Comics Alliance reports that “in the upcoming Archie #633, they’ll tell the story of a future where Archie marries Valerie Smith (of Josie and the Pussycats fame) and they have a daughter.” This plot follows up the popular stories from spring 2010 when Archie and Valerie dated while also fitting in the company’s current strategy of creating headline-grabbing concepts to get free publicity, such as the recent gay wedding in Life With Archie #16.

Having at least one child is a feature of these imaginary wedding stories, at least based on the two that launched the Life With Archie magazine. In each of those, whether married to Betty or Veronica, the story ends with Archie and the respective wife bearing twins.

The two CEOs reached their positions through inheritance, with Jon the son of one of the company founders and Nancy the widow of Michael, son of another founder. Goldwater filed a lawsuit against Silberkleit before last year’s San Diego Comic-Con accusing her of bullying and sexually harassing employees, while Silberkleit claims a sexist “old boy network” is attempting to keep her out of the company. Goldwater sued again in mid-January in an attempt to remove her from the company, charging “Unless Silberkleit is removed as a director and an officer, the company — an iconic American company — is in serious danger of failing and being liquidated.” There have been rumors of trouble at Archie, with a reduced publication schedule, although nothing publicly confirmed.

Some of the contention is over Silberkleit’s Comic Book Fairs program. She’s a former teacher, and she established the division to teach school kids reading can be fun. Goldwater charges that the program has cost the company over $100,000 while grossing under $10,000. As CBR reported,

As co-executor of her late husband’s estate, [Silberkleit] controls a 50 percent stake in the company. Goldwater owns 25 percent of the shares, and represents the other 25 percent held by the estate of his late brother Richard Goldwater, who passed away in 2007.

It’s a split that leaves Archie’s board of directors deadlocked. Goldwater contends it also hampers the growth of the company, as Silberkleit has rejected proposals for outside investors, who would of course seek an equity share. She has “repeatedly and emphatically said that she would never agree to any dilution of the Silberkleit 50 percent equity interest at any price and under any terms, conditions, or circumstances,” the complaint states.

However, Silberkleit’s control of her late husband’s shares is in dispute, as the children from Michael Silberkleit’s first marriage are contesting their father’s last will, written while he was dying of cancer.

This is a problem faced by any family business. It’s difficult to come up with a succession plan that everyone can agree with and carry out. In this case, if Silberkleit is dead set on keeping half the company, then the risk is that the publisher will be destroyed instead of any compromise being possible.

Archie Comics has provided the following set of action-packed preview pages showing some of Kevin’s military career and how he met Clay Walker, his physical therapist and later boyfriend; click for larger versions. Although it wasn’t specified, the first set of pages is from the “Archie Marries Veronica” timeline, while the second is from the “Archie Marries Betty” version. Script is by Paul Kupperberg; art by Fernando Ruiz, Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy, Al Milgrom, and Bob Smith.

Betty has been visiting Veronica at her mountain lodge (hee hee), and the two girls set out for home just as a severe snowstorm begins. When a deer runs across their path, their car skids off the road, and Betty hits her head. (You can read this sequence online at the Archie blog.) The rest of the issue consists of Veronica taking care of Betty, keeping them alive until they can be found.

The story is structured to be unique to Veronica, in that she keeps her spirits up by reminding herself of business lessons she’s learned from her dad. It’s a pleasure to see another side of her character beyond the selfish fashion plate so frequently fallen back on, one that is uniquely hers. She’s determined, as always, but in this case, her determination has a more useful purpose.

The approach of relating everything back to corporate lessons is distinctive, with Veronica thinking of her activities as getting started a new business dedicated to survival. Her gathering wood while thinking of it as reserve capital for the future is amusing and memorable. It’s also informative seeing her pick herself up after stumbles and keep trying, solving problems of starting a fire and creating a signal for help, among others.

