Comic Review: Archie as The Man from RIVERDALE trade paperback

 

Once again, I missed reviewing an Archie book.  The last time I discovered I did this, I was baffled, as I’d really liked the digest.  I went back and noticed that I’d reviewed a bunch of comics around when I would have gotten this trade, but somehow missed it.  This time, it might have been because I didn’t think much of it.

 

I was excited to get it.  I’d heard of this Archie spy spoof, but never read any of it.  The book is a handsome volume at over 200 thick white pages for $11.  It is a slightly larger digest that is formatted to better display a standard comic.  Most of the stories are from the Life with Archie title and are done by Frank Doyle writing and Bob White on the art.

     

The material is firmly of its era from the mid 60’s.  The concept alone of super spies depends on the Zeitgeist of the time.  The more I look at it, the more I see the incredible influence of James Bond on pop culture in the 60’s.  TV shows and movies of the time were all over the craze, such as The Man from U.N.C.L.E. from which these stories derive their name.  It was natural that Archie comics would want to get in on it. 

 

Unfortunately, they didn’t do a good job of it.  The original idea had Archie, Jughead, and Betty recast as spies fighting Reggie and Veronica as the bad guys.  Soon enough, they were all on the same side as part of POP (Protect Our Planet) fighting the evil organization, CRUSH.  This then turned into the spy teens fighting costumed supervillains.  Huh?

 

It seemed like they never quite had a good grasp on what they wanted to do with the concept.  The first couple of stories had the boys using guns and some super silly spy equipment.  The guns then disappeared, but the gadgets got more ridiculous.  The villains were sort of normal at first, but then became silly supervillains.  Most of the plots involve the villain trying to steal some new invention from wealthy industrialist, Mr. Lodge.

 

I’ll tie this back to my review of the Jughead Superhero Special.  What didn’t work with the spies, worked well with the Archie superheroes.  The “Whistler” character appears in the both and I wouldn’t be surprised by more crossovers.  I can’t really figure out why they took a good-sounding concept and sort of ruined it by confusing the premise.  I’m probably looking at the editors here.  The other problem is the use of   acronyms for everyone’s names.  That gag should have been retired after the first story, but they used it all the way through.

 

All this said, the book is kind of irresistible.  I bought it right after flipping through it without hesitation.  Mostly, it’s the art, particularly the fashion.  The girls are, of course, as beautiful and glamorous as ever, but the guys in sharp suits are a revelation.  Even Jughead looked cool.  Also, just a personal preference, I really like Veronica with the short haircut.  It was originally based on Jackie O’s hairstyle, but eventually Veronica made it her own.  It’s decidedly retro now, but was stylish at the time and provided a differentiation between her and Betty.

 

I don’t recommend this if you can find it.  Aside from its actual execution, it’s frustrating to read, because you can see how much fun this could have been.  I don’t know the timeline or relationship between the spy stories and the superhero stories, but it seems like they really just wanted to do the superhero stories and the spy stories were a backdoor for it.  Regardless, the Man from RIVERDALE (I’m not putting in all of the periods) or the Girl from RIVERDALE (there’s a story featuring Betty in the back of the back) needs to be revisited.  Put the guys in suits, make them spies, and have fun.

Comic Review: Archie Milestones #20 Jughead Super Hero Special

Archie Comics is in a bit of a doghouse with me.  A recent editorial decision has put them firmly in the wrong camp, again.  I don’t really want to support them, but I’m not buying the directly offending material.  I’m also just about out of space to store digests.  That might end my buying altogether.  In any case, I really wanted this one.

 

For all of the Archie Comics I’ve read, I have no experience with the Archie teens as superheroes.  I barely have any with the more famous MLJ superheroes.  This year, Archie has brought those characters back and put them in the Archie universe for laughs.  (They’re way late on trying to cash in on all the superhero movies.  This is probably being done to keep up the copyright on the characters.) 

 

This issue of Archie Milestones fits right in.  Continuing with the title’s theme of focusing on Jughead this year, this issue features Jug’s superhero alter ego, Captain Hero, as well as some of his other superpowered identities.  With Jughead, anything is possible.  This fits right in with the character.  (My favorite iteration is him in the Time Police.)  This digest reprints mostly full-length comics, not typical shorts, so you’re getting a bit more story development (for an Archie comic).

The digest starts off really well with a Captain Hero story by Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz, a couple of long time superhero comic pros.  It looks great and is well-written.  Captain Hero’s powers are a bit ambiguous.  This will only get more confusing with further stories.  That almost seems to be the point.  There’s no origin story in this volume, unfortunately.

