mykel_radar Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 This is so cool. http://www.vulture.com/2016/02/archie-jughead-asexual.html Link to post Share on other sites
Velma Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I havent read the article yet. I wa t to post first and then see how close my answer comes to the articles conclusion. I didn't have a word for asexuality as a kid, but I always knew that. I think there were even a few comics where there's some reason everyone is getting super romantic. Betty hooks up with Archie. Veronica gets chased by Reggie. Moose and Midge are enchanted with each other. Jughead is embracing a giant pile of hamburgers. Whenever there's any sort of romantic thing happening, he's either falling in love with food or being hunted down by that creepy female version of himself. Think about that. The closest thing he has to a love interest is basically just Jughead in a dress. Not to get all deep and read too much into it, but what does that say about Jughead's sexual orientation? Jughead was always my favorite. I didn't quite get it though. I thought Jughead was just waiting for the right woman to come along. Or maybe he had a secret thing going with Sheldon. (The scientist guy. I think his name was Sheldon..) OK now everyone knows that I was obsessed with Archie comics as a kid. I have no shame. Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainYesterday Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 If this is congruent with Jughead's character over time (I know literally nothing about this comic), then that's great. Applying the "new" term to how the character's actions appear today gives some great exposure while remaining true to the character. I would hate for this to be pandering, though. Link to post Share on other sites
mykel_radar Posted February 8, 2016 Author Share Posted February 8, 2016 If this is congruent with Jughead's character over time (I know literally nothing about this comic), then that's great. Applying the "new" term to how the character's actions appear today gives some great exposure while remaining true to the character. I would hate for this to be pandering, though. I don't think it's pandering. Archie comics have become really progressive. Link to post Share on other sites
Calamity Jim Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 If this is congruent with Jughead's character over time (I know literally nothing about this comic), then that's great. Applying the "new" term to how the character's actions appear today gives some great exposure while remaining true to the character. I would hate for this to be pandering, though. Honestly we aren't popular enough to be pandered to yet. But soon. Today Jughead. Tomorrow the world! If this is congruent with Jughead's character over time (I know literally nothing about this comic), then that's great. Applying the "new" term to how the character's actions appear today gives some great exposure while remaining true to the character. I would hate for this to be pandering, though. I don't think it's pandering. Archie comics have become really progressive. As someone who has read the old ones, I do want to point out how weird it was to read that sentence. Link to post Share on other sites
Velma Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 It's perfect and totally congruent. Archie has been around since 1941. He has always been portrayed as someone with no romantic interests. I don't think he was originally meant to be asexual. I think he was just supposed to be a goofy teenager that loved to eat so much that he couldn't think much of anything else. It was funny because even though he ate more than the whole gang combined, he was the scrawniest one in the bunch. I think he was meant to be the class clown who was just a little bit socially immature and still had a kid's mind. Maybe if he ever got to grow up, it would be true. But he's a 70 year old immortal teenager. He's never going to find out if it's just a phase. Link to post Share on other sites
Blue Phoenix Ace Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 But he's a 70 year old immortal teenager. He's never going to find out if it's just a phase. I wish I was a 70 year old immortal teenager too. I guess all I got was the asexuality part of his superpower. ;) Link to post Share on other sites
Velma Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I'd be satisfied having his superhuman ability to eat 70 hamburgers in a sitting and still be scrawny. I'm glad their going with the asexual story than the one that was going on when I was a teen. Everyone said that Jughead was a raging stoner who was way too high to think about women, and he always had the munchies. If you see some of the comics from the 60s and 70s (I'm not that old. I found a huge stash at a garage sale as a kid) Jughead was frequently portrayed with a psychedelic rainbow aura around him for some reason. Maybe the artists were giving a wink to the stoner theory. Link to post Share on other sites
mykel_radar Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 Don't forget this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Keller_(comics) I think it's pretty cool how progressive Archie comics have been in recent years. Link to post Share on other sites
Velma Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I just read the article and all I can say is who the hell is Jughead talking to in those panels? He looks old enough to be a teacher, yet he's talking about getting detentions. And WTF is up with that same guy's outfit? Do shirts like that really exist? Do they come with the horrible matching tie, or did that guy go out and buy it on his own and it just happened to match perfectly? That's the scariest thing I've ever seen in an Archie comic, Ahh I think he's the gay guy. Maybe he's from a parallel universe where that monstrosity is a fashion statement. I don't get why he looks about 25, though. Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Moving to World Watch Kisa the Cat, Administrator Link to post Share on other sites
