Archie Americana Series: Best of the Fifties, Vol. 1

Archie Americana #3

by Paul Castiglia, Bob Montana (Illustrator), Dan DeCarlo (Illustrator)

Journey back to the days of drive-ins and hula hoops and join Archie and his teenage friends as they frolic through the frantic Fifties!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Briar's Reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

Archie comics was one of those famous series that I never got to pick up as a child. I always heard about it and my parents talked about them, but I was never able to locate a copy. I would go to my local library and they were always checked out if they had one, so these comics never came across my radar.

Jump forward to the year 2019, and one of my local charity book stores had two books from this series! Archie, Best of the Fifties, Volume 1 was right within my reach and I decided to pick them up.

I have to start out by saying that these are cute and amusing, but clearly made in a different time. They don't hold up super well, but at the same time are quite charming. While I didn't laugh as much as my parents did, I did have a bright smile and feel like I was transported back in time. I can imagine the excited kids with their nickels and dimes running to go get a copy of these comics.

The sweet comics are very safe, tame and sweet. Archie is quite the player too! I absolutely adored Jughead and wanted Veronica and Betty's style. I am curious if these were the literal "best" of the fifties because they just weren't... the best? I'll have to grab more volumes and see how they changed over time.

I definitely want to keep reading Archie comics and travel throughout the decades with them. I'd like to see the evolution this series went through up to present day. And yes, I still eye the current Archie comics at my local grocery store. I can't help it!

Two out of five stars.

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Archie Comics, and I grew up reading the digests from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Many of the comics in this collection are quite funny, but they don't have the same relevance to me as the ones from later decades. Still, although the characters from the Fifties are more tame than the ones from later years, they still manage to get into many entertaining scrapes. This collection is fun, escapist reading for fans of Archie who want to see how the art and characters changed (and didn't change) throughout the decades.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vuonna 1941 USA:ssa alkoi ilmestyä tavattoman suosittu Archie-sarjakuva, joka ei kuitenkaan täällä meillä ole ollut erityisen tunnettu. Kokoelma "Archie Americana Series: Best of The Fifties" (Archie Comics, 2006) kerää yhteen sarjakuvan parhaita paloja 1950-luvulta.

Lyhyet, humoristiset ja jokseenkin pöhköt tarinat kertovat Riverdalen pikkukaupunkia asuttavien teinien elämästä. Sarjakuvan keskiössä on näihin päiviin jatkunut kolmiodraama Archien, hemmotellun Bettyn (se tumma) ja naapurintyttömäisen Veronican (se vaalea) välillä. Archien ja tämän kahden ihailijattaren deittailua kuvataan äärimmäisen kiltisti ja viattomasti. Jos jossakin on sarjakuva, joka ei koskaan uhannut Comics Codea, niin sen täytyy olla tässä!

Sarjakuva ei ole kestänyt kovin hyvin aikaa, ja kiinnostavinta siinä saattaakin olla 1950-luvun nuorisokulttuurin hieman setämäinen kuvaus: tarinoissa vilahtelee slangia puhuvia beatnikkeja, hula-vanteita ja kovasti Elvistä muistuttavia rokki-idoleita. "Hugh ain't nothin' but a brown dog, fryin' all the time!"

[ALLEN · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Technically it's "Volume 2 - Best of the Fifties - Book 1," which is how Amazon lists it.) Loud skirts, rock'n'roll, flashy cars and Elvis ("Pearly Gates") all get sent up in this exuberant tribute starring the Archie gang. Not from the Fifties but of the Fifties, in the same way that the TV show HAPPY DAYS is a sly look back at that decade. As such, this volume isn't likely to become a collector's item, but it offers gently satiric fun in an occasionally predictable way.

[Russ Olsen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Revisiting the relentlessly sexist humor of my youth.

[Carrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly disappointed if these were the best of the fifties.

[Amory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whoa boy, 50s Archie comics really didn't even try to hide the 'treating women as trophies' kind of sexism. I liked the aesthetic, and Betty and Veronica had some cute moments but Archie, Reggie, and every dude in this was just blatantly a jerk.

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume more than I did Archie Americana: Best of the Forties. The characters now look and act closer to the modern versions of themselves. Also, the writing is much better than in the Forties volume. Overall, this collection was a lot of fun to read.

[j_ay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Research, of sorts, for an upcoming project:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10thlett...

Fun stuff.

[Jean-Pierre Vidrine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great, and nicely varied, collection of stories from a terrific fictional world from a time period it is probably most associated with (despite its beginning nearly a decade earlier).

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

02/14/11

Reread 02/07/15

[Rain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely refreshing despite being made during the 50s.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Selección de historias empapadas de ese humor rápido e inofensivo que ofrecían los '50s en su cara más fresca. Diversión sin pretensiones y con mucha efectividad.

[Joe Stevens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taking a trip through art styles and history with Archie. The artwork is improving and there are some fun moments in the books such as when Archie and the gang meet a stand-in for Elvis. The 50s are always fun especially when you think how important all the current trends were to those living through them as the intro mentions. Still far from the peak art of Archie and more nostalgia than quality.

[Greg Kerestan · Rating 3 out of 5]

That All-American Riverdale silliness continues, and by the Fifties Archie had become recognizable as the character he would be, mostly unchanging, until his deconstruction in the 2010s. Jughead as a schemer and a minor con artist is an odd choice that this decade plays into a lot, but at least it gives him something to do beyond just being a sidekick.

[Akilah]

I got rid of my Archie comics before I moved to California, and sometimes I regret it. This volume reminded me why. Archie really is like an old friend who hasn't changed much, and that's a comfort in and of itself. It's also cool to see the evolution of the art.

[tiny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this and much to my surprise, I did manage to get most of the references. Archie Comics are timeless indeed.

[LobsterQuadrille · Rating 4 out of 5]

More fun with Archie and Company, in the era that introduced the fluid linework of Harry Lucey, and the style and snap of Dan DeCarlo!

[Remy]

honestly one of the best eras there is.

[insy]

in my comic era

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories recognized: 3