The art clearly tells the story in dramatic but readable fashion. I felt bad for Betty — she’s often drawn (as shown here) glassy-eyed and slightly out of it, hunched over in a small part of the panel, symbolizing her malady. Veronica also gets some emotional moments, first freaking out but pulling herself together to protect her friend. As she tells herself, “If I’m going to run Lodge Industries one day, I’d better start proving I can handle it!” That reminder, that she does have purpose beyond being pretty, is one of the most modern takes I’ve seen for Veronica in a while. I really appreciated this adventure-style tale for the two best friends as a way to show unexpected sides to long-running, familiar characters.

As I mentioned this week, I joined the Flashmob Fridays gang. Today, we cover Kevin Keller #2.

I’d previously briefly discussed this issue, but this time, I got to write the introduction, putting the issue in context (since I know not everyone keeps up with what Archie Comics is doing). Here’s an earlier piece on the introduction of the character if you’d like to know more.

In general, the response to the issue is appreciation for how well-meaning it is. No one finds it outstanding, but for what it is, it’s good at that, and even old-fashioned in some ways. Check out the link for more.

As you can see, we don’t really meet KISS yet, although the situation is set up: Sabrina and the “Riverdale Monster Society” — a new invention that tells us that Archie and his buddies, including super-scientific Dilton, now a) know Sabrina the Teenage Witch, b) know she’s a witch, and c) believe in magic for reals — are going to cast a protection spell to keep monsters out of Riverdale. (Is this a common problem, or has the writer been watching too many Buffy reruns?) Veronica and Reggie are set up as the villains, since their competing spell is going to cause whatever trouble, monsters, and guest stars result.

I’m not sure how much of KISS we’ll see in this issue, since it’s only part one of four telling the story. I am intrigued, though, at the suggestion that Mr. Lodge collects spell books for an unknown reason. Maybe he’s had some previously unexplained help gathering that fortune, hmmm? And check out that dynamite new look for Sabrina on the last page. She’ll have even more fans with the sexy schoolgirl plaid tie and miniskirt. Remember, the issue is on-sale at your local comic shop or favorite digital outlet tomorrow! Look for this standard cover (left) or the gorgeous variant by Francesco Francavilla (right):

Archie: A Celebration
of America’s Favorite Teenagers

I was surprised and impressed by the rarities and previously unpublished material included in the book. There’s a fumetti-style “How Comic Magazine Characters Are Made” excerpt from the tabloid Close-Up (dedicated to pictures of women in their underwear, as feature in this story) that shows some of the MLJ creators at work in 1941. Some of Bob Montana’s illustrated diary pages are included, as are a sales brochure for the Archie newspaper strip, images from cereal box flexi-disc records, and other rare promotional items.

While there are plenty of photos and comics in the book, there are also articles on the founding of the company, Bob Montana’s early life and real-life character inspirations, and an interview with still-with-the-company editor Victor Gorelick. (52 years and counting!) Biographies are dedicated to key real-life figures, including John Goldwater, early editor Harry Shorten, and artists Dan DeCarlo, Harry Lucey, Samm Schwartz, Stan Goldberg, and Dan Parent.

All of the art is clearly captioned, with sources and credits given. (That should be obvious, not worthy of praise, but I’m amazed that some historical reads still don’t get that right.) Although readers of this book have likely already seen it, the first Archie story from Pep #22 is reprinted in full, as is Dan DeCarlo’s “Slave Girl” story from a 1967 Betty & Veronica, Bob Bolling’s favorite Little Archie story, and other short tales representing some of the other artists, often reproduced from the original art pages.

There’s even information on the Archie radio show, brief mentions of TV appearances and the music, and an odd, unpublished Lucey story with Archie’s cousin Andy as a spy. Although pricey, the book is a lovely reminder of how these characters have appeared over the years and their continuing appeal.

I’m looking at the Previews catalog for October, listing what publishers plan to sell in December, and I found the Archie Comics section a little odd.

