You Are My Candy Girl

What's up with Archie comics? It can't be just a local phenomenon. I don't think I've ever been in a supermarket checkout line that hasn't featured Archie comics next to the latest updates on Jen, Brad, and Angelina and the like. Once you notice them, they're everywhere.

Does anybody read Archie comics? I mean, it's my understanding that the world of comics... now callled "graphic novels," is exploding. And there's a lot of really good stuff out there. Not that I'm hoping for the next installment of Demonic Sex to show up in the racks next to Allure and the Star, but if they're interested in impulse purchased literature, there must be something more worthwhile than the adventures of Archie, Jughead, Reggie, Betty, and Veronica. It's not even funny or well drawn.

Another mystery. How did Archie comics come to have such a stranglehold on our supermarkets?

---