Michael Uslan

I have a guilty secret: I always enjoyed the "Archie" comic books, as a child, teen and adult. They're not great literature, and they don't exactly accurately portray American teens, and the story quality varies pretty widely (although the "good-girl" art has generally been pretty good). But there's a wholesome innocence that always appealed to me, curmudgeonly as I usually am.

This series takes our teens into young adulthood, with all the joys and pitfalls that usually come with it. We have show more two separate storylines here; one in which Archie has married Betty, and one in which Veronica is his bride. The two storylines alternate throughout the book, and sometimes the back-and-forth gets a little confusing. But there are some surprises here. Jughead (the inveterate girl-hater) winds up married to Midge, Moose's ex, who is now with his anger-management yoga instructor. In both storylines, Reggie turns out to be not such a jerk after all, and winds up with the girl Archie left behind. Mr. Weatherbee and Miss Grundy discover true love and marry, spitting in the face of her terminal cancer. And Mr. Lodge turns out to be pretty evil, willing to break laws and destroy anybody who gets in his way, even Archie and his loved ones.

The tone is quite different from the light humor of the high school days, but it fits the new depth of the series as characters I really came to enjoy reading about over the past 50 years or so have finally broken free of the frozen time warp that was Riverdale High School. show less

It's weird--in the 20 years or whatever since I've looked at an Archie comic, they've updated their clothes and slang somewhat, but they're still done by the same creative teams that have been working on them for 40-odd years, and I don't know whether it's done tongue-in-cheek or out of laziness or because they actually think the kids will get these jokes (or is it that, like superheroes, "the kids" don't read Archie comics anymore and it's all middle-aged trolls?). Like, Archie marries show more Veronica (OR DOES HE) and gets a job with Mr. Lodge and has a one o'clock with "Sheik Yerbouti"? In 2011? Also, used-car salesman jokes.

Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that everything turns out fine no matter what and the American Dream shines undimmed, although the creative team do slily endorse Betty, I think, in that when Archie marries her (as opposed to when he marries Ron) not only they but the other characters have real struggles represented relatively sensitively and we get the feeling not that Archie leads a charmed life but that the world is unfolding as it should.

Finally, I think I must make a t-shirt of that panel where Moose, after explaining about his anger-management classes and how he'll find love when he can love himself, watches the sun rise in his coveralls, and Archie's all dumbfounded. Hilariously touching. show less

Unless I missed something, the "married to Veronica" half is almost pure misery, and the "married to Betty" half is almost certainly the happier timeline, if only Mr. Lodge would quit being the most evil possible industrialist.

I haven't read any Archie in a while, so revisiting Riverdale's citizens in grown-up, more responsible forms was fun. Of all the updates, I liked seeing Reggie reformed. Among this book's perfect-sense evolutions of the cast is Reggie as campaign advisor. Can he appear show more on "Veep?" show less

In The Boy Who Loved Batman: A Memoir, Michael E. Uslan recounts his life from childhood to the events in which he became the producer of all modern Batman films beginning with the 1989 Batman and including the direct-to-video films. He begins with a description of his life growing up in suburban New Jersey and his extensive reading of comic books just as the Silver Age began. His account of the early Comic Cons and his youthful exploits meeting industry insiders like Bill Finger and Otto show more Binder will make Uslan the envy of fans everywhere, while his description of early fandom offers invaluable insights for comic book historians.

Later, he was the first instructor to teach an accredited course about comic books at the university level. While at Indiana University, Uslan used a program at the College of Arts and Sciences that allowed anyone, faculty or student, to design and propose their own course. He developed one that analyzed comic books as folklore, successfully pitching it to the dean by drawing comparisons between the story of Moses and Superman’s origin. Once the dean approved the course, Uslan worked to ensure it received attention in the press. Both Marvel and DC heard of it, with Stan Lee at Marvel arranging for some guest lecturers to join and Sol Harrison, the VP of DC, flying Uslan out to New York City to offer materials that he might use in his course. This, in turn, led to Uslan gaining access to DC’s disorganized archives, developing educational materials for DC to market, and even working on the Comicmobile, a gimmick Sol Harrison developed to help distribute comics in areas where they were harder to get (pgs. 100-113).

Discussing his desire to return Batman to the dark knight detective from the campy, pop art style of the 1960s show, Uslan writes, “By God, after so many decades fighting in the trenches, and thanks to many people who believed in that same cause, when Batman and years later Batman Begins and The Dark Knight arrived in theatres, I believed I had done just that” (pg. 62). Though it took some work, particularly as the Batman brand was considered weaker following the 1960s television show, Uslan convinced DC to sell him the Batman film rights and committed himself to ensuring the film captured the dark nature of the Batman as he originally appeared and to which Denny O’Neil and Neal Adams were returning him in the 1970s (pgs. 173-189).

Uslan recounts these events with honest humor, dishing on details for his readers and offering a valuable insight into comic book history. As a Chronicle Book, the final product includes beautifully incorporated images with plenty of comic book art, copies of memos, and Uslan’s photographs. The end result is a great insight into comic book fandom, the film industry, and U.S. cultural history. show less