As amusing as the cover is, it's nothing compared to the actual premise of the comic, which involved the Punisher going undercover in Riverdale (as a phys ed teacher at the local high school) to hunt down a drug dealer named "Red", who -- of course! -- looks a lot like Archie. Poking around the Net, I've seen multiple claims that the comic is actually quite fun, simultaneously being a love letter to Archie Comics and a self-aware send-up of "dark" superheroes like Frank Castle. I somehow find that hard to believe, but I suppose anything is possible.
Did you notice the band playing at the dance? It's Josie and the Pussycats, who apparantly also make a cameo in the actual story, as well a few other characters. The sad thing, and I plead insanity as my defense, is that I think I read this book. I worked for many years at a major comic book distributor.
ReplyDeleteIf you get the chance check out my blog.
http://havedicewilltravel.blogspot.com/
Well, the caption at the bottom of the cover kind of indicates that you might be right about the overall tone. :)
ReplyDeleteIt's fun!
ReplyDeleteArchie comics have been dabbling in "events" lately to boost sales and get publicity, this is one of their better ones.
I couldn't call it "good" but I didn't want a refund of the time I spent reading it so thats something.
ReplyDeleteA comic like that could be played straight in the right kind of game, not D&D of course but maybe in Mercenaries Spies and Private Eyes or the Top Secret hack that we used back in the day.
A band of PC's undercover as teachers at a high school has a lot of potential. The trick of course is playing the kids right. But if you can pull it off, it would make for a different sort of game.
Um, I own that comic, as well as the Marvel version.
ReplyDeleteRichard mentioned that he owned the Marvel version. I think it's worth pointing out that there was "Archie Meets the Punisher" by Archie Comies and the Marvel variant "The Punisher meets Archie" - a pretty neat crossover all things considered....
ReplyDeleteChuck: This comic was published in 1994. Sixteen years isn't really "lately."
ReplyDeleteIf Jughead would lay off the coke and Reggie the kiddie porn, Punny wouldn't have had to show up in Riverdale.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was a brilliant comic, personally. It was absolutely one of my all-time favorites of the crossover era of the late '90s. (Admittedly, that's much like saying "it's my favorite infected boil," but still... I dug it.)
ReplyDeleteWait, a crossover comic from the 90's that didn't include Wolverine?
ReplyDeleteIs that legal?
One of the things that made this comic great was that it wasn't by anyone from Marvel or the Archie stable, but rather Batton Lash, creator of "Wolff & Byrd, Counselors of the Macabre" (aka Supernatural Law http://www.webcomicsnation.com/supernaturallaw/.) Oh, and Tom: Wolverine doesn't appear, but Professor X does, on the last page -- heralding sequel that never appeared, but surely would have featured Wolverine if it had...
ReplyDeleteThis was a real comic?
ReplyDeleteAt first, I thought it was a spoof, like this.
No need to scorn this one; this really is a great send-up of the crossover culture of the era.
ReplyDelete