The New Archies #20

Only the cover and the first story are Thanksgiving themed. However, considering my recent luck with Thanksgiving comics turning out to either be busts or minimally set during the holiday, if at all, I count this as a win. 

Pop's Chock'lit Shop is holding a raffle for a Thanksgiving turkey. Jughead gets a sneak peak at it and the thing is HUGE! Naturally, Juggie buys a slew of tickets in hopes of winning the thing. But he has a change of heart when he learns about a little girl, whose family is in dire straits, that spends her last 4 bits to buy a single ticket. 

The other two stories were good as well. Boy genius Eugene invents a machine that reveals people's innermost thoughts. Being that the gang is all in junior high school and that means tons of drama, it's not exactly a machine that wins the user of the device any friends. The final story has all of the boys getting jealous of the compliments Jughead gets from wearing his hat. So they all end up wearing lids too in order to look cool. Only Mr. Weatherbee offers some sage advice that has everyone but Jug playing the fool!

I loved The New Archies as a kid and I still love them. They didn't exactly take off with fans when they debuted in 1987. But I actually was a fan. I didn't understand the concept as to why the gang from Riverdale had to change, but I liked them all!

The idea behind them was first to be a new take on a classic property, having the kids de-aged from high school to middle school. White boy genius Dalton was replaced with Eugene, who was black. Eugene was given a black girlfriend named Amani. Neither character has ever returned to Archie books to my knowledge. More modern situations and themes were added to the mix and the focus of the stories was less on the love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica and more on the angst of being a budding teen.

The other reason for the change was a legend I had heard a while back but can't seem to recall where I learned it; nor can I confirm it. Supposedly, NBC wanted to make an Archie cartoon. However, CBS still owned the rights to the ageless teens. Thus, DIC Entertainment Corporation worked to make The New Archies as close to different as possible as to prevent a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Not that really any of that mattered because within 4 months, the cartoon was cancelled. The comic book lasted a little bit longer. It hung around until 1991, with a total of 22 issues and 14 digests being released on a non-regular basis.

Most who remember the series in any format, look at The New Archies with disdain. I have fond memories of getting issues for free at visits to my dentist. At least with the books being so infamous among Archie fans, these books aren't very expensive buy- IF YOU CAN FIND THEM!

There are a total of 3 stories in this issue. That makes my Thanksgiving average with this issue a .333. Maybe a little higher if you count the cover. Heck, Hall of Fame worthy hitters in baseball consider themselves lucky if they can average .333 in a season. Plus that first story was such a home run...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The New Archies #3

If I buy a comic book with a holiday themed cover, I expect the material within to be related to either Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving and nowadays Kwanzaa. If I get a book made up of several short stories, like something from Archie Comics, I expect all of the stories to be holiday themed. Though I've changed that a little bit to allow for a story set during the season in which the holidays occur. Thus, if it's not a Christmas caper, then the story had better be during a Winter wonderland. 

There are 4 stories in this issue. 3 are set during Christmas. The first story has Archie working as a grocery clerk during Riverdale Middle School's Winter break. During this time, Archie catches a shoplifter and learns an important lesson- while shoplifting is wrong, not everybody who steals is a bad person as the thief is a young boy taking food to feed him and his mom who just lost her job. 

Story #2 has Eugene (The New Archies version of Dilton) trying to find the right present for his girlfriend Amani. However, every time the lad thinks he's found the right gift, Eugene gets buyers remorse for not having anything left to donate for people in need. Girlfriend Amani is having the same dilemma. But a Gift of the Magi-like solution might make it a Merry Christmas for all parties involved. 

Story #3 is a classic Archie scenario. The annual Christmas dance is coming up. Who will Archie take to the party: Betty or Veronica? The solution was pretty sweet and a bit sentimental. 

The fourth story was not Christmas set. But it does occur during Winter time, so I was okay with it. Archie is challenged by Reggie to a snowmobile race. Typically, Reggie cheats as Archie overcomes. And the winner is... Just because this is a 30 year old comic book, you don't think I'm going to spoil it do you? Let's just say that if you read the story, you'll know who wins way before the official fires the starting gun!

There's a 2-page gag included in this issue. It's not festive at all. But when it comes to Archie material, I'm okay with that. Not every joke can have a Christmas-themed punchline. Plus, I understand that the inclusion of these gags are often as filler to meet the required minimum number of pages for print. 

Overall, the book got me in the holiday mood and it met a lot of my requirements. Also- this issue features a funny and extremely wordy cover by Henry Scarpelli. Very well crafted, even if there were a few Archie typical cliches running throughout the book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars

The New Archies #11

In 1987, Archie Comics in collaboration with NBC, developed a new animated series based on the Archie gang. As several teenage versions of the Archies were done previously on rival station CBS, producers decided to retool the kids from Riverdale. Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica were de-aged from high schoolers to middler school students. Dilton was absent; replaced by an African-American clone named Eugene. And a completely new student named Amani (Eugene's girlfriend) was added to the roster.

When The New Archies project was announced, I being only 9 years old, didn't understand the need to reboot everything. It confused me even more as educators Mrs. Grundy and Principal Weatherbee looked completely the same. It's only been recently that I learned that concerns over CBS and/or production company Filmation, still having rights to the Archies property was the reason for the adjustments. Thus, my decades-long bias against these guys has abated over time. Having not one but two Thanksgiving themed issues definitely helped.

Only the first of the 3 stories in this book is Thanksgiving themed. But it was a good one. Archie laments that his folks have decided to go the dining out route for their Thanksgiving dinner. So Betty invites Archie and Jughead to dinner with the Coopers. Not to be outdone, Veronica also invites the guys to break bread with her family. Good thing Betty's event is at 1 and Ronnie's is at 5! Too bad Archie doesn't have 2 stomachs...

In the other two stories, a surprise history test prevents Archie from going on a date with Betty and Veronica. So, Reggie takes his place! Then the Girls of Riverdale Jr. High compete for the title of 'Dream Queen' in a delightfully sweet story that highlights Big Ethel!

There was a familiarity with The New Archies and another franchise that was developing at this exact same time. NBC's Saved by the Bell was in its early stages as a Disney property known as Good Morning, Miss Bliss. When the show fizzled after a brief 13-episode season, NBC reclaimed the franchise and it became the classic late 80s-early 90s Saturday morning live action series Saved by the Bell. By having both students and staff transfer from jr. high to high school in both realms, I feel like producers over at Bayside might have been inspired by the people in charge of Riverdale. It's definitely a possibility, this theory of mine!

All 3 tales had that classic Archie charm. A Turkey Day themed word search added to the festive mood. And there were a few other surprises peppered in. Finally (for this season), I had a Thanksgiving read that I enjoyed!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars