Sorry folks, I’m not writing about food today because I am sad. Really sad. I’ve lost someone close to me. Every time I sit down to write, my mind goes directly to him.
I think some of you know who I am talking about….Archie Andrews. Sigh.
It has been in the papers this past week that the creators of Archie Comics have decided to kill off Archie in the Life with Archie series of comics. (Life with Archie is the story of the kids after they grow up.)
I haven’t read the actual issue because it is just too upsetting to me. (And it hasn’t come in the mail yet.) Archie and I have been together since the 70’s. It was my absolute favorite comic series.
And to be truthful, I still read them. The simplicity of the stories still makes me happy like a little kid each night before I go to sleep. (The only exception is that now I have to wear bifocals!)
So I guess Archie’s death has me a bit befuddled. I get that the creators made up this new series so we can see the growth of the characters that we have known all our life. My problem is that I just don’t know how much “reality” I want in my comic book especially since Archie gets shot and dies!! (I guess this is where I should have given you a spoiler alert for that one but I’m in pain and not thinking clearly.)
Why couldn’t they kill off a different character? Wouldn’t it be more realistic if Jughead died of a coronary? Or maybe Dilton could blow himself up in a lab? Heck, it would have been more to the story line if Big Moose died on a football field!
But noooooo, they have Archie taking a bullet for his friend who was speaking out against gun violence. Doesn’t this sound like something you want to read in an Archie comic? Not really.
Now in their defense, I have not read the issue but I don’t read Archie for drama; I read it for fun. This is my time to regress and be a child. I don’t want to deal with adult issues in a comic book. (I don’t want to deal with adult issues ever but that isn’t really an option.)
With that said, I am going to wait to see if there is an underlying plot to all of this. Maybe Betty had him knocked off because he used her all these years? Could Mr. Lodge have hired a hit man so Archie wouldn’t marry his daughter? Maybe Reggie Mantle had it done so he could finally be the star character?
I’m not sure how they continue a series called Life with Archie if Archie is dead. Maybe Veronica is pregnant with his child and they’ll continue the story with Little Archie. (Oh wait, they did do some Little Archie stories back in the day…and they were horrible.)
Besides the fact that I’ve been reading Archie comics all my life, I think I got upset about all this because I had always thought Riverdale was my safe place. It was the place I went to when I was sick. The town contained my friends who made me laugh when I felt lonely. I knew that someone there would always make me smile.
I understand that the world we live in is not Riverdale and it can be violent. It was nice not being scared every time I turned a page. It is weird to be 44 and feel like the one last innocent part of my childhood was just taken away from me.
So this Monday, I am mourning Archie. I guess like most deaths of loved ones in our lives, it doesn’t have to make sense.
Maybe I’ll go hit a malt shop for lunch and hope that my joy for Archie will be resurrected.
Rest in peace, Archie Andrews.
