Customer Reviews

Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a comic fan, it is sometimes difficult to recommend books about comics to a non-fan crowd. The hobby can be a little insular and sometimes not appeal to those outside of it's base. There are many books that examine an aspect of the industry at a level only true fans can appreciate, or others that are so basic that they don't hold enough depth to really interest many.

Not so with this book.

I can safely and confidently recommend this book to the widest possible audience. In a word, it's fantastic. It takes a look at a company that has existed for over 75 years and not only drawn from, but contributed towards, pop-culture and the culture of .... well, the world! While that may seem heavy-handed, reading this book just might change your mind.

At the very least, the book will remind you of some part of your past (or, for those of us that still like these things - our present). Whether you are 15, 30, 45, or even older - there are parts of this book that will transport you to a lazy summer or a Christmas stocking that held an Archie comic or digest which you read cover-to-cover and passed around to siblings and friends. However, it will do so in a new way - by pulling back the curtain on the people and the company that made all this magic happen. Both a fascinating insight into a company of creativity that still thrives and a trip down memory lane 75 years to the last few months.

It isn't a book of reprinted stories (although there are stories to be read)
It isn't a book of images with no depth (although there are plenty of images),
It isn't a historical and psychological examination of pop-culture that only a curator could appreciate (although there is plenty to make your brain think about).

It IS a well-constructed book that will be read by three or more generations in any household - appealing to each.

The book strikes a very good balance between history, imagery, and insight into the state of the company past and present. You may be surprised at how relevant and meaningful the company remains as well as the great influence it has held in its many years. From Elvis reading an Archie comic on a train, to the modern world of.... well, I'll leave that for you to discover. I cannot recommend this book highly enough - it's just one of those great-to-have books. In fact, if you buy this one - place it on a table and see just how many friends and family members grab it and start talking about Archie.

This is the type of book you may buy someone as a gift and end-up flipping through until you've read it cover to cover and refuse to let it go.

On another note - the picture here at Amazon does NOT so this book justice. It is heavy and has a wonderful die-cut cover - the "Three on a Soda" image sits on TOP of the cover.

We've seen a lots of changes in the world lately, mainly because of technology. For one, brick-and-mortar bookstores are going out of business and online book sellers (like this one!) are thriving. That's great news for Amazon and it's not bad for us consumers, either. We get discount prices, near-infinite selection, low shipping cost, and the convenience of shopping from home. But what we miss is the experience of picking up the book, holding it in our hands, and seeing it in person.

Looking at the picture of "Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers," would you know that the book has a special die-cut cover? (It does.) Would you know that it has full-color custom endpapers? (It has those, too.) The product description lists the page count, but it doesn't tell you that the sturdy hardcover binding has fancy spot varnish on the front, back and spine. Nor does it say that the book has reproductions of rare and literally one-of-a-kind art in addition to the four-color comic book stories and covers reprinted. In short, the description and the picture simply don't do it justice. (Thank goodness Amazon provides the opportunity for consumer reviews like this one to help inform book shoppers.)

As with previous Yoe Books, this is a prime example of the book-maker's art. The book itself is a quality product, aside from its contents. This is not a book to read on a Kindle. I'm not opposed to technology and there's nothing wrong with reading an electronic mystery or romance novel. But with a book like this you want to own it as a physical object. If you don't have a coffee table, buy one - then put this book on it.

As far as the contents of the book are concerned, Craig Yoe did a great job, as usual. If you're an Archie fan, you'll want it.

I did help out Craig Yoe with this book, but it is not why it is the best. It would have been the best even without my help. Craig has strove...er strived...striven? ok, Yoe has made sure that he gave ample coverage to virtually all of the major Archie artists and writers over the years, something no other collection has done. While I truly regard Dan De Carlo as one of the greats, most Archie volumes give him praise if they give anyone praise, truly overlooking a lot of the other talents including Bob Montana and my favorite, Harry Lucey! Even the writers are covered at great length such as George Gladir. There is not only coverage of the comic books, but of the radio shows, TV shows, and The Archies singing group! Yoe has even created pages of his top 10 favorite Archie covers in various categories. Not an easy feat since there are over 5000 Archie covers at this point, over 600 on the main Archie title alone. So please buy and enjoy. It's a very handsome looking book even if you are only a casual fan. This will make you a fan!

