Comic Review: Archie Showcase Digest #3-Love Showdown

This was the Archie digest I went looking for at Barnes & Noble over Memorial Day Weekend.  I found it looking over the newsstand at Wal-Mart the next week.  They’ve stopped putting these up at the checkouts where I live.  This one was heaped in a pile below the magazine rack.  I was glad to find it wherever I could.

 

(Meanwhile at B&N, I was there this weekend and it looks like they’re about to stop stocking Archie digests altogether.  There was only one title on the rack.  I also found a new Imagine FX sketchbook magazine.  It looked like it could be useful to draw from.  I still felt bad that I’d downloaded the latest issue of the regular magazine, instead of buying it because of the price and lack of usable content for me.  How much is this sketchbook issue?  Jesus!  $30!  After the paramedics resuscitated me, I put the magazine back on the rack and decided it was still cheaper to live with my larcenous shame.)

 

Anyway, I either missed or passed over the first two issues of this new Showcase series.  This digest contains a reprinting of the classic “Love Showdown” storyline.  I think it originally came out in the 90’s.  I remembered hearing about it as it made a little pop culture news at the time.  I don’t think I read it then, but I picked up a trade paperback version several years later.  I suddenly remembered last night that I’d even written a review of it.  This was probably posted on my old MySpace blog.  Yes, really.  It’s all long gone, of course, so I’ll reprint it here.

  

Review of "The Love Showdown"

 

This trade paperback is currently available from Archie, Amazon, and probably some other places. 

 

 

Why did I buy this?

 

Betty and Veronica's friendship is over, and they're going all out to force Archie to choose between them.  How can you resist that premise?

 

 

My opinion.

 

First, if you don't know the story, don't read the comments on the back.  They totally spoil it.  The reasoning behind this is beyond my comprehension.

 

I wanted to like this.  The setup is great: a misunderstanding, Reggie egging the girls on, cat-fight ensues.  It's fine that nothing is really resolved (I don't think I'm really spoiling anything with that disclosure).  But, the art and script don't quite live up to the premise.

 

For a spectacle like this, which you can only get away with once (like DC killing Superman), Archie Comics really needed to go all out.  The artwork was only so-so house-style, while the story itself was little different than any other love triangle story, but for its length.

 

The gags should have involved the girls using every resource at their disposal in a completely over-the-top fashion to get Archie and destroy their rival.  Instead, the competition is just kind of weak.  Reggie should have been coaching the both of them (instead of just Veronica), and then beaten when the girls find out.  Archie is pretty much clueless in the story.  The better option would have been to have him completely aware that the girls are competing for him.  At first, he’d be enjoying the attention, but as he is increasing caught in the crossfire of the girls trying to one up each other, he would end up taking the brunt of the damage.  By the end, Archie's running for his life from them.

 

More hurtful was the mix of using several different writers and artists.  For a cohesive story and look there needed to be one team.  I have to compare this to the "Freshman Year" mini-series.  It featured really good house-style art with a good story, but most importantly, all done by the same group.  (I'm sort of making an assumption here, since I only have issue 1. Correct me if I'm wrong.)  The various "New Look" series have done this as well.

 

 

Conclusion.

 

Would that they could redo this, but the Love Showdown was kind of a one-shot deal.  However, the ending just seemed to beg for a sequel. 

 

 

-Spoiler- The best thing about the Love Showdown was definitely that Archie Comics brought Cheryl Blossom back to the comic, so it was all worthwhile in the end.  A new Love Showdown series with B&V vs. Cheryl over Archie seems irresistible to me, if the story and art will just live up to the potential. -End Spoiler-

 

 

My opinion hasn’t changed upon rereading the story, so there was no reason not to repost this.  (Also, it saved me from having to type up the same review twice.)  I divested myself of the trade a long time ago, which gives you a good idea of what I thought of it.  So, why did I re-buy this?  At the end of my review, I thought the premise was good enough to warrant a sequel.  This digest reprints a couple of follow up stories to the Showdown.  I got my wish.

 

After the original Showdown, there’s the Love Showdown Special.  It’s introduced as Chapter 5 to the original 4-parter, but this story runs for four parts as well.  The first part of “Love and War,” recaps the gang meeting Cheryl Blossom.  Cheryl basically dry humps Archie in front of Betty and Veronica upon meeting him.  It’s a lasting first impression.    

 

(Actually, I thought the gang’s first meeting of Cheryl was at the beach.  That was memorable.  This story isn’t in the digest.)

 

Thanks to Betty remembering some continuity, Jughead puts on his woman-magnet pin and pulls Cheryl away from Archie. 

 

 

Cheryl comes to Riverdale and Archie falls for her all over again.  (That’s definitely one of the best Archie pratfalls ever.) 

 

This leads to a ski lodge trip where Archie gets some massive rack, but unfortunately it’s on the business end of a buck.  By the end of the trip, Betty and Veronica are chasing after Cheryl’s brother, Jason, and Cheryl has paired up with Reggie. 

  

Little wonder in the next part, Archie dreams that he’s a lonely old man, because he could never choose between Betty and Veronica.  It’s enough to shock Archie into finally making a choice and the girl he chooses is . . . I’d hate to spoil it, but he actually does it, no joke.  Of course his head gets turned by the next new pretty girl that comes along, so everything’s right back to normal, but you did get an actual resolution of sorts.  This is definitely one sequel that was better than the original.  I’m glad they took my advice.

 

Hey, there’s still half the volume to go.  Next up is the Showdown Chapter 6.  Cheryl returns.  She’s supposedly doing a movie adaptation of the Love Showdown.  I had to laugh at the sheer meta of that one.  However, she’s actually trying to get a rise out of them, because she’s really filming a reality show.  As soon as they find out, the gang ruins the show.        

 

That leads to this serving of poetic justice.

 

The rest of the volume features some one-shot stories, including one from the 50’s.  I’ll just hit a few highlights. 

 

There’s another great Archie pratfall. 

 

Ethel and Midge discuss possible variations on the Love Triangle.

 

Archie, Betty, and Veronica end up on something-like Oprah to discuss their relationship.  Reggie, Moose, and Midge show up, along with something-like Geraldo. 

 

We get a rare peek at Veronica’s diary.  Jeff Shultz does the artwork here.  He’s one of my favorite Archie artists.

 

Overall, this one was well worth the search and the $8.  Though the original Love Showdown was a letdown, the follow up material genuinely entertained me.  The extra material was also mostly fun.  The one real quibble I have is with free comic offer inside the front cover.  Last time, I was disappointed with the digest, but had appreciated the free online download of three issues that came with it.  This time, the new code didn’t work with my previous login.  I finally made up a new login, but only got the same three issues.  The free comic pictured had a cover by Gisele Lagace, so I’d really kind of wanted it.  Otherwise, this is definitely one of the best Archie digests I’ve gotten.