Archie was one of the first comics I'd ever read as a kid. I still read them every now and again, but I'm drawn more towards fantasy-themed comics than slice-of-life.
1. Who do you think buy's and reads Archie? Why do you think they buy and read it?
I was a preteen when I got my first Archie comic, and I continued buying and reading the comics throughout my teens. The characters are teenagers themselves, high schoolers going through their daily lives with the occational shenanigans. Some more supernatural than others. Both boys and girls may be drawn to the Archie comics. Boys can relate to Archie's character and girls would enjoy the roamtic drama between Archie and his two love interests. In early editions of Archie comics, the main character, Archie, is a bit dense. A cut and paste of the steryotypical high school boy, in later versions he becomes a bit less dense and more of a well-meaning but still clumsy young man just trying to make it through the day with his friends. Personally I have never felt any attraction to his character, but the skits and stories are very entertaining, and that's what brought me back time and time again. I relate to Archie in how he's just trying to get through high school. I'm fairly sure that all teenagers will have a bumpy ride in school, whether it be because of grades, relationships, home life, etc. no one has an easy time, and that's okay. It's not meant to be easy, it's meant to prepare you.
2. What in Archie repeats? What characters, situations, ideas, props, themes or other factors repeat through the various decades of Archie? What ideas or emotions do you think get attached to these repeating aspects of the storytelling? What is importnt in Archie?
The love triangle is a constant, so the characters involved go through a great many shenanigans surrounding it. Sometimes Archie branches out and tries dating someone other than his two main love interests, but eventually he always ends up going back to them. A factor of the shenanigans is that it all takes place in high school, as such watching a bunch of young kids try to navigate through school life as well as their relationships is pretty funny.
Now the charcaters that have been around from the beginning are Jughead Jones, the wingman, Betty Cooper, the girl-next-door, and Veronica Lodge, the unattainable rich girl. Each of these characters have varying personalities which each give a different POV to the comic's shenanigans. Jughead's a laid back character and Archie's best friend, he's got his back no matter what, especially when there's food involved. Betty is literally the girl next door, the girl Archie's known since he was a kid, and the girl most believed he'd end up with. Then came Veronica Lodge, rich daddy's girl who moved to the small town of Riverdale and started hanging around Archie. More characters are later introduced but these are the ones who started it all. It's very likely that these characters are based off of people you'd see in real life, and thats what makes them so relateable and most of the shenanigans possible (to a degree).
Why does the romance repeat? Most people view highschool as the prime time for dating, when you start going out and looking for love. Throughout time dating has changed, but in Archie, no matter what, it takes place in high school. This allows Archie to mold it's readers ideas of highschool dating and romance. Even the recent incarnation, while many things are different dating has pretty much stayed the same. The situations involving it are relateable both in the past and the present.
What isn't in Archie? Are all aspects of teenage life in Archie? Does the world of Archie reflect or mirror the world you know? An sessential component of observing is noticing what is and what isn't there and considering the implications.
Archie, as previously mentioned, is a cut and paste nice guy character. He deals with the steryotypical high school romance drama. But reallife is nothing like it is depicted in the comics. Sure there are elements from reality that are included. But it's missing some of the more serious dramas that we hear about in reality. I understand why they wouldn't include that stuff, Archie's bright and colorful world has no room for violent topics. It's meant to show the upbeat side of teenage life. Personally I never datted in high school, sure I had my share of crushes, but I figured out early that I'm too young to be looking for a serious relationship.
4. In a summary sort of way, what in the end do you think Archie is about? What is the meaning in context? Why do you think it is culturally significant?
Archie is a romanticized version of the All American high school experience. Not just on romance, but it's bubbly and shenangian filled life in general. Like I said, there are elements that are taken from reality, but high school is not like this. Archie depicts what we wanted high school to be (somewhat), it plops us in a world where there's always a happy ending. When I read Archie comics as a kid I imagined highschool in real life to the one that I read, of course I was disappointed with how mundne it really was, but I still had fun.
Tennagers like Archie because he's the All American high school teenage boy. He's a clumsy, but loveable character who gets invloved in so many different sintuations, yet nothing in his life really changes. Anyone who can relate to Archie or any of it's characters would enjoy Archie Comics, I know I did and still to.
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