ARCHIE #646 was released this week. The solicitations indicated that the comic book would feature a space-based storyline on the planet Mars. I was hoping that we would get to see Archie & the Gang interacting with Cosmo the Merry Martian, but that didn't happen. Instead, we were treated to another unexpected character from Archie Comics' past: Archie 1!
One of the favorite concepts from Archie Comics' past is Archie 1. It's a pretty simple concept: Archie and the Gang are re-cast as cavemen. They run around in animal skins and learn about new concepts such as the wheel and jump-roping, but with a primitive flair!
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Reprints featuring Archie 1 show up every so often in the various double digests, but we haven't seen any new stories featuring Archie 1 for quite a while. Until now!
But I'm digressing! We met Archie Andromeda in ARCHIE #646. He looks pretty familiar to regular readers of Archie Comics! He and his friends & family lived several thousand years ago on Mars. The Martians maintained a fairly high-tech society, complete with flying cars, robot maids, and futuristic architecture. At this point in Martian history, the planet was really cooking! It was getting so bad that Mars' leaders were plotting a mass exodus to another more habitable planet.
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But the people of Mars weren't quite ready to abandon their home planet. The Martians boasted their own super-science teen and he happened to be named Dilton! He invented a school science project that would, when activated, created an artificial ozone layer that would bring down the temperature. His biggest mistake? Teaming up with Archie Andromeda!
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I won't spoil too much about what happens afterwards on Mars, but Archie Andromeda manages to get himself and his family exiled to nearby planet Earth -- which happens to be undergoing a major Ice Age!
The family begins settling into their new home (a mammoth-proof cave!) when they look up and find four very familiar cavemen and women! The implication is that Archie Andromeda will adopt a new, yet familiar identity: Archie 1!
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At least that's the implication...
Very fun issue, by the way!
One of the favorite concepts from Archie Comics' past is Archie 1. It's a pretty simple concept: Archie and the Gang are re-cast as cavemen. They run around in animal skins and learn about new concepts such as the wheel and jump-roping, but with a primitive flair!
Reprints featuring Archie 1 show up every so often in the various double digests, but we haven't seen any new stories featuring Archie 1 for quite a while. Until now!
But I'm digressing! We met Archie Andromeda in ARCHIE #646. He looks pretty familiar to regular readers of Archie Comics! He and his friends & family lived several thousand years ago on Mars. The Martians maintained a fairly high-tech society, complete with flying cars, robot maids, and futuristic architecture. At this point in Martian history, the planet was really cooking! It was getting so bad that Mars' leaders were plotting a mass exodus to another more habitable planet.
But the people of Mars weren't quite ready to abandon their home planet. The Martians boasted their own super-science teen and he happened to be named Dilton! He invented a school science project that would, when activated, created an artificial ozone layer that would bring down the temperature. His biggest mistake? Teaming up with Archie Andromeda!
I won't spoil too much about what happens afterwards on Mars, but Archie Andromeda manages to get himself and his family exiled to nearby planet Earth -- which happens to be undergoing a major Ice Age!
The family begins settling into their new home (a mammoth-proof cave!) when they look up and find four very familiar cavemen and women! The implication is that Archie Andromeda will adopt a new, yet familiar identity: Archie 1!
At least that's the implication...
Very fun issue, by the way!