Comics Review: Best of Archie Comics Book 3

[This is a re-post of an old review.  I think I originally posted it on MySpace.  It's been so long since I scanned these pictures, I forgot why I was re-posting this.  Here it is anyway.]

 

I wasn’t interested in the first two volumes, but this one had some stories I’d wanted to read in it.  Bottom line, it’s mostly filled with good, entertaining classic Archie stories.  I’ll be a bit more specific, breaking it down by decade, as they do in the book itself, and point out my favorites and critiques.

 

 

40’s

The stories here were mostly by Montana.  While the artwork was a little crude compared to his newspaper strip work, the broad, breathless humor comes right through.

 

 

Listen to Jughead.  He's totally right.

50’s

The style here is very clean, distinct, and polished and a bit cartoony.  The highlight story is Jughead’s Folly, and epic book-length tale of the iconoclast becoming an instant Elvis-like sensation, though it all turns out to be a dream (spoilers).     

 

 

Visit to a Small Panic

 

A meeting of the United Girls Against Jughead club

 

The Archies as the Beatles

 

Archie in Neptunia

60’s

The style is more detailed, more realistic, maybe a bit more sex appeal.  There’s a strange book-length Life With Archie story, Hi-jinks and Deep Diving, where Archie and Reggie find the undersea kingdom of Neptunia.  The comedy and adventure combination is a bit awkward.  Samm Schwartz does a great job on the long tale, Beetlemania.  The all-boy version of the Archies become an instant Beatles-like sensation, though it all turns out to be a dream (spoilers).  Hmmm.  The funniest story in this whole volume is Decarlo’s Josie story, The Hold Up, a complete twist on a mugging event.  Talk about meta,Visit to a Small Panic features the Archie gang visiting the Filmation Studios as they produce the Archie cartoon.  Harry Lucey had fun with this one.  

 

 

An Archie Star Wars parody of sorts

70’s

All I can say about this section is that it is short.  If you’re a fan of this era, you’ll be disappointed.

 

80’s   

The only story in this 400 page book that I had read before was Betty’s Diary #1.  I wouldn’t have picked The Art Lesson for a Best of, but there are other stories in this book that represent Archie life-lessons type stories, rather than straight comedy.  This section contains Rex Lindsey’s time travel opus, Back from the Future from the Archie Giant: World of Jughead #590.  If there’s ever a case for an American Dr. Who, it must be Jughead.  Here we meet Archie descendant, January McAndrews, as she arrives in the past to have a “wibbly wobbly timey whimey” adventure with her idol, Jughead.  This was certainly presented in a way where it could be an epic, passionate (as Jughead and January fall in love) one-shot or a backdoor pilot (which it turned out to be).           

 

90’s

I almost bought The Best of Betty and Veronica volume until I flipped through it and realized many of the stories inside were incomplete, just one part of a multi-part story.  Cheryl’s Beach Bash here had the same disappointing problem.  The splashy red-head deserved better from the editors. 

 

 

I review Jughead's Time Police trade here.  (It's great.) 

 

 

Archie's Weird Mysteries 

 

 

Tania Del Rio's Sabrina

 

2000’s

Fernando Ruiz could not resist himself transferring the Archie gang from Archie’s Weird Mysteries into a Scooby Doo-like mystery, A Familiar Haunt.  It wasn’t quite a straight-on parody or homage though, since Weird Mysteries seemed to mostly take its cues from the X-files or Kolcheck the Night Stalker.  Frankly, I thought the mystery-supernatural angle worked reasonably well as a setting for the gang.  An even better fit was Sabrina as a manga magical girl.  I was pleased to see Tania Del Rio’s version represented here in the heartfelt, Spell It Out.    

 

 

Gisele's Sabrina

 

Jughead #200 (Looks more like 350lbs to me)

2010’s

The reason I bought this book was because I’d missed getting Jughead #200 when it came out.  Something Ventured, Something Gained was indeed suitably grand for this anniversary, a bit preachy, but awesome.  Jughead is magically tempted out of his prodigious metabolism and his friends start losing their best traits trying to get it back.  Rex Lindsey’s art was excellent.  I was also eager to read The Great Switcheroo, where the gang is gender-flopped.  I’m a big fan of Gisele’s artwork and it doesn’t disappoint here.  I’m not sure I got whatever the point was supposed to be of Tania’s story, but it was fun anyway.

