Hmmmmm...I just wonder who could this AMERICA'S PAL guy just might be? No real hint on the cover is there, eh?
Aw cum-moff-IT!!! It's so obvious that the guy in question is none other than MLJ's own Jughead, who along with a variety of other discretely re-titled efforts from the Archie stable (GAL PALS) as well as other lapsed efforts such as HARD FISTED DETECTIVE MONTHLY (DICK TRACY) ain't got no copyrights to keep 'em under lock and key. However, for legal reason the proper names of the characters are not permitted to be used on the cover leading to a whole lotta sneaky wink-wink-nudge-nudges ifyaknowaddamean.
Even if this "readers collection" features black and white reprints at less a cost (which is no sweat for a guy like me who grew up with black and white tee-vee) this book is custom made for those of you who like the mid-sixties Archie style and stories. Unfortunately I'm not that big a fan of this particular period in Archie-dom given just how one-dimensional I thought the comic book universe Archie line was in comparison with the daily strip style and canon. But when I get down to it all I don't mind that much since these comics always did make for a good enough hot afternoon time-wasting affair, something to wile away your hours reading after you got done with your chores and your favorite tee-vee show ain't starting for another hour. Plus if you like stupid gags and old jokes warmed over more'n that leftover stew these tales should go down finer'n your fave porn star.
Old ads, LI'L JINX and even some Archie Club entries are included making me glad that I sent for my twenny-five cent card 'n badge as a mere pre-pubesprout which I am proud to say still stays snuggled up in one of about twentysome boxes of various flotsam, jetsam and fanzines that I have collected in well over fortysome years! You could do worse re-living your adolescence, and when you've discovered your old cache of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC you have!
I have mixed feelings about these B&W Gwandanaland "readers" versions. For some reason, I think color would be essential for me with Archie comics. On the other hand, with westerns and crime comics and the like (I just got a massive 500-page B&W Don Winslow Of The Navy from Gwan), it seems less annoying. It also depends on the precision of the drawing on the original and the particular colors used....some transfer as more blurry and imprecise, and are less appealing in B&W transfers. The main selling point of these B&W ones is that they are 1/3 the price of color, and in some of the "giant" ones (like Don Winslow), more like 1/4 or even 1/5 the price of the color. It's hard to turn that down.
ReplyDeleteI purchased four of the early 60's PD Archie reprints, but got them all in color. Gwan is focusing on Dell reprints right now, but I'm sure they'll get around to another wave of Archie PD material soon. I think I like the 63-66 Archie material more than you do. I am still devoted to classic Archie. When I have to wait somewhere, like a doctor's office or the tire shop or the DMV drivers license office, while everyone else is staring into their phones, I will often have an old Archie digest in hand, and they always manage to satisfy, killing time in an entertaining manner, and that's what it's all about...
BILL S.