Archie Comics

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Archie Comics is an American comic book publisher . He gained fame through his most famous series, the Archie comic , which gave the publisher its name , as well as the character Sabrina the Teenage Witch , probably best known in Germany ; then there is Sonic the Hedgehog .

Publishing history

The Archie comic book series was invented in the early 1940s by John L. Goldwater (editor), Vic Bloom (story writer), and Bob Montana (drawings). The publisher is based in Mamaroneck , New York.

The publishing house originally started in 1939 as MLJ Magazine, which was founded by Goldwater, Maurice Coyne and Louis Silberkleit (the company name stands for the initials of the founders' first names). One of her first famous works - and also the first patriotic comic series ever - was The Shield , a war comic series , which was the publisher's main publication from 1940 to 1944, when it was superseded by the Archie series in popularity .

The first Archie story appeared in December 1941 (US Pep Comics # 22) and Goldwarter was inspired by the success of the Andy Hardy film series with Mickey Rooney , which also focused on the lives of American teenagers. Even Archie turned to the audience to American teenagers popular, due to the increasing success to MLJ started calling around in Archie Comics Publications. The series is still very popular in America today and continues to be published. From # 114 the series name was simply abbreviated to Archie .

In Germany, some Archie comics appeared in the MV Comix series in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and in 1976 as a paperback.

Media adaptations

The series is largely unknown in Germany, but some of its publications have been converted into live action and animation and some have also become known overseas, such as Sabrina the Teenage Witch . Also from Archie itself there is a live action TV movie in German (title: Three Women for Archie ; Original: Archie - To Riverdale and Back Again ) in which the action is misplaced into adulthood of the characters.

Karussell Verlag has published four 30-minute episodes of The new Archies in German on VHS . In 2010, FM Kids (Foreign Media Group) published the film The Archies: Thawed and Unstoppable on DVD in the series Die Trickfilm Klassiker .

A music group from the sixties named The Archies after a music group founded and led by Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead and Reggie.

On Netflix there is the series Riverdale (TV series) , which is based on the characters from the comics and depicts them as high school students. This currently consists of four seasons. A fifth season is being planned

Characters

Archie is mainly about the title character, a red-haired, freckled boy named Archibald "Archie" Andrews , who lives in Riverdale and goes to school. Archie is the typical average teen: always out to have fun, always short of money, always after the girls and always stuck in some difficulties (not only in school). A multitude of other characters cavort in Archie's life, some of the most important of which are presented below:

  • Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge : Betty and Veronica are two of Archie's girls and schoolmates at Riverdale High and are best friends and greatest rivals for Archie's favor. Betty is a blonde, friendly and extremely multi-talented girl from a middle-class family; Veronica is the spoiled, black-haired daughter of a very rich industrialist.
  • "Jughead" Jones ( Forsythe P. Jones ) is Archie's best friend. Jughead (in German: "Maultier", a slang expression in the sense of "wooden head") is a voracious lazy man, as he is in the book, but his behavior hides a fine-grained acumen - which he only turns on when he feels like it. Jughead's trademark is his peculiar headgear, which resembles a crown. This is a "whoopee cap", a headgear that was popular with young Americans in the middle of the 20th century. He also has a dog called a hot dog , which in its nature is very much like its owner.
  • Reginald "Reggie" Mantle : The would-be smart Reggie is the involuntary school clown at Riverdale High, because he is a boastful loudmouth whose unbridled mouth repeatedly rides him into great trouble.
  • Marmaduke "Moose" Mason and Midge Clump : A couple at Riverdale High that couldn't be more different. Moose is the strongest, but also the mentally slowest of the Riverdale students. But he quickly reacts jealously if any boy (especially Reggie) dares to even speak to his girlfriend Midge - and only the dumbest or the most daring are stupid enough to turn his anger and around 200 pounds of muscle against them!
  • Dilton Doiley : The typical " nerd " - short, shy, unsporting and wearing glasses, but highly intelligent and well-read. Is particularly good friends with Moose, whom he gives regular tutoring.
  • Chuck Clayton : An African American student and one of Riverdale High's top athletes. His father ( Coach Clayton ) works as a PE teacher in the school. Chuck goes out with Nancy Woods , also an African American.
  • Ethel Muggs ( Big Ethel ): A girl who has a soft spot for Jughead, but who only wants to know something about the cookies she bakes for him. Actually a rather unattractive character, she also got a few makeovers in the series in which she looks quite appealing.
  • Mr. Hiram Lodge : Veronica's father is the richest man in Riverdale. In contrast to his daughter, he doesn't think much of Archie, especially since Archie usually carries costly small disasters into his home.
  • Mr. Waldo Weatherbee : The director of Riverdale High. A rather old-fashioned contemporary for whom the antics of his students (especially Archie) often drive them to the verge of a nervous breakdown.
  • Miss Grundy , an older and, despite her strict demeanor, quite popular teacher at Riverdale High.
  • Pop Tate runs an ice cream parlor where the Riverdale students are good customers and therefore have a very friendly relationship with Pop.
  • Cheryl and Jason Blossom : A pair of twins who go to school at Elite Pembrooke Academy. Both are usually quite snooty towards the bourgeois "townies" (to which they also count Archie and the like), but that doesn't stop them from interacting with them - either out of romantic interests (Jason because of Betty, Cheryl because of Archie) or to really annoy them.
    The character of the red-haired Cheryl was so popular that he even had his own limited series of comics (see publications ).

Others :

  • Josie and the Pussycats : A girl rock group made up of the red-haired Josie, the Afro-American Valerie and the blonde Melody and are particularly known for their distinctive cat costumes. The magazine series was also implemented in a cartoon series and an action film and was also the name model for a bubblegum rock group from the seventies.

Publications (selection)

  • Archie
  • Archie and Me
  • Archie at Riverdale High
  • Life with Archie
  • Betty , Veronica and Betty & Veronica
  • Jughead
  • Reggie and Me
  • Cheryl Blossom
  • Archie Meets the Punisher (1994) - A humorous crossover featuring Archie and the Punisher from Marvel Comics
  • Josie and the Pussycats (1963-1982)
  • Sabrina the Teenage Witch (from 1971 in several stages)
  • Sonic the Hedgehog (1993-2017)
  • The Mighty Crusaders
In German, the Mighty Crusaders were published as a paperback series by Condor Verlag from 1982 to 1984 under the title The Glorious Starteam .
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures , initially a comic adaptation of the Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles animated series , but which gradually evolved into a separate story series over time.

Web links

Commons : Archie Comics  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stephen Krensky: Comicbook Century: The History of American Comic Books . Twenty-First Century Books, 2008, ISBN 978-0-8225-6654-0 ( google.de [accessed March 4, 2019]).
  2. ↑ Jürgen Kagelmann: Who's who im Comic , dtv , Munich 1997, ISBN 3-423-32531-3 , p. 17.
  3. ↑ twitter.com (English).