Archie

I read (almost) every Free Comic Book Day title, and let you know what's the best!

The Archie staff has been busy sitting around dreaming up more outrageous what-ifs, including this gender-swapped natural. Shark jumping...or classic?

By now you know a lot of the wacky details: "Penis! Penis! Penis!", the restraining orders, the menacing muscle who was only a friend, and so on—but this account adds some dog poop.

Although we rarely race to post those "sell out" pr's from comics company, given the controversy over the issue, the sell out of the Kevin Keller issue of ARCHIE is worth reporting on, as is the company's strong stance on sticking by the character.

Archie just can't stay out of the news! While a million moms may be marching against Riverdale, they are staging their own Occupy movement. Whose side is Reggie Mantle on? Archie Comics has provided us with the actual cover to ARCHIE #365, which comes out in July. Story by Alex Segura Jr. Art by Gisele Legace.

While you might have expected much outcry over the introduction of a gay character into the traditionalist world of Riverdale, reaction to Archie Comics's Kevin Keller has been overwhelmingly positive. But Archie has heedlessly kept hurtling down the highway, hellbent for tolerance, going further and further until it seemed inevitable they would rouse a bear somewhere: Kevin got his own series and even his own wedding issue, one of those flash forwards in which he marries a doctor who helped him recover from injuries sustained in the Iraq war. Well, let your faith in the bigotry of humanity be restored: a pressure group is threatening a boycott of Toys 'r' Us over carrying the offending comic.

Here it is, the stunning conclusion of new titles shipping in February! Since this is Oscars weekend, I've included some award winners below! Hugo! Edgar! Carnegie! Stoker! Even Shamus! (No, not that one!) Lots of adaptations! One is a comic based on a movie based on a prose novel!

You gotta hand it to Archie Comics. They are completely staying on top of current trends and even controversies. If it isn't gay marriage and interracial dating, it's now income inequality and the Occupy Movement, as shown by this awesome Jill Thompson variant cover. Not that this comic will necessarily deliver a sharp critique of Keynesian models vs the Austrian School...by now "Occupy anything" is just another buzz word. But it is definitely today's buzzword.

New comics! Fun stuff for everyone! (And, of course, before you hand the book over to a young impressionable mind, you have to read it first to make sure it is age-appropriate!)

The ugly legal battle between Archie Comics co-CEO's Jon Goldwater and Nancy Silberkleit has escalated in recent weeks with new legal filings. And now a judge has banned Silberkleit from going anywhere near Archie's offices or contacting any of the employees.

Well, not content to merely sanction alternate futures, gay marriage, and the rights of the mentally challenged via Jughead, Archie Comics is following up on a storyline from last year with a rekindled romance between Archie and Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats— and another alternate future is on tap where Archie decides to marry Valerie.

Oops, well just yesterday The Beat and Michael Sangiacomo were reporting that Archie Comics co-CEO Nancy Silberkleit was continuing to peacefully tell children about the joys of comics despite her past as the target of a sexual harassment lawsuit. However, it seems that a series of anonymous phone calls alerted school officials to Silberkleit's ongoing legal problems and the school visits were canceled. A comics shop appearance and the sale of comics to benefit the schools have gone on as planned. But there is much more than that going on.