This was followed by a couple of classic Captain Hero stories, maybe from the 60’s.  They are fun.  In one, he has superpowers.  In the other, he has a gun and a bunch of super gadgets.  Archie and Reggie also get into the superhero act, but mostly fight each other. 

I’m not sure when the next story happened.  Archie and Betty, in their alter egos, join Jughead in this one.  The action is pretty dynamic in this.

Hmm. . .  I recognize one of these villains shown, the “Whistler.”  More on that later.

 

Captain Hero is featured in a couple more stories fighting villains.  Jughead, even in his civilian identity is totally jacked.  Must be all the protein from the burgers.

 

Another story from a later time has a more normal-looking Jughead/Captain Hero and seems to establish Captain Hero as a daydream, which would explain a lot. 

 

Next are two full stories from the Archie’s Weird Mysteries era.  It was sort of a teen X-Files/Kolchak the Night Stalker concept.  I’ve watched a couple of episodes and read a couple of comic books and like them.  The Archie characters are established well enough to work in about in any setting.  The first story has the gang meeting the Mighty Crusaders (MLJ heroes).  The second story has the Crusaders teaming up with the teens as their superhero alter egos.  The stories feature a couple of epic panels.  Fernando Ruiz does a great job on the crowd scenes, while Paul Castiglia’s writing juggles the multitude of characters and superhero pseudo-science fairly well. 

The next full story looks like it’s from the 80’s.  Jughead is recast as something like Bruce Wayne/Batman.  As silly as this story should have been, it actually comes off pretty entertaining as presented.  Superhero scribe Robert Loren Fleming and artist Gene Colan did the work, so little wonder they took it seriously. 

Some short tales round off the digest.  A couple by Rex Lindsey stand out.  The opening panel of the first one perfectly encapsulates Jughead.  He runs out of clean clothes and walks down the street wearing a superhero outfit.  In the next, we get a square-jawed muscular Super Jughead.   

 

Misgivings aside, I felt I got my $10 worth and I’d definitely recommend this.  I’d like to see more of the classic superhero stuff.  Some new Archie superhero stuff would also be fun, if they can get the right people doing the stories and art. 

 

I was going to compare the Archie superhero concept to the Archie spy concept in The Man from RIVERDALE.  I actually own a trade collection of that and recognized the “Whistler” from it.  However, I discovered that I somehow never wrote a review of it.  I’ll have to correct that next.  

Sunspot and Apache Point Observatory

Dad also took a short trip here in New Mexico recently to Sunspot and the Apache Point Observatory.  No photographs this time, but dad did bring back the brochures.

This is Sunspot, the solar observatory.  I vaguely remember going there as a kid. 

And this is the Apache Peak Observatory. Both of these sites are run by NMSU.  Sorry, I don't have more information.  I wasn't on the trip.

Dad's Epic Road Trip 2023 Part 5 Royal Gorge and Albuquerque

Part 4

 

Dad drove by Royal Gorge in Colorado.  It is not open to car traffic, only foot traffic.

You can just barely see the tramway cars travelling over the gorge.  There's also a zipline.  Dad has been to this place before when he was younger.

Dad came back through Albuquerque to visit his friend, Joe.  They went to Petroglyph National Monument.  For some reason, he took pictures of the housing development right next to the park.  (And for some reason, the city allowed new construction right next to the monument.)

Here's Joe.

And here's dad.

Dad's Epic Road Trip 2023 Part 4 Badlands and Colorado

Part 3

A view from the road in the Badlands, South Dakota.

Dad took a few pictures from the road in Colorado.  The top and bottom pictures are of Pike's Peak in Colorado Springs.  He was frustrated that it was covered in clouds the whole time.

Dad at a traffic light somewhere in Colorado.  (The pictures can't all be scenic.)

Part 5

Dad's Epic Road Trip 2023 Part 3 Buffaloes and Rushmore

Part 2

This is a tunnel built into the mountain in the Black Hills.  

Here's another view from the road.

Here's a herd of buffalo at Custer State Park, South Dakota.

 

A close up of a buffalo.

Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.  Dad has been to this area before when he was younger.

Part 4

Dad's Epic Road Trip 2023 Part 2 Custer and Crazy Horse

Part 1

Dad rented a cabin at Custer State Park in South Dakota. 

There's a view outside the cabin.

This is the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  They started working on it in 1948.  

 

Here's a couple of views from the road in the hills.  Dad said it was a really winding road.  

Part 3