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Here's a news flash for DC Comics, Archie Comics, and the NFL: [ . . . ] We don't want or need to be preached to every waking moment.

As a lad, I bought comics in the '70s with the expectation that they would appreciate in value like the comics in the '40's did. The truly valuable collectibles are those things that no one would think to keep. I also liked reading them.

But I was of the last generation of kids reading comic books.

If you look at Gesell guide to child development (written in 1950s), ten years old is the peak of boys reading superhero comics. Now, go to one of the few stores that still carries comic books (e.g. Borders) and pick up sone of the non-Manga superhero titles, and it is clear that they are now trying to sell comic books to the same generation that was buying them in the '70s. Too many insider references, certainly a lot of subject matter innapropriate for youngsters.

IF a comic book can find a way to make its story onto the newswire or blogs, then the odds of a bunch of people who ordinarily don't buy them might pick up a copy. Collectors always like round numbers, and #900 is pretty impressive in terms of comic book numbering (Action beginning in June, 1938).

So, it's like when Superman or Batman gets "killed" (always resurrected), Superman marries Lois Lane, or the entire comic book universe gets destroyed (Crisis on Infinite Earts), it is all about selling books. Then, after the comic sales drop off, it is time to bring back Superman, Batman the Barry Allen Flash, and all the rest.

Now, in the case of the Archie comic, I think that was a HUGE mistake. Except for the too perfectly shaped Betty, Veronica, Midge etc. wearing too little starting in the '60's, these comics were considered harmless compared to the horror/crime/satire genres erupting in the 50's (See "The ten cent plague").

Once in a while, Archie comics were even open to explicitly Christian mesages (sometimes coming from unlikely characters like Mr. Lodge).

The homosexual character introduced certainly gave Veronica #200 a big bump in sales. Tens of thousands of aging sexual deviants bought a copy to place next to the Playbill from La Cage Aux Folles and a stack of Barry Manilow CDS.

The cost to Archie Comics is that parents can never trust the content of said comic magazine ever again. And youngsters who don't want that stuff in their comic books will avoid them. And frankly, they should NOT have let Jughead anywhere NEAR that character; he takes enough abuse as it is.

Comic strips, and by extension comic books, have a reader base that is more averse to change than most. Dagwood must never get a new hair cut. Dilbert's tie must (almost) always be sticking out. Lex Luthor and I (Dr. Sivana) must always be trying to take over the world. It could well be that we are pretty much at the end of (non-manga) comic books as a medium. Better to let it die than to ruin an entire epic history with cheap shots of heroin like a deviant Archie character or a Superman who rejects the American Way.

Bravo!

I may be showing my age, but I stopped reading comics when Magneto became leader of the X-Men.

Once in a while, Archie comics were even open to explicitly Christian mesages (sometimes coming from unlikely characters like Mr. Lodge).

I could swear I remember reading these back in the day. I don't have them, but I'm certain I read them.