tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post3202470974350165012..comments2024-01-14T11:45:23.991-05:00Comments on Occasional Superheroine: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-29206437240348438182009-02-19T16:16:00.000-05:002009-02-19T16:16:00.000-05:00Ugly chicks, like fat chicks, do get made fun of i...Ugly chicks, like fat chicks, do get made fun of in high school. Archie Comics has always blended the realistic and the incredibly unrealistic, but that one they got right. Later in life those kicks would regret being so mean to her - just like in real life (at least for most people).<BR/><BR/>The Archie Comics people are these days really bending over backward to make their comics as PC friendly as humanly possible, and it's really ruined them. Ethel's no longer scrawny, buck-toothed, and fugly. Miss Grundy's no longer this old spinster hag with one tooth. Moose is no longer dumb - no, of course not; he's got "learning disabilities" like dyslexia. Sure, okay.<BR/><BR/>In reality there are ugly people, and there are dumb people, and they get made fun of. That's a shame, but that's the way it goes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-84141741530070068502008-07-07T20:56:00.000-04:002008-07-07T20:56:00.000-04:00Sorry, my bad. Thanks.Sorry, my bad. Thanks.soulbrothahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662399301893378537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-72112545295821739192008-07-07T06:31:00.000-04:002008-07-07T06:31:00.000-04:00>> Is there a reason why my comment was removed? >...>> Is there a reason why my comment was removed? >><BR/><BR/>It wasn't removed. It was just being held in the moderation queue because of the american holiday weekend.David Gallaherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01004233671388887032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-87583199494036753052008-07-07T03:12:00.000-04:002008-07-07T03:12:00.000-04:00Is there a reason why my comment was removed?Is there a reason why my comment was removed?soulbrothahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662399301893378537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-47369874777418282522008-07-06T03:00:00.000-04:002008-07-06T03:00:00.000-04:00I was an Archie Comics freak when I was a kid. Nev...I was an Archie Comics freak when I was a kid. Never liked the DC/Marvel universes. <BR/><BR/>This is a very fascinating topic. I remember liking Big Ethel, Jughead, (Big) Moose and the other secondary characters alot more than the main characters. I remember feeling jealous of Veronica's wealth (I felt the same about Richie Rich, too) but I found comfort with Betty's down-to-earthness. I remember being pissed off at Ethel that she would constantly run after Jughead like a damn fool! Were they the only kids in the whole town??!<BR/><BR/>I agree 100% with rocketeerz. Jughead was far from being an also-ran. I believe Juggie is the only one to have an article of his clothing manufactured for humans. I think they <I>still</I> make Jughead crown hats!<BR/><BR/>My biggest beef though, even as a teen, was the lack of African American kids. And I swear, when I see the shows of today, racially speaking they are EXACTLY like Riverdale High!<BR/><BR/>I hope that someone who draws the "real life" type comic books, will do an interpretation of Archie, where Ethel and the other neglected characters get real lives and confront their more popular peers. Maybe Gregory Maguire can give it a Wicked-type treatment. Just might wind up with another Broadway smash!soulbrothahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05662399301893378537noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-42817670900330878012007-05-16T11:29:00.000-04:002007-05-16T11:29:00.000-04:00hmmm I assume this post was posted tongue in cheek...hmmm I assume this post was posted tongue in cheek.<BR/>However if not, or even if it was i wonder if ou fell the same about the male character Josh, in BOP?<BR/>Isn't he essentially nothing more than a male version of ethel?<BR/>Like her he was portrayed as ugly, with little to no social skills, and overly outgoing, as well as being unrequitedly enamored of a supporting character. <BR/>So if we need to free ethel, in the interest of being "gender neutral" shouldn't we try to 'free josh"?Rational Mad Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07835818807164881354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-11642322577523215302007-03-25T22:06:00.000-04:002007-03-25T22:06:00.000-04:00Actually, it was Kirk and Spock that fought gladia...Actually, it was Kirk and Spock that fought gladiator-style with pointed sticks. When Kirk fought the Gorn he mostly ran away until he was able to build a cannon from stuff he found lying around a desert planet.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07301671302058846623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-2313190769809648672007-03-10T05:38:00.000-05:002007-03-10T05:38:00.000-05:00has non-pornographic fan art to post on this site ...<I>has non-pornographic fan art to post on this site </I><BR/><BR/>Shoot, I'm out...LurkerWithouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03540770911478925992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-11279691983032688672007-03-09T21:25:00.000-05:002007-03-09T21:25:00.000-05:00Two things.1. Ethel pre-dates Lena the Hyena, hav...Two things.<BR/><BR/>1. Ethel pre-dates Lena the Hyena, having first appeared in <I>Archie Comics</I> #30 in 1948, four years before MAD started. Of course, in her debut appearance, she wasn't referred to by name, but instead by the uncharitable appellation, "That zombie." The story's reprinted in Archie's <I>Best of the 40s, Volume One</I>.