Comics Review: Archie Comics Presents-Katy Keene

I had some exposure to this character several years ago and found Katy to be enchanting.  I even searched out some of her earlier material and her 80’s incarnation was featured in 2000’s digests.  This Katy graphic novel was on clearance.  It wasn’t eligible for the 35% discount, so ultimately the discount didn’t pay for the shipping on this order.  I was hoping this volume would be mostly older material from the 40’s along with 80’s stories.  I expected some 2000’s material, but maybe there’d be something from the Katy/Archie miniseries from a couple of years ago.

 

Once again, a quick flip-through showed I’d more-or-less made another ***mistake.***  About half of the volume is older material from the 50’s and 80’s.  The other half is a reprint from a 2000’s Free Comic Book Day Katy comic and then the stories by Andrew Pepoy.  This is material I already own.  This book also was produced before the latest material came out. 

 

 

John Lucas Katy

 

Don Sherwood Katy

 

Bill Woggon Katy

This was missing all of the stories from the 40’s, as well as the early 80’s stories drawn by Don Sherwood.  Bill Woggon was Katy’s creator and drew her during the 40’s and 50’s.  I’m not sure why the earliest material was excluded, since the samples I’ve seen look great.  I don’t know how many Sherwood stories are there, but his style is revelation.  It’s not compatible with Archie’s house style, but certainly looked in tune with girls romance comics of the time.  I’d love to see more.

 

Classic paper doll Katy

 

Katy with short hair, very cute

 

Wedding Bells Katy

 

Aubrey Hepburn inspired Katy

The 50’s and 80’s stories here are mostly very short five-or-six-pagers.  The 50’s ones are whimsical and mostly about Katy changing outfits, which are submitted by the readers, and having issues with her boyfriend.  

 

 

80's Katy was very 80's, though this image is a 50's throwback

The 80’s ones are by John Lucas.  He was a Katy fan, whose artwork in a fanzine got him a job drawing her in the comics.  These are very 80’s, very.  You do not need to be told these are from the 80’s and definitely from the glamour aisle.  These stories are mostly about her conflicts with her rival Gloria Gold and managing her many suitors.  

 

 

Dan Parent Katy

 

Okay, I know this is a Katy post, but Marcy stole the show

I usually pick up whatever Archie is offering for Free Comic Book Day, so I did get this one in 2005.  Unlike the other stories in the book, this one is a full comic.  It integrates Katy into Archie’s Riverdale High, where she’s a student.  I hate to say it, but Veronica’s cousin, Marcy, does totally upstage her. 

 

I’m not sure if this effort was to keep up the copyright on Katy or a trial balloon for a revival.  A year later, Katy was brought back as a second feature in Archie & Friends.  I’d picked up one of those and loved the character.  Those stories, which vary from 6 to 10 pages, were collected in a volume and an extra story was added to the beginning to show how Katy got involved in modeling and acting.  I wrote this review at the time and posted it on MySpace.     

 

 

Andrew Pepoy Katy

 

Review of Katy Keene Vol. 1 "Model Behavior"

This trade paperback is currently available from Archie, Amazon, and probably some other places.  [Probably not any longer.]

If I could choose out of all the Archie characters a real-life version to date, it would have to be Katy Keene.  (Shhh, don't tell Melody.)  Actually when I think about it, I did know the real-life version.  She has the same hairstyle and pleasant personality, and I miss her dearly.  Well, now that my impartiality has been established, I'll go ahead and start the review.  

 

Why did I buy this?

I first saw Katy in Archie & Friends #101 with my beloved Veronicas.  (Along with Josie and the Pussycats even.  What a score for me!)  The character's personality and Andrew Pepoy's artwork made me want to see more. 

 

 

Contents.

She's an actress, model, and singer.  Little wonder she's famous.  She's also beautiful, smart, sweet, and kind.    Katy seems to have everything going for her, but there's a price to be paid.  Jealous boyfriends, conniving rivals, scheming producers, snitty co-stars, nosy paparazzi, annoying reporters, and even her own little sister gets her into trouble.  She's so popular, that everyone wants a piece of her or to knock her down.  You're getting plenty of conflict here.

