Archie Day By Day Review
I have to admit, I had no idea that Archie also appeared in newspaper strips, hundreds of them, all around the world, so this book came as a great surprise to me. Archie is one of the most enduring characters in all of comics. Created in 1941 in the pages of MLJ's Pep Comics #22, Archie has thrived for over sixty years. When nearly all the superhero comics disappeared in the late 40's, Archie and his ganged endured on through the prosperous 1950's, the rebellious 1960's, the eclectic 1970's, the "me first 1980's" and...what have we called the 1990's? Oh well, you get the idea.
Archie as a comic strip makes perfect sense. This wonderful 96 page trade paperback collects the Archie daily strips from 1994 through 1995 as told by Craig Boldman and Harry Scarpelli. These strips feature the familiar Archie art style that so many of us have grown up with over the decades. If you haven't read Archie in a long time it's fun to see how Archie has changed with the times as these strips feature things like Big screen TV's and CD's. Give it up to Archie for staying current!
The strips in the book are 3 to 4 panel strips, each dated specifically. Most of the strips are self-contained stories but there are some that go over several days. Typically they are Archie "quickies" with a punch line at the end such as when Mrs. Grundy asks Archie to name three important people in "Western Civilization" and he responds with, "Roy Rogers, John Wayne, and Clint Eastwood."
The book also hits upon all of the most famous themes from the years of Archie comics such as the Betty, Veronica and Archie love triangle, Jughead's laziness and appetite, Moose's stupidity, and Reggie's ego. Among the stories we see is the school year coming to an end as Mr. Weatherbee exclaims that the halls are hallowed again after the last student leaves the building. End of school leads to summer fun including days at the beach, baseball and cookouts. Jughead gets a job that lasts a whole two days (two days in the strip that is) and Arch and Jughead end up with jobs at an amusement park.
In another ongoing story that runs over several days, Archie runs for class President and his horrified to learn he is running against Veronica. He tries everything to throw the election but wins anyhow! Just great stuff! I'm a big comic strip fan and Archie is a strip that really works well in a three to four panel format. If I have one minor complaint it's that there's no color strips. Strictly black & white but that's pretty trivial. I only wish my local papers carried it. Highly recommended!
Archie Day By Day Overview
Archie and his pals have been comics' most celebrated teenage humor characters for over 60 years. Now for the first time, selections from Archie's worldwide syndicated newspaper strip are collected in this special volume. This black and white edition includes uproarious, daily strips from the mid-1990s.
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