Archie

In January Kevin Keller, Riverdale's popular gay teen, is getting married, and Here's the cover to LIFE WITH ARCHIE #16 which leads in to Kevin's monthly series. According to the pr, "Since arriving on the scene last year, Kevin has enjoyed a meteoric rise to becoming one of Riverdale's most popular teens, graduating from guest-star to mini-series to his upcoming starring title in the span of just over a year. Not only is he a hit in comic sales, he's fitting right in with the gang at Riverdale High having been elected class president plus representing his new school in a TV Game Show "Witmasters" and winning!" You might want to ponder this for a minute -- a humorous soap opera comics that has stood in for American normality for over 75 years introduced a gay character who is now popular enough to get his own series. And get married in it. America, you are okay after all.

When Marvel's Ralph Macchio retired the other day, we made the claim that he was the last editor from the pre-direct sales market working in the business. A few people wrote in to correct us, however. There is one editor who has been around even longer, and is still going strong, Archie's own editor in chief, Victor Gorelick (pronounced Gor-EL-ick). Now 70, Gorelick has worked at Archie for 50 years in various roles. It's certainly an astonishing career that has seen incredible changes.

Well, another Comic-Con is drawing to a close, with the traditional annual Buffy sing-along, this time in Hall H. (Perhaps they could also add a "Mayhem of the Music Meister!" event as well?) So, here's some more interesting tidbits from Comic-Con...

Well, the second full day of Comic-Con is coming to an end, and there's been lots of amazing stuff announced! I've diligently sat deep in Stately Beat Manor, watching the news feeds, so you don't have to! Read on!

It's Preview Night and the ICv2 Conference at San Diego Comic-Con, and while the big announcements are still being held back for the convention proper, news has begun to come out of San Diego in a trickle that will soon become a torrent.

Oi. Think Archie Comics is a place where no one ever says a bad word? Think again. As revealed by TMZ, Archie Comics has filed papers alleging that co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit has been harassing employees and should not represent the company at San Diego Comic-Con:

Archie's dynamic publisher Jon Goldwater gets the Comics Reporter interview treatment and his comments on the many changes he's made since the venerable comics publisher had a big management change might be viewed as emblematic of much going on these days:

Wow! Lots of great books coming out this month!

Archie Comics has been making tons of news of late, in case you haven't noticed. In addition to all the digital initiatives they've recently announced, they're also repurposing the famed Archie Marries storyline by making all the original issues available as digital comics.

Hm, is the multi-talented Thompson working on something Archie Style? After tweeting this art, she tweeted the following:

A minor market segment, these box sets offer what most fans are clamoring for: ownership of the actual file instead of an app, affordable comics (even at $50, the per-comic cost is usually below twenty-five cents), and extras which turns these collections into electronic omnibuses. However, due to sticker shock, and the experience of reading these comics on a horizontal screen, many fans have been reluctant to purchase these collections. Which means that now, as the digital marketplace transitions to apps and browser-based readers, these older CD- and DVD-ROM collections are being sold at clearance prices. So, dear readers, in these challenging economic times, we offer you this bargain bin listing of select titles found on Amazon.com. We make no money from directing you to these forgotten gems, and, as with anything on the web, caveat lector et emptor.

After yesterday's news that DC Comics was dropping the Comics Code, leaving Archie the last surviving member of the Comics Code Authority...comes word that...