Retro Reads: Archie's Weird Mysteries (1999)

In 1995, Archie Comics had obtained a license to produce comics featuring some of Hanna-Barbera's classic characters, including Scooby-Doo. However, this didn't last very long, and the company missed a golden opportunity to have Scooby and his friends meet Archie Andrews and his Riverdale buds, who shared many a Saturday morning on CBS between 1969 (Scooby's 1st year) and 1976.

Four years later, DIC brought the Riverdale kids back to television in a series that was best described as a cross-section between Scooby-Doo and The X-Files, Archie's Weird Mysteries. 40 episodes were produced, giving the Pax network (now Ion) the option of running the show weekdays or Saturdays. Had it been weekdays, it would've been worth 2 months of episodes, and the network could stretch the weekly format out across two years if needed.

In October 1999, Archie Comics released a comics version of Weird Mysteries, written by Paul Castiglia and drawn by Fernando Ruiz. Sure, it's drawn in the predictable house style, and formatted similarly to other books in the line through the years. There was even a crossover with the company's premier superhero team, the Mighty Crusaders, in one issue. However, DIC wasn't able to use the Crusaders, and instead created their own superhero, Supreme Girl, for a 1-shot episode. The half-human, half-vampire Scarlet, however, made her comics debut, appearing in a couple of issues, leaving the door open for a spin-off series that never happened.

15 years later, Archie Comics is celebrating Weird Mysteries with a trade paperback compilation of selected issues of the comic book, including Scarlet's appearances, plus an amusing left handed homage to Scooby-Doo, with the kids using familiar catchphrases. The reprints appear to be out of order, and the MIghty Crusaders crossover, issue 3, was left out, likely because it wasn't Weird enough to fit. The book underwent a cosmetic change with issue 25, dropping the Weird from the title and shifting to being a teen clone of CSI, which was building its franchise at the time. After a year of "Teen Scene Investigations", the series was cancelled. Sales of this volume will determine if Archie will bring those issues back.

The Archie's Weird Mysteries trade paperback is comfortably priced at $9.95, and is a smaller size than most trades. It's nice to look back and remind yourself of how much fun this was. In recent years, the company has gone back to outside-the-box ideas, such as the current Afterlife With Archie series, and have found themselves a new audience. Weird Mysteries is for the younger readers who might be creeped out by Afterlife. It's nice to have alternatives.

Rating: A.