Their big project this month is Archie Meets Kiss, with the first two of four planned issues offered in which their characters interact with the classic shock rock band. They’ve gotten a lot of attention for this unique project, justifiably.

However, when you look at the rest of the line… there are four digests, two collections, one magazine (Life With Archie #16, where Kevin Keller gets married), and only two standard comic issues. (I’m ignoring the video game titles, Mega Man and Sonic the Hedgehog.)

That’s not a lot for an entire month. Perhaps Archie thinks that they don’t get a lot of customers for their regular comics during the holidays, or they want to give their employees a light month, given the time period, or there’s some other reason. But when I look at the two comics, one is completely a reprint. (The digests are usually mostly reprint, but the comics previously have contained new stories, to feed the digests later.) Archie & Friends #159 has some Man/Girl From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E. spy parodies that first appeared in Life With Archie #56 in 1966. The other comic, Betty & Veronica #257, seems to be new.

It started me wondering, though — with all the material they have in their vaults, with no creative costs since they’re a full-ownership publisher, Archie could go all-reprint all the time, and I’m not sure anyone would notice. It would certainly be a way to save money while trying to get more media interest in the properties.

At the beginning of the year, I took a survey of Archie’s titles. At that point, they had seven digests and seven comics (again, ignoring the video game books, counting Life With Archie as a comic). This year, from January through September, they’ve released

• 5 issues of Betty
• 5 issues of Jughead
• 4 of Betty & Veronica
• 4 issues of Veronica (2 of which are really Kevin Keller)
• 7 of Archie & Friends (although some of that is reprint, as noted above)
• 9 issues of Archie
• 7 of Life With Archie magazine

So it seems that Archie Comics now only has one monthly comic, their flagship title. The digests run more frequently, which would fit with my supposition that they’re concentrating mostly on reprints these days. Through September of this year:

• 9 issues of Betty & Veronica Double Digest
• 7 issues of Betty & Veronica Friends Double Digest
• 7 issues of Jughead’s Double Digest
• 7 issues of World of Archie Double Digest
• 8 issues of Archie Double Digest
• 7 issues of Archie & Friends Double Digest

In this case, there are two monthlies, one each for Archie and the girls. And Archie’s Pals ‘n’ Gals Double Digest is gone. Shame, I liked that goofy title, but “World of Archie” probably plays better.

Can you run a major publishing company putting out 86 items over nine months? I guess so. Plenty of indy comic publishers have fewer releases, but they also don’t have two CEOs and a couple of Executive Directors on their mastheads. Then again, they don’t have Archie’s 70-year library of material to keep reprinting.

the site has been rebuilt from top-to-bottom to feature the latest in fan interactivity, blogs, social media, digital connectivity and a brand new Archie Comic Shop! … The site arrives with increased functionality and will become the one-stop source for every fans Archie needs — from news to product, ARCHIECOMICS.COM will provide fans with information, deals, constant real-time updates and the best Archie can offer.

They keep plugging the news mentions and how much coverage Archie’s been getting — yet they didn’t bother keeping any news older than last month. As someone who would link to Archie every so often, I’m a bit ticked that they just broke every link on my site to them (that I’ve checked). The previews of comics I linked to in reviews? Gone. The press releases from a couple of months ago? Can’t find them, search shows “not found”. It’s events like this that make me wonder why I bother linking out in the first place. It’s just more work for me when publishers decide to dump their history.

Ahem. Back to their announcement. Said co-CEO Jon Goldwater,

“We have so much news going on that our fans need a place to go to and learn everything that’s happening. And with a redesigned and more streamlined store, fans can get their favorite Archie books right from the source!”

The commerce is definitely prominent, with the logo buttons across the top linking to that character’s books to buy, and the section underneath linking to title subscriptions. Further down the page, there’s a separate “Archie Comic Shop” banner plus a Hot Deals section for special offers. Methinks Archie really wants you to buy something from them.

