MIKE PELLERITO, was recently named the new Managing Editor of Archie Comics. In addition to looking over the Archie universe he also editÃs some of Archie Comics most popular titles,
This column came about after having very few avenues to promote and find out about All Ages and Younger Reader Comics and Graphic Novels. Most knowledge seems to be passed along by word of mouth, so this is in the sprit the column is written. Now, sit back and join in the conversation!
To learn more about any of the above-mentioned projects please visit Archie Comics.com
A Mother's Worst Nightmare?
A mother's worst nightmare?
With Mother's Day this past Sunday we have hopefully all done our best to make our mothers know how much they are appreciated and loved. All mothers seem to have the same fears, and all mothers have their worst nightmare scenario of a date for their daughters. A few variations exist, but typically leather jackets, motorcycles and tons of attitude always seem to make the list. Believe it or not a guy who meets that description is riding into Riverdale. Yes, Archie's Riverdale. The land of malt shops, best friends, bow ties, and eternal proms is getting a visit from just such a bad boy, and good girls
Betty and Veronica might never be the same.
Certainly mothers get a bad rap with the comic community, after all how many times has the phrased been uttered- " I had all those comics, but my Mom threw them out."
Just a tangent thought here, but it would be funny, and really smart for comic shops to run a sale the week leading up to Mothers Day. Call it the "Everything Your Mother Threw Out Sale" put everything on sale for 20% off, and sell flowers and candy for Mothers Day. It seems like it would even be a good bit for local news too. Heck, with this running right on the tail of all the annual Free Comic Book Day hoopla, it might be the perfect tie in.
Not since the "Dunk Booth - Stump the Editor" idea has something great been conceived and not used! You may applaud the brilliance… or point and stare.
Anyway, back to the bad boy trouble, or more precisely, BETTY & VERONICA DOUBLE DIGEST #151 .
Quite a while ago Kurt Busiek and I were talking and he had expressed some interest in doing some Archie stories. Kurt is one of the very best comic writers in the business and somewhere along the way this Archie realistic look came up. The plan was to have the Archie gang in college with these more soap opera-esque stories. And somewhere along the way Kurt called up and informed me that he would be going exclusive with the fine folks of DC comics. So going to the super talented team on SONIC THE HEDGEHOG , writer Ian Flynn and Tracy Yardley! to come up with something loose. Once we had a good hook of a story, it was up to me to go to the bosses.
"Too late I'm already on it." -came out of Archie Managing Editor Victor Gorelick's mouth followed by "Take a look and see what you think."
So yours truly became a consulting editor on the project. Helping Victor with picking an art team to go with the story by Melanie J. Morgan. After going through a few names long time SONIC THE HEDGEHOG and SONIC X penciller Steven Butler seemed to be the perfect choice. Not only is Steven just about one of the nicest guys in comics, but also he really can tell an excellent story using art. And at the heart of "Bad Boy Trouble" is a real story. Steven had mentioned two inkers he would like to work with and Al Milgrom got the nod. Al has inked just about every type of comic on the shelves and being an editor for a number of years he is great to work with catching mistakes and making the entire process move so much smoother.
The look of the new KATY KEENE in the pages of ARCHIE & FRIENDS really held this project get off the ground and help shape the look for B&V. John Workman's lettering really turned out to again be the perfect choice for the story. Even Stephanie Vozzo was used to color a Katy Keene story, to see if she would bring the right look to the coloring for B&V. With such a nice understated palette the colors truly complimented the look and feel of the story.
The entire time looking at scripts and cover layouts, working with Steven and Victor to finalize how depict the characters, to discussing which Archie title to put the story in, to helping just get the project off the ground it really has been a wonderful experience. Victor deserves an enormous amount of credit for putting together such a fun departure from the traditional Archie story and look. As do the countless others who did so much behind the scenes and did not receive the credit they deserved.
It is an enormous source of pride to be involved in this project, even after my mother called seeing the piece on the Today Show demanding, "Did you have anything to do with this?"
Once she learned it was just on story not the entire line of Archie Comics, her worst nightmare was over.
Here is a sneak peak of "Bad Boy Trouble"
Expect more reviews and rambles on All Ages comics next Tuesday!
If you have a great All Ages project, let us know!
Get in touch: MikeP@SilverBulletComicbooks.com
Thanks for the opportunity to talk about comics! Here are some more comics to talk about-
Check out some new All Ages reads on sale this week:
MAR070236 SCOOBY DOO #120 $2.25
MAR072153 AMAZING SPIDER-GIRL VOL 1 TP $14.99
MAR072094 MARVEL ADVENTURES AVENGERS #13 $2.99
MAR073162 JUGHEAD #181 $2.25
MAR073254 SIMPSONS COMICS #130 $2.99
MAR073179 TALES FROM RIVERDALE DIGEST #20 $2.49
MAR073168 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG #175 $2.25
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