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The Best of Archie Comics

4.33 of 5 stars 4.33 · rating details · 492 ratings · 34 reviews

Celebrate 70 years of Archie Comics fun with this massive full-color collection of over 50 favorite comic book stories hand-selected by noted Archie writers, artists, editors and historians. Also included are loads of entertaining behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the comics, their creators, and Archie's unique impact on America's pop culture!

Designed for young and old ali...more

Paperback, 416 pages

Published August 16th 2011 by Archie Comics

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Jun 11, 2012 Janus Vielle (The Blair Book Project) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-paperback

You know those moments when you find stuff in your room that relates so much to your childhood and you feel the sudden pull of nostalgia? Well, I kind of felt that way when I saw the Best of Archie Comics while I was visiting a local bookstore near where I live.

Archie comics were one of the biggest influences for my reading habit... okay, scratch that, I’ll admit it somehow grown into an obsession. A good one, not a bad thing I swear (yeah, keep telling yourself that!).

I started reading Archie...more You know those moments when you find stuff in your room that relates so much to your childhood and you feel the sudden pull of nostalgia? Well, I kind of felt that way when I saw the Best of Archie Comics while I was visiting a local bookstore near where I live.

Archie comics were one of the biggest influences for my reading habit... okay, scratch that, I’ll admit it somehow grown into an obsession. A good one, not a bad thing I swear (yeah, keep telling yourself that!).

I started reading Archie when I was about 6 or 7 years old. It happened when our family was residing in Riyadh (my parents were OFWs back in the 90s). Since my parents had work in the middle of the day and being the kid who stays at home most of the day after school, I guess you can say I was bored (cartoons were of short supply back then and I’ve never really been much of a couch potato). One day, my dad took us to a book store. While my older brother went through the comics section for some Marvel and DC stuff, I came across some Archie Digest Magazines. I don’t know why I decided to pick them up, but when my dad asked me if I wanted to buy them I said yes without even missing a beat... and the rest is history.

Yup, I have been a fan ever since my first issue and here I am, in my twenties and still haven’t outgrown it. Back then, I always thought that the issues I pleaded my dad to buy me more (I’ve been a constant whiner to get new ones after I finish each) was too small and thin. I kept complaining to myself that they were too short and they’re just not enough. Now you can probably picture how I got all crazy-eyed when I saw a 400-paged issue of Archie. Imagine Kaa (the snake from the Jungle Book, Disney cartoon) and you’ll get the idea. LOL.

The Best of Archie Comics showed me how much this comic has developed in matters of story and most specially the artwork, which I never really noticed before how huge the changes it went through over the years. Also, I never really thought of how the whole Betty-Archie-Veronica love triangle started out and I’m happy to get a brief history on how it all began.

I really enjoyed reading this book and the trip back to my childhood just left me very grateful for discovering Archie, because reading has definitely taken a huge part of my life. I don’t think I would have grown into the reader that I am now if I hadn’t picked up my first Archie comic and that’s something I deeply cherish.

For more of my reviews, please visit my blog:
The Blair Book Project @ www.theblairbookproject.blogspot.com/(less)

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Dec 28, 2011 Kathryn rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: graphic-novels, anthology

((From my blog))

The Best of Archie Comics is, as the title and blurb suggest, a retrospective that goes from the 1940s, when Archie first appeared, through to the present day. It's divided up into decades and showcases some shorter pieces from each one, with the main focus being Archie and its related titles, although some other series (Lil' Jinx, for example) do make an appearance. Whilst most of the pages are dedicated to reprinted full-page stories, there are cover art galleries and some page...more ((From my blog))

The Best of Archie Comics is, as the title and blurb suggest, a retrospective that goes from the 1940s, when Archie first appeared, through to the present day. It's divided up into decades and showcases some shorter pieces from each one, with the main focus being Archie and its related titles, although some other series (Lil' Jinx, for example) do make an appearance. Whilst most of the pages are dedicated to reprinted full-page stories, there are cover art galleries and some pages of newspaper comics, and this breaks it up a little bit and showcases the different styles of comic that Archie Comics have printed over the decades. Some of the comics contained within this volume have never been reprinted before, whereas some have had various appearances elsewhere. This all combines to create a book with a lot of variety, and as such has something for everyone.

Each decade is fronted by an introduction that talks about the American social views of the time, and this gives context to the following stories. For example, it says that the 1950s were when teenagers began to really break away into their own "thing", and as such their titles like Archie adapted to that, but in a different way to other forms of entertainment. Whilst the social view was that teenagers were rebellious and unruly, Archie tried to represent them as something more average - a bunch of teens that got along, fell in love like anyone else, hung out at innocuous places and whilst they may have caused mayhem and problems at time, it was the product of accidents and carelessness rather than wanton destruction and vandalism.

