July 14, 2014

"Unnff!"

Archie's last word.



"Archie is not a superhero like all the rest of the comic book characters... He's human. He's a person. When you wound him, he bleeds. He knows that. If anything, I think his death is more impactful because of that. We hope by showing how something so violent can happen to Archie, that we can — in some way — learn from him."

46 comments:

LYNNDH said...

Learn that the comic book publishers a Dufus.

Mark O said...

Killing Archie? Lame.

MadisonMan said...

Too bad Archie wasn't carrying a gun himself. That would have been a more interesting storyline.

Nonapod said...

We live in a time where comic book characters have become enormously significant, both culturally and in terms of profitability. I believe it was Jack Kirby that likened comic book characters to modern mythology. But paradoxically the actual comic books themselves seem to be selling at historic lows. Attention grabbing stunts like this may help sales I guess.

Curious George said...

Guns don't kill comic book characters, people do.

Anonymous said...

Is this the sequel to the 'Archie Meets the Punisher' one-shot from 1994? I held onto that book for 15 years but had to sell it for $13.99 during Obama's first term when I was job hunting. One more thing that fiend has cost me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Meets_the_Punisher

The Godfather said...

So the lesson is that it's dangerous to have a Gay friend? Or is the lesson that people who oppose Gay liberal politicians are likely to resort to violence?

I think it's a shame that even comic books have to preach at us. I suppose the real reason Archie had to die was that he'd become boring.

Kevin said...


I warned him about going to Chicago....

Fernandinande said...

We hope ... something ... violent can happen to Archie ...

tim maguire said...

He dies defending his gay friend?

How...cutting edge? No. Matthew Sheppard wasn't killed for being gay, and nobody else is either these days.

How...1950's? No. Archie wouldn't have done it in the 1950's, he wouldn't have done it until it was culturally safe.

How...politically correct? Yes. A very safe, trite even, artistic statement pretending to courage.

tim maguire said...

"Curious George said...Guns don't kill comic book characters, [comic book characters] do."

FIFY, great observation, though.

Todd said...

So, he couldn't have gotten shot protecting a friend, it had to be a "gay" friend.

So lame...

Bob Ellison said...

Countdown to Archie Back from the Dead starting now.

Maybe he'll be a zombie. They're popular nowadays. Maybe he'll do a Spock-like reincarnation with help from his nemesis, Reggie.

madAsHell said...

Archie lives in Chicago?

chuck said...

Shrug... but the ladies will like it.

Anonymous said...

Gay person unwilling to defend themselves lets internationally known Ginger die in their place. Film at 11.

Crimso said...

"He's human. He's a person."
"that we can — in some way — learn from him."

So after decades of never aging, he's suddenly -in some way- human.

SomeoneHasToSayIt said...

I like how it is a white hand doing the shooting.

This is fantasy, after all.

Bruce Hayden said...

Yeh, right, Archie dies taking a bullet aimed at a gay gun grabber. Wishful thinking on the part of the left - which is why every time you get a mass shooting, they expect the perp to be some sort of neo-Nazi or skinhead (ignoring, of course, that the Nazis were socialists, and modern progressive economics is closer to the sort of autocratic crony capitalistic socialism pushed by the Italian fascists and German Nazis than almost anything else). And, of course, inevitably, the shooters almost always end up to have been mentally unbalanced progressives (redundancy?)

If they wanted to make this realistic, instead of propaganda, they would have been visiting the Hood - an inner city low income neighborhood in a large metropolitan area. Say, parts of Chicago. That is where most of the violence in this country is these days. Compare, for example, the number of people shot and the number killed by bullets, in Chicago over the last holiday weekend, and contrast this with the number of openly gay people murdered (outside of the homophobic "hood") because of their sexual orientation. Or, being a gun grabber. Just doesn't happen. Or, if it does, it is closer to a Black Swan event, than any harbinger of the future.

richard mcenroe said...

The woman currently running Archie Comics is reported to be absolutely batshit and facing a multiple-plaintiff sexual harrassment suit. ( http://tinyurl.com/pdvfx9n )

~ Gordon Pasha said...

George RR Martin may have taken over the Archie franchise.

Anonymous said...

What if Archie had been heroic in no discernible way whatsoever: Begging for his life, displaying moral and physical cowardice, crying, then running away at top-speed down an alleyway.

A few weeks later we cut to Archie stumbling in and out of traffic in an oversized, filthy white T-shirt and Jams shorts from the 80's.

The old anti-hero hero turn.

Opinh Bombay said...

It looks to me like the evil white handed assailant missed Archie totally.

Thorley Winston said...

Sure it wasn’t Archie’s evil twin from the Punisher crossover? In all seriousness though, Archie is just one more thing from my childhood that someone decided to sacrifice for their silly and shallow political agenda. I won’t buy the new series but it won’t prevent me from continuing to enjoy the TPBs in my collection.

tim in vermont said...

