Redartz: Greetings to one and all! Today I'm using my role as host to hijack the "Follow the Leader" (not to worry, it's a friendly hijacking). For some reason, this week I've been on an Archie kick, and so it seemed natural to throw a bone to all the other fans of the residents of Riverdale. But in the spirit of "Follow the Leader", let's keep it open- anything Archie-related is fair game. So, the tv cartoons, the comics, old or new; toys, music, whatever. And to set the tone, here's an array of some Archie Comics covers from all eras. Hope you enjoy...
17 comments:
Red - I've been reading Archie monthly for the past 2-3 years. Quite enjoyable. I think it is on issue # 706 now? I assume it must be doing well since there are a good 5-6 different titles out there?
Alas, I have not tried to get into the whole "Riverdale" show or comic. My adult kids were watching it and I just happened to come an watch when Jughead was taking repeated punches to the head (to show how tough he was? rite of initiation?)
Anyhow, I like my Archie fun: humor, mystery, adventure but ixnay on the violence.
Well - I can throw a question out there... Inspired by a few weeks ago discussing spiea, the Black Widow, and her best artist.
Did you have a favorite character that an artist defined for you (perhaps the one drawing it when you first read it) and no subsequent artist could match?
In my case, having started reading at the end of the Silver Age, late 1960s, Colan's Daredevil IS Daredevil, plain and simple. No artist ever has or ever will capture DD as well as Colan! And I did go back and read the Wally Wood's... nope! Not even the great Wally Wood comes close in my world.
So... anyone else have same?
Charlie- like you, I haven't really gotten into the current tv "Riverdale". But I have enjoyed the recent Archie offerings in print, including "Afterlife with Archie"- featuring a pretty macabre sensibility.
As for your question, several come to mind. In keeping with the Archie topic, I'll name the great Dan DeCarlo as my definitive Archie artist. Otherwise, John Romita Sr. defines Spider-man for me, no doubt. And for a less obvious choice: Mike Ploog on the Man-Thing...
I was in 2nd grade when the Archies cartoon first started in 1968 and I loved it. Over the next couple of years, I would pick up various Archie comics, 45s of Sugar Sugar and the many cereal premiums from Post Alphabits and Honeycomb. Dan DeCarlo is my favorite Archie artist.
Now here's my question for any expert Archie comics detectives ... There was one particular comic where Betty made fried chicken for Archie and wore some chicken-themed costume (not sure if she worked in a fast food chicken place or what). I've always remembered laughing at this story, but traded my Archies for Marvels in the early '70s. Anyone have any idea what issue this might have come from. I'm pretty sure Betty was wearing this costume on the little Masthead gag of the cover. Would think this would have to be from the range of 1968 to 1972. Thanks for any help you can give!
Oh, and I recently bought Archie's car cereal premium for 50 cents at a toy show. Then I painted it and found a nice cover image to make them sit in the car in a 3D look. Still love the Archies!
Disneymarvel- that issue you describe sounds very familiar. Bet I had it too, back in the day. You have me curious, will have to try and track it down. Will let you know! And very cool that you did up Archie's jalopy. Would love to see that!
I haven't read any Archie stuff in years, but as a kid I always liked the superhero digests with Pureheart, Superteen, Evilheart, and Jughead as Captain Hero.
As for Charlie's question, I can't think of a better Mary Jane Watson-Parker than Jazzy Johnny Romita's version.
Not really familiar with Archie Comics as you never saw them anywhere on this side of the Atlantic. But I do think I should try one, just so I know what American comic blogs are going on about. Any suggestions?
I was thinking maybe the recent Betty & Veronica meet Red Sonja and Vampirella crossover...
Charlie, loved Colan's work on Daredevil. And Dr Strange, Brother Voodoo, Ho... actually, were there any characters he drew regularly that he wasn't the definitive artist for?
-sean
I read Archie comics occasionally when I was 5 or 6. When I got a few years older, one of my relatives would always bring me comics when she visited and she actually brought me a copy of the first Archie digest in the early/mid 70's. I started buying those when I saw them, then later the Jughead With Archie series and the Laugh series when it was issued. I read them pretty regularly for four or five years. I liked the vintage reprints that they included in the beginning, but my interest waned when they started using newer reprints.
Definitive artists (to these eyes)
Agree with Gene Colan and John Romita for DD and Spider-Man for sure
Ditko for Doctor Strange
Swanderson for Superman
Neal Adams for Batman
Dave Cockrum for LSH
George Perez for The Avengers
Jack Kirby for the FF and Captain America
Archie and his 50 or 60 zillion dozen related titles (in fact--- did anyone of that core circle NOT have a title with their name on the masthead at some point??) were always around and available-- and I'd idly read them if nothing else was near at hand. But they never ever grabbed me enough to buy a single issue myself, I haveta confess. They were Always. The. Same.
For years on end. Just PUNCH flippin' Reggie already, and be DONE with that perpetual Judas. CHOOSE BETTY, and tell Veronica to go get professional help for her narcissism and TOXIC need for constant external validation. Gnrgh!
