To Riverdale and Back Again
So apparently starting next year Archie Andrews and co. are now going to be moving away from their traditional cartoony style that they've had going on for over half a century to a more modern, "realistic" comic book style. Pictures can be found here:
http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=94511
Am I the only one that thinks this is a terrible decision? The old style worked perfectly for the type of stories they told (I'm not ashamed to admit I used to collect tons of their comics back when I was younger, and yes, I even have some issues on my hard drive now unless you're a lawyer for the Archie Digest Library in which case I have no idea how that would even work), and the new style, well, just looks lame and awful. There's nothing distinctive about them anymore, and Betty and Veronica both look anorexic and horrid. I am just endlessly baffled as to why anyone in the company would think this was actually a good idea.
posted by Zach @ 12:28 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
OMG - ewwwww, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They can't DO that. What a stupid thing to do.
Dude, I was OBSESSED with those comics. From the magazines to the book sized ones. I had huge bins of them, I'd get them every single week. I actually had a comic store that would save me copies and I would go in and pick them up. I don't even want to imagine how much money I spent on them. But unfortunately, I was forced to have to give them all up so I had donated them all to my library years ago. I actually still see them there!
Betty & Veronica do look emaciated and gross. Not to mention Betty has lost her sweetness and now looks like a 5 year old with boobs. Veronica has lost her coolness as well. Eww, I'm sure Archie will look gross. Jughead was so much fun, what are they going to do to him, will he still have his hat?
It just 2 stories, the first will be told in 4 parts in the Betty & Veronica Double Digest, the second will be told in 4 parts in Archie's Pals 'n' Gals Double Digest. After that we will see what the fans want. Aside from those two stories, Archie and Pals will still have their classic good looks. You may want to pick up a copy just to see how we do at longer stories, and different art forms. By the way, what do you think about our Manga Sabrina?
I honestly only heard about Manga Sabrina from that article and your comment, so my whole knowledge of how it looks comes from a quick visit to your site. I still prefer the classic style to that, but it's at least still the proper amount of cartoony for the stories involved. I'm really...I don't want to say nervous, because that would wrongly imply that I'm still an up-to-date reader, but I'm not a fan of the attempt at a more realistic art style, based on the two pictures in the article. I am not picturing this really being any kind of long-term success.
And Stace, why did you have to give up all the old issues? Was it your parents deciding you had outgrown them or something, because I still keep all my old comics closely guarded so they can take up an impressive amount of space in our back room.
I'm not sure if it's just this strange nostalgia, but I grew up on the old school comics too. They're style was part of their charm.
Hey Zach, I'm reading some stuff by Miller and looking for more (my brother says I'm in touch w/ my inner geek). Anywho, I was wondering if you could recommend something?
Oh, and thanks for the card! I'm still in search for a girl Green Lantern tee! ;)
Of the Frank Miller stuff that I've read, I'd rank the best to worst thusly: his lengthy run on Daredevil, Batman: the Dark Knight Returns, the various Sin City comics, and lastly 300, which is now a major motion picture (coming out sometime this year!). I don't recall what else he's done that I've actually read, but that should be enough to tide you over for a while.
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