Gone are the days when the very idea of Archie Comics killing off its' perennial teen star Archie Andrews was so unbelievable a notion that a video parody I created for "The Happy Show!" that satirized the business of death in comics, and other cheap, marketing gimmicks was actually met with shock by those that took it for a real news item, and a cease-and-desist letter from the lawyers of the comic book publisher.
Trimble and Jewell, Archie's legal representatives, fired off a letter to me at the publisher's request taking me to task for my video after they already had YouTube remove it. I was blamed for not only inappropriately using the comics character and his supporting cast, but Archie Comics sought to make me out to be some heartless punk ruining the wholesome image of their characters and making little kids sad with my video.
I fired back, defending my right to parody the trends in the comics market, noting that while Archie Comics hadn't killed its' characters off for a cheap buck and news exposure, it had engaged in cheap, marketing ploys of other sorts in its time and my satire was legitimate, within fair usage, and warranted. Besides, I had acknowledged their copyright in the video, as well as having a disclaimer at the end of it that clarified to viewers the video was a parody.
I also mentioned that I used Archie Andrews precisely because it was an absurd notion that the company would ever actually kill its' hero. It would be like killing Big Bird!
Archie Comics and its' lawyers offered a compromise: My video could be put back up, but I had to place a disclaimer at the BEGINNING of the video (which kind of undermines the humor a bit), and stress that Archie Comics would NEVER kill its characters, and that all is alive and well in Riverdale.
I went along with this, though I admittedly did a somewhat mocking intro to the newly edited version wherein Happy, The Happy Show's mute puppet and I discuss how Archie wasn't really killed as said in my video.
Meanwhile, I also made another video that pointed out Archie Comics' hypocrisy when it claimed I had tainted the venerable institution of the publisher.
Surely, I pointed out in my other video, teaming Archie Andrews with The Punisher, a mass-murdering vigilante, as had been done in the 1990s, was not in keeping with the wholesome, family image that the publisher claimed I was dragging through the mud with my original video.
But, yeah... I made it abundantly clear, as per instructions by Archie Comics, that they would NEVER kill Archie Andrews.
Then, years later, they killed him. Bloody cover, and all.
Oh, and also Jughead also became a brain-eating zombie in another series by the company! 'Cause, ya know... wholesome, family entertainment, and such.
Not, you know.... Not for a cheap, marketing gimmick, or anything like that, right?
So, when that news broke about the Archie's actual comic book death. Admittedly, it was a future version of the character, but Archie Comics CEO Jon Goldwater insisted to CNN and other news sources that this was really how Archie would die and it would not be retconned.
I figured, after this news broke, that it was time to re-post the original edit of my video. Hell, what could Archie Comics say now, after they proved themselves to be liars, right?
Sad. I really didn't figure they'd ever do it, but there ya go.
All that noted, Archie Andrews is back again (in comics and in general serial fiction, they all seem to die off, and they all come back at some point) and he will be the star of the upcoming "Riverdale" TV series on the CW Network in 2017.
Here's hoping the poor guy doesn't bite it during the run of that series.
Here is that original video I made from 2007. Enjoy!