emma-can Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I read the Archie comics a lot when I was in middle school. I remember being excited about Kevin Keller, and now this! I'm pleased with the "reboot" in general, actually. From what I've seen and heard it's a lot more mature and realistic than how it used to be. Link to post Share on other sites
mykel_radar Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 I guess y'all can call me Pollyanna, but I think this is a good thing. Some people can't understand a damned thing until it's exposed in pop culture as something that's totally normal. We've all dealt with the "ZOMG! How is that possible? WTF is wrong with you?, ad nauseum" stuff. I personally am fine with a medium where people might read it and go, "Ok, I guess that's something that's perfectly alright.", and then it becomes no big deal, so people move on. Link to post Share on other sites
mykel_radar Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 I read the Archie comics a lot when I was in middle school. I remember being excited about Kevin Keller, and now this! I'm pleased with the "reboot" in general, actually. From what I've seen and heard it's a lot more mature and realistic than how it used to be. I've been digging the reboot. My roommate got me Archie meets the Predator for xmas. Oh, and there's this. Enjoy! :) http://imgur.com/gallery/Hu0mx I do think this is going to be a good thing. Link to post Share on other sites
Velma Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/130927224804-archie-04-horizontal-large-gallery.jpg Link to post Share on other sites
Diceman Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky have been really committed to Asexual exposure. Chip, who writes Jughead, is also the illustrator for Sex Criminals (Written by Matt Fraction) which also recently introduced it's first asexual character, Alix. A while back I actually sent a letter off to the guys at Sex Crims just to surprise them that their sex book had asexual readers who loved it, and that kinda kicked off a number of other asexuals writing into the book with their thoughts. I never imagined they would end up introducing an asexual character but they not only did, but it was an extremely well written one that defied all common asexual stereotypes. Chip will be someone who takes Jughead's asexuality seriously and I can trust that this will more good exposure. (Sex Criminals is fantastic by the way if you aren't reading it yet. As long as you won't be turned off by sex jokes.) Link to post Share on other sites
KendraPM Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 That's so cool! I was super into the comics as a kid. Jughead has always been uninterested in girls, but I don't think I ever put much thought into it (besides one time thinking it would be really ironic if he ended up being the first to get married or something). I'm happy to see they've confirmed him as asexual...although I don't love the new drawing style. Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy Alien Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 How exciting! I liked Archie growing up and Jughead was my favorite. It's nice that it's so casual too. Makes me want to pick up a copy. I'm glad whenever asexuality is portrayed appropriately, especially in media you wouldn't expect to address it. That's fantastic in my opinion. It's normalizing. Link to post Share on other sites
(A) & A Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 Damn. Modern Archie comic again continuing to be one of the few daring publishers. Link to post Share on other sites
EmotionalAndroid Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 This is exciting! I'm so glad to see an explicitly asexual character in a fairly popular media. I used to read these comics as a kid. Now I am tempted to pick up one of the new ones! :) EDIT: I just saw this article today about an upcoming TV series based on Archie. It says "Jughead Jones is a heartthrob[...]" Wait, what? Since when? I hope the TV show doesn't ruin what the comics are doing. :\ Link to post Share on other sites
dash Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 I always found Archie boring as a kid... no spaceships or aliens or androids, so I was gone. I remember it as a "picture perfect middle American teen story filled with relationships out of the '50s" (in other words, no spaceships or aliens or androids = boring), so this whole Archie getting diverse trend is really interesting to me. If asexuals are in Archie, have we become part of that "picture perfect middle American teen story" narrative? What? O.o Edit: "World History: Why America is Always Right". LOOOOL Link to post Share on other sites
Diceman Posted February 11, 2016 Share Posted February 11, 2016 This is exciting! I'm so glad to see an explicitly asexual character in a fairly popular media. I used to read these comics as a kid. Now I am tempted to pick up one of the new ones! :) EDIT: I just saw this article today about an upcoming TV series based on Archie. It says "Jughead Jones is a heartthrob[...]" Wait, what? Since when? I hope the TV show doesn't ruin what the comics are doing. :\ Isn't it a CW show? The CW philosophy is to take an existing property, cast everyone as a hot teenager whether or not the character is actually hot or a teenager, and then make these sexy versions of the characters act out a normal story. I love DC comics, but I can't watch any of those stupid shows they have on the CW when I look at how much success Marvel is having with blockbuster movies. I wish DC knew how to properly market their characters for movies instead, Link to post Share on other sites
FrodoBaggins Posted February 17, 2016 Share Posted February 17, 2016 I haven't read Archie comics in years, but when I did, Jughead was my favourite character. This is completely consistent with his character from his inception. I remember him being a real unique character, completely unfettered by romantic relationships (which he's always vehemently eschewed) unlike Archie and the rest of the gang. He was witty, smart and completely unbothered about what others thought about him. If they're announcing him as an ace, they'll be finally putting a name to what this character has always been. That's awesome Link to post Share on other sites
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