At its best, this book provides a glimpse into the rarities of the Archie universe. Let's, then, start with the best. There are biographies of many--but not all--popular Archie writers and artists. Snippets have been found in other works, but there seems to be more heft here. The glimpses into short-lived publications are interesting. As

As for the neutral, there are things here that are good or at least well intentioned, but, for me, come across rather blah. I understand the importance of reprinting Archie's first story--but it's been reprinted recently in other similar books, so its impact is less than perhaps was intentioned. I enjoyed the various galleries of gag covers near the end of the book, but I think more could have been done with them and some seem oddly misidentified. A Jughead gag that was clearly dealing with Macbeth's witches was attributed to monster movies of the '60s. It says something, perhaps, that nearly all of the covers appeared to be from before the early 1970s. Have no Archie covers of comic or cultural note been produced in the past four decades? (Perhaps that rhetorical question really should NOT be answered!)

As a negative review points out, too much of the book seems to be a shill for the current generation of Archie. Do we need biographies of people who have not yet proven themselves, just because they're currently running Archie Enterprises? Similarly, the entry roster of major and important minor Archie characters made me cringe. Not only do I not like the current approved Archie art style, but it seemed out of character with the rest of the book. For a history book there doesn't seem to be a lot of analysis. It talks of Archie's great past circulation numbers, but what of current conditions? Various people talk about the timelessness of Archie, but I would argue that Archie had more cultural relevance in the past than he does now stuck in a sanitized version of not typical smalltown America, but someone's conception of what typical smalltown American should have been like about a generation and a half ago. Certainly, relevance is tried for. The recently introduced character of Kevin is given prominence in the introduction as well as near the end. Kevin's introduction is an attempt at relevance because he's gay. And, unlike Jughead, is openly gay. (Oh, wait, we're told Jug really isn't a woman hater. OK.) But if a character's whole raison d'etre is his (or her) sexuality how long is that character going to last? What lasting relevance will appear. The book also sidesteps potentially thorny issues like Dan DeCarlo's lawsuit over Josie and the Pussycats.

Frankly, I grew up with Archie, and I still have great affinity for Riverdale. However, even I was appalled at the shameless promotional aspects the company has engaged in. It doesn't surprise me that all sorts of ancillary products were developed or tried for over the years, but their celebration here confounds me. I also love the "Disney" Ducks, and when I see a retrospective of their comic appearances, ancillary materials are seldom mentioned except when they involve a comic story. Obviously, Disney branded their cartoons on anything they could long before the advent of the Disney Vault. It's usually ignored in comic history because it's not important to most fans of the stories. I think the same is true here. Sure, the TV cartoons and music tie-ins are an inextricable part of Archie history and should be mentioned. But model cars based on Archie's Jalopy? It just sat wrong with me.

In the end, I'm glad I bought this book. It gave me more information and, more importantly, it's thought provoking. If you like Archie, you should probably get it, too. But we're still waiting for a more objective, nuanced account of Riverdale or even some literary criticism of it.

(One final annoyance that I must mention. TYPOS! There are probably a few in this review, but you're not paying for it. For example, Ethel's last name is (now) Muggs. Note the s. In her character sheet (where she is apparently the same height as Dilton Doiley) the possessive form of her last name is referred to as Mugg's.)

This is the first book I have ever returned to Amazon--or anyplace else.

I was expecting a much more serious attempt at the history of Archie Comics and what I got instead was more like an Archie scrapbook. This book is much too superficial for my taste. Though there are some nice things, such as Bob Montana's illustrated high school journal pages, there is much more that made me shake my head and wonder why it was included--such as more than 20 pages of covers with themes such as rock 'n roll, "fab fads," "Art for Archie's sake," and the like. Covers are great, but there are so many better choices instead of such silly themes.

Also I wonder what was sacrificed or included to ensure Archie approval/cooperation. While Dexter Taylor, an artist who has been an Archie stalwart for decades gets a couple very brief (one sentence) mentions, the new management gets multiple pages, far in excess of their contributions to the Archie history.

Make no mistake, the book is nicely produced. The die-cut cover is really nice and the production values are good. But if you are really interested in the history of the company you will be disappointed. I'm sorry I didn't purchase the collected daily strips or the Archie Archives instead.