Everything's Archie

Comic books never played a huge part in my life, but as a young lad, I did my bit to educate myself on the topics of monsters and superheroes via this fun art form. The very first comic I ever owned was a rather worn-looking issue of Batman from the early 60's. The cover price was something like ten or twelve cents, though I got it for probably a nickel at the neighbour's yard sale. 

That was the beginning of a modest collecting habit that lasted several years of my childhood. I favoured the DC universe over that of Marvel. I did love Marvel's Spiderman and I followed the odd title like Shang-Chi, Tomb of Dracula, and Werewolf by Night. But it was the "classic" DC superheroes that initially stirred my imagination. The true oldies like Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, The Flash... and I checked out some Green Lantern and a few others. 

Oh, and I also enjoyed the dark and creepy stories in some of the Charlton Comics. I seem to recall owning some of their horror and war comics, which at the time felt sort of taboo to me.... but I did cherish those books. 

After immersing myself in all of the fantasy stories, I found something quite different, and I believe it was through the magic of television that I made that discovery. The Archie Show grabbed my attention with its pop music theme and other songs. Sugar Sugar is the only song I can recall now.... super teeny bopper sweet.... definitely sugar-coated for the younger crowd. But the characters on the show were funny and likable, with a true community feel to everything, as though these were real people with real relationships living in a real city. 

There is no record of when I picked up my first Archie comic, but that was the next logical step for me. I might have been in grade five at the time; I say that because that was when I became good friends with Martin, a new kid in town, and he had a massive Archie comics collection. 

There were so many titles within the Archie universe that I had to make some tough buying decisions each month at the drugstore (no comic shops back then... just newstands and drugstore magazine racks). There were comics dedicated to many of the characters, including some of the minor characters who earned their own spin-offs, like Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Josie and the Pussycats. I stuck with the main Riverdale gang, though. And it didn't take long for me to realize that the comic digests were the best bang for my buck, so I often skipped the regular comics and began to build a sizable collection of Archie digests. I hung onto those digests until I became a father, and then I passed them on to my lovely daughter, who adored the books.

Jughead happened to be my favourite character, with his weird little "crown" hat and insatiable appetite for burgers. I loved burgers a lot, too, often sitting down to an A&W meal - complete with burger, fries, root beer float and a banana split, while reading my latest purchases. Then I'd go home and eat my Mom's lunch. Hehe, she had no idea.

I rarely buy comics today, but I have occasionally picked up an interesting graphic novel, and most recently I bought trade paperback collections of The Punisher and Green Lantern... mainly just to learn about the origins of the characters. Interesting and kind of fun, but nothing that I want to pursue in a big way. And no more Archie... though I have toyed with the idea of buying that nice hardcover edition of the reprints of the very first issues of Archie comics. A little piece of history there. 

A questionable purchase - my Jughead toy from

the 70's (like new condition)... plus membership 

pins from the official Archie Fan Club. Yeesh.