The Best of Archie Comics, Book 1

The Best of Archie Comics #1

by Frank Doyle, George Gladir, Bill Golliher

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 alike, this is both a must-have companion for anyone who has grown up with Archie and a perfect introduction for new readers.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Humor, Young Adult, Graphic Novels Comics, Classics

415 pages, Paperback

First published August 16, 2011

Reviews

[Dean Ryan Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

After years of forgetting to finish it, I am now done with THE BEST OF ARCHIE COMICS. This is the first volume of the seven listed in Goodreads.

Visual Content: 4 STARS! Yay: This is a collector's edition for all fans of Archie Andrews, both young and old. One, there are over 50 comic stories in full color. Only pages 26 to 31 are drawn in black and white. Two, this a clear evidence that Archie Comics keep improving its quality throughout the years. The 1940s visuals are not as good as those in 1990s or 2000s. Nay: There is an inconsistency. I prefer the new age of visual in which the colors and speech balloons look sharper when there is no white margin in a page. The pages with margin look inferior to those.

Story: 3 STARS! Yay: All stories are organized by Archie writers, editors and artists accordingly. My most favorite is found on pages 309 to 319. It is entitled 'A Sleigh in Time.' Archie and his best friend, Jughead, finds an old purple sleigh inside Mr. Watkin's barn. They decided to experiment and without a clue how to stop it, they are taken into different eras. First is 1775 in Boston. Then, in 1931 during the Great Depression in New York. Lastly, in 1942 during World War II in Chicago.

Nay: There other comic stories promoted that I care nothing about. Just imagine, this book has 416 pages. These other stories are stealing the page-time from Archie, Jughead, Betty, Veronica and Reggie. It feels annoying but just a bit, lol. Three of these other stories are Wilbur, Josie and The Pussycats and Sabrina: The Teenage Witch.

[Janus the Erudite Artist · Rating 4 out of 5]

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/

[LiteraryMarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 still going strong.

While browsing Amazon.com, I came across a new release: The Best of Archie Comics. This was a must have! I immediately purchased a copy. It features the best stories of the past 70 years! It is in full color and designed for both young and old Archie fans. It highlights the eternal love triangle (Archie/Betty/Veronica). It's also a great introduction if you're not familiar with the Riverdale gang because it covers the 1940s to 2010 and beyond. If you look closely, you'll notice the price change. In the 1940s when Archie first began, it only cost ten cents. The comics are categorized by decade with a brief description of the American culture at that time. A history lesson AND memories!

As a bonus, it includes comics from the spinoffs like Josie & The Pussycats and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. My only gripe is the spine. I had to bend the spine back further to read some of the pages. A hardcover version would have been better. So I would suggest purchasing two copies: one copy for reading, one copy for the collection.

Literary Marie

[*ೃnaziba ˘͈ᵕ˘͈ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I remember this book was tiny so I hid it in my boot and would pull it out during math class to read it LMAO

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was technically a re-read since I read The Best of Archie Comics Vol. 1 a few years ago and this is just the "Deluxe Edition" which basically means it's a little prettier. Here's my original review from 2017:

I sometimes like to take a break from comics like Crossed and The Punisher and read something a little more humorous and lighter. This volume was a great choice. It follows Archie comics from the start in the 1940s all the way to present day. It's a little amazing how sexy Veronica and Betty were in a comic aimed at younger readers, but I guess they wouldn't notice and they threw something in there for the older readers as well. Seriously, the comics are funny and entertaining and while the older stories were more on the silly side they did get more sophisticated in later years. The Riverdale TV show along with the recent Archie horror titles have sparked my interest in Archie comics and this was a great read.

