Archie: A Celebration of America's Favorite Teenagers

by Craig Yoe (Editor), Bob Bolling, Sam Schwartz

The fascinating history, decade by decade, of the major comics company Archie. This behind-the-scenes look at the creation of Archie, his sexy girlfriends, Bettie & Veronica, and his pals, Jughead and Reggie, as well as the Golden Age of superheroes, features artist and writer bios, plus tons of rare and unpublished art by masters like Bob Montana, Dan DeCarlo, Sam Schwartz, and Bob Bolling. As with the entire line of Yoe Books, the reproduction techniques employed strive to preserve the look and feel of expensive vintage comics. Painstakingly remastered, enjoy the closest possible recreation of reading these comics when first released.

Genres: History, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Humor, Art

224 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 2010

About the author

Craig Yoe is an author, editor, art director, graphic designer, cartoonist and comics historian, best known for his Yoe! Studio creations and his line of Yoe! Books. Yoe is married to Clizia Gussoni, who is also his creative partner

Reviews

[Mauoijenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a huge book full of everything you would like to know about Archie and how he and the gang came about and some of their best stories. Loved this and will definitely look for more Archie books in the future.

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes even I don't know what I want. On seeing this largish tome, I was hoping for a fun but insightful look at 80 years of Archie, crossing my fingers it wouldn't be 5 page intro and then nothing but reprints (it wasn't) or that it would be mainly shots of collectibles with prices (as one terrible book on Hawaiana turned out to be, recently), and I was gratified to find it was primarily biographies/interviews with Archie personnel, interspersed with a handful of stories, and occasional themed cover round-up.

But I wanted more! I feel the "who were the people behind Archie" story is low on the scale, like writing about Disney animators before writing about Disney the studio ... you have to be very niche to want to go that far. So I know about the art background or war experience or private love of several artists, but I'm not really sure about circulation numbers, how the various TV series happened, why they introduced a gay character (or why they waited so long!), etc., etc. It was both too behind-the-scene and not-behind-the-scenes enough.

That said, there was a good mix of text to image, and it reignited my interest in Archie and the gang. It was a fun read, but not entirely what I wanted ... not that I'd been sure what that was to begin with.

It was at its best very early on, describing the genesis of Archie and the company that created him, some contemporary descriptions (a sexy photo essay) of how comics are developed, etc. By no means disappointing to read.

(Note: 5 stars = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). I feel a lot of readers automatically render any book they enjoy 5, but I grade on a curve!

[Bryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay when comparing this to other “coffe table” informative books put out by other publishers.

Definitely left me unsatisfied

[Michael Allan Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

For most comics fans, once you hit a certain age, it's easy to overlook the output of Archie Comics and forget that the Riverdale Gang are the only comics characters outside of the DC trinity of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman who can boast having never once disappeared from the racks since their debut in 1941 -- even Captain America took a lengthy hiatus.

Craig Yoe has put together a fantastic overview here for newcomers and long-time fans alike, chock full of reprints of classic stories, never-before-published oddities and rarities, and profiles on each of the major artists and writers, as well as the unusual story of how then-publisher MLJ got started (complete with a hilariously bizarre reproduction from a girlie pulp magazine called Close Up, which begins with a leggy brunette lounging in her underwear reading comics and wanting to see how they're made). Some of the finest American cartoon art came from the pages of Archie titles, and some of the legends like Dan DeCarlo and Harry Lucey deserve far more credit and appreciation than they get from modern audiences.

Probably the best recommendation I can give this book is that after reading it, I picked up and greatly enjoyed a couple thick omnibus-style editions of Archie reprints, and I haven't read an Archie comic in at least a couple of decades.

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Public library copy. Nice over-sized edition of some of Archie's history. I noticed some material has been recycled as supplemental material in the back of, say, The Man From R.I.V.E.R.D.A.L.E.
I would think most Archie fans would be delighted with this book, but I don't think, had I bought it at the $50 cover price, it would be worth the cost. Still, it's a nicely packaged and produced book. I've always thought (and still do) Dan DeCarlo was the genius behind the Archie look, but after reading this I came to appreciate Bob Montana's work too, who preceded DeCarlo.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love that this retrospective just came out, because I loved Archie comics when I was a kid. It was really great to read biographies of the writers, artists, and businessmen who started Archie, but I think the creators of this book missed an opportunity to do more in depth coverage of what the comics really mean or do or represent. There wasn't much about the use of race, pop culture, gender stereotypes, or other issues that make the Archie comics really interesting cultural documents.

[Micki James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a sucker for reading truth or fiction about what goes on "behind the scenes". I liked peeking at the people who invented, wrote, and drew Archie's adventures.

[Georgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

i like it because it shows mw what archie from 1940-now. i really like archie marries veronica because it is intersecting what happens in it.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history, interviews, and anecdotes from the artists, writers, and other creative folks who've produced Archie and its many spin-offs over the years, including radio, TV and animation.

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read the comics parts -- saving the history parts because at some point I'm going to do a project on comics history, I just haven't found the opportunity.