New "Archie" #1 On the Way in 2015 from Mark Waid & Fiona Staples

[Chrysalis_Changling]

I haven't read Archie in years (which is very sad considering it's one of the main things that got me into comics in the first place), but I may have to pick it up after this ne wlaunch. The only thing that bothers me is the iconic look the characters have had for years is now gone and I'm afraid this is a HUGE risk for Archie Comics and may eventualy hurt them in the long run....

considering how archie comics sales for the traditional comics have been tanking for years...i doubt this isn't going to hurt them that much

[Park Slope Pixie]

Disappointed they're using Staples name to help sell the book where she'll only be on board for 3 issues. That's not enough to call her part of the new creative team.

I wonder how far they'll go in reflecting the teens of today. Underage drinking? Sex?

I think they should have kept the old archie series going. There was something nice about a book that went back to the old times and then done a second book with the more modern take.

There was something nice about a stale anachronism that had little currency in the modern world, let alone the modern world from two decades prior?

Even the people who dislike Saga for its occassional vulgarity...

Vulgarity?

[Brave Sir Robin]

considering how archie comics sales for the traditional comics have been tanking for years...i doubt this isn't going to hurt them that much

Actually, their business model doesn't depend on the monthly comic sales. The monthly books are used to create stories for the digests that they sell in supermarkets and other places like that. That is where they make their money.

These new stories I am guessing are to provide new fans and new channels of revenue.

I am guessing the traditional Archie and art will continue to appear and this new numbered book will be its own thing. Archie has no issue with alternate realities all over the place, something the other companies can learn from.

[quinnzel]

Actually, their business model doesn't depend on the monthly comic sales. The monthly books are used to create stories for the digests that they sell in supermarkets and other places like that. That is where they make their money.

These new stories I am guessing are to provide new fans and new channels of revenue.

I am guessing the traditional Archie and art will continue to appear and this new numbered book will be its own thing. Archie has no issue with alternate realities all over the place, something the other companies can learn from.

This is what I think, too. It's obvious they're going to keep the digests and the other series going and I think this new series might be a way they're trying to appeal to new audiences. I think the digests appeal to a lot of people who have read the old Archie comics for years and years and this "reboot" of sorts might be a way to try and introduce a new generation of comic readers to the character and universe.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

considering how archie comics sales for the traditional comics have been tanking for years...i doubt this isn't going to hurt them that much

Indeed. The actual Archie brand is almost nonexistent today, in terms of comics, it's just Archie, Afterlife With Archie, Betty and Veronica and the new Sabrina book, everything else are digests and all the Sonic/Mega Man stuff. With the company bordering on irrelevance for years now (an irony with the 75th anniversary right around the corner), the head honchos needed to infuse new life into the comic line, AWA and the new Archie clearly are part of that strategy.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

Indeed. The actual Archie brand is almost nonexistent today, in terms of comics, it's just Archie, Afterlife With Archie, Betty and Veronica and the new Sabrina book, everything else are digests and all the Sonic/Mega Man stuff. With the company bordering on irrelevance for years now (an irony with the 75th anniversary right around the corner), the head honchos needed to infuse new life into the comic line, AWA and the new Archie clearly are part of that strategy.

which is why i can't understand the fans that cry and want everything to stay the same despite the problems that have happened due to things staying the same for so long....these nostalgic old fans are clinging onto the past for dear life and don't want to let go some even think that the mark waid relaunch will scare away too many customers and get less sales than the traditional archie books....

do they want archie comics to go out of business?! it seems like they just want archie to remain this stupid outdated comic book with the happiest town on earth and designs straight out of the 50's....

i feel like arguing with the old fans isn't worth it because they are sure Mark Waid's gonna spell the end of archie comics

[Tandaemonium]

Archie...meh.

Oh, Fiona Staples? Okay, I'm onboard now.

Hmm. They're making Archie interesting for the first time ever. I might have to give it a go. I like Mark Waid, I've never read anything from Fiona Staples before. From what someone told me, I'm not missing much.

BKV plus art like this:



I'd say you're missing out, man! Best writing/art right now, you should check it out.

[Myetche]

So long as they keep reprinting digests with the old Archie stuff for the old-school fans, I can't see any issue with this. Besides, if the reboot tanks, they can always go right back to where they left off. It's not like there's any continuity to speak of.

Now, how will this reboot affect Josie and Sabrina? Are their worlds going to be reimagined to fit in this new series as well?

[Starchild]

I don't really understand why everyone is against a modernized Archie. Teenagers today aren't all that different from the teens in the 50's.

[TOXIC]

Why should kids comics appeal to "the majority of comic book readers"?

Exactly. This is precisely the crux of the problem with this relaunch. Archie isn't for the grownups, it isn't for the DC and Marvel readers, and this thread has delivered exactly that. People are saying they will finally read an Archie comic, that being this relaunch, which is inherently foolish.

What are the people who buy Archie going to do now? Comic book fans have a vast variety of comic books to choose from, you could cancel Batman and you have a plethora of not just similar to Batman comics, but offshoots galore that directly connect Batman. Congratulations to this company for alienating a fanbase for the sake of trying to be cool like a comic book.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

you always need new readers and the traditional archie comics weren't getting them new readers....hell a lot of archie comics weren't even ordered in comic shops(aside from the action line afterlife and sabrina)because you don't go to a comic shop for those kind of books that's the kind of stuff you grab on a impulse at the check-out line at the grocery store

with a new riverdale fox series in the works they are putting a lot of pressure on themselves to make themselves more mainstream and popular with people today

Goofy High school misadventures about picking betty or veronica for the school dance just isn't gonna cut it anymore

[TheFerg714]

Archie is starting to sound really interesting. I'm really into superhero universes, so I'm probably gonna check out the Dark Circle books, and Afterlife with Archie has been eyeing my wallet for a few months now. I think rebooting Archie is a great idea. Literally nothing about "traditional" (for lack of a better word?) Archie comics appealed to me before I saw that modernized cover, and the names: Mark Waid and Fiona Staples. I'm in. Please impress me, Archie.

Also, what is the deal with Sabrina? It looks cool, but only one issue has come out?

[ultimate jezebel]

I'm curious about these, so I'm in for at least the first 6 issues or so.

[Chrysalis_Changling]

Archie is starting to sound really interesting. I'm really into superhero universes, so I'm probably gonna check out the Dark Circle books, and Afterlife with Archie has been eyeing my wallet for a few months now. I think rebooting Archie is a great idea. Literally nothing about "traditional" (for lack of a better word?) Archie comics appealed to me before I saw that modernized cover, and the names: Mark Waid and Fiona Staples. I'm in. Please impress me, Archie.

Also, what is the deal with Sabrina? It looks cool, but only one issue has come out?

apparently the writer is causing the delay because he's too busy writing scripts for the riverdale television series

[Lee Stone]

So what happened to "New Look" Archie from a couple years back..?