Strangely, the two Archie Digital links go to two different places. The banner on the right goes to ArchieDigital.com, Archie’s own online comic subscription service. The link in the top nav bar goes to the same place as the little iPhone icon in the very top left, the Archie iPhone and iPad apps on iTunes.

Archie Archives Volume 1

What does the book contain? Volume 1 is listed in the indicia as reprinting “all the Archie stories from selected stories [sic] from Pep Comics #22-38, Jackpot Comics #4-8, and Archie Comics #1-2″. The works date from between December 1941 and April 1943.

On the down side, individual stories aren’t identified in the book itself. There are no creator credits, unless particular stories carry them; there isn’t even a table of contents. These are basics that any historical project should include, and I’m very surprised this book doesn’t have them. Volume 2, thankfully, remedies that issue with a table of contents that lists story sources, dates, and creators, which is a welcome improvement. Contents in that book are the Archie stories from Pep Comics #39-45, Jackpot Comics #9, and Archie Comics #3-6, taking us into January 1944.

How is the reproduction? Bright colors, clear, unbroken lines, no fuzziness.

Are there any extras? No.

What about the stories? These are the earliest days of Archie. You’re not going to be able to read them in any other way (aside from other reprints of the first appearances). If you’re interested in where the characters came from or how they behaved early on, you’re going to want to see these, although you may find them quite unfamiliar. (Or offensive. Racial stereotypes are included, especially during a story where Archie and pals stage Uncle Tom’s Cabin.)

At the start, Archie, calling himself “Chick”, is much younger than we’re used to, seeming more like a preteen “bad little boy” than the love-addled adolescent we’re used to seeing. The stories are pure slapstick, with Archie’s biggest threat being a paddling from being caught in his antics stealing a neighbor’s tux or getting the basketball team and ballet uniforms mixed up.

Archie Archives Volume 2

Then Veronica shows up, and it’s all about school gags and dating. There’s still plenty of screw-ups — that’s what drives the stories — but when Archie has a better motive, that of young love, it’s more entertaining and relatable. There are a few more stories about Archie messing up as a camp counselor and car owner, but soon, the “next issue” blurb is promising the return of Veronica “by popular demand”. Certainly, the stories with her are the best, if only due to how much visual interest she brings. Some of the stories are culturally far removed from many of today’s teens or readers, as when Archie tangles with military cadets or takes a chicken on the train to visit a cousin’s farm or worries about gas ration coupons or goes hunting.

In Volume 2, we’re back to the slapstick, with Archie trying to deliver a barrel of fish or ducking the dentist or messing up a fake magician’s show. Of particular historical interest is a weird little tale where the kids raise money for war stamps by throwing baseballs at a Hitler dummy — only Jughead looks just like Hitler once he puts on the uniform and mustache.

That’s not the only war tale. Veronica and Betty get their own series of stories starting in this book, and first they try to throw a morale dance for soldiers, then they volunteer as nurses. Another story is about Archie’s dad trying to put his car in storage for the duration of the conflict.

Mostly, though, it’s just Archie screwing up in one way or another. I don’t recommend trying to read the whole book at once, because it becomes repetitive very quickly. It’s great that the history of such an all-American character is now more readily available, but ration yourself. Archie comics have always captured daily life in their various stories, and that may be the most appealing part of this series, their glimpses into the worries and trends and humor of their era.

In partnership with the production studio Moonscoop, this Sabrina will have “a new look … in line with a more modern and teen-centric sensibility.” She’ll fight monsters, the supernatural, and teen “trials and tribulations”. The goal is to “reimagine the character and her supporting cast for a modern audience”. (The press release is careful to mention the hot comparison properties Harry Potter, Twilight, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) The animation will be CGI, although Moonscoop also optioned Little Archie for a hand-drawn cartoon series.

Sabrina previously was featured in a cartoon that ran 65 episodes from 1999-2000 (on ABC, UPN, and Disney) and before that, a live-action series starring Melissa Joan Hart. That TV show ran from 1996 to 2003 on ABC, then The WB.

