Tuesday, December 23, 2014

On The Shelf: Archie gets a makeover, and a lost Batman case surfaces

Some years back, Archie Comics hired manga artist Tania Del Rio to give Sabrina, The Teenage Witch a makeover, which lasted about 2 years or so before the book ended up getting a new creative team. While it did make the series stand out from the rest of the line, sales inevitably declined after the "curiosity period" ended.

That having been said, it's not a problem questioning Archie's latest decision in relation to a creative makeover. You've probably heard by now that the core Archie series is being rebooted back to #1 in 2015, but with a decided new look, courtesy of artist Fiona Staples and writer Mark Waid.

Wait a minute. Mark Waid? A superhero writer doing a humor book? Yep.

Waid made his Archie Comics debut a year ago on the Red Circle line, scripting the Fox miniseries with artist Dean Haspiel. The Fox will return as part of the rebooted Dark Circle line, as creative director Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa is looking to give Fox, Black Hood, and others a grittier look for the 21st century. In that regard, it's all about re-establishing most of the heroes, who've been around since either the Golden Age (Black Hood) or the Silver Age (Fox, Fly), but have been considered second-or-third class heroes, due mostly to the camp revival of the 60's. Waid on Archie, however, is a real challenge. While the long running series has been doing more teen drama story arcs in recent years, spinning off the recently concluded revival of Life With Archie, Waid may be asked to inject some more realism into the storylines. Yes, Archie welcomed its first gay character (Kevin Keller), and used Life to address what Kevin would face as an adult. But what about high school?

Bullying is a major issue these days, and that, in my opinion, may be a possible topic in the Waid-Staples era of Archie. Stay tuned.

DC, timing the release to coincide with the long awaited DVD release of Batman, unearthed an unproduced script by science-fiction icon Harlan Ellison for a 1-shot special. However, the company went overboard.

Batman '66: The Lost Episode adapts Ellison's story, showcasing Two-Face, with Len Wein, a Bat-veteran in his own right, having scripted and/or edited Batman during the 70's & early 80's, writing the story for publication, drawn by Jose-Luis Garcia-Lopez. Not only does the reader get that story, but also a rough cut version, with just Garcia-Lopez's breakdowns, and some other extras. The Lost Episode was better off being served as an Annual, not a mad grab for greed. Is it worth the $10 cover price? No. You don't need all those bells & whistles.

Rating (overall presentation): B--.

Having reviewed Cartoon Network's Sonic Boom over at Saturday Morning Archives, I should mention the comics version of the series, which debuted from Archie in November. It's loaded with inside jokes, moreso than the regular Sonic monthly and the defunct Sonic X, which Boom has replaced. The kids will dig it, though Archie's recent decision to raise cover prices across the board to $3.99 will have cost-conscious parents thinking twice.

Dynamite Entertainment is bent on being a major player, or at least rivaling IDW when it comes to licensed titles. On the heels of reviving the former Gold Key heroes (last at Valiant), Dynamite is going full bore with a line of King Features heroes, including Prince Valiant, Flash Gordon, and the Phantom. The jury's out. Again, there's that cover price to consider. $4 per issue, in this day & age, for fans on limited budgets, is asking for trouble. Dynamite can justify the price because of recouping licensing fees, because they have no original series they can truly call their own, though sooner or later, that could change.

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