It only took about sixty years, but Archie Comics has finally decided to get into the comic magazine racket with their over-sized Life With Archie mag!
And it truly is a magazine, in the sense that it contains multiple features, many of which are the kind of thing comics don't do as much of anymore: columns, puzzles, and other cute little bits that DC and Marvel all but gave up on in the 80s and 90s.
The main bulk of the magazine is devoted to the current Archie: The Married Life books, where we're in an alternate future where Archie has married Veronica, and another one where he married Betty (Betty is the correct answer, btw).
These Married Life comics are by my pal Paul Kupperberg and drawn by Norm Breyfogle. When I first heard that, I was shocked--Norm Breyfogle drawing Archie? Norm "Batman" Breyfogle? Really?
Turns out, yes, that Norm Breyfogle, but one look at the work and I could see that it, well, works:
As an artist myself, I should never doubt someone's ability to work in a different genre, and yet I did. But somehow Breyfogle is able to adapt his style to suit this slightly more realistic world of the adult Archie Andrews. In addition, Kupperberg's scripts and dialogue are light as air, keeping the stories moving while retaining the essential charm of these admittedly stock characters.
The second feature is Jinx, which is the grown-up version of the Lil' Jinx moppet from years past, written by by J. Torres and drawn by Rick Burchett and Terry Austin:
Following this is another "Archie The Married Life" segment, again written by Kupperberg and this time drawn by Tim Levins and Dan Davis. This story centers on Mr. Witherbee, but features (for me) a memorable moment with Archie:
As a Bob Dylan fan, I got a huge kick of seeing Archie Andrews sing a Dylan song. I bet Bob would, too.
As I mentioned before, this series also contains some fun features, like some word finds, an article about proms (featuring some prom fashions), a horoscope, and "Red Carpet Hearthrobs." (Reggie likes Olivia Wilde...what can I say, the man has good taste)
My knowledge of what its like to be a 10-year old girl is fairly limited, but I would bet any little girl who has a predisposition towards comics or reading in general would love this magazine--its all kinds of fun, looks great, and at $3.99 is quite affordably priced (but then, Archie Comics always has been good at keeping their comics competitive, price-point-wise).
I've always said there needs to be more comics for girls, and while DC and Marvel still seem to struggle reaching that audience, here's Archie blazing a trail. I hope Life with Archie lasts a long time--and given the company's track record, it will!
The second feature is Jinx, which is the grown-up version of the Lil' Jinx moppet from years past, written by by J. Torres and drawn by Rick Burchett and Terry Austin:
As I mentioned before, this series also contains some fun features, like some word finds, an article about proms (featuring some prom fashions), a horoscope, and "Red Carpet Hearthrobs." (Reggie likes Olivia Wilde...what can I say, the man has good taste)
My knowledge of what its like to be a 10-year old girl is fairly limited, but I would bet any little girl who has a predisposition towards comics or reading in general would love this magazine--its all kinds of fun, looks great, and at $3.99 is quite affordably priced (but then, Archie Comics always has been good at keeping their comics competitive, price-point-wise).
I've always said there needs to be more comics for girls, and while DC and Marvel still seem to struggle reaching that audience, here's Archie blazing a trail. I hope Life with Archie lasts a long time--and given the company's track record, it will!