[Jerry (Rebel With a Massive Media Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up reading Archie Comics. My mom used to buy me issues of them, both new ones at the grocery store and old-school copies at garage sales. So, you'd probably think that this is right up my alley...and for the most part, it was. It was fun reading the stories of Archie Andrews and friends over the years, and even one story ("A Sleigh in Time") is one I remember having a blast with back in the day. However, what keeps this from receiving a five-star rating is the 2010s section, where the comics veer into more adult territory. When I was a kid, these comics would never have had words with "censored" superimposed over them, nor misuses of God's name or sexual references. I'm glad I gave up on the comics when I did, though I might still buy an old issue if I see one at a garage sale.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back in the olden days (1960’s) there was this skinny little blond girl in a tiny Texas town (that would be me) who took her weekly allowance down to the drug store to buy comic books. (No library and a girl’s gotta read)
I fell completely in love with comic books! I met all the super heroes and fell into the realms of magic. I especially loved the halls of Riverdale High that made me yearn for my teen years still to come. (BTW, they were nothing like it🤷🏼‍♀️)
I loved this book of comics tracing Archie from the 1940s till today. Lots of bits from other kids who grew up with Archie in their lives. Everyone from Gene Simmons (KISS) to Dawn Wells (Gilligan’s Island)
Makes me want to head to the drug store to catch up with my comic book heroes. (Lots more expensive now, though. Ugh!)

[Sandipan Goswami · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.My eyes literally moistened when Midge dumps Moose. That hug between Jug and Betty was really heart-warming. Archie is really close to my heart and I couldn't give this one less than 4.

[Tricia Abbang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Archie Comics was the reason why I became a bookworm, and it all started when I was 8 years old. I liked reading Archie and his friends’ adventures in a strip, but I always reckon that each copy of this comic was too thin and never enough. So when I saw these 415-pages of Archie, I went crazy. Haha!

I can aver that this is not an ordinary copy of my beloved comic! It contains the best Archie stories for the past 70 years (1941-2011). Plus, I found out why and how Betty and Veronica became frenemies over Archie’s love. It’s actually nice to experience how the Riverdale gang evolved over time. No doubt, this has been and will forever be part of my reading habit.

[Mary Grace Nakao · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

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

[Autumn Johnston · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.75 just stop please...I don't like buying the comic then realize that half the stories are in my other comics:/

[Greta is Erikasbuddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought a giant stack of Archie double digests from Facebook Marketplace last month. This was included. HOO BOY! Did I love it!

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

best book ever no lie

[Tonia loves books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Archie comics are the best

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

A celebration of America’s Oldest Teenager, spanning over 75 years of mayhem, mischief, music, and no small amount of hormones (sorry, they don’t have an appropriate m-word for that one).

Outside of the show Riverdale, which I don’t watch, I have zero idea where Archie exists in the cultural zeitgeist these days. For me, however, these stories literally taught me to read growing up and were an important stepping stone on my literary journey.

This book is a weird curation of stories from the incredibly varied Archie history and it says something about their prolific output that I had read some of these before, but a lot were brand new to me (that said, if I never read the first Archie comic ever again I’ll be just fine).

In addition to a wide assortment of core Archie comics, you get tons of side characters of variable fame. In addition to such luminaries as Sabrina and Josie & the Pussycats, you also get offerings from That Wilkin Boy, Li’l Jinx, and (shudder) Super Duck.

As a cross-section of history or as an Archie primer, it’s pretty good, but man is the quality woefully uneven when you dig into the stories proper. It also feels a little cheap that a lot of the story intros are cribbed from the Archie Americana series or similar places.

And some of the decisions they make are strange... both the Li’l Jinx and Little Archie stories featured are atypical of the most familiar art styles used for those characters. Katy Keene is only present as a series of pin-ups (arguably the most enduring feature of the character, to be fair). They highlight the brilliantly inventive Jughead’s Dipsy Doodles, but reprint the original comics before the feature really hit its stride.

In terms of good stories, there are quite a few strong entries. They wisely add the first issue of Mark Waid’s recent Archie reboot, which nearly earns this collection a bonus star on its own - it is one of the best issue #1’s I’ve ever read and the tone is perfect (I’ll likely be reviewing that series in the future). There’s a great nod to the newspaper strips that showcases Archie at his best tormenting Mr. Lodge (the capper to this one made me laugh very hard) and both Sabrina entries (especially the second one) are solid.

I was also pleased to see the immortal Archie and Jughead ‘Stomp Fritter’ story, which is absolutely ludicrous, but Jughead’s deliberate mispronunciation of France as “Frence” to make a song lyric work has been making me laugh every single time for over thirty years. Adam Hughes’ Betty & Veronica comic is also very, very good - it has some wickedly sharp dialogue (although it and a bunch of the more recent comics are only represented by a sample chapter at most... seriously, don’t put ads in your collection).