 

Don't worry, it's still kid friendly in art, script, and story.  There are some nods to adult readers and some grown up situations, but this is all subtle.  Yeah, it could be more mature or realistic, but then Katy's good-natured character would become completely improbable, as she's surrounded by people either out to get her or wanting something from her.

 

I won't go into depth with the stories here, but I will single out the opening chapters.  These stories are sort of Katy's diary of how she rose to stardom.  They show how she got started, her rivalry with Gloria Gold, the college boyfriend she left behind, and the aftermath of the death of her and her sister's parents.  That last item provides, I guess, an explanation as to why she's so nice.  Katy is trying to parent and be a good role model for her little sister.  These stories didn’t appear in of the comic books.  I’m curious as to the origin of them, since I doubt they were produced just for this volume.  [They were actually produced just for this volume.] 

 

 

Andrew Pepoy’s art is generally excellent.  [Pepoy also did the touch up work on my beloved Bob Montana Archie Comic Strip Volume.]  More than well-drawn, Katy looks likable.  Katy's shining personality comes right through in the stories.  She goes through a lot of wardrobe changes in any given story, but working in those reader submitted fashions is a great nod to the fans.  I hope this tradition continues with the new upcoming creative team.  [This has always been a feature of Katy Keene comics.]

 

Speaking of tradition, I’ve only seen one previous version, a story excellently done by John Lucas from the 80’s.  Pepoy’s version seems to be cut from the material and presumably also the 40’s original.  I could only wish for a trade volume featuring Katy through the years, starting with her “father,” Bill Woggon.  [Well, that happened.]

 

Clunkers?

 I hope that by mentioning this up front, I'm not scaring anybody off.  The story in Archie and Friends #101 had a cringe-worthy moment in it that likely kept me from seeking out further individual issues. 

 

Katy meets the band "Without a Doubt" (ahem) backstage.  Their lead singer "Steph Gwefan" suddenly falls ill.  (Celebrity names are filled in all over this volume, which is fine.)  Katy is drafted on the spot to take her place on stage.  I know they wanted to establish Katy as a singer, but that should have been a separate story.  At least a throwaway line that Katy had sat in with the band during a rehearsal, and that they knew she could sing and knew their songs would have helped. 

 

 

The rest of the volume is nowhere near this improbable.  Even this story is totally forgivable, as Katy is just hot in that little red dress (reader submitted). 

 

Sidebar: A friend at work did actually see No Doubt before they hit it big.  They were an opening act for Bush.  The drummer, Adrian Young, came out and hung around the lobby after the concert and chatted with people.  He was apparently a really nice guy. 

 

Conclusion

I was surprised by how much I did like it.  (I probably shouldn't have been given who she reminds me of.)  Regardless of the appeal of the artwork from my first exposure, I was afraid it would be one absurd girlish fantasy after another.  Instead, there was plenty of drama, romance, comedy, and heart-warming tales.

 

In short, highly recommended. 

 

I really liked this.  I’m maybe a bit less goofy about it now, but the basic sentiment remains.  (I even wrote a fan-fic based on this version of the character.)  But like I said, I already own it.  I’m sure my trade is long out-of-print.  If you’d like this material, buying this volume would be the way to go.  If you want the older stuff, you’re going to be disappointed.  They could have done a whole volume of 40’s and 50’s Katy and another on 80’s Katy.  If you have no experience with the character or want whatever you can get, this volume would be fine.   

NM State Aggies vs Western Illinois Leathernecks Baseball 2-23-25

 

The picture says it all.  This came out on Monday.  

I was okay last Monday with the 11:00am start for Aggie Baseball, but today I barely got up in time to make it to the ballpark.  The 4:00pm start time on Saturday is also questionable due to where the sun is at that time of day for the fielders and it conflicts with Basketball.  Next Saturday, Men’s Basketball and Baseball will be starting at the same time.  I just wanted to get this off my chest.

 

I’d listened to Aggie Baseball get a 9-1 win over Western Illinois, this weekend’s opponent, on the radio Friday night.  Camden Kaufman and Sheehan O’Connor both had big games with home runs.  Cooper Reese closed out the last two innings of the game giving up 1 run that was unearned.  Adam mentioned his family was there, including father, Trey, who I’d met last weekend.

