Comics / Comic Reviews / More Comics

Archie #1 – Reality Comics Teen Soap Opera!


Archie2015-feature.jpg

By Hervé St-Louis
July 9, 2015 - 10:23

Archie2015_01-0_1.jpg
The long hyped new Archie comic by Mark Waid and Fiona Staples has arrived. Archie and Betty are the power couple at Riverdale High. They’ve known each other since they were five years old. However, a notorious and untold #lipstickincident has made them split apart. It’s up to friends Kevin, Maria, and Sheila to try to patch things up again and make Archie date Betty again. But The infamous Reggie already has his eyes on Betty, while Jughead is sabotaging his friends’ effort at reuniting Betty and Archie. What else could go wrong?

This issue was really fun. I’m amazed that Mark Waid is able to write teenage drama just as well as he writes super heroes. Archie breaks the fourth wall and addresses readers directly. With the inclusion of a Twitter hashtag and a prompt for readers to follow share their comments about the drama, this comic look like a reality comics. It’s very funny and does not change the old Archie formula too much. They are still the same characters. I don’t recall ever reading about Sheila and Maria but we can see that Archie Comics is attempting to make this comic book as inclusive as possible. Nothing here will shock any parent or advocacy group, but it’s still good old American fun, just like Archie has always been. While I find the fourth wall break and the social media plug clever, I’m not sure if I approve of such commodification of comics.

Staples’s art is great. She is the perfect artist for Archie. If she can stay with this series for a few years, she might one day challenge Dan DeCarlo as the ultimate Archie artist. Her rendition of the characters makes them more realistic, but it’s still a comic with enough comedic moments and funny gestures. She renders the reality television / comic jam well. Much of the comic would have worked fine without as much dialogue. She’s a great storyteller. I want to read more about this new Archie and I am glad that Archie Comics is continuing their push to make their comics relevant for kids today. It's part of what I call the nouveau comics.

Rating: 10 /10



Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12

    RSS       Mobile       Contact        Advertising       Terms of Service    ComicBookBin


© Copyright 2002-2023, Toon Doctor Inc. - All rights Reserved. All other texts, images, characters and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Use of material in this document (including reproduction, modification, distribution, electronic transmission or republication) without prior written permission is strictly prohibited. Toon Doctor ® is registered trademarks of Toon Doctor Inc. Privacy Policy