As someone who actually does read all the Archies, I gotta say: That cover is rough.

The sample pencils, though, remind me of that time in Gen13 #13a that Archie's gang shows up and J. Scott Campbell drew them in his normal style. Which, while interesting, lacks the charm of the Dan DeCarlo/Henry Scarpelli kind of stuff.
Chris Sims | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 11:29 am | #

In the spirit round here these Betty Vs. Veronica parts of commenting on the hotness of underage teenagers...

That giant Scott Baio poster (which leaves nothing to the imagination by the by, and certainly gives new meaning to the word giant, ha ha) brings back fond memories of just how much my then 12 year old nascent homo self lusted after the lad.

Joanie loves Chachi my ass. Back off bitch, he's mine!
Ariel | 12.17.06 - 12:04 pm | #

No! Not the giant Scott Baio! Anything but that! Nooooooo!
Eddie Mitchell | Email | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 1:52 pm | #

This "realistic" Archie approach will make the older material close to unusable for digest format, which will hobble what has to be a chunk of pure profit for the company.
Kevin Church | Email | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 3:16 pm | #

Personally, I'd rather "UNLEASH THE GIANT JACK KLUGMAN".

it sounds kinda dirty.
Gordon | Email | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 4:09 pm | #

Kevin - Well, they could always brand those old stories with a "CLASSIC ARCHIE" logo, to differentiate them from the new, hip 'n' modern Archie tales.
Mikester | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 7:18 pm | #

Sterling, wait.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

It's New Coke all over again.
Kevin Church | Email | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 7:19 pm | #

Kevin - GENIUS. Take it away, make 'em beg for its return, and give it back to 'em with HUGE MEDIA ATTENTION.
Mikester | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 7:22 pm | #

The whole "Betty vs. Veronica" question becomes a lot more skeevy when they're drawn to look like Hilary Duff or some other Disney Channel actress.
tarpit | 12.17.06 - 7:28 pm | #

Tarpit - Er, yeah, it sure does.
Mikester | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 7:31 pm | #

I think the new readers -- i.e., the kids who actually buy Archie Comics when they get old enough to know what it is, not the 30-40-50+ crowd who fondly remember the books from their childhoods -- aren't going to care. Archie Comics requires new blood; the bulk of their readership outgrows the series in 4-8 years and has to be replaced.

This happens in the toy business all the time. Look at the number of times Transformers, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony, TMNT, etc., have been redesigned and reconfigured. Who knows, in a few years someone like Devil's Due might be doing a "classic" Archie book while the new Archie series continues on its merry way.

BTW, the Bob Montana/Dan DeCarlo designs everybody fondly remembers were NOT the original character designs but were gradually introduced about 6-8 years after the book started. It was already a hit once when they fiddled with it and made it even more successful.
Anon E. Mouse | Email | 12.17.06 - 8:32 pm | #

When Archie Comics revamped "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," they went for a more mangafied style. Such being what the kiddies seem to enjoy these days.

So why does that cover have Betty & Veronica looking like characters from a Jack Chick tract?
Loren | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 9:14 pm | #

It's the Dynamic Duo
Detective Comics #327

VS.

The Riverdale Girls
Betty and Veronica Digest #151

The Battle of the "New Looks" on the road to Earth-One Archie continuity...

...SO WHO WILL WIN?
Anonymous | 12.17.06 - 9:31 pm | #

Kevin: Not really. They still reprint the Sabrina stories from when they were drawn in the style of the animated series, but with the addition of a title page explaining how an evil witch sent her back to the 8th grade.

It does nothing, however, to explain why those stories are so horrible.
Chris Sims | Homepage | 12.17.06 - 10:24 pm | #

I still read the Archies as well, since they're my 8-year-old son's favorite characters. (Mrs. Keeeper's too ...)

The new look is a shock to the system, and I hope they don't sacrifice the short story/corny joke format as that's what my son really loves.

Don't think he'd like a cartoon OC.