The show has, as yet, not been picked up by a specific network or cable channel, so the earliest the show could air would be a year from now, October 2012, assuming someone bites. Until then, this is just cartoon potential.

Archie: The Complete Daily Newspaper Comics
1946-1948

IDW’s Library of American Comics imprint does an excellent job with strip reprints, and this is no exception. It even won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best Archival Comic Strip Collection. You should know that the word “Daily” in that title is significant — the Sunday color comics are not included (hopefully, grist for a future volume) — so the book is completely black and white.

The style of Bob Montana, creator of the original look of the cast, is old-fashionedly distinctive. He also believes in action and movement on the page, with plenty of movement and slapstick gags. The visuals are important and drive the experience.

Reading these strips is an eye-opening experience. I read lots of Archie comics and have for four or five decades. The characters are established and kind of boring, sometimes, with a polished, on-model look. Here, they’re new and young. Archie is a gap-toothed goofball. Jughead frowns most of the time, unhappy with school and his buddy’s antics, with sleepy lids that make his eyes appear closed. The reproduction is excellent, to the extent of including a couple of typos.

The comic strip begins with the first appearance of Veronica in Riverdale. Betty, the girl-next-door who likes Archie, quickly appears, but in a twist from current stories, he only has eyes for the very upscale brunette. The girls are in dresses of the period, but they’re drawn incredibly clingy, with emphasis on breast and hips.

It’s very much of its time, with fads and ridiculous slang. (“Hoist your bobby socks an’ let’s crack knees!” means “I am enthuiastic to accept your invitation to dance.”) The many school gags feel fresh because the times are so different from what school is like now. My favorite storyline is when Archie gets to be principal for a day — the way he revamps classes is hilarious. The last tale in the book, with Archie coaching an all-girl football team, is pretty wacky, too.

While each strip has a joke, they continue one to another to build a story. The first, typically, has Archie accidentally asking both Veronica and Betty to the prom. After that, things get weirder. Archie, Jughead, and the girls get lost while picnicking and find a farmer who runs his business with a jukebox and pinball machine. To provide new premises, the gang goes to summer camp, on a ski trip, and to a dude ranch.

The book has a lot of well-cartooned weirdness with familiar characters who’ll seem new. Whether Archie’s trying out for the golf team (where we first meet nasty rival Reggie Mantle) or joining the football team or working as a movie usher, this is enjoyable comedy.

The announcement goes on to talk about “signature items steeped in contemporary fashion”, but if you visit the web page dedicated to the Archie items, the first things you see are generic items, such as a hamburger (for Jughead) or a bowtie (for Archie) or the phrase “chick magnet” (really?):

Continued browsing reveals more character-specific works, including several variants on Jughead’s crown as well as Betty & Veronica coasters, an Archie skateboard deck, pin sets for the characters (divided into Archie, Jughead, and the girls), and this kind of nifty panel bracelet:

Items are hand-painted, limited, and “exclusive”, to drive collectibility. Of interest to me was also how Archie is promoting itself these days. According to the “about the company” boilerplate, the company is “the leading mass market comic book publisher in the world and the home to a wide array of the most popular humor, action-adventure, and superhero characters in entertainment”. Quite a claim, but if you don’t define “leading” in any way that can be measured, you can’t argue against it, either.

Little Archie and the Power Pets

Archie Comics has announced a new format that they describe as “value-priced, digest-sized paperbacks” for their December releases. The first example, Little Archie and the Power Pets, will be a 5″ x 7″, 80-page, full-color trade paperback priced at $4.99 US.

Based on the subject matter, cover art, and creators listed — writer Angelo DeCesare and artist Fernando Ruiz — at least part of the book will be a reprint of Archie & Friends #154-155. That would only account for about half the promised page count, though. The rest will be made up of “bonus behind-the-scenes features and comic stories”, which could be almost anything.

The book will be on sale in the comic market at the end of December and via mass-market retailers in January 2012.

