Comments on: Archie’s Christian Comics

By: Religious Right Freaks Out, Archie Comics First Gay Characters Marry

Religious Right Freaks Out, Archie Comics First Gay Characters Marry — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:38:14 +0000

[...] guess: still embarrassed about his fundamentalist Christian phase in the 1970′s, Archie is making up for it [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 00:28:09 +0000

Oh, that’s interesting! I didn’t know that. Thanks for sharing that information.

By: Weak Bow

Weak Bow — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:14:02 +0000

It’s an error to state that these had been “sold only in Christian bookstores.” I used to see new copies being sold in supermarkets regularly, and those stores had no religious affiliations.

By: Everyone’s a Critic | A roundup of comic book reviews and thinkpieces | Robot 6 @ Comic Book Resources – Covering Comic Book News and Entertainment

Mon, 17 May 2010 18:01:40 +0000

[...] Johanna Draper Carlson writes about Spire Christian Comics, a line of Christian comics that were released in the 1970s and [...]

By: Johanna

Johanna — Mon, 17 May 2010 12:31:21 +0000

Oh, wow, yeah, that would be confusing. I think I understood that some enjoyment was only temporary from that story, but it is aimed a little oddly.

By: Lyle

Lyle — Mon, 17 May 2010 08:40:43 +0000

That brings up memories. I used to buy those Archies when I was a kid and hoped there would eventually be similar Richie Rich comics, since I was a fan of those, too.

There was one story that stuck with me because I was too young to really understand it (those Spire Archie comics were written for an older audience than my friends and myself). In it, Betty notes how Jughead will say he loves oranges, but throws them away when he’s done with them. I was way too young at the time to realize Betty was really talking about sex, so as a second-grader the lesson I took from it was that you’re only supposed to say you love things that are going to keep a long time.

I read and reread that story so many times, as a child I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with saying you love oranges and throwing away the peels after eating an orange. What was the conflict, there? Was there something else Betty expected him to do with the peels if he really loved oranges? Was Jughead supposed to say he loved *eating* oranges? But then what did that grammar lesson have to do with Christ?

By: Jamie Coville

Jamie Coville — Fri, 14 May 2010 12:52:47 +0000

I love (and collect) these books despite not being religious. I always think of them as comics that Ned Flanders would make if he were real.