 

I listened to Saturday’s game on the radio after I got home from Aggie Women’s Basketball and after listening to the end of the Aggie Men’s Basketball.  The Aggies were down 7-3 in the fifth, but had loaded the bases and the Leathernecks were bringing in a new pitcher.  Then the radio signal went out for about 20 minutes.  It came back just in time for me to hear the Aggies tie it and take the lead on a Sheehan home run. 

 

There was some drama in the ninth as the Leathernecks loaded the bases.  Joey Craig made a great catch in center to end the game.  Aggies win 10-8.  Brandon Forrester had a good day going 3 for 4 and O’Connor hit another home run.  I didn’t entirely feel bad about missing the game yesterday even though it was nice when the game started.  It went 3 hours and 30 minutes and I’m sure it got cold when the sun went down.

 

Today I grabbed a corn-in-a-cup breakfast and just made it to my seat as the lineups were being announced, which I muffed writing down.  I’m not sure how I got the scorecards filled out with any accuracy.  I was there with Fan Michael and Trey Reese and his family.  This included his lovely wife (whose name I missed three times) and daughter Nellie, both of whom have played Aggie Volleyball. 

 

I didn’t get to talk to Nellie, but chatted a bit with the Mrs.  She was also setter, like her daughter.  I found out that Aspen Aldous, a setter who’d left the team last year, had done so for medical reasons.  She had a neurological disorder in her hands.  I’m sure setting didn’t help with that condition.  I found out from the guys that the golf team was here on Friday.  They sat next to the opposing dugout and had mercilessly and cleverly heckled the Leathernecks during the game. 

 

The crowd was impressive today at 614.  There were three kids t-ball teams in attendance who went out on field with the team for the Anthem, which was sung by a talented young woman.  Throwing out the first pitch was Wave the Wonder Dog!  Wave was a bit reluctant to hand over the ball to the catcher, but did so to his trainer.     

 

WIU brought some attractive female fans with them.  The guys said that their fans were not friendly.  They had an obnoxious heckler fellow with them for the first couple of games, but he wasn’t here today.  (Mrs. Reese had no trouble chatting with some WIU fans, though.  She’s very pleasant.)  The Hot Marketing Girl had a hot assistant with her today.  She had long dark hair and seemed more amicable.  More distractions keeping me from tracking of the game on my scorecard.   

 

 

These added up.  I corrected a couple plays from the official scoring.  I’m not going to question them.  Along with other distractions, in the seventh inning, the scoreboard went out.  I know it’s hard enough to tell it’s on in the daylight, but it was out.  The PA would have to give the score out every half inning.  One thing that did suffer in this game was my note taking.  Something had to give.

 

Hayden Lewis started for the Aggies.  It was another pitch limit rehab start for him.  He had a quick 1-2-3 first.  Jorge Romero started for the Leathernecks.  You couldn’t miss him out there with a purple glove to match team’s uniform trim.  He gave up a single and a wild pitch in the first without further damage.

 

WIU had a leadoff single for the second, but did not advance him.  Kaufman began the Aggie half of the inning with a single that he unwisely tried to stretch into a double and was thrown out.  The Aggies next had a single and a base runner from an error.  Both were advanced by a rare balk call, but were stranded.

 

The top of the third was rough for the Aggies.  After a leadoff single, there was a follow up single.  Tommy Meluskey in right unfortunately airmailed a throw to third, which scored a run.  Lewis made a great pickoff move to get the runner, who’d advanced to second.  He did have other problems with a hit batter and a walk, but got out of it with a looking strikeout.  1-0 WIU.  The Aggies had three singles to start the bottom of the third, but one of them thrown out trying to steal second.  Nobody scored.

 

Lewis’ final inning was in order, but he was helped out by his defense.  Third baseman Forrester, who was playing behind second on the shift, made a dive catch and threw from the ground on the second batter of the inning.  Steve Solorzano at first did a great job of digging it out to nip the runner. 

 

Steve led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run to tie the score at 1.  Jonatan Clough got on next via an error.  He was erased when he got caught in a rundown on a bunt single.  Wandel Campana at second for WIU caught a liner next and doubled off the runner at second to end the inning.