I used to buy Archie comics every week in the seventies. I had a blonde on and off girlfriend, and a dark brunette girlfriend on and off. I never had a frenemy like Reggie though.

Wish I had kept them all, but I just threw then in the trash after I got my 15 cents worth.

ron winkleheimer said...

"comic books themselves seem to be selling at historic lows. Attention grabbing stunts like this may help sales I guess."

Actually, I think it is driving down sales. For some crazy reason most kids are unwilling to part with cold hard cash in order to buy propaganda.

ErnieG said...

They probably considered having him die by Global Warming or shot with an assault rifle by a Tea Partier. Being shot by a gang-banger or jihadi was off the table.

Robert Cook said...

"Archie lives in Chicago?"

Archie lives in Riverdale, which is really just anytown, but I believe it to be the Riverdale section of the Bronx. (It's lovely up there.)

Krumhorn said...

I can tell you right now that Veronica could raise some life in him if she would give it a good old college try.

-Krumhorn

SteveBrooklineMA said...

We subscribe to Jughead Double Digest. My wife especially enjoys it. The whole point is that it is good innocent fun... puns, pranks, and jokes. Who the hell wants "serious issues" in Archie comics?

Thorley Winston said...

Kevin Keller is Archie’s best friend in the same way that Cousin Oliver was the Brady Bunch’s favorite cousin.

Opinh Bombay said...

Ralph Hyatt:

This is an argument that is all over the Science Fiction world. When your political message becomes more important than telling a good story - which it has in much of SF - then people stop buying it.

When you tell a good story first and then slip in a message - sales are better.

Todd said...

When you tell a good story first and then slip in a message - sales are better.

How about just telling a good story and keeping your message to yourself?

James Pawlak said...

Well, it looked like he was charging the gunner with his hands in a "rip off the clothing" position. The arm-and-hand of the shooter could be that of a woman.

This sounds like a better story line!

If it were a typical gay killing, Archie would have been in the process of being stabbed many times.

Sunslut7 said...

So is Veronica available now?

richard mcenroe said...

"So is Veronica available now?"

Veronica was ALWAYS available, damn tease.

That comic was always filled with a pack of degenerates. Up through the 70's Reggie was something right on one side of the line or the other on the way to being an outright predator.

And I remember a VERY confusing story in the 60's where Betty was running around disguised as a guy kissing every girl in Riverdale High so she would have an excuse to kiss Archie when he tracked the villain down...

Anonymous said...

They probably considered having him die by Global Warming or shot with an assault rifle by a Tea Partier.

A Tea Partier probably set off the bomb that seems to be going off to Archie's left at the same time that the gunman is missing wide to his right. Terrorists, you know.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Yeah, they wanted it to resonate with real life, like how white gun rights dudes keep shooting gay military veteran Sentors who push for tough gun laws after their husbands are involved in shootings. Seems like every damn day around here!

ken in tx said...

Some movie mogul once said that if you want to send a message, use Western Union, not a movie. Today, if might be, use I-Phone, not a comic book.

William said...

Well, who offed Lil' Abner? There are rumors that it was done by a demented feminist, but the mainstream comic press won't go near this story.

chillblaine said...

Whatever. Next, Richie Rich will become a crusader for higher tax rates on high incomes (or maybe, gasp, a wealth tax). And Sgt. Rock will lead his all-transgender unit into battle. Less boots-on-the-ground, more strappy-sandals.

The Crack Emcee said...

"Archie is not a superhero like all the rest of the comic book characters... He's human. He's a person. When you wound him, he bleeds. He knows that."

A fact, presumably, lost on blacks. Though the gay struggle is JUST LIKE black's, even though blacks still haven't gotten what we deserve after centuries (while gays immediately have) and Arch never was our BFF, or even seriously considered arguing for us, much less dying.

I can see in Archie's choice of footwear, as he dies for gays, our influence meant nothing to him compared to this new friend. I'll assume he had Macklemore in his earbuds, this iconic white guy, with two women, who no one's demanding settle down or conform - yeah, when you think about it, he has to die.

It all catches up to you,...

Phil 314 said...

I thought he died years ago.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

Boring. Washed-up comic tries to be both shocking and trendy and fails at both.

Anonymous said...

Oh Crack, is your worldview so small that you can't absorb the idea that blacks, and browns, and whites, and tans, and pinks, and purples, have all received exactly what we deserve?

The Crack Emcee said...

DS,

"Oh Crack, is your worldview so small that you can't absorb the idea that blacks, and browns, and whites, and tans, and pinks, and purples, have all received exactly what we deserve?"

Nope - I learned people who's say things like that are of the very culture that insured it was never to be so,….