How to use this Page

The sleigh bells are ring ting tingling and somewhere across the North American landscape, Frosty is coming to life.  Riverdale is getting ready for Christmas, but it wouldn’t be a holiday without a series of mishaps, and Betty and Veronica are more than willing to oblige.  Out this Wednesday, B&V Friends Comics Annual #246 aims to […]

Christmas is coming to Riverdale, and Comics Beat has an exclusive preview of what you can expect.

The first issue of Archie rang triumphant in the comic book space with the creative team of Fiona Staples and Mark Waid delivering something akin to an earnest take on a beloved American icon. Archie Andrews is everything but traditional himself nowadays that he’s clean cut and and an earnest comic book lead. There’s no grit on […]

There’s a new Archie in town, and this time he’s a rambunctious 12-year old dealing with the modern issues of today’s youth, such as finding Wi-Fi hotspots, texting and pie eating contests. In It’s Archie, the new animated series being produced by Archie Comics and French animation company Moonscoop, the kids from Riverdale are reimagined as young contemporaries in “outlandish, exuberant, off-the wall novel adventures” that include, according to the press release, “loopy, disparate elements such as mad scientists, extraterrestrials taking up residence in janitorial closets, enchanted fogs [and] pirates.”

The sleek – and not-at-all garish – re-design doesn’t stop with the look of the characters. It also transfers over to the motivations and personalities of the cast as well. “In the It’s Archie quixotic world of Riverdale, love is measured in puppy portions, exuberance is in the air and the impossible can always be solved with a dose of kid ingenuity… Upbeat, playful and four years away from their coveted driver’s licenses, these It’s Archie pre-teens are not yet affected by teenage brooding, surly attitudes, or peevish behavior.” It’s a groundbreaking combination of style and direction that is sure you leave you asking… “Is this A Pup Named Scooby-Doo?”

Season 1 of It’s Archie, which will include 52 11-minute episodes, will be making the rounds at MIP Junior and MIPCOM from October 5-10, 2013, in Cannes.

Trouble keeping up with all the reading on the Winter Blog Blast Tour? Don't just throw in the towel. Read what you can. Read without guilt.

A couple of suggestions:

The Sherman Alexie interview at Finding Wonderland. Fantastic. Be sure not to miss what he has to say about tribal affiliation and subculture.

The Maureen Johnson interview at bildungsroman. "I wrote two books for practice. One was for a friend. The other lives in a drawer. They aren't for publication. They really were just exercises for me to try things out. I put myself through a kind of self-imposed writing boot camp when I graduated college, writing four to ten hours a day..." Yeah, that's pretty much what you have to do. Not everyone realizes that going in, though.

Then, if you want a break from questions and answers, you can go over to The Edge of the Forest and read Pam Coughlan's article Can a Funny Book Be Taken Seriously? I just happen to be reading An Abundance of Katherines right now, but even if you aren't, the article raises interesting questions about how humor is perceived in our culture.

If you have any strength left, you can check out some Cybils reviews. (Sheila links to some toward the end of her post at Wands and Worlds.) The Cybils is a valuable award not because it singles out one book to bring to the public's attention, but because it brings so very many books to the public's attention. Many more reviews are available at the Cybils website.