 

Michael was fraternizing with the enemy in the break.  It turned out to be Terry Davis’ wife.  He’s the Leatherneck’s Coach.  Michael knew her and the coach because Davis used to be an assistant coach here.  Okay, that’s acceptable (and she was an attractive blonde).

 

The Aggies began a parade of freshman relievers in the fifth.  Jaden Davis gave up a single.  That was taken off bases by catcher Dane Woodcook throwing out the runner trying to steal second.  The Aggies had a big fifth.  Forrester led off with a single and was driven in by Tariq Freeny.  O’Connor drove him in with a bomb to scoreboard that was his sixth home run in seven games.  The Leathernecks changed pitchers, but Kaufman doubled and Clough then doubled him in.  Aggies up 5-1.

 

Hazen Wright struck out the first two WIU batters in the sixth.  He hit the next batter, which led to an odd occurrence.  He threw a wild pitch to the next batter, but Woodcock still managed to throw out the runner trying to advance to second.  A new Leatherneck pitcher had quick bottom of the sixth. 

 

Nellie had left for a bit at one point in the game and came back with a teammate, Mia Fox.  (Some other members of the Volleyball team were there.)  I recognized her, but was a bit intimidated about talking to her because she looked very pretty today.  Her and Nellie chatted and I got the impression Mia was a baseball fan, too.  This might have been because they seemed a bit “boy crazy,” calling a bunch of guys “Cute.”  (I wasn’t eavesdropping on them; they were right behind me.  I didn’t hear the names of the guys they liked.)  Anyway, what a nice change-of-pace from the stuff I was dealing with yesterday at Women’s Basketball.

 

Dylan Weekly was the next Aggie pitcher and came in for the seventh.  Clough helped him out with a great diving catch on a low liner to center.  He immediately held up the ball after he caught it.  The ump called it an out.  Coach Davis complained and the umps had a conference, but upheld the call.  As Adam Young said on the radio broadcast, “I don’t think his acting could have been any better if he didn’t catch it.”  I don’t think Adam was entirely convinced.  Weekly worked around a walk and a single for the final out.

 

O’Connor doubled with one out in the bottom of the seventh.  He stole third and a wild pitch while he was stealing brought him home.  The Leathernecks brought in a new pitcher.  Solo worked a walk and Clough hammered one out to left.  Aggies up 8-1.

 

Cade Shumard came in for the eighth.  He’d had a rough time last Sunday and had another bad outing today with two hit batters and two walks, one of which forced in a run.  Being one of two left-handers on the team, Coach Angier really needs him to figure it out.  Saul Soto came in.  He’d had a quick outing on Friday.  Soto gave up a two-run single and a walk, but finished the inning.  8-4 Aggies.

 

Meluskey led off the bottom of the eighth with a ringing double.  The team in the dugout was happy to see him get his first hit.  He stole third and Austin Corbett drove him in with a sac fly.  9-4 Aggies.  Soto came back out for the ninth.  He gave up a home run to begin the inning, but got two foul outs and a fly out to end it.  Aggies win 9-4!

 

Gameballs.  For WIU, Krayton Morse had a two-run single in the eighth and Kenneth Perez went 2 for 4 and had that ninth inning home run.  For the Aggies, Jonatan Clough went 2 for 4 with 3 RBI’s, including a home run and some good defense.  Sheehan O’Connor went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI’s and a home run.  Hayden Lewis went 4 innings with 1 unearned run.  The freshman relief corps of Jaden Davis, Hazen Wright, and Dylan Weekly went 3 innings with no runs allowed.

 

The Aggies swept out the Leathernecks this weekend.  Nice work.  It was bit sloppy in defense, base running, and relief pitching, but they found a way.  The game was fairly tidy at two hours and 42 minutes.  I felt compelled to say something to Mia.  I awkwardly sputtered that I thought she had potential and needed to listen to her coaches.  She agreed with that last part.  I would have liked to have talked to Nellie during the game, but she’s even more intimidating.  If she’s there again, maybe I’ll try.   

 

I dropped the towel I was using to protect my neck on the way out and lost it.  Shoot.  Use some sunblock next time, I guess.  I offered to bring dad lunch.  He only requested a chocolate shake, which he’d been craving.  He’d gone out yesterday and wore himself out a bit and looked tired today.  We watched a couple shows he likes (Reacher and Nikita) and did some laundry.  It was a nice way to end the weekend.