Archie's Here...!

Well, it’s finally out! ARCHIE—A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS. This is NOT a review. The reason that this is not a review is that, in a very real way, I feel that this is MY book! Don’t get me wrong! It is most definitely Craig Yoe’s book. That said, I wrote first drafts of a dozen sections of the book (including one that didn’t make it in), provided artwork, conducted research and interviews, transcribed some of Craig’s interviews and proofread the darn thing at least three times! Others also participated including Clizia Guzzoni, Mark Arnold and Steve Barghusen. It’s their book, too. But that doesn’t make it any less MY book!

And what a book it is! It’s a very different thing to see all of this material in various formats and then see what a masterful job Mr. Yoe has done in piecing it all together into such a perfect design for the material.

The book tells the basic history of Archie Comics. As the book was sanctioned by Archie Comics, there will be undoubtedly some who complain that this is a censored, one-sided history. My response to that is that the goal was never to air anyone’s dirty laundry but instead to celebrate the classic Riverdale characters and their creators, past and present. There’s too much negativity in the world today…but not in Riverdale.

So don’t complain about what isn’t there, enjoy what is! Page after page of classic or rare and often previously unpublished artwork from Montana, DeCarlo, Goldberg, Lucey, Bolling, Ruiz and Parent. There are toys, collectibles, records, scenes from both the radio and TV cartoon series. Add in tons of little-seen annotated photographs, biographies of the characters as well as some of the major writers and artists, interviews, overviews and a number of classic stories from the earliest days right up to the Archie Renaissance of 2010 and beyond—some reproduced in high quality scans of the original art!

You want to quibble about what isn’t there? Be my guest. Having had some of my own writing cut for various reasons and having discovered many fascinating facts that just didn’t fit for one reason or another, I’m sure I could out-quibble you. But that’s not the point. The point is that for seventy years, Archie and his Pals ‘n’ Gals have delighted each succeeding generation of readers with wholesome hi-jinks and memorable cartooning. If you’ve ever been a fan, this book will delight you. If you never gave the company a second thought, this book will surprise you. If you’ve just discovered Archie…I envy you. ARCHIE—A CELEBRATION OF AMERICA’S FAVORITE TEENAGERS will absolutely amaze you!

It’s my book and I'm proud of it. It’s very much Craig Yoe’s book. And best of all, it’s waiting to be YOUR book, too!