Ah, Archie. I understand Archie Comics is going to kill him off. Isn't that always the way? Sex-crazed teenager in penny-loafers and a vest sweater in the 50's, brutally gunned down by a lunatic in 2014.
Is that kill him off in a story, the way Superman or Captain America get killed for a few months before coming back unchanged? Or kill him off in the sense of just discontinuing his comics? If the profit margin is getting too thin, I can see the publisher (Goldwater isn't still running things, is he?) saying, 'Drop it, we'll do astrology magazines and crossword puzzles.'
They certainly have enough material to reprint until the sun goes red.
They're killing him off in Life With Archie, a magazine that runs 2 serialized stories. Both take place in the near future, where everyone has grown up and Archie is either married to Betty or Veronica. The book was facing cancellation due to low sales and Archie Comics decided to end the series with a bang. Of course, the company is hyping this using the same tricks DC used back in 1992 when Superman "died".
Archie certainly had a long and successful run. I've thought of doing a horror story where the Riverdale gang develop self-awareness and realize they've been in high school since the 1940s, trapped in TWILIGHT ZONE bubble...
“Maybe the Last Archie Story,” which was, no kidding, one of the best fanfic stories I'd read in years, not least because it dug up and effectively used some EXTREMELY obscure Archie lore (“Jughead's Time Police”!), and told a thumping good story at the same time - involved a similar idea, where Archie is shown a view from above:
“Close your eyes,” advised the man.
[Archie] saw:
- an Archie who had come of age in World War II, grew up, married Veronica Lodge, served in the Korean War, came home, worked for Lodge Industries, had a family, and, some years back, passed away peacefully in his sleep.
&c., &c.,
- an Archie of the early Fifties whose name was slightly different than his own, who was a high school thug, and who ended his life in jail. Thankfully, he married no one.
Starchie! - BW- an Archie of the early Sixties, with, again, a somewhat different name. This Archie was the most disturbing of all. He was offered wealth, power, fame, and any woman he wished just for the asking. The price was his soul. He accepted, and,
( ... )
Wow. That reminds when Michael Moorcock went overboard with his Eternal Champion concept and every character he wrote was an incarnation of same guy, from Elric to Jerry Cornelius. After reading some of that, I got vertigo.
I understand Archie Comics is going to kill him off.
Isn't that always the way? Sex-crazed teenager in penny-loafers and a vest sweater in the 50's, brutally gunned down by a lunatic in 2014.
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They certainly have enough material to reprint until the sun goes red.
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“Maybe the Last Archie Story,” which was, no kidding, one of the best fanfic stories I'd read in years, not least because it dug up and effectively used some EXTREMELY obscure Archie lore (“Jughead's Time Police”!), and told a thumping good story at the same time - involved a similar idea, where Archie is shown a view from above:
“Close your eyes,” advised the man.
[Archie] saw:
- an Archie who had come of age in World War II, grew up, married Veronica Lodge, served in the Korean War, came home, worked for Lodge Industries, had a family, and, some years back, passed away peacefully in his sleep.
&c., &c.,
- an Archie of the early Fifties whose name was slightly different than his own, who was a high school thug, and who ended his life in jail. Thankfully, he married no one.
Starchie! - BW- an Archie of the early Sixties, with, again, a somewhat different name. This Archie was the most disturbing of all. He was offered wealth, power, fame, and any woman he wished just for the asking. The price was his soul. He accepted, and, ( ... )
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