On the downside, for as good as Archie’s current output has been, I can safely say their late 80s/90s stuff is mostly a fresh coat of paint over old jokes. The Archie 3000 story (despite a welcome appearance by Mr. Svenson) is the hoariest cliche of ‘non-genius student mistaken as genius’, which... no... and the story about Jughead’s baby sister drowns in its own saccharine nature.

I would also be remiss if I did not single out the bog awful Josie and the Pussycats story from the 80s, included to show them updated for a then-current punk rock look. That’s fine, but the story proper is SO incredibly bad and just involves them in an “adventure” where they stand around until their lives are in danger (which they never realize) and they get saved by Deus ex Melody.

Sidebar - they should have swapped in the mind-blowingly insane story from the 1970s where Josie is literally possessed by a demon from Hell and they end up performing an exorcism on her instead. It is absolutely hilarious because of how straight it is played. Also, Alexandra Cabot wielding a Bible despite her canonically being a witch.

The contrast between old and new Archie could have been better represented as well. They include a violently sexist story about the girls’ football team (nicely balanced by one about women’s lib when the book reaches the 70s, mercifully) and another where Archie literally gets spanked - even the book admits this one goes a bit far.

When we come to the more modern era, however, there’s zero representation for Chuck Clayton, one of the first African American characters I ever saw in comics and basically none for Kevin Keller, who’s a pretty important milestone in LGBQT representation in western comics. It feels like a huge miss.

I had a good time going down memory lane with these stories, but the stories themselves are only partially representative of the company at its best and, frequently, just head-scratchers because I know I’ve read better Archie comics in similar veins.

Bizarre choices aside, it was a fun read. As a cross-section of history it’s probably four stars, but if you actually read the included stories, their uneven nature really drags it down to a three.

[Jerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This hardcover is a neat overview of Archie and friends from his introduction in 1941 through several variations and ending in a realistic Archie in the 2000s up to 2016.

The version that ages least well is probably the original, with its exaggerated features and buck teeth. The eighties New Archies mullet era is a close second, however, and may have persisted in part into the nineties. The more modern, semi-realistic version will probably never age poorly, but it will also never be iconic, either. In the traditional fifties version of Archie, it was very obvious who was who; you could never mistake even Reggie for one of the bit players, but the modern version, by going for a slightly darker and more faded tone to the colors made it so that some characters are harder to tell apart. Jughead reminds me a little of Henry Cavill.

There’s a 2010 story that is literally a joke: for years, there were fan jokes running around about what if the Riverdale gang were given the Dark Knight treatment, and this one does it: Lodge is a soulless Machiavellian trying to turn Riverdale into a company town, Moose is an abusive boyfriend—and about to become a boss Hogg, if he successfully became Mayor.

For most of the decades, the stories are self-contained, but some of the later stories are the first part of a longer storyline.

My favorite stories are two from 1961, both by Bob Bolling. The book is worth it just for these, which not only have I never seen before, I’ve never seen an Archie story like them either. They’re both Little Archie stories (from #22 and #24) told in a very different way with very different punch-lines. One is a Betty and Archie story narrated by a dumb panda, a conceited cap'n, and an unhappy but brainy witch and involves Little Archie trying to dump Little Betty by taking her through Spook Woods.

The other one has art that starts out like a noir comic and has Little Archie going to a judo-for-kids class but despite the seriously noirish elements ends with him still very much a kid.

The collection also includes stories from Sabrina, That Wilkin Boy, and Josie and the Pussycats.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd wanted to catch up with Archie Comics for a while. Everyone seems to have watched the show but when I found out about the colossal volume of comics to back it up I knew I'd missed something. Clearly, Archie never really made to Italy and I'm not to blame for that, but once I figured it all out I was just so lost about where to start. Archie Comics have been around for 80 years, where does one even start to tackle a pubblication so lengthy?
Luckily this volume came in handy. It's bulky and on its own can't be as thorough as one wishes, but really helps introduce the reader to this universe and its characters. While it showcases how the artwork evolved, it offers a unique look into American history as the reader takes into account what the audience was looking for in comics, the language used, the fashion and the themes dealt with in each issue. Putting together all these snippets of what the publishing company was trying to do issue by issue offers social commentary on the bigger picture, one you couldn't find by reading a single comic book.
Superheroes are definitely still my thing, but I'm definitely glad for this read into more "ordinary" teen characters, as cheesy as they might sometimes be.
Archie feels somewhat like the Peanuts' older brother and I don't dislike that.