Anyway, we'll see. Manga Sabrina is great, so you never know.
The Fortress Keeper | Email | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 12:07 am | #

Ehh, there's no law that says they have to have all their comics in the new style. Bet if this style takes, we'll see both styles used happily in different books.
Martin Wisse | Email | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 4:50 am | #

Argh! This is so frustrating! Why doesn't anyone ask Archie and his friends what they think of the new style??!!!
jake saint | Email | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 8:37 am | #

I don't think this is New Coke.

I think this is life-or-death for the Archie Group. They've had a basic monopoly on comics for girls and young kids for 30 years. You know all you guys complain Marvel and DC no longer make all-ages comics? They don't. Archie scoops up all the other readers they ignore. It's what keeps them in business.

But for the last few years, kids have been devouring manga. And it's easy to just adapt already-written Shonen and Shoju stuff for an American audience. YOU DON'T EVEN NEED A TRANSLATOR. Just pull a "G-Force" or a "Voltron" and write new material for the pictures. Your average 9 year old doesn't care what the story was in Japan. THe overhead for TokyoPop is very, very low.

So, the CEO of the Archie group sees the writing on the wall. Kids now want long-form serialized stories. They want art that can be stylized but is NOT "kiddy". The content of the typical Archie storyline is not a problem, and it lends itself well to the current audience.

Oh, and it's a real easy way to settle and pending or future Dan DeCarlo estate lawsuits over royalties or character ownership because, of course, the characters are not longer in the old form house style.
Tenzil | 12.18.06 - 10:52 am | #

I'm afraid the Montana and DeCarlo estates will get bupkis. JOSEY was based on Dan DeCarlo's wife (including her name!), was originally drawn as a sample comic strip that he showed to the Archie group when he couldn't place it, and thanx to the copyright laws of the time the Archie group was able to buy all rights and go so far in various depositions that followed to claim they had originated the character and assigned it to DeCarlo! DeCarlo only learned it was being turned into a TV show the day before it premiered -- and he was working for Archie Comics at the time!

I love the stories they do, but the company is the one that ram-rodded the Comics Code through just to drive Bill Gaines and Lev Gleason out of the market.
Anon E. Mouse | Email | 12.18.06 - 11:34 am | #

The shocker will come when New Archie comes face-to-face with Old Archie. Because Jughead had been head-butting the edge of the universe with his beanie, he'd reshaped reality...everything we know is wrong!

Mister Weatherbee is dead...

Miss Grundy is a cyborg...

Moose is a clone...

Who will survive? Who will perish? Will Archie drive a wheezing flivver or a modern hoopty? Find out twelve months from today during...

INFINITE RIVERDALE!!

Hell yeah!
Harvey Jerkwater | Email | Homepage | 12.18.06 - 7:21 pm | #

Is it me, or does the new Archie style of drawing Betty and Veronica make them look Cherry Poptart?

I mean, yeah, Cherry Poptart is in part a parody of the Archie books, but holy god... I can't look at that picture of Betty and Veronica without thinking about Cherry blowing someone...
g23 | Homepage | 12.19.06 - 1:36 pm | #

i saw the ad for the artwork and new look and was totally disgusted (not that the artwork wasn't bad it's just too Rex Morgan and Brenda Starr looking).
my older sister when i was a kid, would get several Archie titles in the mail at a time when i couldn't read. the drawing style does hold as easy reading to a child and i remember going from panel to panel understanding the storyline despite being 4 years old and unable to read. kids do pick up on that Archie house style because it's cartoony.
I still pick up back issues from time to time, mainly early Decarlo issues and really wish that the Josie (pre pussy cats issues) comics were collected into an Achive format. Also wish that Archie would pull some money out of there pockets and make an offer to some artists like Hernandez Bros. or even Darwyn Cooke to do a couple Archie stories for later Graphic Novels.
also disgusted looking at John Byrnes take at doing Archie from a while back.
stephen curiel | Email | 05.03.08 - 3:48 pm | #