shaxper
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Post by shaxper on May 6, 2014 7:02:54 GMT -5
I've brought this up here before, but I wanted to give it maximum visibility. For those who aren't in the know, Life with Archie is a critically acclaimed magazine series that's won the affection of many posters here. I'm not even an Archie fan, and this is (in my opinion) the best comic that's been published in the last two decades. The characters are complex and vibrant, the complications dark and realistic, and the outlook always unwaveringly idealistic. It's a well-crafted soap opera with a positive outlook on the human race. And it's all ending in two issues, due to low sales, with the death of Archie. What I'm pushing for (and I actually have the writer of the series, Paul Kupperberg, on board with this) is that the series continue beyond Archie's death, exploring how the characters move on in the wake of such a tragedy, dealing with real-world loss while also continuing to live and find new meaning in their lives. It's evident that the death of Archie is bringing in major sales and tons of new readers, and I think an aftermath where beloved characters deal with the real-world issue of grieving while also finding hope and positive outlooks to latch onto, can keep those readers sticking around. In the end, we get a quality comic continuing and attracting a large new readership, cancelling out the low sales that initially led to its planned demise. I've been fighting this battle for weeks now, and have had minor victories in hearing back from Mr. Kupperberg, and even in obtaining the voicemail # for Victor Gorelick, the editor in chief, and leaving him a message about this, but none of this means anything without people behind it. I REALLY need more people to sign and spread this online petition in order to convince Archie Comics that there is an interested readership out there. Please consider signing and passing this link along to others, whether on other forums or even asking your local comic shop guy to throw the link up on his facebook page. Thanks! www.change.org/petitions/archie-comics-re-brand-life-with-archie-after-archie |
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Post by antoine on May 6, 2014 7:14:21 GMT -5
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on May 6, 2014 10:06:49 GMT -5
Yes it is!  |
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Post by comicscube on Jul 8, 2014 2:30:59 GMT -5
When the series started, I was told by someone working on the title (I want to say it was Norm, but now I can't remember) that due to the mass market distribution, it was likely outselling most comics. I was a fan of it as it came out monthly but stopped at #24, feeling that it had run its course. So, uh, you can blame me, I guess. Just me. Not anyone else. me.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 8, 2014 8:00:38 GMT -5
The ending of that series makes me a little queasy. Archie is the quintessential Americana character with the archetypal teenage life, high school relationships, pop culture references, music, suburban homes, and dreams. Riverdale was the idealized American town, where everyone would love to live, grow old and raise children. I would have liked Life with Archie to continue in that tradition, and see Arch and the gang have a happy (if sometimes zany) middle age.
Instead, Archie apparently gets shot and dies before he's had a chance to live.
It's like Archie comics is taking the old dream of the idealized American town and telling its readers "take your fantasy and shove it up your a$$. This is what America is: young people getting gunned down".
I, for one, find that message incredibly depressing.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2014 8:25:30 GMT -5
I agree. Life with Archie always offered an optimistic promise that tomorrow was going to be a great day.
Surprise. You'll be dead instead.
It's weird too because, up to this point, the series has been surprisingly on-the-ball with internal continuity, but the storyline that laid the groundwork for this entire series outright shows Archie living years beyond this point and having twins in both future realities. I guess that didn't matter to the publisher as much as a quick sales boost.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 8:33:15 GMT -5
Just remember, that idealized town didn't have any black or gay people. When Archie added a black character, there was an insane amount of outrage. When they added a gay character, the same. The series has looked at the ugly side of life from the start. Corporate greed, corruption, so on. The ending is shocking, but I'll reserve judgement until I've read it. I suspect it's going to be good. And if you like the idealized version of Archie, there's still about a dozen titles featuring that.
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Post by comicscube on Jul 8, 2014 11:05:16 GMT -5
I do get the feeling Archie will pull a quick twist. The entire tone of the series, from the start, is that life is grim but there's always hope. Archie dies in the penultimate issue. There's a whole final issue for it to still come off as hopeful.
No idea how, but it's there, somewhere.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2014 15:09:32 GMT -5
Just remember, that idealized town didn't have any black or gay people. When Archie added a black character, there was an insane amount of outrage. When they added a gay character, the same. The series has looked at the ugly side of life from the start. Corporate greed, corruption, so on. The ending is shocking, but I'll reserve judgement until I've read it. I suspect it's going to be good. And if you like the idealized version of Archie, there's still about a dozen titles featuring that. The Life with Archie title and continuity is a very different creature from the other Archie titles, though. Losing it is a very big deal to me, and not something that can be replaced by picking up some other Archie title. In it, those characters grew and matured into far more complex characters that were much more rewarding to follow, and the town grew and changed along with them in the wake of several significant events over the course of 35 issues. And that Riverdale was very inclusive and progressive, all while maintaining a small town charm. I do get the feeling Archie will pull a quick twist. The entire tone of the series, from the start, is that life is grim but there's always hope. Archie dies in the penultimate issue. There's a whole final issue for it to still come off as hopeful. No idea how, but it's there, somewhere. I sure hope you're right, and I wonder if Paul Kupperberg isn't also thinking, "No idea how, but it's there, somewhere" as he takes all these extra months to write those final issues. |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 8, 2014 15:21:04 GMT -5
It would be a sorry state of affairs if the ending of the "Archie as an adult" movie (Return to Riverdale) turned out to be less disappointing than that of the excellent Life with Archie!
Not that I expect it to be a bad story... it's just that I can't reconcile the Archie world with blood and violence. Mis Grundy dying of cancer after a long life, yes, that was cool. Kevin Keller having to face intolerance and getting the support of the community, yes, that was Archie-like. But I view Archie getting shot and killed as I would Little Jinx being abused by a child molester. It happens in real life, but that's not the kind of thing I expect in a Riverdale story.
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shaxper
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Post by shaxper on Jul 8, 2014 16:23:15 GMT -5
Of course, much of the run has been all about the characters facing real world problems that you don't usually see in Archie (violence, scandals, betrayals, potential adultry, etc) and maintaining optimism and perseverance in spite of them. That's why I'm still holding my breath that Kupperberg might be able to make this ending work. It certainly wasn't his idea or his wish, but he's the right person to pull it off.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2014 23:35:11 GMT -5
The gun control issue has been an ongoing theme, I still think the ending not only fits, but is somewhat predictable. I wasn't surprised when it was leaked.
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Post by hondobrode on Jul 9, 2014 0:10:30 GMT -5
They'll somehow pull this out, I think, as a dream or something.
Dang, I really want to read this now. Not because of Archie dying, but all the other stuff. I've only read a couple in my entire life but this is so different.
Afterlife With Archie looks good too.
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Post by comicscube on Jul 9, 2014 1:28:44 GMT -5
I do have to admit that the hope aspect came through more when I was buying it issue by issue. My partner was reading them along with me and she agreed. But I bught the TPB for my brother and his wife later on and they just thought it was too depressing. So I tried reading my issues in one go and I couldn't do it. In many ways, it felt like Archie as a crew were still learning how to pace things for serials AND collections.
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shaxper
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Posts: 22,865
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Post by shaxper on Jul 9, 2014 1:53:30 GMT -5
I do have to admit that the hope aspect came through more when I was buying it issue by issue. My partner was reading them along with me and she agreed. But I bught the TPB for my brother and his wife later on and they just thought it was too depressing. So I tried reading my issues in one go and I couldn't do it. In many ways, it felt like Archie as a crew were still learning how to pace things for serials AND collections. I read the whole thing straight through the very first time and had no problem with the pacing. However, I was reading the floppies, not a tpb. Perhaps that affected your experience. |
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