Customer Reviews

The Adventures Of Little Archie Volume 1

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I have to give kudos to the Archie series of reprints.

Little Archie is unlike the "little" versions of adult characters of today as the stories are fun and stand on their own. There is a kind of fairy tale logic that adults and children will find appealing. Archie encounters everything inculding aliens. The oddity of it all was that every now and then the art would elevate to a level of realism even more than was seen in the current Archie comics as a way of highlighting the flights of fancy that little Archie went on.

The thing I like most is that the tales don't talk down to children or dumb it down for the reader.

For the price (the cost of two magazines on a newstand) it is well worth adding to your collection. The sort of thing that your kids can pass to their kids one day.

This book is full of the Riverdale crew as young children....but many of the personality traits remain the same. There are also adventure tales here, with mad scientists and world takeover plots. All ages will love this volume. I have never loved the Little Archie stories, but after reading the volume, I have grown to appreciate and enjoy them. The tales here are diverse, and the artwork is phenomenal. You will not regret buying this sweet little volume. I am sure glad that I gave it a whirl. It has timeless fun enclosed and, as another review noted, it is not dumbed down at all. It is written in the same style as every Archie comic.

Actually, it would be hard to select the best Little Archie stories, but if you're not familiar with the character, he's vastly different from the well known Archie series. While most Archie comics are pretty much the same, this spinoff series is surprising in its originality and creativity. It's rare that a marketing spinoff is actually superior to its source, but I'd have to say this is easily the case here.
The difference is the writer/artist Bob Bolling, who wrote and drew most of the Little Archie stories in the 1960s. These are all from the early 60s, Bolling's most inspired period, the adventures he did so well. The artwork is cartoony for the most part, except that the scenery and adult characters are often drawn realistically, often with fine detail.
It would be so wonderful if the publisher would continue to mine this rich vein of pure gold, as there are enough great stories for many volumes, but sadly, the second volume, less than half of it by Bolling (and past his prime), is all substandard fare from the 70s and 80s, with none of the magic of these early stories. Don't waste your time or money on volume 2, which I found to be worthless, but if you like comics, this volume is a must!! It will leave you wanting more. (Early Bob Bolling, that is.)