CBI Archive
Archie “Civil Chore(s)” Review
- by Brian Cronin
- in Comic Reviews
Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 2:31 AM EST
Updated: Wednesday, October 17th, 2007 at 2:31 AM EST
In Civil Chore(s) (the plurality of the title is applied inconsistently), the gang at Archie Comics has determined to prove that Marvel and DC are not the only companies that can do non-nonsensical crossovers that have characters act out of character simply to further the plot along.
The basic consensus of the three-part story (33 pages in total over Tales From Riverdale Digest #22-24) is that Archie requests a raise in his allowance, and after his father turns him down, Archie determines to go on strike, and Betty and Chuck join in.
However, shockingly, Jughead turns on his best friend!
Well, you might say, a conflict between best friends could be interesting. And I would agree, but how they CAME to the disagreement is just bizarrely silly. Just so you don’t think I am misrepresenting it, here is Fernando Ruiz, the fellow who wrote and drew the storyline (based on an idea from editor Nelson Ribiero) explaining the split:
Well, Jughead is against Archie going on strike. After all, while Archie is on strike, he’s not getting an allowance and that means that mooch Jughead can’t grub any money from him. Plus, if Archie does get a raise, he’ll only spend it going on dates with Betty and Veronica rather than hanging out with his best bud, Jug!
Can you even attempt to parse that logic?
Reggie and Veronica’s opposition is a bit of a stretch (if Betty and Archie get allowance raises, they may be able to compete with Reggie and Veronica financially), but at least it makes SOME sense - Jughead, who is the key opposition, does not.
Especially as Jughead sees how the strike is tearing people apart, like Chuck and Nancy and Moose and Midge, who all take separate sides in the strike. Jughead is not a jerk, so why would he allow the strike to keep going like this? It doesn’t follow.
The ending is the worst, though, after all the discussion and a big deal about how a mysterious third party is brought in to negotiate, the conflict ends…OFF PANEL!!! OFF PANEL, the mysterious third party strikes up a deal with the parents to resolve the strike “for a reasonable increase in allowance” - all this without the strikers actually present in any of the negotiations! And they just accept it!!
That’s just poor storytelling right there - your story can’t build to a certain point and then sidestep the climax and just have “The End” on it!
Ruiz’s art was quite nice, though, and I really enjoyed all the cameos from other Archie characters, especially a really neat gag where Lil’ Jinx shows up to strike, becaue SHE only get a 25 cent allowance! Classic.
Anyhow, overall, not so good.
Not Recommended.
14 Comments
Rohan Williams
October 17, 2007 at 2:47 am
…Is this serious, or am I missing the joke?
Brian Cronin
October 17, 2007 at 2:54 am
Well, it is a send-up of Civil War, so does that count as a joke? It’s played pretty straight in the comic, though.
Rohan Williams
October 17, 2007 at 4:03 am
I actually meant the review- I haven’t read Civil War, so I wasn’t sure if the review was taking subtle satirical jabs at Civil War, or if it was a straight-faced review of the Archie Civil War spoof on its own merits.
Brian Cronin
October 17, 2007 at 4:08 am
Oh, it’s an actual review of the Archie comics. They just made similar mistakes to Civil War, I think (poor character motivations designed merely to move the plot forward).
mrjayberry
October 17, 2007 at 5:16 am
I actually bought the issue with Civil Chore part two, past the joke they are making fun of Marvel there wasn’t much there.
Also I love that every boyfriend/girlfriend would split on this.
This was the first Archie I bought in a long time
I don’t know if Archie and the gang are less funny or if I’m just older, have to dig some of the old issues up. My mom says that its less funny because I had to spend my own hard earned money on it.
p.s. What side did Dilton end up on?
Bill Reed
October 17, 2007 at 8:19 am
Hmm– is that mysterious figure Mr. Lodge? Or is it… the Elevenaire!?
MarkAndrew
October 17, 2007 at 10:02 am
So… better or worse than Civil War?
Lewis
October 17, 2007 at 10:18 am
Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t think this was plagued with delays and nonsensical tie-ins. Plus it was shorter. I think the advantage is Riverdale.
thekamisama
October 17, 2007 at 2:01 pm
So is Archie going to get shot by a brainwashed Betty, who was secretly programmed by Reggie to do it in order to disinfranchise the Riverdale Teen Labor Movement?
km
October 17, 2007 at 2:44 pm
Yeah, besides which it could be argued that wrenching key characters right out of character is actually a brilliant meta-commentary on the entire crossover concept itself…
…Or not. Anyway, it’s still classic.
km
October 17, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Oops - uh, yes, that was me repeating Brian’s joke at the top of the review. Teach me to re-read before posting…
will_butler
October 17, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I know I’m not the target audience for Archie, but I’ve never (even when I was a child) read a good Archie story. Wait, I take that back, the Punisher/Archie crossover was pretty much golden. That is all.
Will
acespot
October 17, 2007 at 11:47 pm
It sounds to me as if the writers were lampooning the nonsensical aspects of Civil War by committing the same “errors” deliberately!
Comics Should Be Good! » Two Archie Parodies In One Week!
November 29, 2007 at 1:18 am
[…] Awhile back, I reviewed a parody comic storyline Archie Comics did, parodying Civil War. I did not like it all that much. This past week, Archie had TWO parody comics, Veronica #185 (High School Musical) and Tales From Riverdale Digest #25 (Spider-Man 3), both of which were a step up from the Civil War parody, particularly the latter story. […]