And on the artist question--- Oh, do I even have to say it? (Although fitting I should, I suppose-- perhaps you guys were waiting for me?): HERB TRIMPE = INCREDIBLE HULK!!!
HB
Sean- one thing you might look into, if you wish a good introduction to the characters, would be one of the "Best of Archie" volumes. They are digest size but with a couple hundred pages. They feature select classic stories from various Archie titles over the entire 70 year course of the strip. I have the first 3 volumes. Best thing- they are quite inexpensive! I found two of them for 4 US dollars each.
HB- I knew we could count on you to give Trimpe some props! And yes, choosing Betty is a no-brainer. I will say that Archie and his compadres have been enjoying something of a Rennaissance in recent years. New characters (notably Kevin Keller), new art and story approaches. Huge variety of reprint formats. Fun crossovers (Archie meets Batman '66 was loads of fun). And a few years ago Mike Uslan did the dual storylines "Archie Marries Veronica " and "Archie Marries Betty ". They were engaging (pun intended) opportunities to delve deeper into the characters' hearts and minds.
I read the Archie Digest's for about a year or so. I seemed to remember enjoying them.
Watching Josie and the Pussycat's was a Saturday morning staple for me, there were 2 other channel's to choose from but Josie always got my vote. Pretty sure I had a crush on the entire band!
Which artist defined a character for me?
Jim Aparo- Batman
Ross Andru- Spider-Man
Curt Swan- Superman
Yes HB, Trimpe- Hulk
I had an Archie phase in my mid-grade school years, and I think my favorite books to get were the digests. Something about those often predictable but goofy stories just appealed to me for a while. And more recently, I've purchased a bunch of the various 'best of' Archie digests that were published for the 75th anniversary of his first appearance - most of them were a fraction of the cover price as they were either used or remaindered. Those books are also fascinating because they contain samplings of stories from each decade, so you can see how the whole Archieverse developed over time.
Otherwise, I have to say that some of you guys are wrong on a certain burning question: it's Veronica, not Betty.
On the question of definitive artists, tying it to the Archie theme, I know most Archie fans would choose either Bob Montana or Dan DeCarlo, but while I like their work, I have to say that I prefer Harry Lucey and Samm Schwartz.
Casting the net wider, my definitive artists for certain characters are:
Hulk - Sal Buscema
Thor - Walt Simonson
Conan - John Buscema (love BWS, but Big John's image always comes to mind whenever the character's name comes up)
Daredevil - Frank Miller
Captain America - John Byrne (he just captures him so perfectly, like no other artist)
Dr. Doom - Byrne again (& ditto the explanation)
Superman - Jose Luis Garcia Lopez, PBHN (same explanation as with Byrne's Cap & Doom)
Iron Man - Bob Layton (either doing complete pencils & inks, or strongly inking someone else's pencils)
Wonder Woman - George Perez (I've hardly read any of the actual stories he did, but I've never seen such a perfect rendering of the character - like with Conan, any time her name is mentioned, the Perez version pops into my head)
...And that's about it; for other characters, I find it harder to pick a definitive artist because so many great artists have done iconic versions of them, so that I always come up with three-, or even four-way ties. In the case of Spider-man, for example, there's Ditko, Romita Sr., Gil Kane and Ross Andru, and I simply can't say whose rendering I consider the most definitive. Or Batman: Jim Aparo, Marshall Rogers and Neal Adams are all equally iconic and definitive to me. Or Dr. Strange: Ditko, Frank Brunner and Marshall Rogers.
Definitive artists:
X-Men: John Byrne
Avengers: George Perez
Batman: Neal Adams
Teen Titans: George Perez (King of team comics; Loved his Justice League, FF)
Legion of Super-Heroes: Mike Grell
Conan: Buscema
Dracula: Gene Colan
Swamp Thing: Bernie Wrightson
Fantastic Four: Kirby
Red Sonja: Frank Thorne
and John Romita on anything else
I forgot:
Doctor Strange: Frank Brunner
Red - those Batman - Archie 1966 books are worth a look? They do indeed look pretty "camp" lol but I've not bought one (yet).
Batman: Bob Kane is the artist for me. I know... I know... but it seems I was exposed to a lot of Kane-ish Batman reprints first, though the first issue I bought was B&B 100 which I think had an Adam's cove. Quite a difference in styles, LOL.
Charlie- yes, I totally recommend those Batman 66/Archie books. Lots of nods to the vintage show. Another crossover I enjoyed was "Betty and Veronica Meet Harley and Ivy". Those folks at Archie are having some fun these days...
As Sean mentioned, Archie is almost totally unknown on this side of the Atlantic with two exceptions - the song "Sugar Sugar" was a massive UK hit in 1969 (it was #1 for 8 weeks) and we also got the cartoon Josie & The Pussycats.
And as for definitive artists I'll second Edo's suggestion of John Buscema's Conan. I'm currently enjoying Marvel's Conan revival but nobody did Conan like Big John :)
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