That said, I personally didn't really enjoy most of the comics as such, and I think I can explain why. Unlike buying a comic from a shop or on a collection, you get a singular experience that is often engaging. With this volume, however, the pieces aren't particularly there to entertain and they're often one part out of many. There are some funny pieces, there are some emotional pieces, but it doesn't particularly have the context nor does it put you in the mindset to enjoy them as such. It's almost as if you're walking through the Archie Museum and these pieces are on the wall with a note underneath explaining why they've been chosen. You may chuckle at some, you may enjoy others, but it's weighed down with that heavy air of a gallery rather than the light-hearted and bright feel of many comics.

That's not to say it's boring or dull, nor worthless. The context alone for the changes to the series along with the analysis of the time periods helps give background to the series and what happens in the subsequent selections from that decade. It brings a level of understanding to them that you simply don't get with many comics, and in a way it's educational, both about American history but also a comics publisher.

In terms of negative aspects, I did feel like the quality of the book was rather poor at times. Some covers were of low quality which contrasts with the clearer representation of some others, and particularly with the earlier comics the sharpness and visual quality can vary quite wildly, although no piece is rendered unreadable. It isn't helped by being printed on what feels like standard "book" paper, the kind you'd expect in a novel rather than the matte or glossy pages you find in most major graphic novels or comics. Whilst it offers an authenticity to the volume, I felt it did detract a little, considering this was supposed to be a celebration of Archie Comics. Also, for all the mentions and references to the musical aspects of Archie Comics, i.e. Josie & the Pussycats and The Archies, there was very little about them. I believe there was only a single Josie story, and The Archies got nothing more than a couple of mentions. I would liked to have seen more pieces for both groups, especially Josie & the Pussycats as they had their own title and, as mentioned in the introduction to the year 2000, their own live-action movie.

To conclude, I felt that The Best of Archie was a noble attempt to compile some of the best shorter (and a few longer) moments in Archie Comics history. There's a good selection of titles, from Archie itself to Katy Keene, from Lil' Jinx to Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and material selected from each decade, from 1940 to 2010. Some of the comics will make you laugh, some won't, but if nothing else this collection is a largely well put together retrospective of one of the biggest comics companies around. Whilst the marketing on the back suggests it's a good introduction to Archie, I would instead suggest it's more of a supplementary collection rather than an introductory one.

Recommended to fans of Archie, comics in general or those interested in the history and development of comics. (less)

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Oct 29, 2011 LiteraryMarie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Chickadee grew up reading Archie Comics. I grew up reading Archie Comics. My peers grew up reading Archie Comics. I remember times when we would pick up the latest copy from the grocery store newsstand or the local comic book store. I would be so excited to read the adventures of Archie and friends (Veronica, Betty, Jughead, Big Moose, Reggie, Miss Grundy, and Mr. Weatherbee). After a while, I stopped collecting the comics and moved on to literature. But the famous comic that started in 1941 is...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Lai Valenzuela rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is a great book and I am enjoying it immensely! Its great seeing the evolution of the comic digest and how it is revamped to match our current decade. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone that has ever been curious about Archie's long run and how much it has changed, or if they simply would like to have a collection of some of the best work.

The only downside to this book is that it couldn't cover everything. It is even mentioned in the welcome page that they had to restrict the...more

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Feb 11, 2012 Lina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, classic-lit, created-the-cliche, favorites, for-fans-only

I adore Archie Comics, they are a very long-lasting part of my childhood that got past down to me by my god-mother. What I really enjoyed about reading this anthology is seeing gender, race and other things evolving from when the books first originated in the 40's to now.

To think that a comic like Archie which is so small-town, conservative looking has issues about: diversity, feminism, inter-racial romance and inter-racial homosexual romance just proves to me why they have managed to last for...more

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May 29, 2012 Mary Grace rated it 5 of 5 stars

Archie comics is the one that got me into collecting books. Ever since I was little, I would save up some money for me to able to buy it. But since this is a bit pricey in my country, (and honestly, I have other books I would love to read) I stopped buying. Thank goodness I found this in our local bookstore though. I absolutely love it!! I was reminded why I fell in love with it in the first place. Maybe sometime in the future, I will start buying their digests again ;D

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Mar 21, 2012 Sandipan Goswami rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics, 4-point-0

A delight for every Archie fan! I have grown up reading Archie comics and the characters are almost like my real friends. Some of the stories are pretty average but some are gems. Especially the one in which Little Betty asks Little Archie to accompany her home after school; it was sweet and slightly melancholic. And the story were all the friends reunite at The Chocklit Shoppe after many years.(view spoiler) That hug between Ju...more

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Sep 21, 2012 Gregory rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a good collection featuring the best Archie stories from the past 70 years. I have always enjoyed reading Archie as a child alongside Superheroes. As an adult, I still love reading these stories. One of my friends have called me "Archie Boy" and guess what? I am a Archie fan.