While Archie is promoting this as good value, by comparison to some of their other formats, it’s actually a price increase. This book is 80 reprint pages for $4.99. A Double Digest, on the other hand, is 160 reprint pages for $3.99. Then again, the same month, Archie is offering one of their “standard” collections at $9.99 for 128 pages at 6″ x 9″. If one doesn’t care about a few more square inches, the Power Pets are the better deal. So who knows?

Archie has just announced that an older version of their popular Kevin Keller character will be appearing in Life With Archie, and in issue #16 (due out January 2012), Kevin’s getting married to his “Mr. Right”. As suggested in the currently running Kevin Keller miniseries (in the Veronica comic beginning with issue #207), Kevin joined the military and “is returning to Riverdale as a war hero”.

Written by Paul Kupperberg, the 64-page comic retails for $4.99 US. As with all the LWA characters, he’ll be drawn (by some combination of Fernando Ruiz, Pat Kennedy, Tim Kennedy, Al Milgrom, and Bob Smith) as twenty-something, not teenaged. Surprisingly to me, the Fox News website posted some relatively even-handed coverage. Contrasting quotes from their article:

“I think it’s great that the reality of America’s loving couples are being portrayed in as many places as possible,” said Evan Wolfson, the founder and president of Freedom to Marry, a national movement for marriage equality. “We all want to be part of family and community — that’s what marriage is about,” he said.

“It’s unfortunate that a comic book series usually seen as depicting innocent, all-American life is now being used to advance the sexual revolution,” said Peter Spriggs, a senior fellow at the Family Research Council, a Washington, D.C.-based lobbying organization promoting Christian views. “I think whatever boost in sales might come from the novelty or curiosity factors will be more than offset by the number of both kids and parents who will be turned off by this storyline and its obvious social and political agenda,” he said.

Wow, who would have thought art, even commercial art, would have an agenda? Note that Mr. Spriggs has obviously never read an issue of Life With Archie, which is far from innocent. It’s currently tackling rumors of marital infidelity, for one thing. And I do wish that such people wouldn’t claim the label “Christian” only for their limited, intolerant views. It gives the caring believers a bad name.

One last thought: I’m assuming that that cover shown, distributed with Archie’s press release, is a temp one, since I would hope that Kevin and his husband would be shown on the cover of their issue.

The feature promos are missing, with no celebrity pictures on the cover to draw teen attention. They came close to being false advertising at times in the past, but they gathered interest in venues like Toys ‘R’ Us. Speaking of which, has anyone seen it there lately? Are they still carrying it?

The interior paper stock has changed to cheap newsprint. Of its 64 pages, only nine carry ads, and those are all for Archie comic back issues or subscriptions or graphic novels sold at a discount, not any outside products that would pay for the space. Archie the publisher has even dropped the price on books that are only three or four months old by a third if you buy multiples. There were, however, two blow-in lap cards for subscribing to Tiger Beat magazine. You know, the teeny-bopper celebrity picture mag?

Beyond the two stories (one each for Betty and Veronica), there are only two pages of other content. One pinup has the cast drawn “as the cast of Mad Men” while the other is the now-standard “Everything’s Archie” promo back page. What happened to the magazine idea, with other pieces and features? Has the company cut the additional material to avoid the costs of generating it? At least it hasn’t gone to 100% reprints, as the Archie & Friends comic title has.

Meanwhile, Archie’s second planned magazine, Veronica & Betty, was supposed to launch this past spring. Looks like it’s been quietly cancelled.

Criminal: The Last of the Innocent

Riley Richards is taking a trip back home. He married the gorgeous, loaded Felicity (Felix) Doolittle and is unhappily working for her dad’s company, but when Riley’s father sickens and passes away, he returns to his hometown. There he catches up with old buddy Freakout (now a recovering addict, which accounted for his prodigious appetite) and girl-next-door Lizzie. Back in “good old Brookview, nothing changes… because nothing ever happens.”

