Grimlock ♥ Ultra Magnus

I wasn't that impressed with the new Archie.   Yes, I liked it a lot better than the older Archie, but I still gave it three and a half stars and had some pretty big issues with it.   Not that it wasn't well done, but it clung to the aw-shucks wholesomeness of Archie.   

I got the first issue for free, and never moved on with it.  I'm not really tempted to even at half price.  I will gladly pay full for Jughead, though.   

Jughead clings to the wholesomeness, too.   There's nothing here that would make it unsuitable for children.   And yet, whereas Waid's Archie felt cloying, Zdarsky's Jughead feels like a breath of fresh air.   I laughed out loud more than once.   It wasn't even edgy or shocking humor: it was just flat out funny.   

And here's the thing, I like Zdarsky a lot, and more than Waid even, because the sense of humor in Zdarksy's writing is so well done.   That doesn't mean that I dislike Waid.   Far from it: he's a fantastic writer.   Most writers wouldn't be able to wring more than a grudging one star from a pure Archie title.   Waid did more with no resentment on my part, which is a testament to his writing skills.   (I also remember liking the art more on Archie, and I think it can look a bit sloppy in Jughead.   It's not bad enough for me to knock down any stars, or to make a big deal about it, mostly because it looks technically adept.   I think the slight-sloppy look is a stylistic choice rather than lack of ability, I'm just not crazy about it.  I do, however, love the writing so much that it made up frothing I didn't like in the art.)

I remember before the first Archie came out, how people were making a big deal about how hot he was.   It was clearly supposed to look slick and have more of a sex appeal than before, when it was all about a good boy who was desirable because good boy.   I shrugged and moved on.   It would still be Archie, and I knew I didn't like Archie.  I was right.   

Which means that after buying the first four issues of Jughead on sale at Comixology, I panicked, buyer's regret hitting me immediately.   Well, I'd show myself!  I'd show myself right now.   

Alright, so I didn't.   Self was right.   Jughead is awesome.   It balances the aw-shucks-isn't-this-innocent attitude of Archie titles with enough humor to make me, as an adult - and adult who hates Archie no less - love this so, so much.

I've also seen some comments on turning Jughead asexual.   (The announcement that he was is what got me interested in the first place.  Thanks to Familiar Diversion's post.   For anyone who is interested, I asked about asexual representation a while ago and got some good answers.  I've been having trouble finding asexual representation in fiction, particularly in fiction that just really grabbed me.   Thanks, Jughead, for giving me that.   So far, it's not problematic at all, it's compelling, it's funny, and there are hints where this is going.)

However, this isn't changing the past, or retroactively adding this is.   Yes, this is still Jughead, but these are new series: Archie and Jughead are in high school with cell phones.   Remember the cell phones in Bates Motel?   Bates Motel is a prequel to Psycho in some ways, showing Norma's high school life, but he has a cell phone.   Clearly the timelines wouldn't match up, so it's not a direct prequel so much as a prequel reboot. 

Same here.   For those who believe this is retroactively adding the asexual aspect, not so much.   Archie and Jughead - the 2015 series - are reboots.   A lot is modernized, and it's a bit more complex than the original series.

And there's this in the first issue: 

So, clearly they're leading up to the asexual revelation.  I don't think it was something that Zdarsky just added in last minute: I think he was planning this from day one.   (Unlikely that the company didn't know.   Maybe they didn't, but I'm not sure Zdarsky could get away with it too long under their noses if they didn't approve.   IDW was very approving of Roberts having gay marriage in the Transformers universe they'd created, and I remember him talking about asking them.   I've been under the impression since that that it was a thing, letting the higher ups know what you're writing about...   But that doesn't mean that it is.)

Don't think of this as old Archie and Jughead.   It's not.   The timelines won't match up.   This is new.   This is to get a wider audience into Archie: it's slick and sleek and sexy (according to people who find humans sexy), and it's new, new, new.   

The reboot got a lot of attention, and well, you've got my attention now.   I doubt I'll get Archie.   Waid hasn't convinced me that I'll like his Archie that much.   It's not a big thing: new Arcihe is just too much like old Archie, and in this case, the writer's takes are fairly different.  I simply prefer one to another.   If you're into sweet and innocent and sickly sweet stuff, I'd say stick to Waid's Archie.   As uninterested as I am in that series, I'm not a Jughead fan, all the way. 

I can't tell you how excited I am by this series.