Mike Gold: Archie – WTF?
I know it says “Dark Circle” on the cover. In the past the cover has said “Red Circle” and before that “Archie” and before that “MLJ.” But it’s all Archie Comics to me, and I mean that as a compliment.
I think their first “Dark Circle” comic book was The Fox, by Dean Haspiel and Mark Waid. I loved it. I say “I think” because comics publishers do reboots faster than elves make shoes. Maybe the next Fox by Haspiel and Waid will restart the series again. But, for conversation’s sake, let’s say last week’s Black Hood #1 by Duane Swierczynski and Michael Gaydos was the second Dark Circle title.
And that’s where I got confused.
First, for the record, I liked this latest Black Hood. Like most contemporary comics, there wasn’t enough story in the first issue for me to make a real commitment, but I enjoyed what I read, deployed some clever concepts, and I look forward to the next issue. I can’t say that about a lot of costumed superhero comics these days.
But… well… damn… it’s still an Archie Comic. It says so right there on the copyright notice. And it was Archie Comics (as opposed to “Archie comics”) that heralded “approved reading.” It was Archie’s cofounder John Goldwater who created the Comics Code. In fact, after all the other publishers dropped the Code, Archie was the last publisher at the table. Briefly. They drank the last survivor’s wine and dropped out. That was in 2011.
I started reading comics about the time the Code came along, so forgive me when I say I’m a bit taken aback when I read an Archie Comic and encounter the word “asshole” twice, “shit” three times, and “fuck” seven times.
Yes, I counted.
Don’t get me wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using such language. It’s been commonplace for a long time, and using the real words is much better than using stupid euphemisms that simply implant the censored word into the reader’s mind anyway. Fuck hypocrisy!
But… damn… it’s an Archie Comic! Does this mean they’re going to hire S. Clay Wilson for their Fly-Girl title? Hey, that would be great!
But it does make me wonder. Archie Comics is about to reboot Archie comics with the melodious words of Mark Waid. How many cans of Tree Frog Beer can Reggie Mantle chug? And what’s the real reason why they call Forsythe Pendleton Jones III… Jughead?
Maybe they’ll give a new answer to the time-old question “Are you a Betty, or a Veronica?”
The Fox is also returning for the Dark Circle reboot, but will stay largely as is from the Waid/Haspiel run. It’s rather like when DC did the New 52 “refresh”, they left batman and Green Lantern largely unchanged because they thought nothing was broken. But the Shield second feature that ran in the book (which I rather liked) is gone and forgotten, replaced by the new Shield book, coming soon, which sounds more than a bit like a take on the current interpretation of Uncle Sam at DC, which can best be described as a patriotism elemental.
I REALLY liked New Crusaders. I liked the story they were telling, the style of the art, and the choice they made to go digital first with it. Sadly, I was clearly in the minority, or they wouldn’t be going this route.
But I’ve said it before, I still think the single best new take on the Red Circle heroes was the !mpact line. And you know that because I interviewed you about them decades ago. They were fun, they were bold, they made great choices with where to go with the characters, and based on all the stories I heard from the parties involved, they were doomed before they went out the door.
Every time…EVERY…TIME…they’ve chosen to go grim and gritty with the characters, it’s been a calamity. I could go on about the aborted Spectrum line as well, a try that rightly died on the vine.
If I had unlimited money and access to lawyers, I’d sort out the rights and permissions with the !mpact line and run with that. Hell, just reprinting the original books would be a great start.
But hey, whadda I know?