990s comics? I felt as though some of them went a touch too far with their anti-government sentiment.
 
23skidoo said:
What is it with today's youth? Apparently they're incapable of having fun anymore.
WTF?
Click to expand...

Don't get me started.......

Stupid kids.....

Oh hey, if you want fun, you should get out of the fifth circle of hell and join us in Randyland.

We barbeque.
 
23skidoo said:
What is it with today's youth? Apparently they're incapable of having fun anymore. Or at least that seems to be the opinion of some comic book creators.

Why else take Archie - a comic series that for 70 years has for the most part delivered one-liners, light-hearted adventure and Josie and the Pussycats, and do this to it:

http://www.calgaryherald.com/entertainment/books/6518824/story.html

Basically, upcoming issues are going to feature Occupy Riverdale, "something quite violent happens for a fan-favorite character" and, oh yeah, Cheryl Blossom is going to be diagnosed with breast cancer.

WTF?

I'm reminded of what happened to the Brady Bunch. It was a fun sitcom, brain candy, everyone loved it (OK they hated it when it became a variety show, but there's only so much a human brain can withstand). Fast-forward to the 1990s and a revival of the Brady Bunch with the original cast was launched. But they decided to make it a family drama, sort of a modern-day Waltons.

Gee, I wonder why most people reading this probably have no memory of "The Bradys".

I mean, yeah, the storytelling cliche "A very special episode" works in comics too. And Archie has had a few in the past. (Though it's hard to reconcile that planned violence storyline with the fact they once did an Archie-Punisher crossover). But this doesn't appear to be a one-off thing. Next thing you know Jughead is going to start treatment for bipolar disorder, Kevin will become a drug addict, and Moose will be diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Click to expand...

Okay, but have you read "Life with Archie?" It's supposed to be a venue for serious storytelling in the setting of Riverdale and the writers are doing a fantastic job. The drama and the conflict are engaging in a way that standard Archie comics aren't. These are great stories. They aren't supplanting the reg'lar comics. Just adding a new dimension to them.

Moose getting early onset Alzheimer's would be a perfect twist, considering right now he's The Mayor Of Riverdale! (I still can't get over that. That's what got me hooked.)
 
Didn't Archie already exist in a perpetual teenage hell of never-ending high school, romantic rejection and unrelievable sexual desire?
 
Christopher said:
...there's Life With Archie, which tells stories about the characters as adults in two possible futures, one where Archie marries Betty and one where he marries Veronica (I believe there's one story in each continuity per issue, so it's kind of like Awake, except I don't think Archie is aware of both "timelines").
Click to expand...
Archie isn't aware of both timelines in Life With Archie, but Dilton is -- and he's apparently lost in the Multiverse.
 
I think I'll stick with classic Archie. If I want real life, I'll switch on the news.
 
No offense SKIDOO but I seriously LOVED the BRADY's dramedy.

It had good stories and in a strange way it was nice to see the not everyone life turned out all rosey (Bobby in a wheelchair!).

It should have gotten a second season.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top