Archie

Riverdale Book Review

The relationships, recently:

Archie & Betty & Veronica

Midge & Moose

Reggie & Harper

Dilton & Brigitte

Chuck & Nancy

Cheryl & the bald guy (George)

Kevin & Devon (though Kevin will grow up to marry Clay Walker)

Frankie & Maria

Ginger & Marcus

Jughead remains unattached, though Ethel Muggs has gone with him to more proms than any high schooler could ever be expected to attend. But “prom dates” is really a whole different category than “relationships”; in one of the first Veronica stories, “Prom Pranks” from Archie #1, Ms. Lodge is escorted to the dance by Jughead (who mistakenly gives her a poison ivy corsage).

Lists

Songs About Songs


“I Wrote a Simple Song,” Billy Preston
“This is My Song,” Petula Clark
“Your Song,” Elton John
“Killing Me Softly With His Song,” Roberta Flack
“Song Sung Blue,” Neil Diamond
“Sing a Song,” The Carpenters
“Sing a Simple Song,” Sly and the Family Stone
“Sing a Simple Song,” Hampton and the Hamsters
“Simple Song of Freedom,” Bobby Darin
“Song of Songs,” Old Testament

Rock Gods

Rock Gods #333: Adventures in Our Little Music Scene

Their logo is so incomprehensible that in some circles the band has become known as Blotch.

Their music is equally muddied and misshapen, yet exhilarating and impossible to pigeonhole. Which may be what that logo is saying, as far as we know: “Impossible to Pigeonhole.” We’ve heard worse band names.

The collective, which has in fact played out under several different names, has a dozen good songs in their repertoire. They’re in search of a producer and a manager… and a graphic designer.

Tonight: Bulbous Deep Sea Angler and Retzer’s Elephant Nose at the Bullfinch… Unicorn Crest at Hamilton’s… Tropical Gar at D’Ollaire’s; all well drinks $3…

Archie

Riverdale Book Review

Tim Levin draws lips as if they were inner tubes, making Betty & Veronica’s lipstick look as if it were clown makeup. This is not actually a bad thing. His art draws attention to what the characters are doing. When they’re talking, you know they’re talking.

Levin also digs panoramic tableaux. In “Designing Divas,” the opening story of Betty and Veronica Comics Double Digest #230 (which I received in my mailbox an hour ago), there’s a great panel of Veronica tossing clothes from one end of her vast walkin closet clear to the other end. In another, she’s sitting in a diner and you can see the wheelchair-bound character Harper rolling up on the sidewalk outside the building.

Levin packs his panels. His work is more realistic than gag-based Archie stories often are these days (especially in the digests). When the theme, as it is here, is fashion, he’s a fine artist for the job.

The "c" word: Criticism