Archie: Pureheart the Powerful Volume 1

by Frank Doyle, Bill Vigoda (Illustrator)

Archie: Pureheart the Powerful collects, at long last, the short-lived yet much-loved Archie superhero parody stories that first appeared during the "camp craze" of the mid 1960s. With the upcoming Archie Comics' new Pureheart the Powerful series, IDW's reprint collection is the perfect way for fans to rediscover the original characters. This collection includes all six original Archie as Pureheart comic books as well as the earliest adventures that originally appeared in Life With Archie. Featuring Evilheart (Reggie), Captain Hero (who appears when Jughead recites a magic incantation), Superteen (created by Betty merely twisting her "magic ponytail"), and many others, battling batty and bizarre villains.

Genres: Graphic Novels

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2010

Reviews

[Zack! Empire · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, not too great, but still pretty fun. In the introduction of the book, it even says they were going for pure camp and trying to capture that silly dreamlike state comics from the time had. Sitting down to read these one at a time would probably improve the over all experience.

[Mike McDevitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Archie plus super-powers, sounds like exactly my thing, and yet...

While Michael Uslan's introduction refers to 'a haze of nostalgia' I sensed more of a haze of other substances. Gets a little more coherent toward the middle with an infusion of episodic villains and corny jokes. So... I admired the idea of this book.

But I do like Jughead's (Captain Hero's) mantra:

Teeny weeny magic beany- pointed toward the sky
Give me muscle, vigor, strength
Form a super guy!

[Rich Meyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the greatest attempt at superhero comics, but still a bit enjoyable. The Captain Hero stories are the better tales in this one. They're all pretty fast-paced, but dull. Understandable considering this is Archie Comics, but they had come so close to getting it right with the Mighty Crusaders... ah, well. A half-hour of nostalgia.

[Nicolas · Rating 2 out of 5]

These weren't very entertaining, just dull. I know continuity was never a big priority in the Archie world, but these were wildly inconsistent. Also Superteen wasn't really in it.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me, this is the comics equivalent of comfort food - perhaps not as nourishing as wholesome as it could be, but it sure made me feel nice. Something about the not-exactly-seamless mashup of Archie comedy and superhero antics - presented in this particularly square '60s style - made me very happy. But that's just me.