Yet with all this familiar setup, Brubaker and Phillips are true to their pulp influences. Riley thinks of solving his problems of gambling debts and depression by trying to murder his wife and frame high school rival Teddy, who’d been having an affair with her. As the series progresses, we move from sympathy with him — who hasn’t felt at some time that they should have made a different choice in life or that they should have done a better job keeping up with old friends? — to repulsion to fascination as he becomes caught in his own web.

The story has depth because we feel like we already know these characters, making their backgrounds richer without taking up page count. The inserts, one-page flashbacks done in an older-fashioned art style, help a lot, since they resemble the same content we see regularly in Archie digests — only with much more adult punchlines. It’s the throwaway captions that I appreciated most, as when, narrating a reunion with Freakout, Riley notes,”We got so high once in 1968 that we actually tried to start a band.”

That brings up the real strength of this tale. The creators aren’t wallowing in “wow, it would be funny to show those characters and (bad language, sex, drugs)” mud-throwing for its own sake, darkening childhood favorites just for a laugh. It all comes together in a rich story that stands on its own, of a small-town boy tortured by his own appetites and unfocused desire for something different. The appeal of wallowing in memories is that you wonder if you could have done things differently. Here, Riley feels that, as does the reader.

The difference between this and its sources is that here, these characters aren’t timeless. Their adventures took place in a particular era, one we’re reminded of when Riley tells us he couldn’t date a black girl. Now, they’re faced with growing older and living with their choices, without a perpetual now or eternal reset button. Riley is running on a mix of nostalgia and ennui, never taking responsibility for his choices, wanting to escape into his past. It’s an indictment not only of his actions, but a certain kind of comic reader, but in a affectionate, “we could be that too” way. You can’t write an evisceration this satisfying without sharing the love for an all-American boy who turns out to be empty inside.

Thankfully, Kevin Keller (who first appeared in Veronica #202) is a great new character. Yes, he’s a little too perfect at times — he can go head-to-head with Jughead in an eating contest, and he has the fashion sense to match Veronica’s — but this focus story puts some meat in his history. His military background, with a father often absent on assignment and the resultant travel required of the family, is true to life, and it’s neat to see some of his previous friends, providing a natural way to find out more about his childhood. Frankly, I’m happy to see someone new shake up the established gang, especially now that the company has decided they’ve all been together since babyhood.

The background stories are both silly and inspiring, as young, geeky Kevin protects his friends, not caring about his safety or happiness when it comes to preventing them from being hurt. The bullying he battles is surprisingly modern and subtle for an Archie comic, as a guy plans to humiliate his buddy Wendy when it comes to prom. We also get to see how Kevin came out to his friends and his family, and we find out he plans to join the military to follow in his father’s footsteps. That’s a very current plot twist, with the recent repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, but one that also acknowledges the conservative patriotism and belief in family tradition held by part of the country.

Artistically, the characters are always happy, no matter what’s happening, backed up by bright candy colors throughout. Events move quickly, with new information on almost every page. The new character of Kevin seems to have provided more energy to what can be a sometimes tired genre of teen comedy.

In the second issue, Veronica helps plan Kevin’s dad’s birthday party, an odd choice after she gave the guys food poisoning at the holiday picnic in the first issue. That’s a frame for Veronica rummaging through Kevin’s family photos and hearing more about how he grew up. The story is less comedic, more heartstring-tugging in this one, as Kevin explains how he dealt with his father’s absences, but that’s balanced by another tale of Kevin showing up bullies by out-achieving them in track. I was touched when Kevin helps out another boy who’s being picked on (not for being gay, just for being geeky) and tells him, “It gets better”, a good message for anyone struggling with adolescence.

The one thing that’s missing so far is seeing Kevin get physical with a boyfriend or date. I’m not suggesting anything explicit, but there are a number of panels of Veronica hugging or hanging on him, so visually, the series isn’t yet giving the full message it should about Kevin’s preferences. But since there are still two issues to go, I’m sure it’s coming. The next issue, Veronica #209, is due out October 12, with the final issue of the Kevin Keller storyline following in December. A hardcover collection is due out in February 2012.

However, the market was coming into a depression, partially due to the GFC, added to the Sub-Prime Mortgage crisis and high unemployment in the USA. Added to the limited appeal of high end Archie art (it really is a niche market), prices realised by Diamond Galleries were well below the original valuations by Jerry Weist. And there was another, more important factor coming into play — at the point of purchase Steve Geppi and Diamond were hemorrhaging money to the point of legal action, not that he told anyone. Geppi was rapidly finding that more money was leaving Diamond than what was coming in from its various sources with the result that his net worth had plummeted to a fraction of its original value. While this didn’t leave him destitute, it did have the effect of leaving Diamond hovering on the brink of bankruptcy. Geppi elected to simply cry poor and not pay the remaining $500,000 owing to the Montana family.

More disturbing for the comic industry, in a deposition, Geppi claimed to have lost 95% of his net worth in three years: “Geppi stated that he did indeed have a net worth in excess of $20,000,000 when he signed the contract in 2007, but as of 2010 his net worth was around the $1,000,000 mark.” Best goes on to speculate that the sealed settlement came about for fear of further potential losses:

The Montana family, by this stage, were ready to settle, after all the deposition had revealed several factors, neither Geppi nor Diamond International Galleries had enough money to meet their contractual obligations and with other lawsuits and judgments pending, there was every chance that, eventually, Geppi and Diamond could be placed into receivership and the remaining art sized.

Best’s focus is primarily on the art market and what this means for Montana collectors, but if what he states is plausible, this case could foreshadow tough times ahead for the comic industry. The established direct retail market couldn’t function if Diamond suddenly went under, and the loss of even a small percentage of those stores would likely also take out several publishers.

Update Heidi’s piece on the case includes mention of some additional debt problems faced by Geppi, including where he stiffed Disney specialist Bruce Hamilton’s widow in similar circumstances. Heidi also reassures somewhat:

“Every Diamond employee we’ve ever spoken to has assured us that there is a financial firewall between Geppi’s personal business, like the Museum and the galleries, and Diamond Comics Distributors.”

Jughead isn’t my favorite Archie character, but he’s become the one who is most entertaining to read about. He’s got a spark of creativity and even of selfishness that livens things up. Take, for instance, the lead story in this digest. Jughead spins a yarn about his great-grandfather’s Dillinger memorabilia in order to manipulate his friends into helping him out. He knows them so well that he can predict ahead of time their likely reactions. For someone thought to be a lazy glutton, he’s very observant and aware of human nature.

One of the most interesting types of Jughead’s stories, though, are the ones that play with reality itself. The second story here, written by the talented craftsman Craig Boldman, shows that by sending Archie and Jughead “Behind the Panels”. They wind up in the writer’s office, allowing for plenty of self-aware swipes and postmodern asides. For me, stories like this evoke the earlier reprints of “Jughead’s Dipsy Doodles”, where his art skills literally come to life.

Even the stories that play on Jughead’s never-ending appetite and avoidance of girls can be fun, as in the one about his customized video games, which turn his quirks into challenges. Jughead, no matter what, is an individual, following his own path in spite of social pressure, and his stories sometimes show more character insight than the usual boy/girl Archie tales.

Also fun is when Jughead demonstrates an unexpected talent. In this volume, it’s an astounding ability to limbo, which leads to a complicated scheme involving a date with a star and a hulu contest, and later, he’s a pinball wizard. Sometimes the tales are simple slapstick, as when Jughead can’t get a snow cone machine to work quite right, and some are fantasy, as when Hot Dog becomes a boy so he can enter the Chock’lit Shoppe. Nice cartooning on that one, too, by Doug Crane and Nate Butler, who capture effective motion regardless of whether their character is human or animal.