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Archie: The Best of Dan DeCarlo #1
Archie: Best of Dan DeCarlo Volume 1
The stories in this collection are from what is generally regarded as DeCarlo's best period - the mid-1950s to the early 1970s.
152 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2010
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About the author
Dan DeCarlo
380 books21 followersDaniel S. DeCarlo was an American cartoonist best known as the artist who developed the look of Archie Comics in the late 1950s and early 1960s, modernizing the characters to their contemporary appearance and establishing the publisher's house style. As well, he is the generally recognized creator of the characters Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats (with the lead character named for his wife), and Cheryl Blossom.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 14, 2016
Sixties Teen-O-Rama
The 1960s were a time of social upheaval, but you would not have guessed it from reading the comics from the period collected in this book. Archie's suburbia provides the mirage of a perfectly unsuspicious status quo, of a world in which there is no need for social change simply because injustice and discrimination do not exist. Everybody here is white and wealthy, the Vietnam War is never mentioned, and traditional gender roles are generally embraced.
From an ideological perspective, then, the book leaves much to be desired.
As a humorous, non-threatening (no sex, no drugs, etc.) peek into the world of teen romance targeted primarily at preadolescent readers, however, the book is downright brilliant. Dan DeCarlo's crisp, clean, cartoony style perfectly matches the stories, and its influence on much more subversive contemporary cartoonists such as Jaime Hernandez is obvious.
The 1960s were a time of social upheaval, but you would not have guessed it from reading the comics from the period collected in this book. Archie's suburbia provides the mirage of a perfectly unsuspicious status quo, of a world in which there is no need for social change simply because injustice and discrimination do not exist. Everybody here is white and wealthy, the Vietnam War is never mentioned, and traditional gender roles are generally embraced.
From an ideological perspective, then, the book leaves much to be desired.
As a humorous, non-threatening (no sex, no drugs, etc.) peek into the world of teen romance targeted primarily at preadolescent readers, however, the book is downright brilliant. Dan DeCarlo's crisp, clean, cartoony style perfectly matches the stories, and its influence on much more subversive contemporary cartoonists such as Jaime Hernandez is obvious.
February 25, 2017
One of the most revolutionary artists for Archie comics and is easily my favourite out of all the original comics. Archie comics certainly wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for him and his partners. Too bad the Netflix series "Riverdale" has such a bad cast and plot - which imbecile would transform a happy go lucky concept of the whole series into one that focuses on murdering loved characters such as Jason Blossom and gets away with it? That Riverdale series is only famous because Cole Sprouse is in the cast and man, being a diehard fan of the Archie comics, I certainly love changes such as the new concept of "the new Riverdale" that highlights the problems walking bags of hormones faces when regarding social issues, but killing off characters just to make things interesting is too much.
April 3, 2015
“You must be so excited that these graphic novel collections are finally coming out.” I say to Betty and Veronica. We’ve been sitting in Pop Tate’s Chok’lit Shoppe all afternoon, drinking heavenly root beer floats and people watching.
“Yeah Roxy, it’s totally great,” Betty says animatedly. “Dan DeCarlo is just the definitive Archie artist and it’s such an honor to be featured so prominently in this first volume.”
“Dan draws clothes like no one I've seen before or since,” Veronica chimes in. “He portrays me as the fashion plate everyone knows I am, and always manages to make even dear Betty look stunning, though not quite so stunning as me, natch.”
“Natch.” Betty and I respond in unison, Betty rolling her eyes and smiling good naturedly.
“I love this series, especially this early DeCarlo stuff so much, but one thing that’s always bothered me is this love triangle angle,” I say, pausing to make sure that came out right. “Archie clearly doesn’t want to make a choice, or he would’ve by now.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think he honestly has feelings for both of us and can’t decide who to devote himself to.” Betty says, stirring her float with her straw.
“But he’s got you running in circles, story after story, you’re doing all the work while he sits back, stroking his – ego.”
“You’re right Roxy, I totally agree, I’m a Lodge woman, why am I chasing after a man?” Veronica pushes her float away from her and crosses her arms in consternation.
“Maybe you're right,” Betty says, looking at Veronica thoughtfully, “here we are, fighting with each other, over a man who clearly loves seeing us tearing each other apart for –“
We all turn to look at the door as the bell chimes and Archie walks in.
“Archie, Archiekins, over her darling!” Veronica calls, waving and batting her eyelashes as she moves to get out of the booth.
“Oh no you don’t sister!” Betty grabs Veronica and the two fight to get out of the booth and over to Archie, who is already chatting up Cheryl Blossom in the corner booth.
I shake my head watching them race over to Archie, “Great fashion sense, but no common sense. Why pick a man when there’s these delicious root beer floats right here?” I finish my own and pull theirs over to my side of the table. “Pops, lemme have another, and a burger for that guy over there wearing the crown.”
“Yeah Roxy, it’s totally great,” Betty says animatedly. “Dan DeCarlo is just the definitive Archie artist and it’s such an honor to be featured so prominently in this first volume.”
“Dan draws clothes like no one I've seen before or since,” Veronica chimes in. “He portrays me as the fashion plate everyone knows I am, and always manages to make even dear Betty look stunning, though not quite so stunning as me, natch.”
“Natch.” Betty and I respond in unison, Betty rolling her eyes and smiling good naturedly.
“I love this series, especially this early DeCarlo stuff so much, but one thing that’s always bothered me is this love triangle angle,” I say, pausing to make sure that came out right. “Archie clearly doesn’t want to make a choice, or he would’ve by now.”
“Oh, I don’t know, I think he honestly has feelings for both of us and can’t decide who to devote himself to.” Betty says, stirring her float with her straw.
“But he’s got you running in circles, story after story, you’re doing all the work while he sits back, stroking his – ego.”
“You’re right Roxy, I totally agree, I’m a Lodge woman, why am I chasing after a man?” Veronica pushes her float away from her and crosses her arms in consternation.
“Maybe you're right,” Betty says, looking at Veronica thoughtfully, “here we are, fighting with each other, over a man who clearly loves seeing us tearing each other apart for –“
We all turn to look at the door as the bell chimes and Archie walks in.
“Archie, Archiekins, over her darling!” Veronica calls, waving and batting her eyelashes as she moves to get out of the booth.
“Oh no you don’t sister!” Betty grabs Veronica and the two fight to get out of the booth and over to Archie, who is already chatting up Cheryl Blossom in the corner booth.
I shake my head watching them race over to Archie, “Great fashion sense, but no common sense. Why pick a man when there’s these delicious root beer floats right here?” I finish my own and pull theirs over to my side of the table. “Pops, lemme have another, and a burger for that guy over there wearing the crown.”
October 12, 2014
This book brought back so many childhood memories! I loved Archie Comics growing up, I'm so happy to share them with my daughter!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews