Check Out Archie Andrews’s Comic Book Collection From Riverdale

Tonight, we’re visiting the set of Riverdale, The CW’s moody take on the Archie Comics mythology, and so we figured as long as we had access to Archie’s room, we might as well dig around and see what the comics are that he was reading.

…Well, that’s not exactly how it went. But we are on set, and this look inside his comic book collection is totally based on set photos from our previous visit back in November.

Perhaps it’s no surprise, since the show airs on The CW — which is co-owned by Warner Bros. — skews heavily toward the Warner-owned DC Comics…but it’s fun to see what exactly this all-American boy reads…

…and, yes, some of it does include Archie Comics, including the ones in which he and his friends and family star. Which is kind of weirdly meta.

So…what is Archie reading these days? Read on for a look around his room…

BATMAN (2016) #5

The fifth issue of Tom King and David Finch’s most recent Batman run, in which the Dark Knight faced off against Gotham, a Superman-like character who had appeared mysteriously along with his similarly-powered sister Gotham Girl at the start of the story arc, not only adorns one of the oversized “Rebirth” posters on Archie’s wall, but also sits on one of his endtables.

You can see it sharing space next to Archie’s lava lamp and under a model car, in the photo at right. It’s sharing space with another of Archie’s poster-comics, which is…

ACTION COMICS #962

…Action Comics #962, another Rebirth title.

This one is from writer Dan Jurgens with artists Stephen Segovia and Art Thibert…and the cover shown here is actually an open order variant cover featuring art by Gary Frank.

In the story, seemingly inspired by the then-recent release of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Superman and Wonder Woman battle Doomsday together in the streets of Metropolis and on the way to Hamilton County, where the monster can sense, and is pursuing, Jonathan Kent.

Interestingly, the only comic from this wall of covers that doesn’t appear as a physical comic anywhere in Archie’s room (as far as we could tell) is Bryan Hitch’s Justice League #2. 

Maybe Archie didn’t like it any more than the critics did, and got rid of it…!

SUPERMAN (1987) #43

Comics legend Jerry Ordway both wrote and drew this issue (and its cover, seen here), along with inks by ’90s Superman fixture Dennis Janke.

(Janke would go on to ink Jon Bogdanove on Superman: The Man of Steel as well, for many years.)

After years of being relatively sidelines, Krypton started to play a bigger role in the Superman titles around this time. Having recently returned from his self-imposed exile in space while in possession of a dangerous Kryptonian weapon/relic known as The Eradicator, Superman found himself eventually possessed by that force briefly and was running around as the “Krypton Man.”

This issue takes place right after that, but Superman ends up grappling with his heritage again, squaring off against the villain known as the Kryptonite Man.

AQUAMAN #3

Here’s 1992’s Aquaman #3 from Shaun McLaughlin, Ken Hooper, and Bob Dvorak.

According to the DC Wiki, here’s the synopsis for the episode, which we haven’t read…

A school of hungry sharks bears down on Aquaman and a group of Atlantean children. Aquaman tries to communicate with the sharks via telepathy, but they are not responding to his commands. Instead, he is forced to fight them off, while securing the children inside the old Aquacave.

Poseidonis is not the only Atlantean city with shark problems. In Tritonis, the warrior known as Iqula kills a shark, then berates another Tritonian for leaving an injured man behind. He brings his concerns to King Firtf, who tells him that the war in Poseidonis has brought sharks to both cities. Though Iqula shares no lover for the citizens of Poseidonis, he petitions King Firtf to provide them aid.

In the capital city, Aquaman saves King Thesily and Minister F’ancha from three sharks that were preparing to attack them.

At the hospital, Doctor Diade administers care to Vulko who was injured during the Oumlandian attack on the city. Vulko awakens, but his memory is faulty. He believes that Aquaman is still the king of Atlantis.

In Tritonis, King Firtf feels that Poseidonis is vulnerable and ripe for conquest. He orders Iqula to lead the army to take the city. Iqula believes that they must save the Poseidonians from themselves, and the only means to do so is by taking control of them.

Doctor Diade travels to the Aquacave to update Aquman on Vulko’s condition. She tries to bolster Aquman’s self-esteem, citing that Atlantis needs him now more than ever. An Atlantean soldier, General Keerg, arrives and informs them that the Tritonian army is amassing for an attack.

 

WORLD’S FINEST #262

The older book sitting under that Superman issue? World’s Finest #262.

The issue, from 1980, featured a main story written by Dennis O’Neil and drawn by Joe Staton and Dick Giordano.

Gerry Conway, Romeo Tanghal and Vincent Coletta contributed a story as well, featuring Green Arrow and Black Canary. Conway and Tanghal would later collaborate with Dan Jurgens — whose Action Comics issue is a poster on Archie’s wall — on Sun Devils in the early ’80s.

Bob Rozakis also teamed with Don Newton and Dan Adkins on a story featuring Aquaman, while J.M. DeMatteis wrote an Adam Strange/Hawkman story with art by Ken Landgraf and Armando Gil.

In spite of being an older issue, and featuring a murderer’s row of talent and a number of DC’s best-known characters, this isn’t exactly a valuable book. You can pick one up on eBay for as low as $5.00 (although the going rate seems to hover around $20).

SUPERMAN (1987) #37

Around this time in the post-Crisis on Infinite Earths Superman mythology, James Olsen — exposed to cosmic radiation that came back with Superman from his exile in space — had started to develop strange powers and mutations. Most of them were painful for Jimmy and/or inconvenient, so this isn’t “suit up and be a hero” time: Superman’s longtime pal was terrified.

In this issue, by Jerry Ordway and Dennis Janke again, Superman forces Jimmy Olsen to have experiments undergone on him at Project Cadmus, but the Newsboy Legion help bust him out.

Meanwhile, José Delgado — a frequent guest-star from this period, particularly in the books written by Jerry Ordway — has to save a bank from robbers without his Gangbuster armor.

SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #27

The third comic book to come out following the conclusion of the best-selling Death and Return of Superman storyline, this one is instantly recognizable as a Louise Simonson/Jon Bogdanove/Dennis Janke joint, and its time period can be determined to within a few years because of the wild mane of long hair (no, it wasn’t a mullett, at least not when drawn correctly or by the ongoing series artists) Bog gave the Man of Steel around this time.

Given the fact that The Adventures of Superman that came out this month dealt with the fallout from Superman’s death and return, and Action Comics “resurrected” Clark Kent, this was the first comic that actually saw Superman getting back to the business of saving people — and you can see that from the whole “rescuing babies from a burning building” cover, which was a frequent thing for Bogdanove and Simonson stories, which tended to focus less on Superman’s battles and more on his heroism.

JUSTICE LEAGUE AMERICA #89

Underneath that issue of Superman: The Man of Steel is the first part of the Justice League America storyline “Judgment Day” from the ’90s.

In the issue, from writer Dan Vado with the art team of Marc Campos and Ken Branch, all three branches of Justice League International are gathered together, for a major world crisis has arisen – natural disasters and portents of doom abound. When the entire world is rocked in an earthquake, Booster Gold recognises what is happening – the coming of the Overmaster and both his and the League’s greatest victory. Captain Atom leads a group of the most powerful Leaguers in a strike against the Overmaster, but Ice is won over to his cause and Booster is horrifically injured by Devastator of the Overmaster’s new Cadre.

 

SUPERMAN (2016) #5

From writers Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason with art by Gleason, Superman #5 pits the Man of Steel and his son against The Eradicator.

It’s another of the post-Rebirth batch of new comics that Archie has sitting around his room.

Here’s the official solicitation text from the issue, which came out back in July:

“SON OF SUPERMAN” part five! The Eradicator is unstoppable and it has forced Superman to leave Earth behind to keep his son from harm.

NIGHTWING (2016) #2

There’s also the second issue of Tim Seeley’s post-Rebirth Nightwing series on the nightstand. 

The issue features interior and cover art by Javier Fernandez.

Solicitation text:

“Better than Batman” part two! Nightwing and his new mentor Raptor embark on their first assignment for the Parliament of Owls. Will Raptor prove himself a superior mentor for Nightwing? Or will they both fall prey to the fangs of Kobra?

PEP COMICS #132

Because the issue itself is older, and Archie doesn’t have the same kind of insane continuity as DC and Marvel do, here’s all we have to work with, from Comic Book Db:

“Spring is Spring”

Story Arc(s): 

Writer(s):
Frank X Doyle

Penciller(s):
Harry Lucey

Inker(s):
Terry Szenics – ‘Terry Wolk’

Letterer(s):
Terry Szenics – ‘Terry Wolk’

1 UNIDENTIFIED ‘ARCHIE’ COMIC

Hidden right below that red flannel shirt is another Archie comic — but this one, we can’t identify!

It looks from the wardrobe like it’s probably a novelty cover, with two women in very ’90s clothes in the foreground and a band playing in the background.

JUSTICE LEAGUE EUROPE #8

This issue comes from Keith Giffen and J.M. DeMatteis, with art by Bart Sears and Bob Smith.

Here’s what the DC Wiki has to say about it: After the Lords of Order reject her plea for help against their rogue agent, the Gray Man, Doctor Fate (Linda Strauss) goes alone to confront the villain and his agent, Dr. Irwin Teasdale. Teasdale’s horde of “vampire-zombies” (actually people infected by a virus of his creation, under the guidance of Simon Stagg advance through an electrified fence and close in on the combined forces of Justice League America and Justice League Europe. But the Gray Man, empowered by the dream essences of Teasdale’s hordes, grows to gigantic proportions and directly assaults the Justice League International.

Suddenly, The Spectre appears with the Lords of Order and the Lords of Chaos. The combined forces of these cosmic entities reduce the Gray Man to a lobotomized pawn.

The Spectre departs, but J’onn is determined to tell Max this mysterious hero. Dr. Fate decides to stay on with the JLA. Captain Atom awaits the return of Rocket Red, who is searching for Power Girl. Kara took a serious blow during the battle with the Gray Man.

Finally, Flash pays a visit to Power Girl, who lies unconscious in a hospital bed.

 

ARCHIE #593

Last but not least: we haven’t met Veronica’s father Hiram Lodge yet on Riverdale, but he’s here in Archie’s room.

Here’s the official description:

“Wreck-ommendation”: To get Archie out of his hair… and his mansion… Mr. Lodge agrees to write him a letter of recommendation. “Changing Times”: Feeling passed by, useless and “fossilized” by rapidly advancing technology, Mr. Weatherbee considers retiring. Will the students be able to convince him otherwise? “It’s Downhill from Here”: When Jughead and Archie agree to move a piano for Betty, will they hit a high note or be horribly out-of-tune? “Dancing Lesson!”: When the parents of Riverdale’s teens chaperone the dance, they wow their kids with dance moves from the past!