The New York Times Thinks Everything's Archie!

According to The New York Times' Book Section, the Archie: The Married Life graphic novel is a "Graphic Novel Worthy of Being A Gift." The article, "A Superhero For Your Stocking" by George Gene Gustines was published today and it reads something like this:

"Something exciting is happening in Riverdale, the longtime home of Archie Andrews. In THE MARRIED LIFE (Archie Comics, $19.99), written by Michael Uslan and Paul Kupperberg and illustrated by Norm Breyfogle, Archie has futures: one with Betty as his wife, the other with Veronica. It’s not all malt shops and sock hops: the gang must deal with a lousy economy, Veronica’s meddling father (in both plotlines) and the nagging thought that their best days may have been in high school."

We are in fine company with books like LIFE WITH MR. DANGEROUS, by Paul Hornschemeier, THE WALKING DEAD, by Robert Kirkman, GREEN RIVER KILLER: A TRUE DETECTIVE STORY by Jeff Jensen and Jonathan Case, MARVEL FIRSTS: THE 1960S, by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby et al, and others.

Stick that in your stocking and stuff it!

NY Comicon 2011

A fine time was had by all! Met friends old and new, talked some business, took some pictures:

Me and the cover to the first LIFE WITH ARCHIE collection at the Archie Comics Booth

Power Girl and me

Me and Supergirl

Me and Plastic Man

From left to right: letterer extraordinaire John Workman, DC writer/production whiz Bob Rozakis, me (kneeling), DC writer/editor Jack C. Harris, writer/producer Michal Uslan, and DC Comics librarian Allan Asherman

Above was one of the best moments of the show for me (photo courtesy of Jack Harris). While I wasn't a member of the early-1970s group of young talent hired by DC Comics that became known as the DC Woodchucks, I was a fan on the fringe and friends with lots of these guys, and best pals with another Woodchuck, Paul Levitz. What's a Woodchuck? An explanation, courtesy of Bob Rozakis' blog, Anything Goes:

Back in the very early days of our careers at DC Comics, then VP/Production Manager Sol Harrison decided that we "kids" should put together a company-backed fanzine called Amazing World of DC Comics. He came to my desk and said, "Go get the rest of your pals and bring them to my office." So I went to my compatriots and said, "Sol wants to have a Junior Woodchucks meeting." I was making a joke, using the name of the faux-Boy Scouts that Huey, Dewey and Louie of Donald Duck fame belonged to. But the name stuck...and we became DC's Junior Woodchucks.

Everything's Archie!

Archie Comics had such success with their "Archie Marries..." storyline in Archie #600 - 606 that they decided to continue the stories in an ongoing series. Michael Uslan (comic book fan/historian/writer and producer of the Batman film franchise, among others), who originated the idea and wrote the miniseries, was unable to stay on as writer due to time considerations, and, with only a handful of short stories for the regular Archie titles under my belt, editor-in-chief Victor Gorelick tapped me to write the new series (after the first stories were written by Uslan).

Now, according to the story on CBR: ":With the storyline generating renewed interest in the Riverdale brand around the world, Archie Comics recently announced a new magazine containing two brand new storylines launching in July: The Married Life: Archie Loves Betty and The Married Life: Archie Loves Veronica." Michael wrote a series bible for the first six issues, and, even as we speak, I've begun working out the story beats for issues #7-12.

CBR posts a few pages of Norm Breyfogle's pencils from the first chapter of the Veronica story; old friends and colleagues Josef Rubinstein (Archie Loves Betty) and Andrew Pepoy (Archie Loves Veronica) ink Norm's beautiful work.

Life With Archie: The Married Life #1 is on sale in comic shops July 28, 2010 (August 10 on newsstands). My "first" issue, #2, appears in late August).

Oh, sugar! Honey, honey...