You all know that I'm a fan of "The Riverdale Podcast." This is a weekly fan podcast by Jonathan Merrifield that dedicates each episode to Archie Comics. I've been listening for years and have had the pleasure of appearing on the program on a few occasions. Last week, Jonathan asked his listeners to share their top 5 favorite Archie Comics characters outside of the core five characters. He posted this request on the Archie Comics Fan Forum and then shared the results over everyone's top 5 list on this week's program.
For the record, here is Jonathan's top 5 list:
1. Li'l Jinx
2. Sheila Wu
3. Josie
4. Pepper
5. Ethel
All great choices, by the way. And I agree 1000% with his assessment of Sheila Wu, particularly how she's being portrayed in the "New Riverdale" relaunch!
Here is my list:
1. Kevin Keller -- Hands down. He is my favorite character. I know that it's cliche for the gay fan to love Archie Comics' gay character. But I'll own it. I love it when he appears in a comic book and I really can't wait to read the upcoming KEVIN IN THE CITY digital series this summer!
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2. Cosmo the Merry Martian -- I've had the joy of reading his entire comic book run from the 1950s. I actually didn't like the guy visually when I first discovered him. But then I read the stories -- which featured his explorations of the Solar System -- and acquired a deep appreciation for this classic character!
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3. Dotty & Ditto: Keep in mind that I love reading old comic books online from MLJ, Archie, Charlton and a few other Golden Age publishers. If I were to write up my top 5 list today, I don't know that Dotty & Ditto would make it there. But they were on my mind, so they made it to my list. Dotty is a young cowgirl who goes on adventures with her pet parrot, Ditto.
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Incidentally, I have a story in my head (what fan doesn't?) featuring Dotty, Super Duck, Wilbur, Archie, the Twiddles, and a few other characters! If you're from Archie Comics and reading this, send me a note and I'll pitch it to you!
4. Jinx -- I'm talking about the teen version of this character, as opposed to the Li'l Jinx version of the character. Back when I first got back into Archie Comics (about five years ago), the company revamped Li'l Jinx as a high school freshman. There were two graphic novels featuring the character and her friends. These were great comics. Really great comics. I'm assuming that they didn't sell very well because we haven't seen any other books in this series of titles. But if you haven't read it and you're looking for something good to read from Archie Comics' vault, you owe it to yourself to snag these books!
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5. Sam Hill -- Here is another classic character who recently went through an uneventful return! Sam Hill is a private detective with an eye for the ladies and a taste for whole milk! He had his own comic book back in the early 1950s and then disappeared until 2013 when he was hired by Mr. Lodge in LIFE WITH ARCHIE to locate a missing person and to save Riverdale! Sam Hill later had a graphic novel of his own, but it languished in the solicits until Archie Comics finally published it as a digital exclusive on their app. I'm very slowly reading through it, but it's pretty good stuff!
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So those are my top 5 Archie Comics characters. There are three other characters who are jumping around in my head right now who could easily knock one of these five folks off of my list, but I'm sticking with this for now!
Who are your top 5 picks for secondary Archie Comics characters? Share your choices in the comments section below!
For the record, here is Jonathan's top 5 list:
1. Li'l Jinx
2. Sheila Wu
3. Josie
4. Pepper
5. Ethel
All great choices, by the way. And I agree 1000% with his assessment of Sheila Wu, particularly how she's being portrayed in the "New Riverdale" relaunch!
Here is my list:
1. Kevin Keller -- Hands down. He is my favorite character. I know that it's cliche for the gay fan to love Archie Comics' gay character. But I'll own it. I love it when he appears in a comic book and I really can't wait to read the upcoming KEVIN IN THE CITY digital series this summer!
2. Cosmo the Merry Martian -- I've had the joy of reading his entire comic book run from the 1950s. I actually didn't like the guy visually when I first discovered him. But then I read the stories -- which featured his explorations of the Solar System -- and acquired a deep appreciation for this classic character!
3. Dotty & Ditto: Keep in mind that I love reading old comic books online from MLJ, Archie, Charlton and a few other Golden Age publishers. If I were to write up my top 5 list today, I don't know that Dotty & Ditto would make it there. But they were on my mind, so they made it to my list. Dotty is a young cowgirl who goes on adventures with her pet parrot, Ditto.
Incidentally, I have a story in my head (what fan doesn't?) featuring Dotty, Super Duck, Wilbur, Archie, the Twiddles, and a few other characters! If you're from Archie Comics and reading this, send me a note and I'll pitch it to you!
4. Jinx -- I'm talking about the teen version of this character, as opposed to the Li'l Jinx version of the character. Back when I first got back into Archie Comics (about five years ago), the company revamped Li'l Jinx as a high school freshman. There were two graphic novels featuring the character and her friends. These were great comics. Really great comics. I'm assuming that they didn't sell very well because we haven't seen any other books in this series of titles. But if you haven't read it and you're looking for something good to read from Archie Comics' vault, you owe it to yourself to snag these books!
5. Sam Hill -- Here is another classic character who recently went through an uneventful return! Sam Hill is a private detective with an eye for the ladies and a taste for whole milk! He had his own comic book back in the early 1950s and then disappeared until 2013 when he was hired by Mr. Lodge in LIFE WITH ARCHIE to locate a missing person and to save Riverdale! Sam Hill later had a graphic novel of his own, but it languished in the solicits until Archie Comics finally published it as a digital exclusive on their app. I'm very slowly reading through it, but it's pretty good stuff!
So those are my top 5 Archie Comics characters. There are three other characters who are jumping around in my head right now who could easily knock one of these five folks off of my list, but I'm sticking with this for now!
Who are your top 5 picks for secondary Archie Comics characters? Share your choices in the comments section below!