Dear Jon and Nancy, Part 2

****Urgent News****   

The soon to be reviewed Betty And Veronica Digest #200 vindicates all my theorizing on 

the Rise Of Adam Chisholm! 

Don't miss it!

For those with an interest, previous open letters can be found here:

Dear Jon and Nancy,
Dear Jon,

Dear Jon and Nancy,

Well played, my friends, well played. My hat is honestly off to you both.

I've been tremendously impressed with Archie Comics' triumphant return to traditional magazine stands. More and more I'm seeing Archie single issues in magazine racks that haven't seen a comic in close to a decade (and still see none outside of your wares). Of course I've griped a bit about the stunt issues you have planned to keep this gravy-train going (Veronica meets Obama!), but all-in-all it's been an incredible revitalization since you two took the reins.

Your tremendous success in the itunes app store deserves a mention too, along with your facebook presence. Truly, you've managed to move Archie into the 2.0 world more effectively than either of the "big two". It's rare to see a family company pull ahead of giant corporate-owned entities, but you're pulling it off.

The whole "Archie Marries" story has been very well handled. The press exposure you managed to get (and the length of time you sustained media interest for) have helped elevate Archie to levels of awareness not seen in years. Kudos. And now I see Abrams is publishing a deluxe hardcover of the entire story, which is no surprise.

Speaking of no surprise: I read the epilogue issue in a Mac's last night and the entire story played out pretty much how I called it back when this all began: Archie first saw his future marrying Ronnie, then saw his future marrying Betty, and in the epilogue he basically decides that he doesn't need to decide his future now, he should just treat both ladies better. I'm not saying it wasn't good, it just didn't blow my mind.

And then this morning, you blew my mind.

I never saw this coming. Two new series, one set in the future where Archie marries Ron, the other in the Betty-verse. Staggering. Not just for what it is, but for what it means.

It means I'm your new target demographic. The hunter becomes the hunted.

All this time I had no idea you were getting ready to target the 30-something nerd market, yet here we are. New Archie titles aimed directly at me and my friends, basically a dream come true. Thank you.

I do, however, have concerns.

Jon, this is your quote in the press release:

"The new direction of Archie Comics will be defined with the introduction of these two new titles, 'Archie Loves Betty' and 'Archie Loves Veronica,' and we couldn't be more thrilled."

New direction? 

I'm worried, perhaps needlessly, but worried nonetheless. So far you've managed to do amazing things without cheapening the Riverdale crew or stooping to "very special issue" issues. I hope the new direction maintains the core values that give Archie Comics their appeal and heart.

My main worry is that you're going to break regular Archie out of his timeless continuity. Perhaps an experiment where the mainstream titles have the characters age? Or is this all just a precursor to having several timelines creating their own continuity? I've noticed the "Freshman Year" stories are still going, are the college years far behind?

As you move forward, I beg you to leave the core intact. 

And when you want to make an Archie musical, I'm ready for you.

I should also mention that my offer to archive all Archie comics in a grand database still stands.

With great respect,

Mark