Best of the Seventies / Book #1

It's another wholesome dose of all-American Archiemania... This is another excellent entry in the decade-based "Archie Americana" series, reprinting a big batch of classic stories featuring Mr. Andrews and his pals in Riverdale. In terms of content, this book is one of the most steeped in popular cultural references -- social protests, pet rocks, disco, CB radios, Star Wars, Pong and numerous other 'Seventies milestones are fondly remembered in a gauzy cartoon haze. It's a groovy look back, packed with references that may puzzle young'uns, but will delight those who lived through it all. The downside is that in the rush to document all the fads of the era, the book barely has time to feature any of the typical "Archie" themes, such as the Betty-Archie-Veronica love triangle, Jughead's food mania or Big Moose's jealous protection of Midge, his girlfriend. Hopefully, following the lead of the '40s and '50s editions, they'll find room for a Volume Two of this decade, and can select a few non-topical tales, pick out the best stories they can find and just linger on the artwork and storytelling, which were still pretty good at the time. In the meantime, "Archie" fans will delight in this book, and will be eager and hungry for more. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

Again, I loved this one as well. They are right in saying that it is a bit difference; the focus that is. It really concentrates on the fashion and electronics; everchanging as it was. Add it to the collection and read them all.

Archie Americana the Best of the 1970's is, I think the best of all the Archie Americana series of trade paperback collections because it does the best job of capturing the look and feel of its decade. The 1970's was perhaps the most eclectic and trendy decade in American history with a new fad coming along every few months to capture the imagination of Americans. Archie comics marched right along in time to all the changes the 1970's brought from protests to disco. This volume collects 17 Archie stories that will make readers year for the days of pet rocks and CB radios. Shirley Jones, Mrs. Partridge herself introduces this volume. In "Protest" from 1970, Archie is on the warpath and wants to get a sit-in protest staged with the rest of the gang. The only trouble is that Archie can't seem to find a cause to protest but merely wants to protest because the rest of the country is. Too bad for Arch that everyone if Riverdale seems relatively happy. "Bubble Trouble" features "The Archies" band in action. You can almost hear them singing "Sugar Sugar". When an editor of a music magazine calls their music "bubblegum music" Archie is not happy and goes to see the editor to voice his displeasure. You wonder how much fun the writer had with this story since the Archies WERE about as bubblegum as you could get. In "No Fuel like and old Fuel" the gang finds themselves paralyzed by the energy crisis of the mid-1970's. When Archie cannot get any gas to take Betty & Veronica on a picnic, he and Jughead cleverly make do by attaching a sail from Mr. Lodge's boat to sail to the park. But what happens when it's time to leave and there is no wind? "You Came a Long Way Baby" finds Archie, or rather Betty and Veronica tackling the subject of Women's liberation in this tale from 1975. Of all people, Miss, I mean Ms. Grundy leads the way! In "Bi-centennial Banter" the boys are working on their Bi-Centennial pageant when the girls, who had been excluded from the festivities, strongly display how many women played important roles in the fight for independence as well. "Over and Out" highlights one of the great fads of the 1970's the CB radio craze. We all remember that don't we? Arch and Veronica are staying in touch with oh-so-cute little handle names, not knowing that everyone is listening into their conversations. "Video Vexation" features another great fad and one that has actually survived and grown to this very day...the video game fad. The boys are so into playing "Pong" that they begin to lose interest in the girls...until the girls turn out to be better players... "Costume Caper" Pop culture comes home full tilt. While not mentioning it by name, a costume party features several people dressed in Star Wars costumes. Arch wins when he accidentally dresses up as "C3PO" As with the other Archie Americana books there are also cover galleries featuring some of the classic covers from the 1970's. If you lived during this era like I did, yo

The 'Archie Americana' series continues on with this book highlighting the best stories from the 1970's. This book seems to take an intersting focus featuring stories with a heavy 1970's specific pop-culture bent that gives this book an almost time-capsule'ish feel capturing the trends/fashions/slang and even politics of this most colorful of contemporary decades. For example, we get references to 'Star Wars,' in an amusing Halloween costume contest story, disco dancing (of course) and even a delightfully quaint story on the rising popularity of videogaming (Pong) and a bit of gender wars as the girls attempt to unseat the boys from the throne of videogame dominance. While this book may seem different in that the general storylines seem to deviate from the standard Archie-esque plotlines (love triangles, archie-reggie rivalry, etc.) it's interesting to note a shift in tone as this comic series attempts to keep intact a teen audience shifting their attentions away from comics to more electronic forms of entertainment media.