[York · Rating 4 out of 5]

¿ustedes sabían que Archie tiene una especie de canon oficial? yo tampoco pero me fui enterando sobre él conforme avancé por esta entrañable recopilación que retrata las distintas facetas de esta publicación durante los últimos 70 años. La belleza de Archie es que tuvo la gracia de convertirse en un retrato, ingenuo y bidimensional de la juventud de cada década. Entonces tenemos retratada su etapa hippie musical, la inocente de una década antes con historias de cortejo ñoñas y tiernas, los ochenta con la apatía general por la vida, los noventa donde todo está encapsulado y en una total negación de su presente, y ya el siglo XXI, donde el trazo y las actitudes de sus personajes siguen ahí, pero más actualizados, sin perder su rasgo infantil. Lo amé porque me regresó a mi niñez, y porque tendría el mismo efecto en mis primos, mis tíos, mi padre.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of all of the seminal Archie comics over the past 75 years along with first issues of the reboots that have been happening. They have a nice writeup before every issue from someone who was impacted by Archie comics over the years.

This is amazing for all of the Archie fanatics (like me) and also for new readers that are just discovering Archie.

If you only know Archie from the clean cut stuff they put out most of the past 30 years there are some more adult story lines here (Cheryl getting arrested for topless sunbathing and her brother smuggling beer onto the beach and then also getting arrested. Bedroom scenes with Veronica & Betty in bra/panties etc. etc.). It's nothing too bad but something that infrequent readers might not know about the history of Archie.

I am admittedly a really big fan of Archie, always have been, always will be and this was good stuff.

[Rashel · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 could tell that they really made a great effort making each and every comics.

Reading this comic book reminded me about the moments when I was younger. I did not got bored at all reading this book despite its thickness.

Any comic reader would really love this book.

[TheGirlFromSmallville ❀ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaahhhh my childhood. Still as funny as ever.

I lost my Archie collection when my family moved to Canada nearly a decade ago. When I saw this bind up at Walmart, I had to buy it. As I was reading this, I feel like no time has passed. It felt like it was just yesterday when I last saw these Riverdale residents. Everything was just as good as it was years ago, even the colored pages smelled familiar. I felt like I was a part of the gang again.

The only reason I knocked off one star is because there were other stories in this book about characters I did not care for (Wilbur, Katy, etc.) In fact, I skipped them.

Archie, Betty, Ronnie, Reggie, Moose, and my lover Jughead will always be a part of my life. Not even death can tear us apart.

[Lai Valenzuela · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 stories to ones that are short because of page length (but you still get 400 pages worth of stories so don't fret!).

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this! It really brought me back to my childhood.

This is the first book in the 'Best of Archie comics', it was fun seeing how Archie has developed throughout the years. It starts with 1940's Archie and I really enjoyed seeing the art style change. I especially loved the parts with Sabrina.

I'd definitely recommend this if you are a fan of Archie and have grown up with the comics. It was cute and fun.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Angélica · Rating 5 out of 5]

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. :)

[Kerry Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

i absolutely loved this book:) there are some articles or comic strips here that i did not know about archie like the gang used to call him chic:)) my fave part here is when he and ronnie got married.i personally like betty for him.

[Carmela · Rating 4 out of 5]

when saw this comics in the bookstore. I just literally grabbed it. If yoi want plain down to earth humor then Archie and the gang have it. It totally gived me this nostalgic feeling when i started reding it. brought me back to elementary days. hehe!

[H. Givens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super fun look at the history of Archie Comics, reprinting a wide variety of stories from the oldest to the most current. Really gives a good flavor of Archie through the years, and the stories are fun to read on their own merit too!