This collection is for both old and new fans to enjoy while catching up on the current adventures of the Riverdale Gang.

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Mar 31, 2013 Rashel Seva rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is my very first Archie Comic book that I owned, and I really enjoyed reading it. It was nice that it showed the generations of the Archie Comics on how they evolved to what Archie is today. It was interesting to know the history of the Archie Comics since I grew up with it.

The comics were very humorous especially the last, which was about Jinx, and I really laughed out loud reading it. The graphics and the backgrounds were all very lively and colorful, and the details were great. You coul...more

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Feb 28, 2013 Angélica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, comics, humor

I love Archie comics. What I loved about this collection is seeing how Archie & Co. evolved from the 40s to the present. All I have to do now is to buy all the Americana specials. I especially like the 40s-60s styles. That's all I have to say in this review. :)

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Feb 02, 2013 Johanna Flores rated it 5 of 5 stars

This comic book is one of the reasons why I came to love reading and got me my corny personality. Hahaha. 5 Stars to whoever made this!! I definitely missed laughing to Jughead and Archie's tandem. Archie comics will never get old! More power, Arch! :)

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Aug 20, 2012 Shilpa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Totally worth it folks. From the very 1st comic to Veronica's intro to the best retro Katy Keene pinups to how Dipsy Doodles came to be and why they wanted a teenaged, imperfect L'il Jinx. Yum.

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Sep 12, 2012 Brittany Godden added it

My favorite pre-teen pastime! Own about 125 of these...
Archie
Archie and Friends
Archie's Pals 'n' Gals
Betty
Betty and Veronica
Jughead

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May 02, 2013 Rachael Graham rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: archie-comics

Includes some repeats from Dark Horse's Archie Firsts collection, but I love this format and so happy they are going on with these! :)

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May 10, 2012 Jacob rated it 5 of 5 stars

Quite a deal, I will probably buy this book even though I own some of the stories in other collections. $10 for over 400 pages for over 70 years worth of content, it's pretty much double the going rate matching dollar to page count.

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Sep 15, 2011 Kina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: comic-books, favorites

A nice and entertaining read for Archie-lovers like me. It gives us the history of Archie comics and also showcases some memorable stories from Archie's gang. :)

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Apr 02, 2012 Constantron rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm not into the 70's Archie and earlier and so I was bored. On the other hand, nice compilation!

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Mar 11, 2013 Take.a.bite.of.a.b0ok-_- rated it 5 of 5 stars

Archie is just awesome. A part of almost everyones childhood.
Lvoe it!

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Aug 21, 2012 Catherine Tan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: laughs

I hope they'll come up with more "best of archie" books! Worth its price!

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Dec 24, 2011 Abigail Mae rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned

worth the price and I really enjoyed it. wished it was longer though. hahaha

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Feb 18, 2013 Cel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great book! I learned so much more about Archie and his friends. :D

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Apr 26, 2013 Andy Schenker rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: andy

Archie is Hey boss he is the best that ever lived For 70 years

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Apr 10, 2013 Nikko rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love, love, love, love Archie Comics!!

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Apr 27, 2013 Audrey Martinez rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love Archie and Betty!

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Apr 07, 2013 Chorvelynne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I am honestly rating this as a fan of Archie. The best part about this collection is the personal journeys that the creators, writers and illustrators shared with the readers. Each decade since the 1940s was given a good narration and it gave me a bit more of a connection with Archie because I know how it feels to be a fan. My Archie Memory Lane has opened up again because of this.

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Oct 27, 2012 Selma Raquel rated it 5 of 5 stars

Archie is so hilarious!

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Sep 23, 2012 Jes Mitchell rated it 5 of 5 stars

Loved these as a kid!!!

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Dec 31, 2011 Jia yousuf rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own

i realy lyk archie!
:D

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Apr 26, 2013 Janna Jesus rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-s-book

my childhood

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Feb 18, 2013 Goldie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: boys, family, friendship, funny, graphic-novels, growing-up, mischief, romance, school, something-for-all-ages

Love love love it!

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