The Archies are making a COMEBACK?!

J

joke_fr

New member
If I posted this in the wrong thread, please forgive me. I just had to post this somewhere.

Okay. I don't know where I have been the past few months, but just today - let me repeat that; TODAY! - I found out that The Archies recently released a new Christmas album. (With Betty and Veronica on vocals, too!)

...

Somebody pinch me. Right now.

Source: http://www.amazon.com/Archies-Christmas-Album-featuring-Veronica/dp/B001DZDTHW

I heard the weekend of its release, the demand was so high stores ran out!
 
It's true. I haven't seen copies of this CD anywhere---yet----and probably won't until November, but Ron Dante (the singing voice of Archie), who's spent the last 30+ years producing records for Barry Manilow, among others, was back in the studio to record the album, the first Archie record in nearly 40 years.
 
Actually it came out in stores September 2008.

OMG, I think this album came out in honor of The Archies' 40th year in the music business! They busted out on the music scene in 1968, the same year "The Archie Show" debuted. And it wasn't until 1969 that they topped the charts with "Sugar, Sugar!"

This is awesome! If this album sold really well, then we might just have The Archies return to TV in the form of an UNPRECEDENTED SPECIAL!!! Just like the Powerpuff Girls did!
 
I wouldn't go that far. Yes, 2008 marked the 40th anniversary of Archie's CBS debut, but Archie Comics didn't do anything special, and probably won't do anything to mark the 40th anniversary of "Sugar, Sugar" hitting #1. If I can find a copy, I might just use it as a gift for a friend or something.
 
Funny You should say that considering Archie Tried to Get a live action series made around the same time smallville was in its early years..as you can guess the pitch was rejected by various networks & archie finally gave up!


Wich I think is a good thing..Im just fine with Weird Mysteries being the last archie series! although i guess they could do a DTV animted movie or two if they wanted!
 
It wasn't the last. HE'LL be BACK.

Though I hope his next appearance, whenever it is, turns out better than "Weird Mysteries." I couldn't believe the one episode I saw. Moose picked Reggie up in rage.....and then turned to someone else and said, "Can you direct me to someplace soft so I can put him down?" NOT makin' that up.
 
Unless the CD has been selling super well (I've only ever seen it on Amazon [I checked several stores and couldn't find it]), I wouldn't hope too much that it'll happen. Maybe a straight to DVD deal is the best we would get.

I also heard about a possible live action Betty and Veronica movie, but it must've fell through because nothing new about it has come out in a long time.
 
Until Archie Comics wakes up and abandons the "status quo is god" rule and the Comic Codes Authority (which is an outdated, near-worthless entity at this point) the amount of material that the Archie characters can do are dreadfully limited. Basically all the comics do is rehash and update old plot lines.

In other words, Archie needs to cover some Degrassi-esque ground without actually being Degrassi. The band could probably help with that. Archie simply does not connect with today's kids and teens right now and they have to change Archie at least a little in order to get some attention from the Marvel/DC and manga titans.

But anyway, that's probably why the live-action pitch failed. I saw some of the Weird Mysteries episodes, along with the iffy voices, all they did was trod over tired sci-fi/horror ground without any of the bite of the material they were pulling from.
 
Think I recall that one... guess they weren't allowed to show him actually beating up Reggie (despite that happening in, well, the older comics anyway...).

From what I can tell, the comics are still selling, so Arch must still have *some* appeal to today's kids... that and guessing not every comic has to be Marvel/DC "edgy" (considering DC views sexist-shock-value dreck like "Identity Crisis" as their apparent basis for what's acceptable these days, I'd rather Archie *didn't* try to ape DC/Marvel :-p ). Sabrina's title is probably their biggest current departure from the usual Archie norm (these days, it's drawn in manga style and features an ongoing, dramatic storyline involving conflict in the Magic Realm)...

-B.
 
I don't know. As I understand it, Archie comics are pretty big in the "flyover states". Most of their stuff is sold through supermarkets, bookstores and other places like that rather than comic book shops, too.

The thing is that if Archie changed to be hip and edgy, it wouldn't really be Archie anymore. Riverdale is a boring, wholesome little town with annoyingly wholesome teenagers, but that's what makes it what it is. That's what people remember it for.
 
Honestly, at this point it feels like all that's keeping Archie alive these days is their Sonic comics.

Really, who buys Archie comics anymore besides an extremely small adult fanbase who grew up with it?
 
I'm not suggesting they make Archie hip and edgy, I'm suggesting they experiment with the formula, shake up the status quo, let the dialogue flow more freely (and let some of the characters be more flawed, even Reggie's lost some of his bite from years ago), and ignore the Comics Code Authority at least formally so that archaic institution is gone forever.
 
Guessing there's also various parents who buy the comics for their young children---who still deserve some type of age-appropriate comic for them to read (before they're old enough to move on to more "mature" fare like, erm, "Identity Crisis"... :-p).

Their manga-ized, more-dramatic-themed "Sabrina" title also suggests some willingness to at least make changes to that title...

-B.
 
Uh... kids?

The franchise doesn't seem to be doing too badly in terms of sales or fanbase, although like virtually everything that runs for a long time, it's been going downhill for a while (except in this case it's like 40 years).

I remember Archie's Weird Mysteries. The voices on that show were so pathetic. I can't understand why they seemed to purposely give everybody a really whiny, nasally tone of voice. I think it was probably the voice director's fault. The stories themselves were clearly very derivative, but I remember that the pacing and writing was atrocious as well. One scene that stands out in my mind:

Reggie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica are at Pop Tate's. Archie's probably there too, I dunno.

Reggie says some incredibly tame insult to Jughead.

...Pause for about two seconds...

Betty and Veronica laugh.

...Pause for another second...

Betty and Veronica give each other a high five, presumably because they're so impressed with Reggie's insult. But.. shouldn't they be high-fiving Reggie, rather than each other?

And the show was full of stuff like that. I'd like to see an Archie series that's actually somewhat decent (at least in relation to the source material), not marred by poor animation and writing like every one so far has been. At least the original series had interesting, unique voices for all the characters, even if most of them weren't really appropriate.
 
I've never met a modern-day kid who actually reads any of the various Archie series. Met some kids who enjoy the Sabrina comics, but not a single one who likes the core group.

Well, that's a bit of a lie, I have met (and have known) some people who actually liked Weird Mysteries, but not the comics.
 
I'm sorry, but I have to disagree there. I thought they did a good job with 'Weird Mysteries.' I thought the voice cast was alright, except for Jughead. When I read the comics, I can't really picture the Chris Lundquist or whatever his name is Jughead voice coming out of his mouth. I always pictured him with more of a dopey voice. I think Morris was better in that area. Then there's Andy Randels who does sort of a British accent for Ren on 'Shaman King.' I thought he does a good all-American voice for Archie. I think what really got me was the 'Archie's in Jugman' movie. They say that was a follow up to Weird Mysteries, but they made too many changes. Why was Pop an African American? Why was Midge a red-head? And Reggie? Well, we know he can be mean, but he surely isn't a villian. He crossed some lines he probably wouldn't have crossed in the comics. But I had thought before that movie, the Archie's seemed to be doing fairly well in terms of animation.
 
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