<BR/><BR/>2. Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones stars in <I>two</I> ongoing series (<I>Jughead</I> and <I>Jughead and Friends Digest</I>), and doesn't seem to have any trouble fitting in whatsoever, save for his pervasive misogyny. He's been depicted as a top-notch cook, a wonderful dancer, a dynamite competitive eater, and he even has his own nemesis, amateur psychologist Trula Twyst. <BR/><BR/>Hardly an "also-ran." If anytyhing, he's <B>way</B> more popular and well-known than Reggie Mantle.Chris Simshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08320487883818314339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-7883487953216421332007-03-09T01:07:00.000-05:002007-03-09T01:07:00.000-05:00That's funny -- I remember that Archie comic where...That's funny -- I remember that Archie comic where he and Ethel went out on a date. It's too bad they didn't go anywhere with that, but such is the nature of Archie.George Morrowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04774518360985772748noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-16298118352987573842007-03-08T17:03:00.000-05:002007-03-08T17:03:00.000-05:00Cal, I hate to break this to you... but Jughead ha...Cal, <BR/><BR/>I hate to break this to you... but Jughead has NEVER been an "also-ran" in the Archie Comics. In fact, he's pretty much been the main supporting character of the series, as Archie's best friend. I have to disagree with your assement there. It just doesn't fit (in my opinion).Patrick J. Nestor, Jr.https://www.blogger.com/profile/04476021827283026540noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-53706102623970277222007-03-08T12:59:00.000-05:002007-03-08T12:59:00.000-05:00Free Ethel, Jughead, and Moose!It's intriguing how...<B>Free Ethel, Jughead, and Moose!</B><BR/><BR/>It's intriguing how Archie comics historically reinforce the very situations of teen angst which we now try to eliminate. (Well, things we as a society <I>claim</I> we want to eliminate.)<BR/><BR/>The three above-mentioned characters are all secondary "also-rans" due to their inability (or refusal) to be like Archie. Archie functions as the human archetype - the comic bears his name. It's his universe, he's the King, and the less you resemble the King the less important you are.<BR/><BR/>The manner in which Archie comics portray gender stereotypes is well-known. (Not that Archie comics are the only offenders in this regard.) Their problems w/r/t race have been well-documented.<BR/><BR/>It's also interesting how these "outsider" characters reinforce certain ideas of class in America. Reggie and Veronica are obnoxious, but that's okay because they're rich. Archie is the good-hearted middle-class guy, enchanted by the wealth of his asshole friends. Betty is the classic American Blonde. They each represent some role to which youth are instructed to aspire.<BR/><BR/>But Ethel, Jughead and Moose? All from the wrong side of the tracks, all from (at best) the "lower middle class," all exhibiting behaviors that we are not supposed to emulate. Even Moose: though he possesses some status in the high school world as an athlete, said status is short-lived: in the real world, he'll be a dumb jock whose every success will be said to be the result of favoritism. Jughead and Ethel will never fit in, and any attempt they make to do equates to "brown-nosing" their "betters." Their differences from the mainstream isolate them, make them freaks.<BR/><BR/>A few years ago I got an Archie comic on Free Comic Book Day. A friend was surprised to see the series is still published. She was even more surprised to see it had changed very little since her childhood. The same characters playing the same roles. "Is there any high school in America like this?" she wondered. "Was there ever?" I asked. We wondered if Archie comics had ever done a special Columbine issue, where Moose and Jughead, tired of playing court jester to Archie or Reggie, take up arms.<BR/><BR/>I also wonder how much to make of it. If total (non-manga) comics readership is on the decline, then how many people still read Archie? How important to kids and teens are Archie comics these days? More important or influential than The O.C. or American Idol? Does the comic even remotely resemble consensus reality? When will "pretty on the inside" Ethel show up wearing a Hole or L7 t-shirt?Cal Godothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822149941361325037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-16663105312081605062007-03-08T02:19:00.000-05:002007-03-08T02:19:00.000-05:00I vividly remember that live action "Big Chill" ve...I vividly remember that live action "Big Chill" version of Archie.<BR/><BR/>Lauren Holly was Betty. Weird.Michael Baileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15801975065448631610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-28748547699640365192007-03-07T12:21:00.000-05:002007-03-07T12:21:00.000-05:00Look Val, you have a non-spam comment too!My most ...Look Val, you have a non-spam comment too!<BR/><BR/>My most lasting memory of Ethel Muggs was that a story involving her was the first time I ever read the expression "an accident waiting to happen." I think either Archie or Reggie described her that way. I thought it was a terribly cruel remark and for that reason I always liked Ethel, but I still like the phrase itself.Elaynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15009119466346396986noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25566450.post-57846865701083436132007-03-07T12:16:00.000-05:002007-03-07T12:16:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Adrianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11298655967684083706noreply@blogger.com